Jan Wisecup's Schools

• UNLV , Class of 1978 Bachelors

Jan Wisecup's Publications

• Easter Seals–Making a Difference November, 2010 by Jan Wisecup For ten years in the 1980’s and 90’s, I have supported and participated as a Board Member of Easter Seals Southern Nevada. I feel inspired by the organization’s mission of making a difference in the lives of people with disabilities. Nonprofit groups such as Easter Seals help Americans with special needs to actively contribute their communities. Easter Seals, a national nonprofit 501©(3) corporation, supports people with disabilities and special needs, as well as their families. Easter Seals’ history traces back to the early 1900s in Elyria, Ohio. Founder Edgar Allen began a fundraising campaign to build a hospital after his son was in a streetcar accident, and Allen was unable to obtain the medical services necessary to save his son’s life. Allen discovered through his activities with the hospital that communities often kept children with disabilities from public view, and he founded the National Society for Crippled Children in response. In the early 1930s, the society began a new fundraiser: an Easter seals campaign. Its members provided stickers to donors, who placed them on envelopes as a show of support for the organization. The lily on the group’s current symbol represents new hope and new life. In the 1960s, the society officially changed its name to Easter Seals due to the widespread recognition of its primary fundraising tool. Easter Seals has evolved over the years to provide a wide range of support services for children and adults living with disabilities including autism spectrum disorders, physical and developmental disabilities, and Alzheimer’s disease. Easter Seals provides assistance including vocational training, medical rehabilitation, recreational opportunities, adult day services, and child care centers assisting disabled children. Easter Seals also actively advocates for legislation that supports independent living for and prohibits discrimination of people with disabilities. With a broad reach and strong impact in the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families, Easter Seals needs ongoing community support in the forms of volunteers and donations.

• Sigma Chi Fraternity April, 2011 During his undergraduate years at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Jan Wisecup belonged to the Sigma Chi Fraternity. An organization committed to the core ideals of friendship, justice, and learning, Sigma Chi possesses a rich history of tradition and brotherhood. The U.S. Civil War divided many Sigma Chi members on opposite sides of the battle lines during the fraternity’s early years, but many soldiers continued to hold regular chapter meetings. In 1855, six of the seven founders were members of the Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) chapter at Miami University in Ohio. During the politically charged election of a new poet laureate for the school’s literary society, the chapter was divided over the issue of meritocracy versus loyalty. During an attempted reconciliation with the chapter, only one DKE member showed up to greet the six future founders. After a DKE alumnus delivered a highly condescending speech, founder Benjamin Piatt Runkle slammed his DKE badge on the table and left the fraternity to found Sigma Chi with six others. Much of the Sigma Chi heraldry stems from the legend of Emperor Constantine. On the eve of a major battle, he saw a flaming white cross in the sky with the words “In this sign you will conquer” emblazoned beneath it. Constantine then commanded his soldiers to paint their shields with the white cross, a symbol of Christ, and led them to victory. To a Sigma Chi member, the white cross represents any noble ideal worth seeking. Though a man may never truly possess an ideal, Sigma Chi teachings hold that a life lived in search of truth and justice forever shapes the character of all high-minded men. Since its inception more than 150 years ago, Sigma Chi has initiated nearly 300,000 members across more than 250 undergraduate chapters. The Sigma Chi handbook, the Norman Shield, guides potential members through the pledging process and helps prepare them for initiation into the brotherhood. Sigma Chi also organizes the annual Balfour Leadership Training Workshop, designed to improve the quality of leadership among undergraduate members of the fraternity.

• Scottish Rite Provides Camaraderie, Honor, Says Wisecup June, 2011 Jan Wisecup, a Las Vegas personal wealth advisor for Family Wealth Planning, Inc., says that the friendships and business relationships he has gained as a member of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry have enriched his life and helped him develop his business. The Scottish Rite, a part of the worldwide Freemasonry fraternal organization, encompasses 33 degrees which members receive from units that confer these special stages of membership. Membership in the Scottish Rite requires a man to be a Freemason. In fact, nearly 550,000 of the 1.7 million freemasons in the United States call themselves Scottish Rite Masons. Scottish Rite Masons enjoy a reputation for philanthropy in many cities, in large part due to the organization’s well-known and well-funded hospitals and children’s charities. “The Scottish Rite brings to the community a true sense of charitable purpose,” said Jan Wisecup. “The fraternity melds a distinguished history with a dedication to making the world a better place.” Most Scottish Rite lodges confer only more advanced degrees of membership, with Craft Lodges of the Freemasons conferring the degrees known as Fellowcraft, Entered Apprentice, and Master Mason. After receiving these degrees, more specialized degrees awarded under the Scottish Rite may be achieved. While the Scottish Rite was not formally created until 1801, when a group of 11 men in Charleston, South Carolina, dedicated a lodge to that purpose, the degree of Scots Master traces its roots to London in 1733. At that time, a lodge in Temple Bar apparently held the first of the celebrations that mark the award of a Scots Master degree. In the next few years, lodges in Bath, England, and locations in France adopted the degree as part of their organization.

Jan Wisecup's Links