Spectacular! 300 undergrads, alumni find great new DU spirit at milestone Convention
Thursday, August 13
The anticipation was palatable as the first delegates and alumni rolled into Bloomington for the biggest Delta Upsilon Leadership Conference and Convention in more than 15 years. On a campus site again, Delta U expected about 300 delegates and 25 alumni for the four-day program. And the first men to arrive were members of the Undergraduate Advisory Board, men who were elected at the Province meetings last winter. Their meeting was a good one. They heard staff reports on progress made in our Fraternity over the past year, and reviewed the constitutional changes to be proposed at Convention on Sunday. The UGAB made two suggestions. First, if the DU Board of Directors is expanded under the proposed amendments, the number of undergraduates should also be ex. panded from one to two or three. Second, UGAB members noted progress in alcohol responsibility at many chapters, but asked that severe measures be taken against those chapters which seem dedicated to the past and haven't made the needed improvements. Harper Hall, on the north side of the Indiana University campus, was the lodging and dining headquarters for the Conference and Convention. About a 10-minute walk to the south were Woodburn Hall, where most of the educational sessions were held, and the Indiana Memorial Union, site of the
90
reception, banquet and awards ceremony on Sunday night. Friday, August 14 The UGAB members met first thing Friday and held some important elections. Brother Drew Matthews, Texas '88, was elected as the Undergraduate Director. Filling the proposed second and third spots, should they be approved, were Brothers Tony Thill, Kansas '88, and R. Allan LaBerge, Washington '88. Brother Kevin Jameson, San Jose '88, was chosen as president of the UGAB, while Dan Spencer, Nebraska '87, served as secretary. Then the UGAB men began to earn their keep as the registrars for the Conference. Registration tables and materials were readied and at noon the doors opened for the Conference. As the 300 delegates began checking in they received two items which clearly illustrate what Delta Upsilon intends to be. Their portfolios to hold Conference and Convention materials bore the legend, "Building Tomorrow's Leaders Today." And the hats each man received proudly stated: "Delta Upsilon, a gentlemen's fraternity since 1834," with the Small Arms. Friday afternoon was filled with interviews for chapter delegations, giving them a volunteer alumnus' perspective on their chapter problems. The Credentials Committee met with those chapters having outstanding debts to the Fraternity, and the Conduct Committee
met to lay the ground rules for behavior during the weekend - an important duty in maintaining a good reputation for our Fraternity's future Convention site selections. Opening Convocation sets tone
After dinner the delegates -gathered for the Opening Convocation. This was a coat-and-tie event; but except for the formal dinner and banquet, the rest of the sessions were conducted in informal attire for the delegates' comfort in the Indiana August humidity. Weather was also a factor in the opening session as a deluge had practically drowned O'Hare Airport in Chicago and locked in 25 or so DUs until the wee hours Saturday morning. But Brother Gary Golden, Dean of the Leadership Conference and Chairman of the Undergraduate Activities Committee, welcomed the delegates with a report on the new format. No more were delegates locked into one series of seminars for the entire conference, Golden said. There were 50 different sessions on more than 25 different topics, "and there's no way that anyone should be bored during this conference," he said. During most of the small sessions, four seminars would be offered. Delegates were urged to split up their delegations and cover the most ground. Heizer proud of DU commitment Brother Ned Heizer, North-
DELTA UPSILON QUARTERLY路
October, 1987