Delta Chi - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

w w w.deltachierau.com Brothers, Our chapter has a lot to report from the last semester. Those of you who know me also know that I have little time for idle chatter, but Ed was more insistent than the need for a restroom in Mexico. In that vein, I have the following to report. We initiated 18 men in the fall and currently have five Associate Members in the program. Very respectable numbers and all good men. Jim Allman '96 and I have been busy riding herd on the ever-expanding circus but have mostly kept the lid on. We are currently on our second House Director. In short, the first was not a good fit. The current, Mark Barnett, is a good man with a lot of varied life experience, and despite being a friend of Spence Price '71, is working out quite well. Mark meshes well with the undergrads and turns his hand to projects around the house. Kind of like Greg without the caustic humor and the slave driver mentality. Some of you have already met Mark and I'm sure that you feel as I do and hope he stays with us for years to come. We have made some improvements at the house in recent days. The courtyard, named for the great James P. Hunter '75, is now paved in beautiful white shell lock pavers. This is a marked improvement on the dustbowl we had and in addition, is now home to two barbecue grills. Mark has laboriously hung the composites throughout the house, and quite the rogues list it resembles (kind of reminds me of the website Boyd Kelly '92 maintained that quoted Alec Guinness in which he said, "You'll never find a hive of more wretched scum and villainy"). If you don't believe me, have you actually looked at the composites from the '70s? John Mazur '76, now retired, has donated a really nice pool table to the house and no one was more surprised than I to find that it is actually being used for its intended purpose. Mitchell Licht '18, our current "A," has been busy recruiting men to live in the house and we are looking forward to full occupancy next fall. As a whole things are shaping up pretty well. Jim and I are focusing on the message of the importance of the brotherhood and what it means. Our goal is to drive home responsibility and integrity. That's a tough fight against Budweiser and Miller Light, but I feel as though we are gaining ground. If you haven't had an opportunity to visit the house that our brotherhood built, then I urge you to make the pilgrimage. It's an accomplishment to be proud of. I hope to see more of you at convention in August. By my calculations, Rich Paulsen '97 is buying the first and many further rounds. ITB, Dave Cloutier '92 ABT President Letter from the ABT President Delta Chi Convention is coming to Denver this summer, and you should come too– if for no other reason than one of our own, Brother James Donahue '16, will be presented with the Delta Chi Valor Award, and the more of us that are standing for him when he receives it, the more fitting. Plus, it's going to be a hell of a time. It always is. When it comes to Convention, there are three categories of folks: those who have never been to one (which is the vast majority), those who attended one, had a good time, and figured once was enough, and then the third group (which includes me), people who had an experience they wanted to have again and again. Atlanta. Dallas. St. Louis. Phoenix. Orlando. Washington, DC. Cleveland. Las Vegas. New Orleans. Pittsburgh. Scottsdale. Louisville. And now, Denver will be my 13th consecutive Convention, and I intend to never miss one as long as I'm still turning O2 into CO2. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is admittedly a niche school. Tell someone you're going to Penn State, or University of Florida, or UC Berkeley, and people will nod knowingly, but most people I've spoken with seem to think I'm saying "Emory University" in Atlanta the first time I speak of my alma mater. Go to Convention, and everyone knows who Embry-Riddle is. We have a proud tradition of strong delegations at Convention, a lot of that is attributable to Greg Nelli, faculty, who attended his first Convention in 1975, and never missed one the rest of his life, his last being the 1990 Centennial Convention in Syracuse, N.Y. As Building Corps president, Greg understood the value and encouraged and helped fund Convention attendance for countless undergraduates, and that's a tradition that continues to benefit our chapter today. We sent our first delegate to Convention in 1970, Spence Price '71, and while Delta Chi Law mandates a $500 chapter fine for not sending a delegate, we wouldn't know, because our chapter has never missed one. Ever. Say what you want about "National" (it's still "International"), they know how to put on a meeting. As I sit here, I can think of a dozen guys, Delta Chis from other chapters, who (a) I only know through meeting them at a Convention; (b) I haven't seen since the last Convention two years ago; (c) who I can count on seeing as long as they're not deployed, confined to a hospital or incarcerated; and (d) we will pick up right where we left off without missing a beat. Regular Convention attendance is almost like another fraternity within our fraternity. And you think you've got stories? Convention is a time for story making and storytelling. Abdominal pain from excessive hysterical laughter is not an uncommon side effect of Convention attendance. Convention is significant in Delta Chi. Convention consists of legislative business, and ceremony, and ritual. There is also tradition such as Convention Ladders, the ballroom filled with chapter flags, the "Last Man Standing," the Convention Honoree, the Memorial Resolution, the Handshake across Time, and more than anything else, there is brotherhood that you Save the Date for Delta Chi Convention – August 1-5, 2018! (Continued on page 4)

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