2007 Delta Chi Chapter History

The following is an overview of 2007 Delta Chi Chapter History.

Semester Kickoff!

The Fall 2007 Semester started off successfully with a ‘Beginning of the Year Barbeque’. It was held at the off-campus house of Brothers Shawn Bialas, Sam Kirkpatrick and Ryan Templin. A large amount of Brothers attended and were able to catch up with each other about their summer adventures. The first Scholarship event of the semester was organized by Committee Chair Stefie Kan. Brothers attended the A Capella Kickoff Concert in Lamberton Hall on Saturday, September 1, 2007. It was a hit and heralded the success of future Scholarship events this semester.

Brothers hanging out at the welcome back BBQ

Rush

The second week of the semester marked the beginning of Rush. Three information sessions were held. In addition, Public Relations Chair Lauren Berner and Service Chair Katie Graul held a joint event on the UC Front Lawn handing out popsicles to students while asking for donations to the Fraternity’s national philanthropy, Teach for America.

The first round of Rush, organized by Rush Advisor Emily Hazlewood, began with Mocktails. This event was greatly enjoyed by all and gave the future Initiates the chance to make first impressions on the Brotherhood. The first round of Rush continued with Games, where Brothers and Rushes showed their skills at Twister, Apples-to-Apples and Clue. Rush concluded with the traditional Campus Adventure event.

The second round of Rush, Pref, began with a very entertaining event, Kite Making. Brothers and Rushes congregated on the third floor of the UC to construct, decorate and attempt to fly their kites. Brother Kathryn Lieber was among those successful in launching their hand-made kites. The Pref Round continued with Ice Cream and a trip to the Boys and Girls Club. All in all, Rush was a success!

Brothers Kristen Mailand, Therese Quinn and Amy McDonald playing Twister

Kathryn flying the kite she made

Pinning of the Nu Class

On Tuesday, September 25, some Brothers met to make and hand-out bids to 13 Rushes. The Rushes were surprised with posters and candy and adorned with silly string. All of the Rushes accepted their bids and were pinned as Initiates of the Nu Class on Wednesday, September 26 in the evening on Asa Packer Campus.

Initiates get their Bigs

The very next week after Pinning, Initiates met with the Brothers who were interested in becoming their Big Brothers. The first event was Big/Little Mixer where Initiates and Brother got to know each other through games like Never-Have-I-Ever. The next day, Initiates and Brothers were able to talk in one-to-one situations at Big/Little Speed Dating. At the end of this event, Initiates and Brothers ranked their top five choices. The following day, Thursday, October 4, the Big/Little Ceremony was held on Asa Packer Campus and Initiates were welcomed into their Delta Chi families.

Ritual Box Lost

At the end of the Spring 2007 semester, the Ritual Box containing two Ritual books, the Chapter table cloth, candle holders, the PSP banner, the sub-rosa rose, and the three Ritual alter banners was misplaced. President Ryan Templin claimed responsibility for the loss and worked with the Chapter to replace all of the necessary items. A motion was passed to have the Chapter front a set amount of money and then have Ryan plan and hold a fundraising event in order to pay the Chapter back. Ryan was to pay out of pocket for the difference of the cost of the kit if not enough money was raised and any excess money was to be kept by the Chapter. All of the necessary items were replaced in time for Ritual on Wednesday, November 14, 2007.

Revision of the Chapter Bylaws

This semester Alumni Advisor Jeff Samuels proposed and motioned to amend several sections of the Delta Chi Chapter By-Laws so that their structure and grammar would be more clear and concise. The motion started out as considering all of the changes as one, but was quickly changed to consider each revision by itself (in seriatim). All but one of the parts of the amendments passed. The approved revisions dealt with filling the vacancy of the President, the order of which officers run Chapter meetings, the officer transition period, payment plans and probation.

Also this semester, Corresponding Secretary Seetha Chandrasekhara proposed an amendment to add planning and organizing a Brotherhood Retreat to the duties of Corresponding Secretary. The amendment was seconded by Brother Garrett Wadsworth and passed by hand vote.

Fundraising better than ever!

This semester Fundraising Chair Kristen Mailand was able to offer many different kinds of fundraising events from working concessions at football games, basketball games and concerts to helping with parking at home football games. She also successfully organized the selling of Lehigh-Lafayette t-shirts for THE game of the season. Over all, it was a very successful and rewarding semester for fundraising for the Delta Chi Chapter.

Brothers Seetha Chandrasekhara, Mio Matsumura, Martin Razo, Kate Gano, Kaitlin Kelly and Kevin Patel at the Switchfoot concert at Stabler. The group worked concessions stands during the concert.

Delta Chi attends Philly Cup

On November 3, Brothers Kathryn Lieber, Katie Graul, Diana Thyssen, Stefie Kan and Seetha Chandrasekhara and Alumni Jeremy Tallman attended the Philly Cup ICR event hosted by Gamma Xi of Drexel University and Alpha Lambda of Temple University. The Brothers had a lot of fun playing indoor soccer. Although the outcome of the game was not in their favor, the Delta Chi Brothers were all smiles.

Brothers Kathryn Lieber, Jeremy Tallman, Katie Graul, Diana Thyssen, Seetha Chandrasekhara, and Stefie Kan at the soccer tournament.

Eboard Elections and Final Vote: All in One Night

This semester E-board elections were held on November 12 along with Final Vote for the Initiates. The newly elected members for 2008 include: President Katie Graul, Vice President Stefie Kan, Recording Secretary Julia Mauk, Corresponding Secretary Krystal Kaai, Treasurer Andrew Kump, Parliamentarian Garrett Wadsworth, Historian Ariana Tibaldi, Rush Advisor Therese Quinn and Initiate Advisor Kevin Ford.

Of the 13 Initiates only 12 passed Final Vote. The twelve Initiates were notified as soon as Final Vote was completed to make sure that they received 48 hours notice before Ritual.

Semi Formal and Eboard Transitions

Delta Chi’s Semi Formal took place on Friday, November 30 at the Comfort Suites in South Bethlehem. It was organized wonderfully by Social Committee Chair Krystal Anello and supplied every attendee with tons of fun! The event started off with E-board transitions and was followed by Awards presented by Awards and Scholarship Chair Stefie Kan.

Brothers at Large Expand their Roles and Continue Past Success

This semester has been an exciting one for the Delta Chi Chapter. With so many new members to welcome into the brotherhood the Brothers at Large have initiated several new programs in order to promote brother unity and involvement. A new activity initiated by the Brothers at Large has been to write down the names of two or three Brothers present at each chapter meeting on separate sheets of paper, and pass the sheets around the room during chapter with the instructions to write a few positive comments about that person. The sheets are then given to the appropriate Brothers at the end of the chapter meeting. Overall, the response has been overwhelmingly positive and we feel this activity has really helped to make individual brothers feel welcome and appreciated. It is something we hope to continue in future semesters. Also at every chapter meeting, just as was done last year, the Brothers at Large provide a “fish bowl” in which members may deposit notes to be read during chapter. Though the container actually varies by week (our fish bowl has been everything from a smiley-face piggy bank to a Hanukkah candy dish), the chapter seems to enjoy having a forum for humorous comments as well as notes of thanks and encouragement to be read. The Brothers at Large feel that this has been a good semester for Delta Chi, and have witnessed improvements in the cohesion felt within our chapter. We have only positive predictions for the upcoming semester.