Theta Chi - Worcester Polytechnic Institute

alumni.oxepsilon.org EBA Keeps Chapter House in Good Shape, Helps Brothers Stay Connected Outgoing Chapter President Celebrates Epsilon's Success, Bids Farewell to Theta Chi and WPI E psilon Chapter succeeded on multiple fronts this past A and B terms. On top of everyone's packed schedules of classes and house meetings, the brotherhood worked as a unit to further improve relations, plan and carry out philanthropic events, and secure a strong group of new members during recruitment. When I started my presidency, one of my main goals was to improve alumni relations with the large alumni base associated with Epsilon Chapter. Establishing a professional network at a young age will only benefit undergraduate brothers in the long run as they start the internship/job search process. One such event that the house held was the Alumni Career Night, which you can read about on page X. ank you to our previous scholarship chairman, Connor Buek '21, for coordinating this successful event. Recruitment season came and went last November at WPI. It differed from previous years as the schedule was condensed by WPI due to the timing of fall break and anksgiving on the academic calendar. WPI also chose to hold house tours for freshmen on Saturday and Sunday morning as opposed to evenings during the school week. Unfortunately, this resulted in lower than usual participation by freshmen at the start of recruitment. Despite these setbacks, our recruitment chairmen, Mitchel Holman '20 and Kevin Sifuentes '20, were able to get potential new members to come down to the house the next few days for "walk-in" house tours. Eventually, we started seeing typical recruitment numbers at our events and everything went smoothly. Twenty freshmen signed their bids and after almost two months of potential new member processes, we initiated 16 new brothers into Epsilon Chapter. Of these 16 new brothers, five are on the WPI hockey team, and all are strong-willed and determined. I believe they will make a positive impact in the Chapter during their next three years. Next year the we will be housing more brothers than this year, so that is a step in the right direction. In other news, our interim faculty advisor, Maggie Becker, left WPI last fall, and with the help of Brother Bill Spratt '96, we identified William Sanguinet '10, a new full-time mathematics professor at WPI, as a strong potential candidate for the role due in part to him being an Epsilon alumnus. After a few informal meetings, Sanguinet has officially accepted the role and will support the brotherhood from a faculty standpoint in any way he can. T he Epsilon Building Association (EBA) has three areas of responsibility: maintaining the Chapter House, advising the active brothers, and bolstering alumni engagement and participation. All three of these areas have seen significant strides in the year 2019 and are proving to make strides in 2020 as well. Let's face it, our Chapter House is 50+ years old and requires a steady stream of capital improvements to sustain a quality home for the fraternity. e most urgent project is to replace our crumbling brown T1-11 plywood siding, which is not going to last another winter and is just plain ugly. For this reason, the EBA has made it a priority to renovate the exterior of the house. Being a large and expensive task, the exterior renovation project was broken into two phases: Phase 1 All the windows were replaced in the summer of 2019 using existing funds. Phase 2 is was a big undertaking and required months of planning, including architectural design and renderings, sourcing a trustworthy contractor, and acquiring funding through a mortgage that proved treacherous and led to numerous environmental surveys and unforeseen expenses. anks to the amazing work of Alumni Association President Neil Lettenberger '06 and Treasurer JP Ramos '18, the EBA is happy to announce that the funding is on a path to approval and Phase 2 is planned for the spring/ summer of 2020. In addition to the great work on the exterior renovations, the EBA has also completed and planned numerous necessary improvements and repairs thanks to outgoing Projects Chairman Jimmy Muller '18. • Remodel of the president's bedroom and alumni room • Bathroom vanity and fixture replacement • Asbestos abatement in the basement tile floor • Replacement of heating pipes to the kitchen • Repair of direct phone line to fire alarm system • PLANNED: Replacement of carpets in first floor common room • PLANNED: Front lawn landscaping following the siding replacement • FUTURE: Library renovation e Chapter House is important to maintain, but nothing is more important than its inhabitants and helping them in life both in school and out. is is all possible because of the great work our new Chapter advisor, Bill Lucas '90, has made in the creation of our Chapter Advisory Board (CAB). e CAB is made up of alumni who are eager and willing to advise the Chapter in all areas, including academics, advising internal affairs, and preparing brothers for life after college. e CAB also inspires and assists with attendance at international fraternity events, including mid- year and national convention events, as well as the eta Chi International Academy where we sent Jacob Yurcak '22. anks to Bill's work, we now have a structure to give meaningful advice and guidance for our active members and will do so for years to come. When it comes to Chapter events, it may not surprise you to hear the name Jim Melvin '85; however, Jim has taken his passion for the Epsilon Chapter to a new level. Not only has he kept our traditional events alive (Homecoming dinner, monthly alumni dinners, Alumni Golf Tournament, and Chapter anniversary celebrations, to name a few), but he has worked tirelessly to create new events with the help of a newly formed group called the Alumni Programming Board, which is made up of several active brothers. is board was put to the test last year in the planning and execution of the 110th anniversary celebration, which they knocked out of the park. ey have also created a new alumni/actives bowling event that is quickly becoming a favored annual event. Jim and the board have a lot in the pipeline and, thanks to them, the Chapter has seen alumni participation grow year after year. anks to the great work of every member of the Epsilon Building Association, the Chapter is getting stronger as each year goes by. If you are interested in volunteering to help out the Chapter in any way, or if you would like to join this awesome team, don't hesitate to reach out to eba@oxepsilon.org. Fraternally, Alex Caracappa '16 EBA Secretary (Continued on page 6)

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