Chapter President’s Report

With Hard Work And Alumni Support, Chapter Bounces Back

Alumni Brothers of Delta Chapter,

I am very pleased to be writing another Dial article as president of Delta Chapter.  I am currently finishing up my second term in office and getting ready to graduate from RPI this December with a degree in computer science.

Since this is my last Dial article and I am one of the few current brothers to have been around for the past five years, I thought this would be a good time to take a quick look back.  Pledging began for me my freshman year in Fall ’98;  our pledge class consisted of 20 guys.  We had a great rush and were excited about becoming brothers.  However, when I was home on Christmas break I began to hear news about a possible hazing event involving the brothers.  Rumors started circulating that we would not be able to pledge in the spring, or, even worse,  the chapter was going to be shut down.

Beginning in the second semester we were prohibited from interacting with the brothers; and then we had to undergo interviews conducted by the National’s Risk Management Committee even though we hadn’t even started pledging.  Things were very different after the reorganization in April – the brothers felt cheated, angry, and irritated, and we freshmen were also upset.  We felt that we would never be allowed to become a brother of Delta Chapter, that what we looked so forward to was now being taken away.  Although things felt different, the brothers who remained in the chapter were determined that Delta would survive.  Those brothers and many alumni took the time and made sacrifices to keep the house alive while the numbers were low.  At the end of Fall ‘99 what was left of my original pledge class was finally initiated, and we moved into the house in Fall ‘00.

There were 19 of us living in the house that semester, and it was hard.  During rush our freshman year we had witnessed Monday Night Football games with 60 guys there, dinners were always full and alive, and there were always people in the living room just hanging out.  Some fraternities on campus would love to have nineteen guys living in the chapter house, but in a house built for 55 brothers, the house appeared empty.  However, we worked hard not to make it feel empty.  Instead of brothers staying in their rooms, we always tried to congregate in the public areas.  If five brothers missed dinner, the dining room was almost empty, so we all kept 7:00-7:30 p.m. free to eat dinner as a group.  We had one goal in mind, to get Delta Chapter back to the top.  We worked hard that year, and with the help of some key alumni we pledged 17 new brothers.

Things were looking up in the Fall of ’01, but we still only had 27 brothers living in the house.  There was plenty more work to be done.  At the beginning of that semester we made a list of goals.  The list was long and involved many different areas,  but our two most important ones were to rush quality guys and to regain the traditions and ideals that we had heard so much about.  Eighteen pledges became brothers that year, and we now have 36 quality chapter members living in the house.  Most importantly, though, we are only losing 4 brothers to graduation this year.  

That brings us to the present. We have just had another successful fall rush.    The chapter was extremely enthusiastic about rush this year, getting a head start over the summer and continuing the momentum once classes began, making rush the number one priority.  In the end, our hard work was rewarded, and it is with great pleasure that I tell you that 20 bids have been signed.  This exceeds our pledge class last year of 18.  The soon-to-be 2003 pledge class is an outstanding group of young men, ready to keep alive the traditions of Delta Chapter of Theta Chi.  When those pledges move into the chapter house next year, that should bring us close to 50 brothers living in.  We are all very proud of this progress, and we owe so much to the last two classes of brothers who were a part of this remarkable recovery.

As for recent events, Alumni Weekend was held October 12th.  Invitations were sent out using the E-vite method (this is an internet email invitation system).  If you did not receive an invitation please visit our new website described in Terry Jones’s article and register your email address.  All of the brothers worked hard to make this alumni weekend one to remember.  We had a good turnout, with over thirty alumni brothers in attendance; considering the small size of the last two graduating classes, this was respectable.  But because it was not as well-attended as past alumni weekends, the undergrads will be working hard to re-establish the tradition of a grand alumni weekend.   We hope that this news will get out by work of mouth and next year we will see even more alumni returning.

The chapter is hard at work on many campus and philanthropic activities.   As you all know, a majority of the brothers are members of NCAA varsity teams.  While most of those brothers are on the football team (which is in the middle of a great season and still playing for an NCAA playoff bid), there are several on the lacrosse, baseball, and track teams.  There are also several brothers involved in the IFC, and as of this article they are in the middle of their campaigns to be elected IFC officers. We will be starting a large philanthropy project towards the end of the semester.  The project will involve one of the local community groups, and will take place after Thanksgiving break.  Brian Blackmar, the philanthropy chair, is hard at work ironing out the details and expects a large turnout.  We hope to get some publicity in the local Troy newspapers after completion.

As the fall semester comes to a close, the chapter will start preparing for next semester’s events, such as new member education, Sweethearts’ Weekend, electing new officers and Parents’ Weekend.  We are very proud of the progress we have made over the past years, but we still have more work to do.  The whole brotherhood is ready to take on the challenge and again I would like to assure all supporters that Delta Chapter is well on its way back to the top.  It was an honor to serve as president for the last two years, and  I would especially like to thank Terry Jones and Ray Rumanowski (the last two alumni board presidents) and all the alumni board members and advisors who helped us these last couple of years.  We could not have made this much progress without the help of these and all alumni.

                                                          Pat Doyle ‘02