Theta Chi - Bradley University

Fall 2019 MANIFESTO C H A P T E R : t h e t a c h i b u . c o m | A L U M N I : g a m m a u p s i l o n . o r g "96.8% of Theta Chi's Never Intended to Join a Fraternity." Kind of a silly sentence. It has a grammatical error (the apostrophe), and who knows where that number came from (we didn't take a survey), yet this was on the front of our 1999 recruitment t-shirt. It's a shirt that I still wear on occasion and am wearing as I write this. Despite its flaws, the sentiment is right. Many of us in my generation had no intention of joining a fraternity. I personally thought that all houses were like Alpha Beta in Revenge of the Nerds (the jock house… am I dating myself for making this reference?). It wasn't until the winter of 1995, when Patrick Rutherford '00 introduced me to Theta Chi, that I would consider entering Greek life. I joined in the spring of 1996. Those undergraduate years were crazy nearly every day. I loved it so much so, in fact, that I opted to take five years to graduate! And while I wasn't the most "studious" or "productive" undergraduate brother, I feel that I did my part to keep the chapter house moving. I took on a few positions (secretary, marshal, chaplain, and a few other minor positions) and even convinced a couple high school buddies to join: Matt Nygren '99 and Josh Snyder '00. Conveniently enough, staying that extra year allowed me to meet my wife, Annette (on the front porch during a party, of course). We'll be celebrating 20 years together this fall (married for 17) and have two daughters together, Isabelle and Jillian. I have Theta Chi to thank for all of that! As an alumnus, life is pretty different. Making the jump from having no responsibilities to having a great many can be quite the adjustment! Still, after 19 years, I try to keep some of those simpler times alive whenever I can—if not for just a few moments here or there. Since graduating in 2000, I've made a good effort to visit the house at least once a year. There's still nothing like hanging out in the L-room and chatting with the current group of guys. Even after all this time, I feel that the undergraduates are all still part of that "96.8% who never intended to join a fraternity"—and that's a really good thing. The 70th anniversary this year did not disappoint. The reception, luncheon, and dinner all had great food and were held in very nice locations. The best part, of course, was simply reconnecting with people whom I rarely have an opportunity to see outside of Facebook. Attending events like this are a nice reminder of why I joined. My best friends are still the men I met back then. Although we may not live close, a small group of us do see each other on a regular basis— either via official alumni events planned by the GUAC or unofficial ones with brothers, their wives, and longtime friends of Theta Chis. One such unofficial event, which I'll briefly plug here, is our Santa Pub Crawl, an event that has taken place every December since 2000. This year, we celebrate our 20th anniversary, visiting several establishments in St Charles, Ill. I would love to see a big showing (because, honestly, I'm not sure how many more years our bodies will be able to take!). For more information, find @southsidesantacrawl on Facebook or contact Ken Lombard '99 at lombard.ken@gmail.com. With that, I'll close this out by making a small request: make time to reconnect with your brothers. While I have seen many of you over the past 19 years, there are so many more whom I haven't heard from since graduating. That's OK, I get it. We have families, we work, and we're just busy. It's never too late, though, and I guarantee you will not regret spending a weekend at Homecoming in Peoria or one night at an alumni event. Go hang out and let loose with your brothers of the Gamma Upsilon Chapter of Theta Chi, if not for just a few hours. Because, as Ferris Bueller once said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." 24 YEARS A THETA CHI! By Larry Santello '00 That call of "Walkout!" was our call to arms. The initiates walked through the forbidden front house door, stealing the fraternity plaque off the mantel and capturing an active house member. Clues were left for the searching actives so they could retrieve their brother. Every initiate had to be 100% together in hiding. If not found, initiates became eligible for brotherhood, house duties were limited, and mandatory study hours relaxed. This was not an easy task to coordinate; actives were experienced in finding their hiding spots in the past. It was a great party of good food, snacks, and hiding. The active searchers dropped their weekend dates home early (not a well-received action) and organized the hunt. Walkout sites included an old two-story mining building and the basement of a toy store. Two spring walkouts were different. One was at the back of the old local cemetery in a ditch surrounded by eerie, tall graveside statues and flickering candles placed on graves. Then there was the tunnel that went from a local bar to a cave under the cemetery. The actives could hear singing as they stood at various graves, but they never found an entrance to the cave under the graves (thanks to the bar owner refusing to cooperate). These were great experiences along with wonderful dances, serenades, and beating the Chis and Xis at anything. The walkout concluded at 6 a.m. when the actives watched the successful initiate class and its captive(s) walk through the front door of house singing the anthem. These were the "old days," and they were so memorable. WALKOUT! By Arno "Duck" Wehr '63 Alumnus Publishes Book of Essays Brother Chuck Ebeling '66 released his new collection of essays, Apple Pressings, in July. We encourage everyone to give it a read. Here's what Chuck had to say about the book: "Apple Pressings hits on many topics, including my time at Bradley and Theta Chi, leading up to my Vietnam adventure. Available now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Booklocker.com, in eBook, paperback, and hard bound." Here's the description of the book from Amazon: "These 15 essays are filled with the products of a curious mind, set loose with the time and means to explore anything of interest. They were written under the auspices of the Chicago Literary Club, one of the oldest and most regarded institutions of its kind, and presented one per year between 2005 and 2019 by the author." Congrats to Chuck on getting his book published, and we wish him the best of luck!

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