President’s Letter 2015
Greetings Brothers!
I’m pleased to announce that our chapter has had a very successful year, replete with growth and improvements. We welcomed 16 new brothers into our chapter, resulting in a current membership of 60 actives. Our chapter has bounced back from the financial challenges presented last year when the FMA collapsed. The positive progress we continue to see with our chapter is commendable amidst such a rapidly changing Greek culture. The constant support of our alumni both on and off campus is direct result of our continued success.
Having successfully moved on from the alcohol incident in 2013, our chapter is now allowed to have alcohol in the house and is in good standing with the University and National. As part of their reintroduction to alcohol program, they arranged a successful “parent’s weekend dinner” in the Fall and we arranged a holiday cocktail party for actives and alumni in December. The latter event was semi formal with cocktails, food, and live jazz. We will make this an annual holiday event for our alumni and their families.
At the beginning of this semester, we had our annual Alumni / Active Realignment Retreat (AARR). The purpose of this two-day workshop is to give the actives the opportunity to work with the alumni on the five most challenging issues they are facing. With five alumni participating each day, we addressed the following areas: Briarfield / Actives Relations, Community Reputation, Risk Management, New Member Education, Recruitment, and Member Involvement / Productivity / Accountability. The topic that sparked the most interest was New Member Education. When we repopulated in 2010, we did so with a radically different New Member Education program, a model akin to that of what Masonic groups do. The entire program was three days and focused on ritual/ceremony, our history, team building, and a comprehensive education on of what it meant to be a Chi Phi. This condensed program accomplished our goals, while also preventing time for potential hazing. Over time, the actives felt like they could not accomplish their goals within the 3-day program. They felt as though the meaning behind all of the content was less impactful because it happened so quickly. As a result, we allowed them to present to the Briarfield trustees an extended program. After reviewing and voting on their proposed three week program, the trustees identified a potential benefit to a longer program, and although it was a close vote, approved the program as a test run for the Spring 2015 semester only. We now have a committee set up with alumni and actives to fine-tune this program into an innovative and modern new member education program that can stand as the model for years to come. National views hazing as the number one issue and is currently working on a “standardized” new member education program for all Chi Phi chapters to adopt. The psi chapter has decided to spearhead this initiative and, at Congress this summer, will be presenting a program that we hope will become help in forming the standard for Chi Phi nation-wide.
One of my major initiatives this year was to take steps to rebuild our Briarfield account, which has been heavily depleted from the investment made in our repopulation in 2010 and also from the financial assistance we gave the chapter when the FMA collapsed. We began to move forward with this goal by: 1) bettering our communications with alumni through an improved mailing of our newsletter and awareness of our goals, and 2) challenging our alumni to donate $150 in the Lehigh / Lafayette Challenge. We had 49 brothers pay their dues and donate from Aug 2014-Jan 1 2015, and 51 brothers participate in the Lehigh / Lafayette $150 Challenge. The challenge alone brought in $7,650. And, most importantly, we defeated the Rho chapter at Lafayette by 10 donors! Thank you again, to all the brothers that contributed! Lehigh / Lafayette at Yankee’s stadium was a great success. All 80 seats that we secured for alumni were quickly reserved, and as anticipated, Chi Phi’s both young and old crossed paths at the Dugout Bar before the game. (If you have photos from the event with you and your Chi Phi brothers, please send them to me.)
Another goal this year was to have more social events for alumni, particularly at the chapter house. Many of our fondest memories have taken place within the walls of our house, and I believe it is important for our alumni to have the opportunity to come back with their families. Part of this ongoing initiative includes strengthening our communications with alumni, determining effective ways to build engagement, and work towards better attendance at social events both at the chapter house and offsite. At the chapter house this year, we had a semi-formal holiday cocktail party in the fall and a “porch BBQ” in the spring where we ceremoniously transitioned the graduating seniors into alumni. Other events not held at the house included a pre-Yankee stadium event at ‘The Dugout’ in the Bronx, eight happy hours; four in Philadelphia and four in NYC, the 25th annual golf outing, and the 3.0 dinner in Philadelphia with the actives. To continue to grow in this area, we need a brother to spearhead the social calendar and marketing of our events. Please reach out to me if you are interested.
About a year and a half ago, we received a very generous gift of 20K into the P&E account from the estate of brother John C. Schmidt. Brother Schmidt graduated in 1968 with an Industrial Engineering degree. We have used this money to set up a loan program for our active brothers, the John C. Schmidt ’68 Chi Phi Loan, designed to cover half of a brother‘s semester fees. We have worked with the university over the past six months to solidify the process and formalize the loan. The loan will be treated like any other university loan, except the Briarfield will be in charge of determining the recipient. We will issue on average one per semester based off of criteria such as academic standing, financial need as determined by OFA, and leadership in and out of the fraternity.
This year’s Congress will be held in San Francisco in June. Br Abels and I are pleased to announce that we’ll be joining the Grand Council under Grand Alpha-Elect Ron Frank. Br. Abels will serve as Grand Delta and I will serve as Grand Epsilon. This is a wonderful honor for us, and great exposure for our chapter. We look forward to making an impact on the fraternity on a National level.
In summation, brothers, it is a privilege being able to continue to serve as your president. I’m thankful for all the dedicated alumni that work in concert with me to achieving our overarching goals of maintaining a strong chapter and creating meaningful opportunities for alumni.
In Scarlet and Blue –
Matt Scheller
