On February 9th, twelve members of Gamma Theta chapter accompanied by house father and Chapter Adviser Bill Burwell made the four hour journey to Lincoln, Nebraska to attend the Western Plains Division Conference being held at the Cornhusker Marriott Hotel.  The theme of the conference was maturity, and we inspired that in our members as well as leadership and love of the fraternity while attending conference.  We will continue to grow as a chapter and implement strategies and programs we learned from conference over the next year as we strive for excellence and aspire to be better men and better Delts.  We have been strong financially, had strong leadership within the chapter, had excellent alumni backing and support, but we have been failing in several key areas that we will soon address within the chapter. We not only want to be a house full of men living together and learning from each other, but we want to be a chapter that inspires leadership within our members and provides our members with a strong moral foundation so that we can reap the benefits of our Delt experience for our entire lives and continue to champion the causes of Delta Tau Delta.  While at conference we had the ability to assess these deficits, and we have a great opportunity for future greatness ahead of ourselves! 

Pictured from left to right. Front row: Eric Marley, Alen Troyer, Tylor McDonald, Colter Schacher, Vance Beiser. Back Row: Bill Burwell, Mario Armstrong, Christopher Duderstadt, Cody Kabarrubias, Patrick Mirch, Reno Marical, Bradford Oliva. Not Pictured: Hakeem Young.

The list of awards earned at the 2012 Western Plains Division Conference is as follows:
Excellence in Adopt-A-School
80% Recruitment Retention
Chapter Growth of 25%

On Sunday, November 13th, elections were held for Gamma Theta Chapter.  Each elected officer required a majority vote from members present to win their respective election, and will require at minimum a 2.25 GPA to assume office in the spring of 2012.  There were a number of close races this year, as we had a number of well qualified members and former officers running for positions, especially for the role of president, which was won by junior Reno Marical.  There were again a number of qualified members running for vice president, which was a race ultimately won by junior Taylor Nall.  Elections results for 2012 officers of Gamma Theta Chapter are as follows:

President – Reno Marical

Vice President – Taylor Nall

Rush Chairman – Michael Hobbs

Treasurer – Vance Beiser

Secretary – Chris Duderstadt

Seargant at Arms – Eric Marley

Director of Academic Affairs – Jacob Nowak

New Member Education – Kellen Kristoffersen

Brotherhood – Dylan Coppenbarger

Guide – Jordan Robertson

Social – Cody Kabarrubias

Risk Management – Justin Lane

Community Service – James Hirsch

Philanthropy – Ryan Good

Communications – Jordan Robertson

Student Senate – Richard Singer

Road Chairman (Chapter Programming) – Kellen Kristoffersen and Dylan Coppenbarger

House and Grounds – Bradford Oliva

We look forward to developing these leaders as we transition newly elected officers into their roles at the end of the fall semester and during interterm in January.  It’s a great day to be a Delt!

On Monday November 7th, Gamma Theta Chapter performed Rite of Iris (a ceremony adopted from the Rainbow Fraternity following the merging of Delta Tau Delta with the Rainbow Fraternity in 1886), and Ritual for 11 pledges of the fall 2011 pledge class.  We had a great atmosphere provided by thunderstorms looming in the distance, which made for a surreal feeling in the basement of the Shelter.  Junior Jordan Robertson lead the charge that evening performing a wonderful job as Guide for our soon-to-be initiated members, and was complemented by the work of the Ritual team.  The undergraduate members learned a great deal about themselves as well as Ritual after they undertook the responsibility of performing Ritual at Division Conference last year, and were able to use this information to improve upon the ceremonies as well as educate newly educated members about Rite of Iris and Ritual following the performance of each ceremony.  We are still anticipating initiating the remaining 7 members of the pledge class in the spring of 2012, all of which are in good standing with the fraternity, but are saving up in order to pay for their initiation fees.  We see a lot of potential in this fall’s pledge class, and are helping guide them along their journey as they transition into active membership in Gamma Theta Chapter of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity.  We are proud to refer to the following members as our brothers:

Ryan Good

Alen Troyer

Andrew Heim

Travis Ray

Colter Schacher

Sam Richards

Dylan Coppenbarger

Bryan Burdette

Tylor McDonald

Will Collins

Michael Moyer

Rah Rah Delta!

After a very successful rush week and our first full week of classes this semester, the brothers of Gamma Theta Chapter are proud to announce our incoming pledge class. According to university admissions staff this incoming class of freshman and transfer students is the most academically adept class that they have brought to Baker in recent years, and our pledge class is a testament to that. Aside from excelling academically, a large percentage of our pledge class participates in athletics, namely football and wrestling. We are proud of the well-rounded group of young men who we will be soon to call brothers, and we hope that they will profit from the fraternity as we have. Here is a current list of our Fall 2011 Pledge Class and their respective hometowns:

Colbey Garrison – Las Vegas, NV

Michael Moyer – Overland Park, KS

Josh Wolfe – Dallas, TX

Tylor McDonald – Adrian, MO

Andrew Heim – Easton, KS

Alen Troyer – Garnett, KS

Dylan Coppenbarger – Tuttle, OK

Will Collins – Olathe, KS

Travis Ray – Peculiar, MO

Ryan Good – Miami, MO

Colter Schacher – Archie, MO

Bryan Burdette – Leavenworth, KS

Cedric Williams – Grandview, MO

Bryce Hood – Louisburg, KS

Nick Wolfe – Noel, MO

Sam Richards – Baldwin City, KS

 Not Pictured: Nick Wolfe, Michael Moyer

Since its founding on Baker’s campus in 1903, Delta Tau Delta has been the foundation for creating a life of excellence for many young men.  It is our hope that you will seriously consider not only Baker’s Greek community but more importantly Delta Tau Delta.  Should you chose to join Delta Tau Delta Fraternity, you will be joining a brotherhood of men who have already become a part of something bigger then themselves. It is our goal as a fraternity to help you develop yourself personally while at the same time helping you to get the most fulfillment out of your college experience.

With fraternity recruitment beginning at Baker, we wanted to outline a bit of the recruitment process and the recruitment events that our chapter will be hosting for you as well as other potential new members.  Our chapter will be hosting a series of rush events throughout the week to get acquainted with you and share with you experiences that involvement with the fraternity has provided us.  As a potential new member going through rush, you are encouraged to become acquainted with each of the four fraternity chapters on Tuesday night during house tours.  On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings, each chapter will be hosting events that you are allowed to attend at your own discretion.  Events will be hosted at our chapter house located on the corner of 5th and Fremont streets from 8pm to 11pm each night.  Our rush schedule for the week is as follows:

• Tuesday Night- House Tours and Introduction to Delta Tau Delta Fraternity
• Wednesday Night – Volleyball and Buffalo Wild Wings
• Thursday Night – Basketball and Sub Sandwiches prepared by our chapter cook Emily
• Friday Night – Movies and Pizza prepared by our chapter cook Emily

Throughout the week we hope that you will witness the brotherhood that our active members are a part of and consider joining our Band of Brothers. Rush Delt 2011!