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Exec Board/Advisors Retreat
On January 23, 2021 the Executive Board and members of the Chapter Officers Advisors gathered in Slippery Rock and conducted the retreat to plan for 2021. with COVID still an issue social distancing and pizza were critical to the success of the event! Brother Mitch Nolan (honorary member of the chapter) zoomed n from IHQ to conduct an hour long session on recruitment.
The chapter is in the process of gathering one of the largest pledge classes since recolonization with six bids being accepted so far this semester. Though a successful start, a priority is being placed on making sure an even faster start is in place for this fall. Even better news was recently reported that SRU President Behre has announced, for the fall semester beginning August 23, 2021 that SRU classes are tentatively scheduled to resume with university residence halls operating near capacity and in person learning scheduled to expand to over 80% of all classes. He expects that the community will still be wearing masks when gathering together and there may be restrictions on large gatherings. Finally, President Collins is pleased to report that for the fall 2020 semester the Chapter Grade Point average reported by the University was 2.9 and the chapter continues to show a steady improvement.
Zeta Alpha Golf Outing
The 28th Zeta Alpha Alumni Golf Outing was the largest attended outing since it inception with over 70 attendees during the day. Here are some highlights:
Nearly 30 percent of the attendees were composed of recent graduates or currentmembers which is a testament to a connection that is being made and strengthened between the past and the future of the Zeta Alpha Chapter.
Every attendee on Saturday received a FREE hotdog and drink complements of the Zeta Alpha Alumni Association.
Thanks to the efforts of Brothers Stephen Pennell and Rick Fox selling arm lengths of raffle tickets and the generosity of almost every brother in attendance we were able to raise $1,000 with the 50/50 raffle for the Helping Hand Scholarship Fund. Even better, Brother Gary Donelli, who won the raffle, then turned around and donated his $500 winnings to the Helping Hand Fund! Thank you Brother Gary!
Zeta Alpha Chapter President Cooper Collins continued a tradition started by Chapter President Eric Lehman and presented Silver Legion certificates to individual Brothers and presented a special Golden Guard Certificate to Brother Bob Bolt celebrating his 50 years as a Theta Chi.
Several Brothers showed up on site during the event including Brothers David and Jerry DeRosa and Paul Herbert and presented checks to Treasurer John Farrar as personal donations to the Helping Hand Fund bringing the total contributions within sight of achieving “endowment status” for the the Helping Hand Scholarship Fund. A “Thank you Banner” was displayed thanking brothers who have contributed to the fund.
As in the past, prizes were awarded, stories were told and an incredible sense of brotherhood fun and excitement about the status of the chapter and the future of Theta Chi permeated the event.
Special “Thanks” are extended to Brother John Farrar who not only hosted but also provided and donated all of the food and beverages for the Friday “Welcome Cookout” held at the Radisson Hotel and then hosted an impromptu Saturday night “Leftovers” cookout on Saturday night as well. His generosity is both noticed and appreciated.
Teams this year included:
Sky Pederson, Mike Ambrose, James Jackson, Brody McKenna
Don Burns, Brian Huskey, Tom Onufrak, Bob Flaccavento
Jim Clarke, Roy Pascal, JC Taylor, Dave Grabosky
Jeff Jacob, Tom “ZZ” Chappel, Mark Caratelli, Sean Kearney
Alan Copeland, Jim Grissinger, Rod Nicholson, Joe Wertz
Ben Richards, Jack Hare, Joe Rubic, Ryan Mittleider
Pete Reeves, Spenser Pascal, Brian Dereamer
Don Ayers, Glenn Weather, Al Lichtenwalner, Jack Shivetts
Andrew Auth, Eric lehman, Matt Pecoraro, Cooper Collins
Joe Suprano, Ed Kostail, Joe White, Jim Dunn, Rich Rollins
Bob Bolt, Gary Donelli, Dan Angelucci, Jim Book
John Farrar, Chuck Boylan, Dan Van Wie, Frank Gorshin
Mike Bariski, Jeff Miller, Doug Bull, Kevin Krepinevich
Tom Spagnolo, Ken Sherwin, Mickey Stamerra, Rich Aquaviva
Rob Long, Jim Sayer, Dave Boley, Mark Correll
Over the last few years, we have shared some of the accomplishments of the Zeta Alpha Chapter since its recolonization and a display has been created to be used for this fall’s rush that was displayed at the Golf Outing. Below is Chapter President Cooper Collins with the display shared at the outing. You can click on the image to view a larger readable version!
Below are the newest Tsigns purchased for the Helping Hand Fund!
Thank you to those who contributed! Brothers Thomas “ZZ” Chapple, Jeffery “Jake” Jacob, Patrick Russell, David Stotka, Dan Angelucci, Joseph “Joe” White, Gary Donelli, Gary Perdue, Jim Friend, Charles “Chuckie” Boylan, John Farrar, Rick Fox, Doug Bull, Jim Dunn, Tom “Chevy” Laicha, Kevin Krepinevich, Bob Baudoux, Mike Bariski, Logan Tupper, Sky Pederson, Nick Trombetta, Stephen “Taz” Atteridge and Dennis Ruzicki.
Below are pictures from the Golf Outing
Annual Convention
Due to COVID-19 the 2020 164th Convention was held on a limited basis in Indianapolis and some sessions were held for brothers virtually. So in 2021 a 165th Anniversary Celebration and School of Fraternity Practices was held in Louisville, KY July 30 – Aug 2, 2021. Chapter President Cooper Collins and Brother Recruitment Chair Andrew Auth attended with Chapter Advisor Kevin Krepinevich. Brothers were joined by ZA Brother Eric Lehman who now works for Theta Chi at the International Headquarters. Super Bowl winning Coach with the Saint Louis Rams and Theta Chi Brother Al Saunders was the Keynote speaker at the closing ceremony.
It was the first time that the Zeta Alpha Banner was unvealed at a convention since our founding in 1964!
Some of the highlights of the event included:
A moving memorial service was conducted where the names of brothers who had passed over the last 2 years including Brothers David Minett, Don Heisey and Geroge Swanson were shared with those in attendance.
Brothers participated in breakout sessions covering topics including “Our Sacred Purpose”; Experience the Resolute Journey; Have Fun, Stay Safe; Marketing and Customer Experience; Know Your Rights; Survival Guide for Dealing with Difficult People; Understanding My Theta Chi and GreekBill; Back to School; ; Preparation for Being the Marshall; Hot Topics and Moral; Recruitment Planning and Coaching to name a few.
After extensive review and careful work the ritual has been revised in some areas and to demonstrate how it should be conducted the Grand Chapter conducted a complete initiation Ritual for all in attendance.
Finally, if you have not seen a presentation by Dr. Louis Profeta from Greek University who spoke on the topic of “Why College Students die on Campus. You omay want to Google him! We are considering bring him to SRU for a campus-wide Sacred Purpose program.
President Brown and Executive Director Mayer also shared with all in attendance the new 10 year Strategic Plan for the Fraternity while celebrating the successes experienced despite the challenges of Covid-19. These included:
Record Active Chapters – 163
95% Year over Year Membership Retention
Financial strength (being able to reduce dues by $100 per collegian for year due to Covid-19 and not needing to reduce staff or resources)
The Strategic Plan will be based on the vision that Theta Chi will provide the premier men’s fraternity experience. The mission statement being:
Theta Chi develops college-age men into successful students, good citizens, lifelong brothers and resolute leaders.
This will include:
Infrastructure/Finance – Fundraising Development Stewardship of Resources Chapter Housing
Growth – 5000+ annual initiates Recruitment Coaching Expansion to new campuses
Communication – Improving internal and External communication Keeping the Brand fresh Investment in Technology
Chapter Operations/Advocacy – Enhancing chapter coaching model Interfraternalism Promoting & Defending student organizational rights
Member Experience – Resolute Man revitalization Academics Commitment to All-Male experience Advancing Culture & Teaching Tolerance Sacred Purpose
Homecoming 2021
The Zeta Alpha Chapter wants to thank those who attended this year’s Homecoming Celebration. Unfortunately due to tornado warnings the float that wehad spent hours constructing was not able to be used because the parade was cancelled but that did not dampen our spirits. We had about 50 brothers, alumni, family and friends attend the tailgating. It was so great to have all of our brothers from near and far back in town and reconnect after almost 2 years. Brother Marshall Tuten gets the “Man Mile” award having traveled all the way from California to attend. Through bad weather (wouldn’t be a true SRU Homecoming without rain) and holding down our tents, that didn’t stop us from having a great time. It was also great to have parents of brothers attend including the parents of Alumni Board member Brother Logan Tupper! I appreciate all of the help and kind words from the alumni and cannot wait to return next October as an alumnus myself and see everyone once again. I have included some of the pictures taken during the event. Below are some photos from Homecoming.
President Cooper Collins was able to attend the inaugural new all expense paid Resolute Man program in Louisiana and learn about becoming and entrepreneur, challenge my skills and interact with 10 other brothers from all parts of the country and officially become the first “Resolute Man” awarded to a member of the Zeta Alpha Chapter.
The Zeta Alpha Chapter brothers have been raising money for the USO as part of the Chi International’s operation Military Red.
We had a very successful fall rush, but have been hampered by the Greek Advisor with deferred rush for freshmen. Because of this, we were able to have a 5 man Eta pledge class that was installed on November 14 and appreciate the attendance of 4 alumni at the event. It was a truly international pledge class with one of the brothers whose hometown is Frankfort, Germany. The good news is we have a list of over 20 freshmen who expressed interest and are working with them to create a strong Spring pledge class.
