2021 Fall Chapter Update
Dear Brothers,
I am writing to you today with the wonderful news that Omega Chapter initiated eight new undergraduate members this past spring after two years of inactivity. With the unrelenting support of International Headquarters (IHQ), we were able to fight the uphill battle of recruitment during fully-remote and semi-remote semesters and emerge successfully in reestablishing our presence on campus. Please join me in welcoming our newest Brothers:
Soosung Whang, Kinesiology, ‘22
Austin Park, Marketing, ‘22
Russ Ehalt, Nuclear Engineering, ‘24
Keegan Sobczak, Finance, ‘24
Seth Donnelley, Finance, ‘24
Sean Mayer, Sports Management, ‘23
Mychal Kearns, PNG Engineering, ‘24
Michael Westerman, Secondary Education, ‘23
I have had the pleasure of speaking with these new brothers and am excited about their commitment to rebuilding our chapter better than ever. Please welcome our new Omega chapter brothers with open arms. We intend for these resolute men in training, and their Fall 2021 recruits (5 currently pledging), to become residents of the chapter house starting in Spring 2022.
However, a fraternity does not consist of it’s undergraduate members alone. We have over 800 living alumni, and we will need the support of each of you to rekindle old bonds, and create new ones such that our chapter can stop surviving and begin thriving. We, the Alumni Board of Directors, envision a chapter with a robust culture of mentorship, a communicative alumni base, and most importantly, a brotherhood that embodies the ideal of Theta Chi for life. Because our new brothers are essentially taking on the role of refounding members, we find ourselves at a point in our chapter’s long history where we can begin to rewrite the norms that we have fallen into over the past several years. This process does not have to be grandiose and time consuming for all; it simply needs small efforts, brief gestures of extending the helping hand to your fellow brothers, for us to build to this ideal. With this letter, I implore each of you to reach out to 3 other brothers from your time whom you have not heard from in a while. If we can all do this, we can rekindle and support the bonds that made the fraternity experience so unforgettable for many of us.
For my part, I have reached out to a number of alumni in order to establish one-on-one mentorship with each of the new brothers. I have done my best to find alumni who share a career path with each undergraduate brother, so as to help foster some career and network development that I believe we are underutilizing. This “Alumni Big Brother” program is something that we want to establish as a tradition moving forward in order to help bridge the gap between undergraduate and alumni brothers. As such, we will be reaching out each semester to find alumni interested in being career mentors and/or “Alumni Big Brothers” to help share the stories of the Theta Chi experience through the decades. If you are interested in helping with this effort, please reach out to us with your field of employment and major at PSU so we can pair you with any undergraduates that align with your experience.
The other half of this letter is to once again thank all of those who have donated to the chapter during our time of need. Thanks to your generous financial support, we have been able to insure, maintain, and retain our beloved chapter house through a year of vacancy and a year of low occupancy during an unprecedented pandemic.
Donation of Time/Skills - We are currently seeking anyone interested in helping us plan and execute alumni events, be it virtual or in person, State College or elsewhere. If you wish to donate your time or skills, please reach out. We will work with you to find ways you can help support that fit your skill set and desire to lend a helping hand.
Financial support - I do not personally enjoy having to appeal to my brothers for financial aid, but would be derelict in my duty as your elected leader if I did not do so. Truth be told, your financial support is a large factor in our Brotherhood’s ability to have survived for 100 years, and I hope you will continue to be generous with your hard earned treasure. After an unprecedented year, we are still very much in need of financial assistance. Now that we have re-established undergraduate membership, your financial support can be directed to chapter house improvements and alumni events as opposed to utilities, or towards the planning and execution of alumni events. Donations may be made through our website, www.thetachiomega.com/donate and I personally encourage donation through our automatic monthly payment option using Paypal, as I do. I would like to emphasize that no amount is insignificant; if you can provide $5 per month to support the chapter, I assure you it will help support our sustainment and future success.
Project Specific Support - If you wish to support any of these projects directly, please reach out and we will work with you regarding the level of support you want to provide. A few of the things that need to be done are as follows:
Replace standard and fluorescent light bulbs with LED bulbs
Install thermostatic regulators on key shared-space radiators
Purchase and install waterless or water efficient Urinals in 2nd and 3rd floor bathrooms
Repair 1st floor plumbing
Provide furniture for Alumni room (1st floor, Penn State Room)
Provide furniture for common spaces
As always, if you have any concerns or questions about the chapter, or if you’d simply like to get to know me or share some stories please feel free to reach me directly, or the board generally.
Love & Respect,
Aaron Speagle ‘12
Alumni President - Theta Chi of Penn State