chapter news

Alberta

The Alberta Chapter volunteered for Big Brothers Big Sisters with the sorority women of Kappa Alpha Theta and Delta Gamma. The brothers enjoyed building friendships with the women while playing with the children and providing a positive influence for the kids. The chapter also earned an overall GPA of 3.5, which was the highest average of all fraternity/sorority organizations at the University of Alberta.

Boise State

The Boise State Chapter had a successful spring semester. The men fundraised more than $3,000 for GSI and had their largest spring associate member class ever. The brothers also competed in the Boise State Greek Week and took home first place overall. During a brotherhood retreat in Cascade, Idaho, the chapter members enjoyed camping in a cabin, bonding with each other and planning future events. Toward the end of the semester, the chapter adopted a Boise city park, where the men conducted a clean-up day and will continue to maintain the premise weekly. At the Boise State Greek Awards, the men were named the Most Improved Chapter on campus.

In terms on philanthropy, the chapter co-sponsored a donation drive with the Boise State Student Leadership Center and a local middle school. The event had about 100 attendees who went out into the community and gathered supplies for Boise's refugee population. A week before the event, the chapter canvased several neighborhoods asking for furniture donations. On the day of the event, the men received calls informing them of donations to be picked up. They were able to fill an entire moving van. This event was so successful that the Student Involvement and Leadership Center established the drive as an annual event.

Bradley

For the third consecutive year, the Bradley Chapter won the Bradley IFC All-Sports Championship. Additionally, the men participated in Sexual Assault Awareness Month. They listened to speakers discussing domestic abuse and participated in Coffee with the Cops, an event dedicated to spreading campus awareness of sexual assault. The event helped fundraise for the Center for Prevention of Abuse. 

Chicago

The Chicago Chapter co-hosted a dog toy making philanthropy event with a sorority on campus. The two groups took donated T-shirts and braided them into dog toys for the Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago, a local animal shelter. About 100 toys were made for dogs in the shelter. 

Cornell

The Cornell Chapter co-hosted Delta Gamma Sorority’s fifth annual Anchor Jam competition to benefit the sorority’s national philanthropy, Service for Sight. The event is a dance competition between 13 Cornell fraternity/sorority chapters, all coached by sisters of Delta Gamma. The event concluded with a three-way tie resulting in a dance off to determine the winner. The chapter would like to thank vice president of administration Mike Ferranti, Cornell ’18, and philanthropy chairman Jonny Levenfield, Cornell ’19, for making the event possible. 

Culver-Stockton

In January, the men conducted their annual Homeless Rally, where they raised almost $2,000 for programs that support the homeless population. They also held a philanthropy event called Clicks for Cans, where college students donate their meal exchanges to provide cans for a local food pantry. The chapter raised more than $800 worth of cans for the Horizon Food Pantry. The amount would feed more than 1,000 people.  

Hamilton

This past spring, the Hamilton Chapter ushered in a brand new associate member class. The chapter holds high expectations for its newest members based on the community involvement of the brothers. Several brothers attended America's Greatest Heart Run & Walk at Utica College to help raise money in the fight against heart disease and stroke. Additionally, the brothers volunteered weekly at the Country Pantry to support families in need with nutritious food items. This semester, the chapter showed its competitive spirit and finished in the top three in basketball, softball and dodgeball intramurals. 

Illinois

The Illinois Chapter is planning its sixth summer work weekend at the chapter house. During this weekend, a group of dedicated alumni and about 20 energetic undergrads make repairs to the historic DU house. Past projects included adding new flooring to the second and third floor hallways, repairing the brick walkway, painting the outside wood trim, and renovating the kitchen. The group has also painted the main living area, seal coated the basement floor and replaced all of the wood paneling in the dining room. With any 90-year-old structure, continuous improvements are a necessity. This summer, the group’s plan is to paint the hallways and repair stucco and wood fascia. 

Indiana

In April, the Indiana Chapter co-hosted Bonnamu with Phi Mu. The event included local Bloomington performers and saw more than 600 attendees. The event raised more than $8,000 for both the Global Service Initiative and Children's Miracle Network. The chapter welcomed and initiated 22 new members into the brotherhood this spring. Additionally, the chapter received the Most Sustainable Chapter award at the 2016-2017 IU Greek Assessment & Awards and won the Greek Energy Challenge for three consecutive semesters. 

Lafayette

The Delta Upsilon Lafayette Chapter had a busy semester raising money for multiple causes. Through three philanthropy dances, which the chapter calls Spinnings, it raised a total of $600 for men's mental health and $300 for the family of a fellow Lafayette student who passed away during the semester. Along with this, the chapter held its inaugural Joey Towers Memorial Bike-a-thon, raising $8,340 for men's mental health. On the intramural front, the men won two volleyball tournaments and indoor soccer, as well as placed in second place in softball, ping pong and basketball.

Maryland Colony

The men of the Maryland Colony worked with the American Red Cross to help install 246 smoke alarms in Greenbelt, Maryland. The colony partnered with local volunteers, the police department and the fire department to complete the effort. The goal was to reduce the number of preventable deaths and injuries caused during home fires by installing the alarms free of charge. Due to the successful work this spring, the local Red Cross and community partners are planning to work with the Maryland Colony again in the fall as part of its Sound The Alarm installation and fire safety event. This is a nationwide effort to install 100,000 free smoke alarms in neighborhoods with a high risk for home fires.

Miami

This semester, the Miami Chapter initiated 29 associate members bringing the total membership to 92 brothers. The chapter paired with Delta Delta Delta sorority to host its annual Puddle Pull philanthropy event. Many fraternities and sororities participated in the tug-of-war styled event to raise funds for the Global Service Initiative and St. Jude's Children's Research Center. 

Michigan Tech

This semester, the Michigan Tech Chapter focused on improving its campus image through several events. A large campaign for the men was to create a snow statue at Michigan Tech’s Winter Carnival. The statue was built over the course of a month and was an improvement from previous statues. For Spring Fling, the brothers made it into the local newspaper for hosting a Frisbee challenge booth, which allowed the winners to paint a DU. At the campus Greek Awards, the chapter received the Most Improved GPA award and a $1,000 gift certificate for home improvement.

North Carolina

The North Carolina Chapter would like to congratulate Cristian Robinson, North Carolina ’18, on being admitted to UNC’s Order of the Bell Tower, the official student ambassadors and tradition keepers to the university; David Cuppett, North Carolina ’18, and Chris Antonello, North Carolina ’18, on being inducted into Gamma Sigma Alpha National Greek Academic Honor Society; and Justin Kiser, North Carolina ’20, on co-founding Roc Solid Carolina Club, an organization that provides services for children with cancer. 

Ohio State

The Ohio State Chapter had a memorable year in recruitment. With its biggest class in more than 25 years, the chapter gained 12 new brothers this spring. Vice president of recruitment Richard Flowers said, "Once our brotherhood found our common goal, we knew we could achieve anything." The brothers used social media advertising and community outreach to assist with the great recruitment success.

To add to the chapter’s successful year, each brother averaged eight hours of community service by volunteering at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, Ohio State's MLK Day of Service, College Mentors for Kids, and university sanctioned service trips. The chapter also participated Phi Sigma Rho's philanthropy, Phi Rho Your Boat, an event to benefit the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society.

Quinnipiac Colony

The Quinnipiac Colony attended QThon, the campus’ dance marathon, where the university raised more than $218,000 for Connecticut Children's Hospital. Nick Grasso, Quinnipiac ’19, was personally recognized at the event for raising more than $1,100. Additionally, the brothers won Greek Week. The chapter paired with the sisters of Phi Sigma Sigma sorority for the competition.  

Rochester

The Rochester Chapter would like to congratulate its graduating brothers: Adam Roman, Andrew Arjana, Arion Karimi, Dan Metherell, Josh Wolfgang, Lee Murphy, Loudon Blake, Mark Kenney, Michael Pagan, Nick Vohra, Nick Wachter, Owen Perlowski, Suneet Waghmarae, Tyler Vasquez-Dorn, Vito Martino, Wilfred Wallis and Yash Patel. The chapter is proud of its seniors for receiving jobs, pursuing graduate or medical school, or taking advantage of University of Rochester’s Take 5 program, a free fifth year to study points of interest. 

Rutgers

The brotherhood took part in Rutgers Dance Marathon, the largest student-run philanthropic event in New Jersey. Under the leadership of director of finance Damon Namin, Rutgers ’17, and his assistant Gurvinder Sidhu, Rutgers ’18, the men raised $40,452, the second highest amount raised out of IFC fraternities and fifth highest overall, for Embrace Kids Foundation. Sidhu will serve as the director of event logistics for next year's Dance Marathon.

Many brothers won awards at the annual Spring Greek Award Ceremony. These brothers are: Mike McCormick, Rutgers '18, Spirit of Service Award; Damon Namin, Rutgers '17, Outstanding Greek Man Award; Arnav Roy, Rutgers '18, Greek Award of Distinction; Vishnu Venkatesh, Rutgers '17, Greek Scholar Award.

San Diego State

The San Diego State Chapter reached its goal of establishing a 100-man chapter this spring semester. The chapter has also found success with the annual Aztec Dance Marathon. It had 10 brothers stay on their feet for the full 15-hour event. Together, they raised more than $6,000, the highest amount of any fraternity. This allowed them to bring home a Dance Marathon trophy for the second year in a row. The chapter looks forward to continuously improving as an organization, while managing its strong brotherhood and chapter size. 

San Jose

This spring semester, the San Jose Chapter hosted its second annual Delta Upsilon Duck Race. The event is a three-day competition between sorority members to be crowned the title of “Daisy Duck.” Each day gave the participants the opportunity to receive points. The woman with the most points wins the competition.

The Duck Race kicks off with a shirt sale a month prior to the event. The first event of the race is a painting contest called Canvas for Kids. Each contestant paints a canvas that best represents Jamaican culture and history. This is to help educate the fraternity/sorority community of the Global Service Initiative and provide a gift to the schools the program benefits. The race also consists of a coin jar donation day, relay races and more. Alpha Phi member Jada Cayentano became the newest Daisy Duck. The whole event raised a total of $5,525.48 for the Global Service Initiative.

South Carolina

The brothers of the South Carolina Chapter volunteered for the 2017 Midlands Heart Walk at Colonial Life Arena. The men helped set up the walk, direct traffic and transferred more than 4,000 bottles of water to different locations on the course. The walk helps fight heart disease and stroke.

Swarthmore

Throughout the academic year, the Swarthmore Chapter volunteered at All Riders Up, an organization that provides therapeutic horse riding for riders with special needs. The men hosted a 3-on-3-basketball tournament and a dodgeball tournament. The event raised funds for the horse farm, while encouraging other students to volunteer for the organization, as well.

The chapter held an Alumni Pig Roast to celebrate the brotherhood. At the roast, the following brothers received awards: Dr. Christian B. Alfinsen Scholarship Award to Charles Kuchenbrod, Swarthmore ’18; William F. Lee Sr. Service Award to Steven Matos-Torres, Swarthmore ’17; Alumnus of the Year Award to Matthew Meltzer, Swarthmore ’06. 

Syracuse Colony

The colony partnered with Delta Phi Epsilon sorority to host the first ever Delta Dodgeball, two dodgeball tournaments held in the university’s gymnasium. The event had more than 20 fraternity/sorority organizations and clubs participate and raised more than $2,000 for the two organizations’ philanthropies. The men also won Alpha Epsilon Pi’s handball tournament and raised more than $1,000 for SU’s Relay for Life event. The colony participated in spring recruitment and brought in 17 new men to the colony, for an overall total of 76 brothers.

Toronto

The Toronto Chapter was busy over the spring semester. It hosted two philanthropy events in support of the Global Service Initiative. The men focused on maintaining their brotherhood by utilizing retreats and cultural events. The chapter would like to wish the best of luck to its graduating brothers who are attending law school, graduate school or newfound jobs. 

Vermont Colony

The Vermont Colony has been heavily involved in the campus community. The men have participated in many service projects around Burlington, Vermont, ranging from trash clean-ups to landscaping. At the University of Vermont’s Fraternity & Sorority Life Night, the colony received the Excellence in Campus Involvement award. 

Washington 

Many members of the Washington Chapter have found personal successes. Two brothers were successful in sorority male pageants: Jack Campbell, Washington ’20, in Alpha Gamma Delta’s Mr. Greek; and Connor Lough, Washington ’18, as the DU Anchorman in Delta Gamma’s Anchorsplash competition.

In addition, Will Sanchez, Washington ’20, was granted a Merit Award from the UW Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity for academic achievement. Brian Kim, Washington ’20, recently started working in the Hofstetter Lab in the Neurological Surgery department at the UW. Kim is a student research assistant and currently researching a treatment for traumatic spinal cord injuries. 

Wisconsin

At the end of Philanthropy Week at University of Wisconsin, the brothers hosted their first North Frances St. Block Party. They provided a dunk tank, live funk music, races and grilled food. Friends in other fraternities and sororities especially enjoyed dunking brothers in the dunk tank. The men raised more than $200 for GSI.

Along with fundraising at the Block Party, the chapter launched a greeks4good.com link that accepted small donations from friends and family for Global Service Initiative efforts.