Beta Theta Pi - MIT

3 T he past few months have been full of sur- prises. At the end of last semester, we raised over $1,500 for the Greater Boston Food Bank for our inaugural Beta eta Pi Cookie Night philanthropy. Shoutout to our advisors and alumni, as well, for pitching in their sup- port and helping us shatter our goal of providing 4,500 meals for adults, children, seniors, and vet- erans in our local community. We were also awarded the FSILG Honor Roll for surpassing the FSILG average spring GPA, hitting a record 4.53 GPA—our highest average since recolonization in 2012. is achievement is a true testament to all the hard work everyone has put into their coursework. Straight 5.0s were not atypical this time around. I attended my first convention, the 178th in Salt Lake City, joining Mike Feinstein '82 for a week- end of celebration, education, and conducting the business of the fraternity. Our colony won the 2017 Charles Henry Hardin Leadership Develop- ment Award for the record number of Brothers who we sent to all of Beta's leadership programs this year, including a record six to Wooden Insti- tute and eight to Keystone Conference. Beta Upsilon Shatters Records Undergraduate Brothers Continue Excellent Performance All-Around Le: Kevin Shum '19, Luke Hartnett '20, and Taylor Craig '18 presented a $1,503 check to the Greater Boston Food Bank. Money was raised through an event last spring where brothers sold Insomnia cookies across campus. A few weeks before recruitment, I opened an un- expected package to find a Beta Upsilon flag sto- len in 1952, forgotten, and returned 65 years lat- er. Now, it's proudly back home where it belongs at 119 Bay State Road. is fall, we had our most successful recruitment since recolonization, shattering yet another record. We welcomed a class of 15 new members, 50 percent larger than our previous record of 10 with my pledge class back in 2015. With the guidance of our alumni and growing advisory team and the dedication and determination put forth by the entire colo- ny, we've nearly doubled our size to a record 33 members. We're beyond excited to bring our new class into our brotherhood and to surpass 1200 in our Beta Upsilon roll book. As we approach initiation, our VP member education will be working closely with the new pledges through a revamped curriculum centered on Beta values and brotherhood bonding. We have a lot in store for the semester, from a re- treat in New Hampshire over a four-day weekend to a formal banquet, from mixers with sororities and the Northeastern and WPI chapters, to host- ing new community service and alumni events later in the term. As we approach our 105th anni- versary, I'm thrilled to continue to work with the colony and guide us toward rechartering within the next two conventions. We can't wait to show you all the great work we've accomplished in the past year. In the meantime, check out our newly revamped website, www.beta.mit.edu, and follow our Facebook page for our latest updates. Proud to be a Beta, and see you all at the 105th! Yours in ___kai___, Kevin Shum '19 President Senior brothers were gied swords with their names and Beta eta Pi engraved on them. New Member Spotlight: Nico Salinas N ico is a freshman from Pasadena, Calif., the Southern California town famous for the annual Rose Bowl Parade. When he wasn't walking in the pa- rade, Nico attend- ed an all-boys Catholic school. ere, he worked for the newspaper and served as edi- tor-in-chief his se- nior year. He also founded and led the Association of Latin American Students there and threw shot put for two years on the track and field team. Nico was also very involved in community service, an activi- ty which will undoubtedly continue during his time in Beta. He participated in 12 Baja Builds trips with his dad, traveling to Mexico to build houses for the less fortunate. He also was an avid skier and has even skied in San- tiago, Chile. Growing up, Nico developed a strong interest in robotics, which led him to apply to MIT. During high school, he took a Java and ro- botics course at Stanford, which introduced him to coding. He's been hooked ever since. He spent a summer at UCLA in a research in- ternship working on data sent between wire- less devices and took AP Computer Science, which introduced him to the electronics side of EECS. With this background, he plans to major in course 6-2 at MIT and hopes to work on autonomous vehicles at Tesla or Google in the future. He also wants to work a UROP in an artificial intelligence lab. Nico has three brothers (two sets of twins) and is looking forward to building a close, family network in Beta. He first met the brothers during orientation playing Sardines, a game similar to hide-and-seek, and decided to come to Beta during recruitment. While he initially wasn't planning on joining a frater- nity, Nico felt welcomed into the Beta house since day one. He's now excited to join the brotherhood. Written by Jonathan Zdasiuk '17

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