191st Annual Convention Review

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2O23

President of the year Clayton Haas, Illinois 2025

STATE OF THE FRATERNITY

CHAPTER REPORTS

While the 191st Convention in Tampa, Florida began like many others, its message was different. “The state of the fraternity is strong”- was the prevailing message delivered by both President Steve Thompson, MIN 1995, and Steve Ehrfurth, MIN 2006 (Executive Director) in their opening session remarks. Buoyed by a year of membership growth and growing charitable contributions, the overall tenor of the opening session was one of strength.

Following the state of the fraternity, the focus shifted towards the chapters, with each group updating the Convention about their past year. The messages ranged from ones of exceptional philanthropic endeavors, to updates about revamping and fixing their chapter collections. All in all, the updates corroborated what was said in the state of the fraternity- the organization is heading in the right direction. Some updates in particular stood out: the Florida State Chapter was a national fundraising leader for the Relay for Life, Kenyon worked to fix its collections rate and financial policy, and the Delta Phi Alpha Chapter at Duke University had the largest new member class with 54 new members! These updates helped to paint a more complete picture of the past year and helped to bolster the message that the fraternity is in a strong place.

In fact, the fraternity almost matched its record new member total set in the previous year and the addition of a new affiliate at the University of Iowa sets the foundation to smash the record in the coming year. Compared to the last two Conventions, where the message was one of recovery and optimism, this year solidified that the fraternity was heading in the right direction.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2O23

MOTIVATING OUR BROTHERS Following a memorable evening aboard the Yacht Starship in Tampa Bay, Friday’s session kicked off with Mike Ayalon , the CEO of Greek University. A mainstay at the past couple of Conventions, Mike’s work and insights have always “This session was proven to be valuable to both the very informative.

It provides the undergraduate and alumni attendees structure for you of Convention. His first session on to become a better Friday was no different. Titled leader and learn “HELP! My Chapter is Not the ways to Motivated”, the session focused incorporate motivational around different motivational techniques for strategies and approaches aimed at your peers within maximizing chapter involvement. the fraternal The concept of “motivating the environment and middle”, namely, the idea that a in everyday life.” middle third of the chapter holds the keys to success, was a centerpiece of the session as chapters learned to identify the key members that would dictate their success. With chapter morale being a listed area of improvement for many groups, this interactive and

informative session gave our chapters the tools needed to optimize their membership and get the most out of the chapter.

GROWING YOUR NETWORK The second session of the day looked at ways to leverage one’s fraternal experience in the job market. With networking being a topic of interest for many undergraduates, this session aimed to equip attendees with the knowledge and tools needed to effectively navigate the current job market. Topics covered ranged from how to find your networks, to how to best conceptualize your “pitch”, and how to best describe the elements of your experience that are the most relatable to employers. With so many topics being covered and with this being such an important area, there was a good amount of questions and answers at the end that further enhanced the session. Most importantly, the session being held on Friday gave attendees ample opportunity to practice the skills they learned during the rest of Convention.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2O23

LEADERSHIP & ADVERSITY

LEGISLATIVE HIGHLIGHTS

After exploring the city of Tampa, the program built off of Friday’s productive sessions. Saturday morning got off to a great start with Trevon Bryant, also from Greek University.

Trevon, a former football player from the University of New Hampshire turned campus leader, led an interactive and inspiring session revolving “An incredibly around adversity. During his time interesting and at the UNH, he suffered a career inspiring speaker ending injury at practice and was with a story to left on the field as the team played motivate anyone around him. This story became who wants to excel the driving force behind his in a specific area. message of resilience and how to Trevon was truly bounce back from personal and an earnest and genuine person.” organizational strife. Trevon, a fantastic speaker, delivered a captivating session that saw productive back and forth dialogue and was well-met by all attendees. The lessons learned in this session will prove invaluable as our chapter leaders return to campus.

Being the general governing body of the fraternity, it is impossible to recap a Convention without mentioning the new legislation raised. This year, there were a number of resolutions that prompted debate and will lead to some changes going forward. First, there was a resolution aimed at creating a task force to study changing academic landscapes and what that means for university recognition and expansion. The second piece of legislation that passed was a resolution that moved up the deadline to submit new business proposals at the Convention, in the spirit of giving chapters more time to discuss in chapter meetings prior to the Convention. Finally, a proposal designed to formalize the Board of Governors’ responsibilities was tabled and instead challenged the Board themselves to come up with their own guidelines. Along with the annual budget and reelecting three members to the Board of Governors, all three items passed and will be implemented in the coming year.

EO BLACKMAN AWARD BEST CHAPTER

ONDERDONK AWARD BEST ALUMNI CHAPTER

ILLINOIS CHAPTER

MIAMI CHAPTER

The success of the Illinois restart has been nothing short of remarkable and is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down.

Rejecting complacency, the chapter instituted a robust brother development program that aimed to ensure career and job skills were learned at the chapter. In addition to their strong philanthropy and academic programs, the chapter has continued to actively involve alumni in their chapter operations and the strong bonds that have been forged have only strengthened both the chapter and their alumni.

The Miami Alumni Association has continued to play a pivotal role in the continued success of the undergraduate chapter. With the chapter needing help to revise its new member education and programming, the alumni association played a vital advisory role in helping to reshape events and refocus operations. Their role in the new member process and operations allows for the undergraduates to forge important connections and learn from alumni. Additionally, a recent 1970s reunion at the chapter house saw large numbers of alumni reconnect and rekindle their relationship to the chapter.

MOST IMPROVED CHAPTER

POCHTER AWARD FOR PHILANTHROPY

NITTANY CHAPTER

MARYLAND CHAPTER

MOST IMPROVED ALUMNI CHAPTER

HEALTH & SAFETY AWARD

ALABAMA CHAPTER

ROCHESTER CHAPTER

McKELVEY AWARD FOR ACADEMICS

CHAPTER GROWTH AWARD

ELIOT CHAPTER

DELTA PHI ALPHA CHAPTER

BEST FINANCIAL MGMT. AWARD

LUDLUM LITERARY AWARD

ALABAMA CHAPTER

KENYON CHAPTER

BEST FINANCIAL COLLECTION AWARD

MOST IMPROVED FINANCES AWARD

MARYLAND CHAPTER

DELTA PHI ALPHA CHAPTER

EveningofThanks

HONORING OUR DONORS To thank our generous donors and supports of Alpha Delta Phi, guests were treated to a special dinner at Florida’s oldest restaurant, Columbia. Located in the historic Ybor City district, the restaurant’s unique charm and Spanish-feel helped to create a memorable experience. Serving their famous 1905 Salad and Cuban pork, brothers and guests enjoyed a delicious meal filled with lively camaraderie and carousing. After dessert was served, brothers were treated to a surprise performance of traditional Flamenco dancers. The performance caught everyone by surprise and was the perfect cap to a great evening.

CULTURAL EXPERIENCES In addition, all attendees were given the chance to enjoy the city of Tampa and made ample use of their free time.

Whether it was exploring the cultural amenities of Ybor City, visiting one of the many cigar factories in the city, touring local breweries, or riding thrill rides at Busch

Gardens, brothers of all different interests could find something enjoyable to do. Brothers also indulged in unique Tampa peculiarities, such as the city’s free water taxi and historic streetcar system.

Even with daily high temperature over 100 degrees, Tampa proved to be a wonderful host city for the 191st Convention.

Overall, the Convention was a great success. Originally scheduled for 2020 to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Florida State Chapter, the pandemic forced a reschedule. While the chapter’s anniversary has come and gone, the convention hosts from FSU attended in large numbers even though the events weren’t in Tallahassee. To thank the chapter for their generosity, the fraternity gifted Florida State with a commemorative plaque to mark the occasion.

EveningofThanks

ANAHEIM AUGUST 1-4 2024

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