Chi Epsilon

TCNJ XE marked the end of the 2025 year with holiday crafts, cookies, and hot chocolate! Thank you to all our members for making this past year absolutely amazing. Happy Holidays!

On 11/19, TCNJ XE celebrated the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday with a cornbread-making competition. Teams were tasked with coming up with unique ingredients to make their cornbread stand out. Cheese, maple syrup, elote, chocolate chips, M&Ms, and sweet potatoes were among the ingredients our members used. The cornbreads were baked in the soil ovens, and all came out delicious and were very much enjoyed by everyone. Our senior members, Emily and Sonny, prepared the tastiest cornbread using bourbon-aged maple syrup. Our senior member, Steve, and inductee Kevin came in second with an orange-infused syrup cornbread. The third place was claimed by our inductees, Mary and Lindsey, with their elote cornbread. Happy Thanksgiving!

TCNJ XE chapter held elections on 11/12, and the following officers were elected to serve during the 2026 calendar year:

• Jasmyn Watson, 2027 – President
• Sarah Laubsch, 2027 – Vice President
• Rebecca Kunz, 2027 – Secretary
• Jayson Lewis, 2027 – Treasurer
• Allison Lavin, 2027 – Marshal/Editor

Congratulations to the newly elected officers!

Jasmyn, Rebecca, Jayson, Sarah, Allison

On October 29th, TCNJ XE hosted Mr. Sam Donelson, PE, Chief Executive of AECOM’s U.S. East and Latin America Region, who gave an inspiring presentation on the technical dimensions of large-scale infrastructure projects. He spoke about design considerations, such as structural systems and sustainability; construction management techniques that ensure safety, quality, and schedule adherence; and program management strategies used to coordinate multiple disciplines and stakeholders on mega-projects.

On 11/5, together with TCNJ’s SWE and ASCE chapters, XE welcomed back two of our alumni, Charlotte Roarty (’23) and Owen Soler (’23). They presented a step-by-step workflow for site development and traffic analysis, illustrated with real-world case studies. Each project example showcased practical challenges and solutions, offering valuable insights into how engineering principles are applied.

On 11/19, TCNJ chapters of ASCE and XE welcomed back our alumnus Connor Conyngham (’23), who talked bout temporary design and works performed by Kiewit. Together with his colleagues, he discussed multiple projects, including the Gateway project, and the Francis Key Scott bridge project.

Thank you to all the presenters for taking the time to talk to us!

Congratulations go to the following candidates for fulfilling the requirements and becoming eligible for induction into the XE chapter at TCNJ:

Riley Bringoli, Aren Kahn, Mary Koch, Sarah Laubsch, Allison Lavin, Jayson Lewis, Rhea Olmedo, Kevin O’Neill, Lindsey Yau

Jayson, Aren, Mary, Linsey, Allison, Sarah, Rhea, Riley, Kevin

Our traditional Halloween corn maze race took place on October 25, bringing members, candidates, and alumni back to the Howell Farm Corn Maze. Congratulations go to Dora and Jill, our veteran team of XE alumni, who finished the maze in an impressive adjusted time of 29 minutes! First out of our rookie teams were Emily, Joey, and Jayson, who finished in an adjusted time of 51 minutes. It was a challenging race with an elusive puzzle piece #6, but all teams had a lot of fun and made it through. Happy Halloween, Everyone!

Back: Allison, Sarah, Joey, Jayson Front: Dora, Lindsey, Jasmyn, Rhea, Rebecca, Emily, Jill

Back: Jasmyn, Allison, Sarah, Jayson, Joey Front: Rebecca, Rhea, Lindsey, Jill, Dora

Our Fall 2025 Candidate Rhea

The winning team: Dora and Jill (class of 2024)

For the seventh consecutive year, TCNJ XE members and candidates came together to pack Halloween bags for first graders at Highland Park Elementary School in Upper Darby, PA. The students will receive coloring books, crayons, pencils, erasers, and playdough to supplement their schoolwork activities, as well as various Halloween toys and candy to help them celebrate the holiday. We are very proud to continue supporting our community through this service event! A special thanks goes to our alumna Olivia Williams (’20) for facilitating the connection with Highland Park Elementary’s teachers and students.

We made festive Halloween cards for each student!

In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, TCNJ XE members and candidates volunteered on October 4th at the Susan G. Komen More Than Pink Walk event. We are proud to keep maintaining our participation, which has now become a tradition, and would like to thank everyone who helped set up the village today. We would also like to thank the organizers for continuing to trust us with this meaningful service opportunity.

TCNJ XE reinvested Kiva funds in support of Komron from Bokhtar, Tajikistan. Komron is a 19-year-old student, and this loan will help him continue his college education. This is our sixth reinvestment after we funded borrowers in Indonesia, Paraguay, Uganda, and Vietnam. We are proud to lead the TCNJ team in supporting students from various economic backgrounds in pursuit of their educational goals.

In partnership with the TCNJ XE Alumni Association, the TCNJ XE chapter organized the second annual Alumni Networking Event. The event took place on 9/13 with many alumni coming back to represent a diverse group of civil engineering employers. Over 30 junior and senior civil engineering students participated in a panel discussion about the professional expectations of early employment. Students also had the opportunity to speak with individual alumni and learn more about their companies and their personal professional experiences. We hope to continue this tradition in the future with even more alumni and employers participating. Thank you to all who made this event a success.