2011 Delta Chi Chapter History
The following is an overview of 2011 Delta Chi Chapter History.
Contents
National Convention 2011
At the 2011 National Convention that took place in Washington D.C., Delta Chi received its second National Award. We won Best in Region for the East region. The Chapter was very proud to receive this award and looks forward to more things to come.
Rush
The 2011 Rush year was led by Meghan Brisson, who built on top of what had been done the previous years, making the Rush process even better. She created a wonderful slideshow summarizing the current activities of the Chapter so the potential Initiates had an accurate idea of what our Chapter was like at the time.
The events are themed after the tripod in order to give the Rushes a clearer idea of what our organization is all about. Some new things this year were more activities for Team Builders like the game Tank, there was a card making event each semester for the patients of St. Luke’s, one celebrating Valentine’s Day and the other the Fall season. There was also a fun field day and trivia events reflecting the Scholarship leg of the tripod.
There were also many changes to the way we voted on the potential Initiates which successively decreased the length of the Chapter meetings when we would vote.
Upsilon & Phi Initiation
We welcomed 25 Upsilons in the Spring and 12 Phi's in the Fall as new Brothers. Also new this year was a rule passed by Nationals that Initiates are not allowed to attend ICR events so unfortunately, the Upsilons were unable to attend Alpha Beta’s Volleyball Tournament and the Phis were unable to attend our very own Delta Chi Kickball Tournament.
The Upsilon class gift gave us Marty, a giant inflatable duck that could be ridden down the river when Delta Chi makes their yearly trip to Alpha Beta.
The Upsilon class went above and beyond holding more than what was required and had two events for each leg of the tripod instead of just one. Their Fellowship events were Clue themed which included one event watching the movie Clue and another event playing a live game of Clue. They also had a fun Leadership event, working an arts and crafts table during Spring Fling. The Phi's had a great fundraising event working at the Goose and receiving part of the night’s profits.
The Tripod - Stand Out Events!
Scholarship highlights this year were a cake decorating event, how to save a life event, an Asian cultural night and a trip to the Lehigh Valley Zoo. We teamed up with the Asian Cultural Society for a big two hour learning experience (10/12). For the first hour Brothers learned how to make their own sushi rolls and during the second hour they either learned the dancing art of Tinikling or ink sumi drawing.
Some awesome Fellowship events were a Secret Valentine, Secret Santa and a bowling night. To get in spirit of fall and Halloween there was a pumpkin picking event (10/15). For pumpkin picking, Brothers went to a nearby farm where they had a huge pumpkin and gourd field, a hayride to get there, farm animals, carnival like food and small rides. Lots of big bright orange pumpkins found their way to Lehigh that day.
It was a great year for Leadership with a lot of big service events. Phi Sigma Pi did a fantastic job with Relay for Life. Along with having numerous Brothers participate and having a total of three teams, we also raised over 2,000 dollars for the organization. Relay had a lot activities ranging from live music performances, 3am Zumba class and much more. Another part was each team was responsible for a booth that they would run during the event. Delta Chi’s was a big success hosting mock matrimonies. For our Ad Hoc event we were able to have Brothers play with the kids of Broughal School in various activities and was fortunately also joined by our regional consultant Phillip Vaughan. There were four stations consisting of volley ball, basketball, yoga taught by Brothers and Zumba that was also led by Brothers. Everyone had a fun time mixing with the kids and afterward there were healthy refreshments for everyone.
For Spooktacular this Fall, Delta Chi was given the very big task of making a haunted house for the older kids. On October 18th, to help out, the Leadership committee had a make decorations event. Meeting in campus square Brothers made a giant spider, ghosts, scary eyes, fake hands and tombstones featuring many Brothers that meet interesting ends. On October 23rd, Brothers had a fantastic time scaring the older kids at Spooktacular. Using tables and black table clothes to make tunnels, massive amounts of Halloween decorations such as fake cobwebs, blood, dismembered hands and more. Brothers either dressed in black or in costume, wore masks, face paint or looked downright scarier popping out at random places to give everyone a fun scare including the Brothers themselves.
ICR
Some of the fun ICR events this year were a Phillie's game, Philly Cup, our kickball tournament and the always look forward to, Alpha Beta.
This year’s Apha Beta, instead of a hot sunny day, Brothers woke up to a stormy rainy morning. Where many teams did not show up, the Brothers of Delta Chi persevered, determined to have fun and claim first place for the second year. The on and off again pouring rain quickly turned the field into a mud bath with Brothers diving and splashing everywhere. Some even donned mud war paint showing that a little bit of inclement weather wouldn’t keep them down. By the end of the day though, the Stallions, Delta Chi’s A team, was only able to claim third. Defeat and the weather almost even stopped the traditional run to the river but 5 Brothers with Delta Chi pride kept it alive.
The weekend drew to a close with Saturday night’s party which was themed Superheroes and Villains. The night was filled with Superman, X-men, Batwoman, Quailman, AbeBROham Lincoln and an assortment of many other characters including Mermaid man and Barnacle Boy.
Dinner With Bros
To try and explore all that Bethlehem has to offer, Corresponding Secretary Courtney Buchanan started Saturday night PSP dinners. Each week a different restaurant would be picked to try out and whoever was available would go, hang out and enjoy good food during this non credit event. Some places Brothers went to were Horns, La Lupita, Sal’s, Tulum and the Goose.
Parent's Weekend
During parent’s weekend (11/5), Phi Sigma Pi held a tailgate to bring Brothers and families together. It was a fun bonding experience and great getting to meet each other’s family. Food was catered by Lehigh providing delicious burgers, hotdogs, brownies and more. Courtney Buchanan put this event together and it was a great success. Hopefully it will continue in the future now that the blue prints are laid out.
Brotherhood Retreat- Live Green
Corresponding Secretary, Courtney Buchanan, and Brothers at Large, Michelle Spicer and Sara Wing, planned this Fall's retreat, which was a day event at Illick’s Mill Park, with the theme of Earth with concepts of how we affect it and being green.
For teams, Brothers were divided into different elements such as soil, water, air, sun, trees, flower and animals.
The whole retreat kept to the theme by having Brothers bring reusable water bottles, not giving out paper directions, healthy food and other things. Teams had a lot of fun dressing up to represent their teams from painted faces and attached balloons. Brothers had fun participating in activities like balloon tag, nature hike and search, decorating tote bags for people, decorating a can to use as a pot and a relay race, reflecting all the legs of the tripod.
10 Years of Brotherhood
Brothers had a very nice event in the Asa Packer dining room on the third floor of the university center to celebrate Delta Chi’s Tenth Anniversary. The luncheon consisted of great food and dessert, a small trivia game on our Chapter’s history and three speakers which consisted of alumni Stella Maher, young alumni Andrew Kump and undergraduate Alyssa Pasquini each speaking about their role and experiences during their Chapter’s history. It was a very elegant event and gave the Brothers a great opportunity to honor our tenth anniversary as a Chapter.
Following the luncheon and continuing the celebratory spirit, was our Founder’s Day event. Brothers had a different Founder’s Day experience this year by being split into groups that would each have a part of the ritual which is how Initiates become Brothers. Through the educational and entertaining skits Brothers were able to get a better understanding of what it all truly means to become part of Phi Sigma Pi.
