On February 17, 1987, a group of band members at Fresno State sent a letter to the National Office of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma stating their interest in becoming chapters in the fraternity and sorority. Following this, these students were given an introduciton and information session about Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma. The Eta Mu and Zeta Xi chapters at San Diego State University were selected as their sponsor chapters, and members from the Psi and Epsilon Kappa chapter at UCLA joined SDSU in Fresno on March 7th of the same year for the colonization ceremonies. M. Scott McBride, the Associate Director of Bands at CSU, Fresno, was himself a brother of Kappa Kappa Psi. He was very instrumental in establishing the colony, and became the founding sponsor.
The colonization period was busy, but the pledges were eager to succeed and worked with enthusiasm. Service activities ranged from concert setups and receptions to hosting the Winterguard Festival Finals and the Central Section Music Educator's Winter Conference. The colony members were dedicated to the Ideals and purposed of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma and endeavored to serve the bands as best they could.
During the fall semester the colony's efforts were centered on the petitioning document, which was submitted to the National Office in mid-March of 1987. The original copy is on file at the National Headquarters of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma and can be viewed upon request.
The Annual Wind Band Festival was reactivated in 1988 with the help of the colony, which sponsored and ran the entire event. During this year the colony also hosted California State Day while concurrently participating in Vintage Days '88. The "Grape Pinchers" placed 8th overall, and the group had made a definite mark on campus as the colonization period ended.
On Saturday, April 30, 1988, the colony members were initiated and became the Iota Alpha and Eta Omega chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma. One major accomplishment that brought recognition to the chapters during their first year was the election of Veronica Corea, the Tau Beta Sigma charter president of Eta Omega, to the office of Western District Secretary / Treasurer. In the fall of 1988, the chapters put through their first group of initiates, the Beta Class. While still in their first year as chapters, the members decided to commission a major work for the Wind Ensemble to be written in celebration of Dr. Lawrence Sutherland's 20th year with the CSUF bands. J. Philip Wilby composed "Catcher of Shadows" for this event, and traveled to Fresno from England to conduct the premiere performance at the 1989 Wind Festival.
In April of 1991 the Fresno State chapter had the honor of hosting the Western District Convention - "Stranded in Fresno the Lost Weekend." Members from every chapter in the district were present, including future brothers from a soon - to - be colony of Kappa Kappa Psi at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. During the convention, Kappa Kappa Psi - Iota Alpha member Ronald Hill was elected to the office of Western District Secretary / Treasurer. A few weeks later, the Iota Alpha chapter learned that they had been chosen to sponsor the new colony at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which would later become the Iota Pi chapter. The sisters of Eta omega were asked to assist their brothers in the sponsor chapter by becoming big sisters for the colony brothers.
Over the summer of 1991, the chapters were saddened to learn that Dr. M. Scott McBride, the chartering sponsor, had resigned his position at Fresno State to become the Director of Bands at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. They were in competent hands, however, when Dr. Lawrence R. Sutherland, Director of Bands at CSUF, became their new sponsor in the fall of 1991.
In the spring of 1992, the chapter hosted it's second California State Day. All of the chapters in California, and a couple from Arizona were represented in Fresno. Festivities included a general meeting, social picnic and continued late into the next morning.
In celebration of the chapters' ever increasing devotion to their department, the Faculty and Staff of the Music Department purchased a Brick, in the spring of 1993, to be placed in the "Walkway of Distinction" leading up to the newly renovated Stillwater Station.
In addition to the brick purchased by the CSUF Music Department, Iota Alpha and Eta Omega both purchased separate bricks. The inscriptions on both were in the spirit of the brothers and sisters active at the time.
In 1994, a second sister from Eta Omega was elected to district office - Kimbi "Gritch" Fye from the Beta class. In addition to this, two other sisters from Eta Omega were part of founding the Tau Beta Sigma Western District Alumnia Association. Jeanette "Mouse" Markman from the Zeta class was elected as the TBS WDAA President and Kathi "Roo" Waddle was elected as the TBS WDAA Vice-President.
In 1995, Kimbi "Gritch" Fye was re-elected to her position as Tau Beta Sigma Western District President.
At the 1996 Western District Convention, Eta Omega once again had another sister elected to district office - Shanna "Whoosh" Brazil from the Lambda class was elected as Vice-Preisdent of Special Projects.
1997 saw Eta Omega come into the world of the world wide web with the advent of their first website hosted on AOL. Life member Kathi "Roo" Waddle designed and maintained the site at the request of the chapter.
In 1998, yet another honor was bestowed on a sister of Eta Omega. Kimbi "Gritch" Fye was appointed the Tau Beta Sigma Western District Counselor after the resignation of Stacy Sabraw.
At the 1999 Western District Convention, the Western District Joint Alumni Association decided to create a new office - Vice-President of Projects. Elected to this brand new office was Kathi "Roo" Waddle from the Zeta class.
The Iota Pi chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi was selected to host the 2000 Western District Convention and along with this came yet another honor for Eta Omega. They were chosen to co-host the convention and put on the model ritual on Friday night for the rest of the TBS chapters in the Western District. It was at this convention that another milestone was reached for Eta Omega - the putting through of the Omega class. This brought an end to the first cycle of the greek alphabet, ended single letter classes, and ushered in double letter classes.
The 2001 National Convention saw the election of Kimbi "Gritch" Sigle as Tau Beta Sigma National Vice-President for Communication and Recognition.
Along with their musical contributions, the chapters have continued to make strides on campus, within the Fresno community, and amoung their many brothers and sisters in the fraternity ad sorority. They continue to participate in Vintage Days each year, sponsoring the "Grape Pinchers" vintathlon team and running fundraising booths in Boomtown. The chapters continue to look for new ways of serving the bands at CSUF, and their reputation is constantly growing with the Music Department Faculty.
In 2002, members from both Iota Alpha and Eta Omega continued in their quest for higher leadership positions. Bryan "GAUK" Raya was elected to Kappa Kappa Psi Western District Member-at-Large and Suzanne "dayzee" Ruth was elected to Tau Beta Sigma Western District Vice-President of Special Projects.
In March of 2002, the chapters at Fresno had the honor of hosting California State Day. Because of the outstanding job they did, they were chosen to host the 5th annual Western District Leadership Conference January 17-20, 2003.
In 2003, two other members from Iota Alpha and Eta Omega were elected to Western District office. Nicholas "NeWton" Chitwood was elected to Kappa Kappa Psi Western District Member-at-Large and Marisa "Mystik" Garica was elected to Tau Beta Sigma Western District Vice-President of Special Projects. During the summer of 2003, several members from Iota Alpha and Eta Omega traveled to Norfolk, Virginia for the 2003 National Convention. This was the first time that active members had attended in six years (the last year being 1997). Also at the 2003 National Convention, Kimbi "Gritch" Sigle was elected to the position of Tau Beta Sigma National Vice-President for Special Projects.
In 2004 at the Western District Convention, Nicholas "NeWton" Chitwood was elected to Kappa Kappa Psi Western District Vice-President and Marisa "Mystik" Garcia was elected to Tau Beta Sigma Western District President.