Any images you wish to view in a larger format… right click and select open in new tab.
July 13 – 15 Riley Keffer attended Theta Chi Fraternity’s Initiate Academy as a guest of Theta Chi Fraternity. The alumni of the no longer existent Zeta Alpha Chapter provided $200 to cover travel costs for Riley to attend.
Riley’s recap of the July 13-15, 2017 Theta Chi Initiate Academy Event included the following comments:
I just wanted to get that short recap to you about the Initiative academy this past weekend. I went to Indiana University Bloomington to stay at the Alpha Iota Chapter house alongside Brothers from all over the country.
Once there, we were divided into small groups to engage in leadership training activities which emphasized self-awareness, communication, and leadership styles.
My small group included members from Kentucky, California, New Hampshire, Minnesota, West Point, and myself from Pennsylvania. Our facilitator was alumni Dustin Bartley from Nebraska.
On Saturday morning we set out for what they call the “Hoosier hustle”. Similar to the amazing race we set out to complete in 6 challenges all across the Indiana campus.
My team was the Green Team and finished in second place to a first place team who set a new “scoring” record. This was a great bonding experience with the other members of my small group.
On Sunday, I set out to return to Pennsylvania but I came back with a sense of urgency and eagerness to start the year strong. I gained a lot of ideas for the way Theta Chi should be run overall and in day to day details. I did so by just getting to know and talking with Brothers of Theta Chi. It was great to experience the brotherhood and mentality of Theta Chi members. I appreciate the opportunity to attend the academy provided by the Zeta Alpha Alumni and the Fraternity for having such an event.
-
Mitch Nolan
Delta Psi
University of Kansas -
Patrick Zurn
Iota Lamda
Farmville, VA
On August 14, 2017 Field Executives Mitch Nolan and Patrick Zurn arrived at Slippery Rock and took up residence at the Apple Butter Inn and began their efforts to begin recruiting the charter members of the new Zeta Alpha Chapter.
The Original Dozen! In the last 2 weeks of August, 2017 the following 12 individuals accepted bids to begin the process to recolonize Theta Chi Fraternity on the campus of Slippery Rock University.
-
Riley Keffer -
Marshall Tuten -
Logan Angert -
James Jackson -
Logan Tupper -
Chris Pagley -
Kyle Ditzenberger -
Sky Pederson -
Mark Beacom -
Justin Groff -
Julian Gonzalez -
Mack Bestine
The Field Executives developed a complete social media marketing campaign for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram through at least October 14th to release as the recruiting process is unveiled. Initiated biweekly meetings with the Greek Life Advisor Jayne Piskorik. Met Dr Wilson Associate Provost. Participated in Campus WOW Carnival with signed PNMs. Assisted with Freshman Move In. Sorority presentations with AOΠ and ΔZ for prospective members and cold calling those referrals. Initiated setting up regularly scheduled Theta Chi Table in Student Center. Began regular 7 p.m. Sunday meetings with PNMs. Their plans include at least 30 personal meetings with 30 PNMs during each week.
17 More! During the month of September 2017 recruiting continued and 17 more Potential new members accepted bids!
-
Jake Good -
Eric Lehman -
Daniel Pennell -
Billy Hawk -
Jason Chioda -
Zack Morse -
Fancisco Maya -
La Morie Marsh -
Jordan Higgs -
Ben Richards -
Josh Jenkins -
Mason Schell -
Blaise Fatter -
Brody McKenna -
Quin McLaughlin -
Andrew Borcherding -
Christian Rebman
During the recruitment process Patrick, Mitch and the PNMs continued to meet with the sororities on campus.
Recolonization!
On September 30, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. the efforts of Field Executives Mitch and Patrick and the PNM’s were successful and were rewarded by the recolonization ceremony held at the Alumni House on Campus at Slippery Rock University.
10,354 days after the last day Theta Chi ceased to exist on campus it’s presence was again felt with over 130 interested friends, Alumni Brothers, Little Sisters, Daughters of the Crossed Swords, brothers from other chapters, representative of other fraternities and sororities on campus IFC and Greek Advisors and guests were in attendance. Theta Chi Fraternity International COO Ray Vanlanot conducted the ceremony.
At 7:30 p.m. that same day in front of approximately 3,000 football fans Reilly Keffer and 3 other SRU students were presented the Theta Chi Resolute Man Scholarship by SRU Interim President Dr. Phillip Way.
Members of the colony participated in helping others including the Special Olympic events held at Slippery Rock.
Homecoming 2017 including the glow party pictured above but also participated in the
Homecoming parade. The overall theme was musical artists and their theme was Pink Floyd.
Their partners Phi Sigma Sigma/Sigma Tau Gamma thought this was a good pick especially
since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and Pink is the color for that cause
Members of the colony participated in Post Homecoming campus cleanup!
Colony Vice President Riley Keffer on October 6, 2017 attended the quarterly business meeting of the Slippery Rock Council of Trustees. At that
meeting, two candidates were being considered to be sent to the Board of Governors for consideration as SRU’s next President. Riley who is also the Vice President of Finance for the Student Government Association spoke during the open forum session. In his remarks he said,
“To state simply, we are not entirely confident in one candidate being the best decision for the presidency of Slippery Rock University,” Keffer said. “In our opinion, a president should possess a strong academic background, experience with a residential campus and the student culture it promotes, experience elevating a university that is already successful in the areas of enrollment, academics, finances, athletics and more. We also believe that they should be proactive in promoting an inclusive environment, knowledge about issues that students face and the related policy, they should also have a strong presence to communicate with the Board of Governors and lastly, passion for SRU. While there are some of these characteristics in the three candidates, we did not see a desirable number in just one candidate.”
Keffer called on the council to vote against sending the two candidates names to the board of governors.
With a five to five vote, the motion failed and the recommended candidates will not be passed on to the Board of Governors for consideration. Click here for more.
Five More!
The colony recruited five more PNMs in October, 2017.
-
Carson Castma -
Jake Duval -
KC Mosqueda -
Malique Nazdam -
Mason Pritchard
November 4-5. They had a great time hanging out with people from other Greek
organizations and learned some valuable information to better Greek life as a whole on
campus! They also got to meet Eric Pope, a Theta Chi alumni from Edinboro. He was a lead
facilitator at the event and did a great job!
Colony member Chris Pagley conducted a session for the colony on Mindfulness.
Colony members Mack Bestine and Ben Richards spent the night in the Theta Chi cardboard hut in support of SRU Nonprofit Alliance cardboard village event.
Interim SRU President Dr. Philip K. Way’s home.
Leadership Development Center on Campus.
students prepared to leave campus for Thanksgiving.
Sky Pederson has been elected with the other members of the executive Board to lead the colony through the colonization process. He will attend the Sasser Conference at Theta Chi Headquarters in January.
Winter/Spring 2018
The Zeta Alpha Colony/Chapter of Theta Chi had a significant presence in the Winter edition of the Rattle. Click here for the digital copy. There are references to the following:
Page 3 – Recolonizations renew bonds of brotherhood: Zeta Alpha/Slippery Rock alumni award the inaugural Capt. Larry King Memorial Resolute Man Scholarship.
Page 6 – Expansion Updates – Zeta Alpha /Slippery Rock – Slippery Rock, PA Recolonized: 9/30/17 If you click the logo and the name it takes you to the Facebook page for the colony and the Theta Chi article about the recolonization with special shout outs to Brothers Joel “Bubba” McKenna and Steve Pennell.
Page 21 – The Foundation Chapter Contributions
Page 36 – Zeta Alpha 25th Annual Golf Outing Photo – if you click the online version it takes you to the Butler Eagle Article about Brothers Larry King and Ron Burke.
Page 42 – Chapter Eternal Listing initiated brothers who have passed that they had not listed previously.
President Sky Pederson, Eric Lehman, Brody McKenna and Julian Gonzalez attended the Theta Chi University held on the campus of Michigan State University held on January 20, 2018. Over 300 brothers and colony members attended this event.
Colony pledge Marshall Tuten was able to organize a trip in conjunction with SRU to Bolivia for 2 weeks during the winter break. While there, he was able to to immerse himself in the culture and figure out exactly the help that people in the area need. He and 9 other SRU students dedicated 2 weeks to help people in need. Good job Marshall!
Colony pledge Mack Bestine was seen on campus presenting to SRU President Philip Way information on how Theta Chi is helping to create Resolute Men on Slippery Rock Campus.
Congratulations to (left to right) the following Colony Pledges for their election on January 21 to the following Executive Board Positions: Eric Lehman – Scholarship Chair, Logan Tupper – Recruitment Chair, and Julian Gonzalez Vice President.
Recruitment is Underway for 2018. Below are are some of the promotional items, shirts and displays used so far this spring semester already.
Message from the Colony President to the Alumni:
This past month was jam packed for the Zeta Alpha colony.
Early January, I had the pleasure of visiting the Theta Chi International Headquarters in Carmel, Indiana. I was accompanied by James Jackson, our Marshal, along with Logan Tupper and Ben Richards, our recruitment committee. While in Carmel, we attended the Sasser’s President’s conference, Recruitment boot camp, and the Marshal Summit. During the conference, we were able to learn more about Theta Chi and its traditions. It was also a great opportunity to network with other members of different chapters. We generated a ton of new ideas and were excited to bring them back to our colony.
A few weeks later, I traveled to Theta Chi University at Michigan State with Brother Kevin Krepinevich and pledge brothers Brody McKenna, Eric Lehman, and Julian Gonzales. This conference was extremely helpful in learning new ideas for philanthropy and recruitment events. It was also nice to meet some other guys from different chapters. We were able to meet up with another colony from Bowling Green University and talk with them as well. It is amazing how Greek life varies from campus to campus.
This past weekend, we hosted our first inaugural CAB/colony retreat. The colony executive board and our alumni counter parts were able to meet and discuss some key topics as well as set some goals for the colony. It was a great success. Thank you to all who were able to attend and a special thanks to the Chapter Advisory Board for organizing the event.
Since we did not receive a deposit from the alumni until after the close of the semester we are currently writing letters of thanks to those who donated expressing our appreciation.
With the first week of the semester over, we are working hard to complete the requirements to install the chapter. The tentative installation date is set for April 29th. It will be held in the Slippery Rock Student Center Ballroom from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. The installation ritual will take place from 12:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Right now our biggest challenge is recruitment. We lost a few guys over winter break, which puts us back down to 30 pledges. However, we are currently talking with several potential new members and hope to extend bids in the coming weeks. The goal is to reach 45 guys.
This will put us as the largest fraternity on campus. Besides recruitment, everything else is going very well. I know I’ve said this before, but we really would not be where we’re at today, if it wasn’t for the amazing support from our alumni.
Thank you all for the donations and extending an “assisting hand” in getting us up and running as a colony.
I hope to see you all in the near future. – Colony President Sky Pederson
Members of the ZA Colony participated in the SRU Up Till 2 event for St. Jude Research Hospital. Congratulations to all the volunteers who helped make the event a huge success!
Members of the ZA Colony participated in the SRU Up Till 2 event for St. Jude Research Hospital. Congratulations to all the volunteers who helped make the event a huge success! Pictured here left to righ ttop to bottom ΑΣΤ & ΘΧ, ΑΞΔ & ΘΧ, ΑΟΠ & ΘΧ, ΔΖ & ΘΧ, ΦΣΣ & ΘΧ, ΣΣΣ & ΘΧ
The Zeta Alpha Colony hosted a Colony/Alumni social event and invited all alumni to attend on what turned out to be a very snowy evening in Slippery Rock on February 17th. (Who knew snow in Slippery Rock in February!) Twenty seven pledges, alumni Delta Zetas and guests attended including Brother Mark Hoffman all the way from Ohio! Many of us learned why at our age bowling is no longer part of our vocabulary and watching is! Brother Hoffman’s wife set the scoring pace! But there was plenty of pizza and soda for everyone. We appreciate the colony for hosting us but again most alumni in attendance again reached into our pockets and passed some cash back to the colony to help defray the cost of a great evening of fun and brotherhood! Not to mention brother Herbert Photobombing the Colony photo after the event!
With the help of CAB Health and Safety Advisor Brother Greg Laws, the first “All Campus” Sacred Purpose program hosted by the Zeta Alpha Theta Chi Fraternity Colony was offered February 21st bringing local law enforcement, members of the community and the campus together to raise awareness. Over 80 participants attended a “standing room only” event that included CAB Vice President Advisor Don “Clippy” Iskat from George Junior Republic as one of the presenters!
Message from the Colony President to the Alumni:
With April 29th quickly approaching, we are continuing to fill our petition to install. We are six weeks into the new semester but it feels like we started just the other day. This past week, we hosted our first campus-wide Sacred Purpose event. The topic was drug abuse at Slippery Rock University and throughout the community. Alumni, Brother Don Iskat, was kind enough to come speak about some of the ways drugs can affect the body.
Lieutenant Sharkey, with the SRU Police Department, also spoke about substance abuse on campus. We also has a recovered addict come speak about the journey he has gone through with drug addition. It was very successful event with attendance of 80 plus people.
On top of hosting events and fundraisers, we are continuing to recruit. So far this semester, we have recruited four quality gentlemen. We are still the second largest fraternity behind Kappa Sigma who have 39. We will continue to push towards our goal of 45 members.
These next two months are going to packed with events. We are currently working on finalizing the dates for some philanthropy fundraisers which include hosting a kickball tournament between clubs and organizations and selling food items. On April 23rd, we will be hosting our second campus-wide Sacred Purpose event. This time the topic will be on sexual abuse. We were able to get approval from the Student Government Association for funding to bring Kate Harding as a guest speaker on the topic. Kate is the author of Asking for it: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture – and What We Can Do About It. This event is expected to have high attendance as well.
I would like to thank all the alumni again for all the amazing support you have given us. Without it, we would not be where we are today. Thank you again for extending an assisting hand and helping with donations. I really do appreciate it. I hope to se you all in the near future and cannot wait to be able to call you all my brothers.
Colony President – Sky Pederson