Miami Chapter of Delta Upsilon 400 E. Vine Newsletter

The Miami Chapter of Delta Upsilon Fraternity

400 EAST VINE LETTER 

June 1st, 2012

Spring in Oxford A mild winter subsides as spring ushers another class of Miami’s finest into the next set of challenges and responsibilities.

Check Out Delta Upsilon’s Facebook Page:

The Alumni Advisors would like to congratulate the 2012 graduating class of Delta Upsilon brothers.

We salute their academic achievements, thank them for their service to the fraternity, and welcome them to the ever expanding network of Miami DU alumni.

“Delta Upsilon - Alumni Chapter Miami University” at http://tinyurl.com/MIAMIDU

And...

And Follow us on Twitter: @mudeltau

Inside This Issue : Alumni Advisors Update

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Alumni Weekend Plans

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Historical Records & Memorabilia Request

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Treasurer’s Report Phil Fratino

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Chapter House Update

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400 E. Vine Fundraising Update

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The Cincinnati Area Alumni Group

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The Delta Upsilon Oath of Initiation

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And, on a personal level, we appreciate their role in our transition into the Alumni Advisor position….

Brothers of Miami University’s 2012 Graduating Class Back left: Greg Miller, John Coleman, , Will Porter, Pat Godfray, Will Hewitt, Max Silverstein, Evan Heiser, and Byron Given.

Front Left: Andrew Cramer, Adam Sharp, Mike Maley, Andrew Funk,

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(Continued…)

Alumni Advisors: Accomplishments & Goals

In our first year, the Alumni Advisors set a number of goals for the undergraduate chapter: Increase the overall house GPA; Revamp the new member initiation process; Increase overall membership numbers; Improve our standing with the university as well as our reputation in the Greek community; and increase the number of brothers living in the house. This was certainly a lot to expect from our first year, but with the help of the undergraduate chapter we feel that the fraternity has made some tremendous strides forward.

This year, the undergraduate chapter expanded by nearly 30 new members by initiating 11 new brothers during the fall semester and 16 new brothers in the spring.

Next year, the fraternity house at 400 E. Vine St. will house 24 undergraduate brothers living in the house for the first semester and 32 in the second semester. This means that for the first time since the extensive renovation and expansion to the house, our fraternity house will be at capacity. The reason for the discrepancy between the semesters can be attributed to the academic pursuits of 11 of our undergraduate brothers, who have been accepted into the university’s revered study abroad programs.

As for the house’s GPA, our plan to improve involves changing the academic culture of the fraternity. To this end, we are instituting within the pledge process a strong emphasis on the importance of grades, as well as being involved around campus and Greek community. Among the 11 new members joining in the fall, all of them had GPAs of 3.0 or better. We are meeting with Jenny Levering, Miami Director of Greek Life, over the summer to discuss ways to improve the process and align with our chapter’s values. Additionally, the superiority of our housing facilities and our strong undergraduate brotherhood enable us to be more selective in the men we recruit.

Speaking of Ms. Levering, she has been an indispensable resource in ensuring our chapter’s compliance with various university standards, including the second year fraternity live-in exemption. In order to have second year students live in the fraternity house, rather than on-campus housing, we must have programming much like an RA in a residence hall. During the second semester Brother Nick Calderon, VP of Member Education, put on four such programs, all with 100% participation. The Alumni Advisors were directly involved in one of these programs by talking about our experiences as a DU and how they have helped us to become successful in the real world.

During our second year, the Alumni Advisors seek to expand and improve on our efforts from the first year. We will continue to serve as a liaison for the undergraduate fraternity to the university, Housing Corporation, International and our fellow alumni. In line with our fraternity’s values of non-secrecy and brotherhood, we actively encourage communication and transparency, so feel free to reach out to any of the Alumni Advisors for more information.

Fraternally, Brothers Gregory L. Brelsford, Michael L. Fender and Mark R. Fischer Alumni Advisor Board

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Alumni Weekend is June 16th!

Miami welcomes her alumni back to Oxford each spring and this year’s reunion promises to be a great experience. Please join us at the house on Saturday, June 16th from 2pm to 4pm.

If you haven’t seen the house in a while, you’ll be very impressed with the renovations.

Please stop by for a tour and some refreshments.

Alumni Board members and undergrad brothers will be on hand to welcome you and share some stories.

Alumni Weekend attendance has increased over the past couple of years, so please look into lodging as soon as possible. Oxford is beautiful and spending some time on the DU porch is an exellent way to enjoy the weekend. You may also consider planning a trip back for Miami’s Homecoming festivities the weekend of September 22nd. There’s home footbal and hockey events, campus tours and activities, and our chapter house will be open and welcoming brothers of classes on Saturday.

Historical Records & Memorabilia Request We are in the initial stages of developing a deeper historical archive and are seeking alumni assistance in collecting historical publications and memorabilia.

Requested publications include 400 E. Vine newsletters, Open Visor newsletters, newspaper articles, invitations, and other correspondence, etc. Memorabilia could include event t-shirts, party favors, photographs, paddles, etc...

If you have any of these items and are willing to donate or loan them, please ship them to: Miami Alumni of Delta Upsilon, Inc. 1320 Nagel Road #54140 Cincinnati, Ohio 45254.

This new post office address allows the Housing Corporation to receive packages.

Please include a note in your package indicating if you would like the items returned to you. We will make arrangements to ship the items back to you free of charge.

Please email Ben Case at casebt41380@yahoo.com with any questions.

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Treasurer’s Report - Phil Fratino, Class of ‘84

I was honored to be asked to be the Treasurer of the Miami Chapter of Delta Upsilon Alumni Housing Corporation. Before I begin to discuss my agenda as treasurer, I want to take this opportunity on behalf of all Brothers of the Miami Chapter of Delta Upsilon to thank my predecessor Dan DeMania for his dedicated service to our Fraternity.

My highest priority it to make sure we refinance our mortgage. The financial meltdown of 2008 made this difficult task even more challenging. There are not a large number of financial institutions beating down our doors ready to make this loan. It is also my goal to get this done at the lowest possible rate. I will update the brothers as we move forward on this process.

As treasurer it is my goal to improve reporting and make sure we have strong financial and budgetary controls in place.

If you have any questions or concerns or if you can be of any assistance, please feel free to e‐ mail me at treasurer.miamidu@hotmail.com.

Chapter House Update We have lots of positive things to report about the state of the chapter house. Following a challenging 2010 and 2011 in which we experienced a great deal of unforeseen expenses, the condition of the house has improved tremendously. A new boiler was installed in the Spring of 2011 and a new air conditioner in the Fall of 2011. A new fence has been constructed between our house and the Sigma Nu house, cutting down on the debris and property damage. The parking lot will be repaved this summer and will be painted with new lines and markers. Following a couple of incidents by neighboring fraternities, we are exploring the possibility of installing external security cameras around the perimeter of the building. The flag pole was fixed with a new pulley system and security measures were added.

Led by undergraduate House Manager Eddie Kramer, our general repair expenses are down as the undergraduates continue to do a better job of taking care of the house.

During our four annual inspections, we continue to receive very positive remarks from the City of Oxford inspectors as well as the Oxford Fire Dept. for our compliance as well as the overall condition of the house. We are thankful for Eddie’s dedication to his position and look forward to working with Ethan Headings, the new undergraduate House Manager for the fall semester.

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400 E. Vine Fundraising Update Your 400 E. Vine donations in the past have been critical in funding work on the kitchen, the boiler, new furniture, remodeling the sitting room, and a multitude of other projects. To be truthful, donations have been down significantly from 10-15 years ago. Unfortunately, our need for your support hasn’t decreased at all!

As your alumni corporation becomes more intentional in updating everyone on the status of the Miami Delta Upsilon chapter, one of the things we have to mention is our continued need for your financial support. Although the house had a major renovation and addition only 5 years ago, the core structure of the house is about 80 years old.

To that end, I would like to propose a simple contest. Which decade of alumni can give the most in donations over the next 4-5 months? We will tally up the numbers in the upcoming months as your donations come in. Along with your donation, if you have a copy of a memorable photo from your undergrad years, send it along with a short story describing the scene (You won’t get the photo back.). In the next 400 E. Vine issue, we will print one of the photos and stories from the winning decade.

I hope this brings back great memories of your DU years. Have fun dusting off the old photo albums!

Thanks for your support.

Tony Uribes, ‘95

The Cincinnati Area Alumni Group As some of you are aware, there are several cities throughout the country that have developed a Delta Upsilon alumni group. These alumni groups are area-based associations comprised of DU's from various chapters that currently live in the same geographic area. They primarily exist to provide social and networking options for members, but also work to enhance the standing of the Fraternity in that particular area. Activities often include: monthly "happy hour" events, annual golf tournaments, Founders Day dinners, ballgames, cultural events, and possibly even the occasional chapter visit.

In light of the fact that we have a high concentration of alumni within the Cincinnati area, we are beginning the process of developing a Cincinnati DU Alumni Group. While the initial focus will be on the organization of Miami DU’s, long term, we are looking to bring together DU’s of all chapters that reside in the area. If you are interested in participating, please let us know on our Facebook page, Twitter (@mudeltau), or email us at : Ben Case (casebt41380@yahoo.com) or Steve Sander (ssander2@cinci.rr.com).

******* Newsletter Mailing Update ******* As noted in the Memorablia Request and on the return address of the mailer header, the Housing Corporation Board of Directors has decided to use a new mailing address for our alumni-related causes. This Cincinnati PO Box will allow current and future advisors to collect the mail more regularly and better guage the effectiveness of our correspondences. To be more specific, using the chapter house address at 400 E. Vine was problematic at times due to seasonality and the lack of a designated collector.

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MIAMI ALUMNI OF DELTA UPSILON, INC. PO Box 54140 Cincinnati, OH 45254

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Annual dues for Alumni Chapter membership are $50 a year.

Checks made out to “Delta Upsilon” can be sent via tradional mail to the new PO Box address: Miami Alumni of Delta Upsilon, Inc. PO Box 54140 Cincinnati, OH 45254 Or, donating is now easier than ever with Paypal! All donations are safe & secure and can be made by clicking the donation icon on our Facebook page. Donations can also be made on the Paypal website to Deltau@gmail.com.

The Delta Upsilon Oath of Initiation Do you remember? We all said it, but do we live by it?

I, of my own free will and accord, in the presence of God and of these witnesses, do hereby solemnly declare that the principles of this Fraternity as they have been explained to me accord entirely with my own views; and I solemnly promise that as a member of this Fraternity I will faithfully adhere to those principles endeavoring in every way to perfect myself morally, intellectually, and socially, and endeavoring also to act towards others according to that high standard of conduct required by the Fraternity.

I solemnly promise that I will be loyal to the Delta Upsilon Fraternity and to this chapter, abiding by their rules,

discharging my obligations to them faithfully, and using all honorable means to promote their interests.

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I solemnly promise that I will share with my brothers the duties of my chapter; that I will uphold and encourage them in all that is honorable and right; that I will ever extend to each brother the right hand of sympathy; and that at all times and in all circumstances I will endeavor to cultivate those sentiments which should ever exist between brothers.

All this I solemnly promise upon my honor, without any equivocation, mental reservation, or secret evasion of mind whatsoever.