COVER STORY
Oregon State Charters on Original 75th Anniversary! By Shad Andrews, R.J. Sohler, and Jeff Peterson
As the ink of the signature of the “CC” dried on the chartering proclamation, applause, cheers and a sense of accomplishment filled the Corvallis Country Club on April 22, 2006. Nearly one hundred fifty people packed the banquet hall to celebrate, as the Oregon State Colony became the Oregon State Chapter of Delta Chi. After three long and busy years, the founding members, including their five new Eta class brothers, were finally able to watch their hard work pay off, as they received their chartering proclamation. Featured speakers at the banquet included Bob Kerr, Director of Greek Life at Oregon State, who delivered some encouraging words about Delta Chi’s past and future at OSU; Ron Thiesen, International Vice President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity, who spoke about how the Greek community at Oregon State was proud of the Chapter for successfully chartering, a feat that is impressive and shows the dedication of the members; and “CC” Tom Horowitz, who presented the chartering proclamation. House Mom Nikki Olson served as emcee for the banquet. Olson recounted her memories of being a single working “mother” to over thirty “kids”
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and the various funny moments during her time as the House Mom. Kerr, having watched the Chapter grow from its inception, also spoke about the importance of avoiding the common post-chartering “slump” that happens to many newly chartered chapters. He gave the Chapter important tips on how to avoid the slump and how to continue succeeding. Horowitz presented a plaque to the Colony in recognition of the 75th anniversary of its original chartering in 1931 and read a letter from Executive Director Ray Galbreth congratulating the Colony on its anniversary and its new charter. “It was great to see everybody’s hard work finally pay off,” said founding “A” Matt Reid. “I don’t think people understand how difficult and complicated it is to build a fraternity from the ground up, but over the course of a few short years, Delta Chi has reemerged and begun once again to motivate young men into becoming better citizens.” Several awards were presented at the banquet. Kerry Nussbaumer was awarded the Alumnus of the Year by the Chapter for his help with the Colony. Richard Sohler received the Senior of the Year Award for his contributions as a former “A”. The Chapter presented the E.B. Lemmon Top Academic
Scholar Award to Matt Chin for top academic performance during the previous school year. And Andrew Merfeld earned the Ray Wyatt Academic Improvement Award for his dedication to studies. A slide show was also presented at the banquet, showing photographs from our three-year journey from Colony to Chapter. It provided many funny and important memories for the audience. The Chapter’s White Carnation Formal, also at the Corvallis Country Club, followed the Chartering banquet. By the end of the night, the brothers and their guests were exhausted by the busy past few days, relieved that the long process of chartering was over, but eager to continue a future as a Chapter that is just beginning.
AUSPICIOUS BEGINNINGS Delta Chi was originally chartered at Oregon State on June 7, 1931, when two local fraternities, Theta Delta Nu and Delta Kappa, merged together to petition to join the international organization. It was the forty-fourth chapter of Delta Chi and is the twenty-fourth oldest chapter still active. The Chapter remained active on campus between 1931 and 2000, with the exception of the World War II years, when every chapter
