Theta Xi - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Meet the New Alumni Association President Graham Cabrey '12 (A1617) Envisions Sustainable Processes to Support Academics and Increase Outreach J oining eta Xi was more or less an easy decision for Graham Cabrey '12 (A1617). e chapter "caught my eye because the brothers were good people who found a way to balance academics, fun, and extracurricular activities." He connected with the members right away and knew it was a good fit. Graham's undergraduate days as an Alpha Chapter member were part of a great jour- ney. "I can't imagine another opportunity where I could have learned so A er a long wait while James Soisson '94 (A1366) and Matt Glaccum '92 (A1324) put the finish- ing touches on the design of our breathtaking Alpha- centric marble mosaic in the third-floor bathroom, we have turned our focus to the final project that will be funded by our current capital campaign pledges. We are preparing for a full gut and upgrade of our chapter kitchen with the planning help of alumnus architect Les Ackerman '82 (A1210). Once we col- lect your pledges already made or enough additional new donations, we will complete this project. Please continue to make your pledge payments so we can begin work as soon as possible. Your alumni association continues to explore the feasi- bility of a pivot to a larger work scope and capital cam- paign target that would allow us to complete rehabili- tating the house exterior, make targeted public space upgrades, and replace the remaining windows in the public areas. Many alumni who have toured our reno- vations have asked us to address this major eyesore in our external house appearance (windows) and elimi- nate this large energy inefficiency. We share their aspi- ration and hope to be able to commit to that goal soon. While your active and alumni brothers and your alumni association are thrilled with our success to date, we are trying to understand how we can effectively broaden and deepen our fundraising efforts. Our capital campaign has raised just over $830,000 from 191 donors to date. While this feels like a phenomenal suc- cess considering where we began, we had more than 350 donors contribute to our annual campaign before we launched the capital campaign, meaning that fewer than half of our recent annual fund donors have chosen to contribute to the capital campaign (when accounting for new donors). ere are three other fraternity capital campaigns cur- rently at RPI, all of which have had materially better success than Alpha. Sigma Chi raised over $1.6 million (with an anchor donation of $330,000), Delta Phi raised over $1.4 million and recently purchased a building on Congress Street to convert into a chapter house, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon raised over $1 million (with one anchor donation of $250,000 and two of $100,000). With our long history of success at RPI, a compelling case to raise funds, our demonstrated stewardship ex- ecuting superior renovations, and our remarkably suc- cessful Alpha alumni base, we are working to under- stand how we can adjust our efforts to convince more Alpha alumni to prioritize our chapter house renova- tion and join or increase commitments to allow us to set more ambitious renovation goals. Please consider joining your brothers to help us put 1490 Sage Avenue back in the condition Alpha Chap- ter deserves. Please contact me with any questions or comments. Yours in the Bonds, David Fowkes '89 (A1275) Campaign Chairman dwfowkes@verizon.net ALPHA CHAPTER OF THETA XI SUMMER 2018 ALPHABET RENOVATIONS MARCH ALONG Association Exploring Larger Campaign Target to Address House Needs (Continued on page 3) e esquire's helmet: this early symbol for Al- pha Chapter was popular in the late 1800s and had been in use going back to at least 1870. Using a number of historical engrav- ings as sources, a 24" x 30" composite version has been recreated in stone and placed in the third-floor bathroom. anks to James Soisson '94 (A1366) with assistance from Matt Glac- cum '92 (A1324) for developing this artwork.

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