Alpha Beta Chapter

Alpha Beta Chapter (Founded 5 March 1988) is located at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. The Chapter was founded by Sigma Chapter alumnus Mike McQueney (Σ 787) and is a member of the Capitol Region.

Alpha Beta Chapter, 2006

Chapter History

Founding

In the late 1980s, four dedicated graduating Sigma brothers made a pledge to do their share in helping the fraternity expand. Each brother continued their education at a new university and they pledged to each other and the fraternity to start new chapters at these schools. Since no new chapters had successfully chartered and remained active in 50 years, you can imagine the excitement when all four of these brothers accomplished their mission. Alpha Beta was the first successful Alpha Chapter and started the rebirth of the fraternity. The founders (in order) were Mike McQueney (AB), Jeff Johnson (AG), Jamie (AD), and Dave Eschelman (AE). According to Mike, Jeff wanted to be the first one to start a chapter in the new wave and the competition was fierce, but Mike won by 14 days with the Alpha Beta Chapter at the University of Maryland at College Park! GO TERPS!

Mike McQueney came to UMD to pursue his graduate degree in Biochemistry. Amazingly he had time to induct 16 brothers on March 5, 1988 and guide them through their first few semesters. Alpha Beta started out as a colony, meaning it started with a small number of brothers and grew outward instead of starting with enormous numbers and shrinking downward. The 16 charter brothers then expanded greatly the following semester into such numbers that the chapter had a very difficult time defining its identity and creating a sense of brotherhood. The fraternity began to question what it meant to be a brother and many brothers did not take the Tripod seriously. Something had to be done.

Early Years

In the Fall 1991 semester, Alicia Feddor, the President of Alpha Beta, called in a special group counselor to work with the chapter. Enough people believed in Phi Sigma Pi to make it into something great, but the chapter needed help defining goals and expectations. The counselor worked wonders for the group and some major decisions still in place in Alpha Beta came from these sessions. For instance, we switched the term of office from academic to calendar years so that officers would have access to the past officers and have better training. The fraternity also established a membership cap of 70 brothers with the hopes of preventing fragmentation and loss of identity.

During the spring of 1993, AB put together the first ever large interchapter event (the brain child of Dave Fries) with the volleyball tournament. Visiting brothers paid less than $5 to attend and stayed over for a huge party. Each year the party's theme changes and each year more and more brothers attend as the event becomes a "don't miss" in the fraternity. In Spring 1996 Omicron unseated the Alpha Beta team who had won the coveted title since the first tournament.

During 1994, AB experienced a consolidation of its institutions and the feelings of brotherhood. While Christy Razzano was president, fraternity spirit was realized, and a chapter pride developed. We expanded our traditional interchapter ties and created new friendships among other chapters as we expanded our national recognition. AB also assisted Derek Simmons, a Rho brother who also started Alpha Tau, in chartering two new chapters in Washington, D.C - Beta Lambda at American University and Beta Mu at George Washington University. Christy, Katy Razzano (her twin and VP) and Suzanne Moore (Chapter Historian) helped Derek with the colonization process, including interviews, meet nights, and chapter involvement. AB brothers took littles from these new chapters to guide them into Phi Sigma Pi. AB lines still run through Beta Mu (and Gamma Pi from similar work of Sharon Lilly in 1997).

The end of Spring semester proved to all the brothers that AB was truly something amazing. Attendance was the highest it had ever been and active brotherhood reached its cap. Initiation became more intense and selective and service and fundraising took on new meaning to the chapter. The service chairs Chris Reynolds and Adrienne Tinana created service handbooks explaining the purpose of each service project and we all learned not only to do it for the hours, but because it meant something. During this time, we also expanded the scholarship aspect of our tripod. WE wanted more than just good grades and we established the cultural event criteria to encourage brothers to get involved in the arts, lectures, theater, and other scholastic and cultural opportunities in D.C. This "cultural event" criteria would later evolve into the scholarship committee and semester requirement, which would spread nationally to chapters everywhere.

We also created the scholarship award, the Richard V. Durand Outstanding Scholarship Award. This award is only given to someone who excels dramatically in their academic field while also maintaining active and consistent brotherhood. Several new positions were created or expanded on. VP Katy Razzano, who was secretary under Nicole, proposed changing the secretary position into three separate positions. The secretary position split into three separate entities with individual, manageable, responsibilities. Christy, who had served as Historian under Nicole, also pushed to increase the role of Historian by adding more responsibilities to ensure that the chapter doesn't lose site of the past. The Outreach Committee got underway with starting alumni newsletters and interchapter relations. AB was one of the first chapters to formalize an interchapter relations position. Not all the suggestions and decisions were popular, but they effectively consolidated AB as more than an institution, it was a brotherhood.

By Fall 1994, AB had reached top 5 status nationally and was informed that we would be hosting National Convention. We increased our name on campus through intramural sports and other activities. The bonds of brotherhood were so incredibly strong. By convention, AB was at one of the highest points in history. AB received its first national award. We won the McClure Single Service Award for our work with the CHOICE program. The chapter tutored and mentored DC area adolescents whom had gotten into some trouble. At the end of the semester, the chapter wanted to do something special for them. Chris Renyolds put together an incredible carnival, complete with games and guest athletes from a variety of sports at UMD. However, the most famous and influential were Joe Smith (of the Golden State Warriors) and Mark Mason (of the Dallas Cowboys). The project intended to inspire these students to stay in school. These athletes were their role models and their opinions meant a lot. The athletes played with the children, took pictures, and signed autographs. When AB won this award, brothers broke down and cried. Not because we won, but because the project had meant so much to us, especially those who directly took part in the mentorship program. The recognition of something that meant so much to us filled us all with great emotion and pride.

Another highlight from this convention was a homecoming of sorts. Two extremely dedicated AB brothers had transferred to other universities. Jon Pinto, and Alpha Beta service chair and motivator extraordinaire transferred to UCONN and started Beta Pi. Denise Barnes, another AB service chair, transferred to UNC-Wilmington and started Beta Omicron. Or AB brothers, along with our new chapters in DC, received their charters at the 1993 Convention in Baltimore. AB took pride in their achievements and great joy in sharing this day with them. Additionally, Towson University (Gamma Pi) received a charter in Spring 1997 thanks to AB brother Sharon Lilly. Also, Christy Razzano started the Chesapeake Area Alumni Chapter soon after her graduation in Spring 1995.

Alpha Beta Chapter Car Wash, 2006

Alpha Beta increased its name recognition nationally and locally in 1995 under Adam Feinburg. In the Spring of 1995, AB hosted the first ever regional conference during our Founder's Day weekend. AB invited presidents from other chapters to speak on topics in which their chapters excelled. The National Vice President of Chapter Development Lindsay Fernandez and then chapter consultant Betsy Robinson (now Jaquith) also spoke at the seminars and banquet. The National President Jeff Johnson spoke at our formal that year and AB presented two alumni awards to alumni not of AB. Phil Morrison of Alpha Lambda and Colleen Dougherty of Alpha Theta provided a great deal of support for AB and created role models for graduating AB brothers to follow. Coincidentally, both of these brothers received the National Distinguished Service Key at the Convention in the fall of 1995 in Norfolk, VA.

The summer of 1995 Grand Chapter meeting gave AB the opportunity to really speak out against several issues that we felt were detrimental to the fraternity and the concepts of brotherhood. In conjunction with Tau and Alpha Rho, we spoke out for chapter rights, influenced votes, and created an important precedent for critically thinking about the proposed changes to the nation Constitution. Because AB brothers were pioneers in the road tripping phenomenon, many chapters present already knew us and respected our opinions.

During the Fall of 1995, Adam Feinburg also chair Maryland's Homecoming committee giving Phi Sigma Pi a big boost in exposure on campus. His involvement with so many other campus groups helped place Phi Sigma Pi members in leadership roles all over campus. He was instrumental in setting up the Professional Fraternity Council here at UMD and the first president was an AB brother. He was also awarded the Richard C. Todd and Claudia Pennock Todd Tripod Scholarship at the National convention in Norfolk. He was the third brother to receive this honor, which is the only national ward that a single brother can win for his or her chapter.

The Active Chapter

The current chapter...

Past Chapter Presidents

• (1988)
• (1989)
• (1990)
• Alicia Feddor (1991)
• (1992)
• (1993)
• Christy Razzano (1994)
• (1995)
• (1996)
• (1997)
• Brian Smith (1998)
• Kristin O'Planick (1999)
• Kimberly Chwan (2000)
• Jimmy Brown (2001)
• (2002)
• Alyssa Watzman (2003)
• Brandon Thompson (2004)
• Kelly Anne Shelton (2005)
• Andrew Cluster (Spring 2006)
• Arnie Seipel (Fall 2006-2007)
• Scott Malecki (2008-current)

Initiate Classes

Main Article: List of Alpha Beta Chapter Initiate Classes

Chapter Events & Activities

Volleyball Weekend

Alpha Beta's annual volleyball tournament and weekend of activities has become a staple in Phi Sigma Pi. Started in 1993 by Alpha Beta Brother Dave Fries, it was the first inter-chapter event, and remains one of the largest in the nation. In 2008, over 250 Brothers from other chapters, from Gamma Epsilon at the University of Florida to Beta Epsilon at Syracuse University, attended the event. It is held in the Spring semester each year.

Other Event or Activity

This event is...

Other Event or Activity

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Notable Alumni

• Mike McQueney (1988)

Founding Member

DSK 1992

• Christy Razzano

DSK 1998

• Katy Razzano

Rolla F. Wood Graduate Scholarship recipient, 2006

Chapter Honors and Awards

National Awards

• 1999 Top Ten Chapter Award
• 1999 Jeffrey L. Johnson National Chapter Fellowship Award
• 2000 Charles W. Chance Alumni Award
• 2000 C.H. McClure Single Service Award (little league clean-up)
• 2000 Jeffrey L. Johnson National Chapter Fellowship Award
• 2002 Outstanding Initiate Program Award
• 2002 Most Spirited Chapter Award
• 2004 Joseph Torchia Outstanding Chapter Award
• 2004 Outstanding Risk Management Award
• 2004 Most Traveled Chapter
• 2005 Dr. Eldo L. Hendricks Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Programming
• 2005 Top in Region Award
• 2007 Top in Region Award
• 2008 Most Traveled Chapter
• 2008 Charles W. Chance Alumni Award
• 2008 Outstanding Service Project Award
• 2008 Top In Region Award - Capitol Region (Tie with Alpha Rho - Virginia Tech)
• 2008 Joseph Torchia Outstanding Chapter Award

Other Awards

• Key of the City of Havre de Grace, MD (1999)

Further Resources

• Alpha Beta Chapter Website
• University of Maryland Website