Delta Theta Colony Newsletter Vol 1 Issue 2 - October 2017

Tiger TalesNews from the Delta Theta Colony of Chi PhiVolume 1, Issue 2  October 2017 From Left; Gabe Nadolski, DQ’19; Past Grand Alpha Jim Soderquist, A’67; Past Grand Alpha Ron Frank, ND’83; Will Greene, DQ’18; Current Grand Alpha Bob Walker, ID’ 70; and Past Grand Alpha Dick Gilbert, R’62; pose with the National Awards earned by the ColonyDelta Theta takes top honors at Chi Phi CongressBy Gabriel Nadolski ǻĬ’19 Speaking of success, Delta Theta had a consid- erable amount of recognition at the Chi Phi Congress. This past June, I had the honor of representing Brother Braxton Baird won the National Award forthe Delta Theta Colony at the Chi Phi Congress in Athletic Achievement (originally established by theRichmond, VA. Along with Past Alpha Will Greene, Delta Theta Chapter!) for excellence in swimming bywe met other Chi Phi’s from all across the country. setting six campus records last year. Brother CJ Con-This was a unique method of learning about how to run nelly won the William D. Parr Outstanding Zeta Awarda successful chapter. We also saw how well our colony for his amazing job as our Historian & Ritual Chair.compared to other colonies nationally, and took note of Delta Theta was also recognized for excellent Publicthe same problems they were having that we have ex- Relations with the Outstanding Communications &perienced as well. These are a couple reasons why I Public Relations award. Finally, our Chapter Advisoralways leave a national Chi Phi event with a lot more Jonathan “CD” Rawls also received a Distinguishedknowledge than when I came in. Communication Service Citation for his service to Chi Phi. Without hisamong chapters is an important backbone of our frater- efforts, we would not have received one of the top Ac-nity, as the sharing of successes and failures strength- creditation scores among all the Chi Phi chapters andens other chapters who are looking to make their own Colonies in the entire country!success and avoid common mistakes.

2 Tiger Tales From the From the Alpha… Alumni Bradley Meyers Chair… DQ’19 Gabriel Nadolski And we’re back! Another exciting year awaits DQ’19us in Tigertown, full of new opportunities in academics, So much has been accomplished in just one calendar year! We went from going to Georgia Tech tosports, and brotherhood. Let me begin by introducing initiate the founding fathers to welcoming twenty new brothers on our own in less than 365 days. We are inmyself. My name is Bradley Myers, a sophomore politi- the midst of rapid growth at Delta Theta, and this opens the door for plenty of exciting opportunities. Wecal science major from the small town of Hartsville, are working on strengthening our presence on campus through philanthropy events, intramural sports, and ourSouth Carolina, and the Alpha of the Delta Theta Colo- float for homecoming. In addition to our efforts in the community, we are continually searching for ways tony of the Chi Phi Fraternity. Apart from Alpha, I was give our time through service.also the previous Beta for the colony. The colony itself Since I am a Junior, a few of these goals will not be reached until after I have graduated. However,had a great summer, with many brothers vacationing most of the foundation work still needs to be complet- ed, and we are hoping to be chartered next year! Nowtogether, the Executive Council going on its first retreat, is a fantastic time to become involved with Delta Thetaand of course scoring the second highest on Accredita-tion nationwide, chapters included! We hope to buildupon that momentum and turn it into an incredible andmemorable semester for all the brothers, including our20 newly initiated brothers. We hope that you will joinus in our journey toward chartering, and as always, GoTigers! . 2017 Executive Council again. We will not be able to reach our full potential by our efforts alone. To achieve greatness, we need theAlpha (President) - Bradley Meyers DQ‘20 help of our alumni Hartsville, SC; Sophomore; Political Science If you would like for us to share any personal news in our next newsletter, please email us atBeta (Vice-President) - Hunter Bond DQ’20 [email protected] Laurens, SC; Sophomore; Electrical EngineeringGamma (Secretary) - Seth Hester DQ’20 Through the generous support of the Univer- Greenville, SC; Sophomore; Computer Science sity, the Executive Council of Delta ThetaDelta (Treasurer) - Karl Martin DQ’20 is able to meet weekly in Hendrix Hall, in a Churchville, PA; Sophomore; Mechanical Engineering boardroom style at- mosphere. Every twoEpsilon (Sergeant–at-Arms) - Jason Brule DQ’20 weeks, all Committee Chairs also meet here N. Charleston, SC; Sophomore; Mechanical Engineering to exchange ideas and report to the BetaZeta (Historian) - CJ Connelly DQ’19 Prosperity, SC; Junior; Industrial EngineeringEta (Risk Manager) - Benjamin Bloom DQ’20 Gaithersburg, MD; Sophomore; Business AdministrationTheta (Membership Educator) - Braxton Baird DQ’19 Lexington, NC; Junior; GeneticsIota (Recruitment Chairman) - Gabriel Nadolski DQ‘19 Barre, MA; Junior; Biochemistry

Tiger Tales 3From the New need to find our way back to Clemson, or somethingMember Class along those lines? However, it was not - instead it wasPresident a more enriching experience where the new member class and I actually learned something that grew us asBy Will Owen, ǻĬ’21 Chi Phi’s and as men. The five weeks of new member education were Now my favorite ritual was about the Hobartweeks that I will never forget. Each ritual proved as order. This ritual was not only my favorite but in mymeaningful as the one preceding it - all leading up to opinion, taught a most important value the most effec-Initiation, but I’m getting ahead of myself. The first tively – Brotherhood. This ritual defined what Broth-meeting after pinning wasn’t exactly what I expected. erhood was to Chi Phi, and really solidified my deci-All the new members were told about general Greek sion to join this fraternity.life on campus, the safety procedures, and all of thegeneral rules for membership and Greek life. It wasn’t The roughest week of my time as a new mem-the ominous dark room, candles, robes, and readings I ber was Homecoming week. This was also the weekthought it would be. However, when we were told to that I had an exam and a paper due. While I wasmeet at Tilman Hall to be taken to our next meeting I stressed the whole week I also grew a bond with all ofimmediately had thoughts running through my head the brothers and new members as we worked togetherabout what this meeting could be. Would we be on the Homecoming float.dropped off at some location without our phones and I wouldn’t have asked for my last week as a new member to be any different because I knew that all the people that were helping me study and were building the float were the people that I would want to be my brothers for life. And they are.Delta Theta on the

4 Tiger Tales Tailgating TraditionBy Gabriel Nadolski ǻĬ’19 Delta Theta has been far from shy about showingoff their tent, which the Colony acquired last semester! Itattracted many potential new members rushing fraternitiesat Smokers. Our small brotherhood filled our massive tentwith a barbeque buffet and tailgating games. The tent wasfull of freshman socializing with brothers, and led to alarge New Member Class this semester. We also regularly use our tent to host a tailgate atevery home football game next to Geer Hall at the Shoe-boxes. We have food and plenty of games for everyone,and we have even enjoyed the company of a few distin-guished alumni and parents from time to time. We hopeto see more alumni stop by the tent for the remaininghome games this season! Fall Home Tailgates Saturday, October 7th vs. Wake Forest Saturday, October 28th vs. Georgia Tech Saturday, November 11 vs. Florida State Univ Saturday, November 18 vs. The Citadel

Tiger Tales 5Being a Delta Theta is a Commitment to ServiceBy Brandon Russ ǻĬ’20 A lot of changes are happening to our com-munity service program, and I’m excited to updateeveryone with our current progress. Being a memberof Chi Phi means we emphasize service and philan-thropy, and so far our brothers show that. In less that2 months, our brothers have already donated over six-ty hours in helping Clemson’s community and thesurrounding areas. Our community service system focuses ongetting involved with other organizations on campus.We require every brother to participate a minimum of15 hours per semester, and 30 for the year. One thingwe just started this year is hours for philanthropy andpercent nights. If one of our brothers participates withanother Greek organizations philanthropy event, theywill receive 2 hours towards their 15 hour goal. These2 hours reflect their impact, by raising money for anorganization, and getting Chi Phi involved acrosscampus. By doing this, our brothers get to bond overfun and meaningful events, as well as network withother Greek organizations. The same idea goes for percent nights. It’svery popular now for Greek organizations to holdpercent nights at surrounding restaurants, such atGroucho’s or Chipotle. A brother will receive 1 hourfor spending $10 at a given percent night, where allthe proceeds benefit a charitable organization. Looking ahead, we have many events plannedfor the brotherhood. In October alone, we alreadyhave 14 service opportunities lined up! Personally,I’m networking as much as possible with on and offcampus organizations, getting involved every chancewe get. Coming up soon, we plan on working withSpecial Olympics, Clemson Life, the Boys and GirlsClub of Greenville, and the Clemson Botanical Gar-dens. All of these opportunities are meant to strength-en the brotherhood and promote us as better men. At the end of the semester, we hope to haveover 1,470 hours donated to service! This is an amaz-ing goal, and my committee and I will work hard toaccomplish it.

6 Tiger Tales D T E H L E T T A A

Tiger Tales 7 Message from Founding Alpha Kirk Thomas, DQ ‘05 Brothers, Since graduating from Clemson University in August 2005, I’ve also enjoyed quite the journey – Exciting times are indeed upon us once again! starting as a timid young fellow in the corporate worldLet me digress for a moment… I remember – like it as a lowly beer sales rep while starting “my life”; soonwas yesterday – April 16, 2001. The day when 18 of coming face-to-face with this great country’s biggestus left Johnstone F (4th floor) and made the 20 minute recession since the Great Depression. Like all of you, Imarch to the Clemson House Shanklin room. We were powered through those tough times and have sincesoon to be inducted as Chi Phi new members to form moved 6 times in 12 years while finally landing in Dal-the Clemson Colony of Chi Phi, the nation’s oldest las, Texas. As I’ve “aged” over the years, I’ve held onfraternity but the newest at Clemson. It was the culmi- to my most valuable friendships from college whilenation of months of work, searching for the national striving to maintain one constant theme across all as-fraternal organization that best fit what we, as boys pects of my life – “Be the Best”. As I reflect back onbecoming men, endorsed what we had to offer. Clem- the last decade and half, I can say, unequivocally, thatson was recently named TIME magazine’s public col- my time at Clemson, specifically, my experienceslege of the year and our football team was coming off through Chi Phi, have helped to shape the person I amthe heels of a #16 ranking under the impeccable lead- today.ership of our second-year head coach, Tommy Bowd-en (that wouldn’t last long). The world was our oyster. So, after nearly 10 years since Delta Theta’sLittle did we know that the journey had just begun and presence last presence on Clemson’s campus, we’renone of knew what was in store. back! A lot has happened over that decade – many of us are married with kids, we go to bed at 9 o’clock and Over the next 4 years we grew – from “Keg in wake up at 6am to face the rigors of world, we thinkthe Courts” in Calhoun Courts to parties at the Little twice before tagging our friends on facebook, and mostHouse. From humble hodge podge squads on the in- importantly, Clemson is good at football again! Buttramural fields to the best dressed group in, what was paramount to all else, Chi Phi is back up and running atlater anointed by U.S. News and World Report, as the the institution that has shown us the best time of our#1 campus in America for intramurals. From a group lives.of 18, later to dwindle to 13, to a group of 40 – withthe second-best GPA among all-male Greek organiza- I look forward to reconnecting with many oftions at Clemson. We rolled deep – into the bars at you while continuing the unparalleled camaraderie I’veClemson, to the Chi Phi’s College of Excellence and enjoyed with so many of you over the years as we workCongress, back onto the intramural fields – collecting together to support this new group on their path to-the Gehring Award for best chapter in the Order, earn- wards re-chartering. A tip of the cap is in order to theing the Director’s Cup for best overall intramural pro- new guys, nearly 50 strong, as they pick up the torch togram at Clemson (our banner still hangs in Fike, by carry it into the next phase of our great and continualthe way), building, at the time, the biggest fraternity existence. These young gentlemen are determined tohouse in the great state of South Carolina as we ulti- reestablish Chi Phi as the movers and shakers – atmately received our Charter as the Delta Theta Chap- Clemson and throughout the National Order – for yearster of Chi Phi. (Remember those 10 weeks living in to come. Let’s work together to Be the Best again.the cockroach-infested Clemson Suites? I don’t.) We Let’s have some fun!did all of this while having fun and sticking to ourmotto – “Be the Best”. Man, oh man. We were living Eternally, Fraternally,the dream. Kirk

8 Tiger TalesWe want to hear from you! Send your comments, questions, news & notes to [email protected] following alumni are “lost” from the National or University records… We have already cutthis list in half since our last newsletter through your help, so any info you can provide to helpus re-establish contact will be greatly appreciated!Nick Bascom, 2008 Keith Godfrey, 2005 Ryan Sands, 2005Nicholas Caramancio, 2008 Kevin Hackett, 2008 Jackson Sparks, 2008Richard Chesser, 2010 Thomas Lawton, 2008 Adam Swift, 2008Kyle Dalton, 2007 Christopher Malliet, 2010 Jeff Thomas, 2008Jacob Davis, 2010 Alton Meekins, 2008 Ricard Very, 2006Alexander Fanshel, 2008 Michael Morrone, 2007 John Warren, 2010Michael Francis, 2008 Taylor Pitelka, 2007Nicholas Garitano, 2009 Chris Rubens, 2019 Over 110 of our alumni are currently on a closed Facebook group, and we would like to eventually get everyone there! It’s a great way to network and revive old friendships… Just search Facebook for “Chi Phi Delta Theta” and click on “Join Group” and you’ll be added within a short period of time! Chapter EternalIt is with a heavy heart that we notify our alumni of the passing to Chapter Eternal of Brother Doug Gibson, DQ’05Doug and his older brother Mark died as a result of a car accident as they both were travelling to a trade show torepresent their company in Orlando, FL on January 5, 2014 .

Tiger Tales 9Chapter Excellence Fund Chi Phi at Homecoming a Great Way to Support By Jeremy Lutz ǻĬ’20 Delta Theta This year was the Colony’s first year participat- ing in the Annual Clemson Homecoming Float Build! Wouldn’t it be great if our Alumni Associa- We had an amazing time partnering with Alpha Phition had an endowment that would provide an aca- sorority and Alpha Tau Omega for this year’s event. Ademic scholarship to every member of our Chapter? little background about Clemson University’s home-Or a funding source we could use to send every un- coming: each of the floats are built on Bowman Field.dergraduate officer to National Programs? Imagine Organizations get one entire week from Noon on Sun-endowing a scholarship in honor of the Chapter’s day, October 1st to Friday afternoon, October 13th. Afounders or as a tribute to those members who have week for this huge amount of time definitely equatespassed into the Chapter Eternal. some late nights and early mornings! Chi Phi recognizes that to build better men, The theme for this year’s float build waswe must build better Chapters. Chapter strength has a “Orange Crush.” The theme centered on the play thatdirect impact on the quality of one’s undergraduate won Clemson the 2016 National Championship: theexperience. Chapter Excellence Funds provide a symbolic throw of Deshaun Watson to Hunter Renfrowmechanism for Alumni to make tax-deductible con- — The play that was constantly broadcasted through-tributions to a restricted account that can only be out the nation. Every Clemson fan will forever remem-spent on funding scholarships and educational grants ber that play and it will go down in history as one offor members of a particular Chapter. the most exciting final minutes in college football we have ever seen. The theme also was about the general A Chapter Excellence Fund (\"CEF\") is a sep- crush everyone has towards Clemson.arate account held within the umbrella of the Chi PhiEducational Trust that is restricted for the exclusive Delta Theta had all our 48 members constantlybenefit of an individual Chapter and its members. working during the day and night on the float through-IRS regulations and Trust policies govern all restrict- out the entire week. In total, we put in over 750 hoursed accounts and CEFs. towards building our float with the help of our other two partners. We interpreted the theme as our full out A Chapter Excellence Fund can be used in love for Clemson and how SOLID we believe in thethree primary ways: (1) by awarding scholarships and school. Even Dabo stopped by to admire our work!grants for any educational purpose consistent with Overall, an amazing week, an awesome build, andIRS regulations, (2) by investing the funds in a spe- some great memories! We can’t wait for next year!cial loan to your House Corporation for housing im-provements or (3) for fundraising purposes to supportyour CEF. The Delta Theta Colony recently established aChapter Excellence Fund as a way to accept gifts forassisting the Colony and its members. If you are in-terested in making a contribution, contact LauraLandry at The Chi Phi Educational Trust [email protected] or 800-849-1824

10 Tiger TalesMeet the Newest Members Delta Theta Colonyof the Delta Theta Colony New Member ProgramDakota Avera, Columbia, SC, Engineering By Braxton Baird ǻĬ’19Matthew Beach, Decatur, GA, EngineeringJake Canavan, Scotch Plains, NJ, Chemistry Delta Theta just finished a successful NewJay Carl, Media, PA, Computer Science Member process by initiating 20 new Brothers intoIsaiah del Campbell, Flowery Branch, GA, Engineering the Fraternity on October 8th, 2017. This class almostJack Grozier, Haddonfield, NJ, Engineering doubled our size and is composed of men that areKarr Hersh, Portsmouth, VA, Engineering looking forward to bettering the fraternity and theAlex Hoffman, Canal Fulton, OH, Engineering campus as a whole. Many of the new brothers are inRyan Irwin, Coral Springs, FL, Engineering the Honors College and others are involved in otherSohan Kotecha, Charleston, SC, Engineering organizations across campus. We did not just getColby Krimm, Greer, SC, Mathematical Sciences quantity this semester, but we also recruited qualityDrake Lewis, Arlington Heights, IL, Engineering this semester.Alex Long, Orlando, FL, BioengineeringFedey Martinez, Summerville, SC, Health Sciences They were initiated the weekend of Home-Will Owen, Pendleton, SC, Computer Science coming here at Clemson, thus ending the five-weekAaron Toler, Ft. Mill, SC, Engineering New Member Education program. It is not a normalJack Troiano, Barrington, RI, Mechanical Engineering practice for a colony to be allowed an extension onBreandan Van Cleave, Troy, MI, Mechanical the four weeks that is customary for the current Na- tional new member program. We were granted per- Engineering mission from the National office to have five weeksEric Vo, Aiken, SC, Engineering for the brothers and new members get to know eachMiles Weiss, Simpsonville, SC, Economics & other more effectively, and to allow more time for the new members to learn what it means to be a Chi Phi. Accounting We had one of the largest new member classes among Clemson fraternities this fall, which is an in- credible achievement for a colony. But it is not just about the numbers. We have received a group of men that are determined to Be the Best at whatever they do. They all strive for good grades, and for Delta Theta to be admired and respected by everyone at Clemson as a model for what a fraternity should be.

Tiger Tales 11Fundraising PowerhouseBy Eric Strickland ǻĬ’20 The Delta Theta Colony recently participated in Founding Father and Charter Alpha of the newlyan amazing fundraiser at the Music Midtown festival in re-chartered Gamma Zeta Chapter at UNC-Wilmington,Atlanta this September. It was one of the biggest Brian Piccirilli, GZ’16 (cousin of founding father Joeevents the colony has done together to date, with the Piccirilli, DQ‘04) stops by the Music Midtown tent tofunds raised going towards chartering expenses for the share Chi Phi Experiences with the Delta Theta crew.Colony. The fundraiser consisted of selling beverages toconcert goers all weekend at the festival craft beer gar-den. A lot of planning went into this event. Our loca-tion had to be approved, and vendors’ credentials hadto be given to every member; nearly all brothers andnew members participated, and with the event being inAtlanta—two hours away from Clemson— transporta-tion, work and break schedules, and managers andtraining had to be a part of the planning. Brothers andnew members had to run registers and serve beveragesfor tens of thousands of people — and all tips benefit-ted the chapter. Once the work began it was a long and busyweekend, but despite the hard work the brothers had agreat time working so close to one another and beingthere for each other. On top of that, the amount offunds raised greatly exceeded expectation, so the fund-raising event was a big success for the colony. Manythanks to the parents who hosted some 40 membersovernight to allow us to make this project a success!

E-MAIL: [email protected] WEBSITE (Coming Soon) FACEBOOK: facebook.com/ChiPhiCU/ INSTAGRAM: chiphiclemson Send us news and info… Rekindle contact with Other alumni…. Support the rechartering of the Delta Theta Chapter... Tiger TalesDelta Theta Colony Newsletter 100 Norris Hall Clemson, SC 29634