SUMMER 2016 ◣ ◣ ◣
Message from the Executive Director
Patrick W. McGovern, Indiana ’99 Executive Director Acacia Fraternity
“Take the Lead.” Brothers, and Friends of Acacia, greetings from Acacia headquarters. The cover of this Triad is based on the logo for Conclave 2016, in Louisville, KY, at the Brown Hotel, from Wednesday, July 27 - Saturday July 30, 2016. (See acacia.org/conclave for more info.) The theme for Conclave is Take the Lead, and I’d like to share a few thoughts with you about what that phrase means to me. It follows up on the theme of the previous Conclave, in 2014, when Finding Our Rhythm was our theme. In a musical analogy, a guitarist (or bass player, keyboardist, saxophone player, etc.) will not have the “musical space” needed to play a guitar lead until the rest of the band has established a rhythm for the lead to complement, or build upon. From the rhythm comes the opportunity to lead. To me, this speaks to the idea of progression, from one phase or one skill level, to another. Personal and organizational progress are some of the outcomes that we aim for with our Cornerstones program, which you will hear more about in the following pages.
As stated before, from the rhythm comes the opportunity to lead. What are the rhythms of your chapter that allow you the opportunity to take leadership? Where do you hear good rhythm to build upon? What can you do today to enrich Acacia Fraternity & the community in which we exist?
From the rhythm comes the The Fraternity will never be the opportunity perfect endeavor, because it is a human endeavor; but I would posit to lead. Our community is widereaching and inclusive of many different people with many different ways of life.
that life is better, together.
In closing, I want to encourage my Brothers to allow the conversations that we engage in be focused on accepting and understanding one another. Let Acacia Fraternity be a group of men that fosters openness, tolerance, mutual respect, & shared humanity. Thank you, for your Brotherhood.
The phrase - Take the Lead - speaks to taking personal responsibility in our lives, and in the outcomes that we create.
I look forward to seeing many Brothers in Louisville, in July, and I would like to ask you to do two things:
It speaks to being proactive, not “Take the Lead” needing others to prompt us to take speaks to the action we need to take. taking personal It speaks to the opportunities that are responsibility in inherent in our lives in which we can take more of a leadership role, even if that our lives. leadership is in the form of service, or by
Provide some feedback on this issue of the Triad & about our publications in general via Acacia.org/triadsurvey. I would like to hear from you, our members, about the overall value of the Triad and what it means to us as members. (If you don’t have internet access, call Acacia HQ at (317)872-8210 to request that we mail a survey to you.)
participating in an activity that someone else in a position of leadership has asked you to attend.
What I mean by that, is that sometimes the best way to lead is to take action even when you’re not “the elected officer” or “the someone else that is in charge”.
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Take the Lead speaks to the choice that one must make dayto-day, moment-by-moment to continue to move forward in the face of challenges & almost everpresent chaos. It speaks to inspire us to take action today, on even one small step toward your dreams & goals. The phrase seeks to evoke a recognition of the inevitably brief time that we have in this life, and it reminds us that the sands of the hourglass of time are always moving forward, and that we know not our expiration date. 1
Chime in and Tell Your Acacia Story by posting on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook with #BecauseAcacia. We hope that you will share the positive, encouraging aspects of your experience, as well as any challenges that caused you to grow as an individual, or as a leader.
Fraternally,
Patrick W. McGovern
International Council of Acacia Fraternity 2014-2016
On the cover: The theme and logo of the 59th Biennial Conclave to be held July 27th-31st in Louisville, KY. (artwork courtesy of Michael Pastko, Purdue ‘04; layout by Benjamin Turconi, California ‘12)
President Jeremy N. Davis Iowa State ’00 First Vice President Scott H. Meyer St. Cloud State ‘89 Second Vice President Justin M.M. Kaplan Carleton ’07 International Counselor George A. “Chip” Ray Penn State ’10 International Treasurer Robert W. Mickam Texas ‘85 Judge Advocate Maximillian J.B. Hopkins California ’80 Undergraduate Counselors Jonathan C. Veres Jackson R. Wolfe California (PA) ‘10 Colorado ‘12
Acacia Fraternity Foundation Board of Directors 2015-2016 President Amos D. Meyers Shippensburg ‘66 Vice President William M. Riley Kansas State ‘60
Executive Director Darold W. Larson Washington State ‘81
Secretary James Katsaounis Ohio ‘95
Treasurer William A. Utic Cornell ‘74
Inside this issue:
Page 5: Acacia’s Strategic Plan
Page 7: Cornerstones is: Goal Setting
Page 10: Expansion Update
Page 11: Chapter News & Updates
Page 17: How Members Communicate: From the Analog to the Digital
Page 22: Alumni News & Notes
Directors Dr. John C. Barber Purdue ’58, Emeritus
Kris R. Lutt Nebraska ‘90
John F. Beering Purdue ’88, Emeritus
John B. Pugh Iowa State ’50, Emeritus
Dwyte E. Brooks Northwestern ‘69
Robert E. Roberson Illinois Wesleyan ‘74
John “Chip” Brueckman Cornell ‘76
Michael L. Rollins Washington ‘87
Gerald C. Cook Shippensburg ’66
Larry E. Schroeder Georgia ’ 77
Aaron P. Darcy Indiana ‘95
L. Dennis Smith Indiana ‘56, Emeritus
Brian R. Durst Wisconsin ‘87
Donald W. Solanas Jr. Louisiana State ‘68
David L. Ferguson Indiana ‘74
Robert G. Travnicek, M.D. Kansas ‘59
Scott C. Graham Penn State ‘98
Michael C. Tu California ‘91
Mark R. Guidry Jr. Louisiana State ‘57
Dewayne E. Ullsperger Nebraska ‘82
Ronald T. Hopkins Syracuse ‘69
John W. Wedgwood Purdue ’60, Emeritus
Andrew Jee Oregon State ‘87
R. Daniel Wilkes Iowa ‘89
Dr. John B. Lane Vermont ‘57, Emeritus
Harold D. Zarr Jr. Iowa State ‘73
Find Acacia online:
www.acacia.org facebook.com/acaciafraternity linkedin.com/groups?gid=43995 @AcaciaHQ @AcaciaHQ
(ACACIA ON FACEBOOK)
The Triad, Summer 2016 issue, is published by Acacia Fraternity, Inc. Patrick W. McGovern, Editor Benjamin B. Turconi, Co-editor and Design Address changes, correspondence and material for publication may be mailed to: TRIAD Editor, Acacia Fraternity, 8777 Purdue Road, Suite 225, Indianapolis, IN 46268; or emailed to: communications@acacia.org. All submissions are subject to editing for space and clarity. Standard postage paid in Indianapolis, IN.
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Message from the President
Jeremy N. Davis, Iowa State ’00 President Acacia Fraternity International Council
Tell Your Acacia Story It’s truly great to be an Acacian! During this past academic year, Acacia extended its branches of brotherhood to 116 new initiated brothers through three successful colony expansions at Indiana University, the University of Iowa, and Arizona State University. For me, it was a privilege to be able to attend the initiation ceremony last fall at the University of Iowa; and then visit the Indiana colony following their spring initiation in early April, where I was able to meet our newest undergraduate brothers along with several of the alumni brothers who were instrumental in supporting the return of Acacia to Indiana University. I look forward to meeting our newest brothers from the Arizona State colony, along with brothers from across the United States and Canada, at Conclave this summer in Louisville, Kentucky!
Pillar 1: Focus on Human Service
In 2004, the Conclave adopted our first strategic plan, “Rising to the Challenge,” which established key benchmarks that resulted in several successes over the past twelve years. Have there been pitfalls? Yes. But, through the challenges encountered over the past decade, Acacia is stronger because we’ve had a plan in place to guide our focus toward the future.
John F. Kennedy once stated, “Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” President Kennedy’s words are as true today as they were during his presidency. For Acacia, those words could not be more accurate! The Four Pillars adopted by the 2014 Conclave provide Acacia with purpose and direction going forward. During the past two years, we’ve witnessed success as a result of these pillars. Several chapters are experiencing sustainable growth trends in membership, and many of our chapters are expanding their involvement with various human service activities, from Acacia Claus to Seven Days of Service. Can we do better? Yes. Must we do better going forward? Absolutely.
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Although the 2004 strategic plan established key benchmarks, we realized it would be necessary to periodically update the strategic plan in order to effectively address the needs of the International Fraternity and our chapters, along with our undergraduate and alumni brothers. Most recently, in 2014, the Conclave adopted our current strategic plan, “Playing In Rhythm,” which established four strategic pillars:
How do we provide a better fraternity experience for our undergraduate brothers?
Pillar 2: Increased Value of Membership Experience Pillar 3: Sustainable Membership and Growth Pillar 4: Strengthened International Fraternity Operations
The question then becomes, simply, “How?” How do we provide a better fraternity experience for our undergraduate brothers? How do we increase our membership value? How do we improve our operations at the fraternity’s Headquarters? These are the questions that the International Council and Headquarters Staff are working diligently to answer. Through Acacia’s 2014 strategic plan, we’ve identified the framework for the answers. Now comes the hard work to implement the solutions. First, we must place a renewed emphasis on providing additional and enhanced educational resources to
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our undergraduate brothers through our Cornerstones program. Simply maintaining the status quo for membership education will no longer be an option—we must constantly be improving! In today’s ever-changing higher education environment, it will be necessary for International President Jeremy Davis meeting with Brother and Congressman Steve Scalise, Louisiana Acacia to provide our undergraduate brothers State ’86, at the Majority Whip’s Office in the U.S. Capitol. with the educational and personal development going forward? Absolutely. But, we can’t do it alone. resources necessary to succeed as college students and It will take all of us—from the newly initiated brothers beyond. To do this effectively will require a financial to the undergraduate chapter leaders to our dedicated commitment to enhance our staffing and educational advisors to our Headquarters Staff and Council to our programming model. From the International Fraternity’s alumni brothers to the members of the Acacia Fraternity perspective, it’s our goal to identify a staff member whose Foundation Board of Directors— focus will be on developing, working hard, living the values of our coordinating, and implementing ritual, and making decisions that will enhanced membership education lead to a stronger Acacia Fraternity! programs across our chapters.
Effectively sharing your Acacia story will help those around you better understand our great fraternity.
Second, nearly two years ago, a cross section of undergraduate and alumni brothers were appointed to an ad hoc committee, the Alumni Engagement Task Force, to determine how we can better engage our alumni at the local level and with the International Fraternity. After much deliberation and review, the task force developed a set of recommendations, including best practices for housing corporation boards, enhanced alumni involvement opportunities, and expanded alumni advisory models to support the undergraduate brothers and chapters. The task force will present its recommendations to the Conclave this summer, which will have a positive impact on our alumni interactions and engagement throughout the Fraternity.
Ensuring a bright and prosperous future for Acacia Fraternity remains a key priority for the International Council. Over the past few years, the International Headquarters has dramatically and significantly improved the day-to-day operations of our Fraternity. Through embracing several internal organizational changes that have increased our operational efficiencies, the International Fraternity is positioned to support the growth of the Fraternity, as is evidenced by three successful expansion projects this year. Can and will we work to do things even better
It’s been nearly two years since I was elected to serve as your International President. During that time, I’ve learned more about our Fraternity than one could ever imagine. It’s been extremely rewarding to hear from several alumni and undergraduate brothers sharing their thoughts on Acacia and how we can improve. I appreciate hearing from you. One of my goals as International President is to encourage our brothers to share their Acacia story. Effectively sharing your Acacia story will help those around you (campus, community, friends, and neighbors) better understand our great Fraternity. In a future edition of the Triad, we’d like to share your Acacia stories. Perhaps it’s a story about why you or a brother joined Acacia, or it’s what brotherhood means to you. I’d like to invite you to share your Acacia story by sending it via email to me at jdavis@acacia.org. See you at Conclave! Fraternally,
Jeremy N. Davis 4
Pillar 4: Strengthened International Fraternity Operations
ACACIA FRATERNITY STRATEGIC PLAN We have been highlighting Acacia’s 2014 Strategic Plan section-by-section over the course of the last three Triad issues. In this final installment, we look at Fraternity Operations. Human Service Membership Experience
Sustainable Membership & Growth Fraternity Operations
F R AT E R N I T Y O P E R AT I O N S
Objective 1: Increase the quantity and quality of data collected from chapters GOALS 1) Create and execute an annual chapter accreditation process: 1.1) 50% of chapters and colonies complete all required reports in a timely fashion by end of 2014/15 academic year 1.2) 75% of chapters and colonies complete all required reports in a timely fashion by end of 2015/16 academic year 1.3) 100% of chapters and colonies complete all required reports in a timely fashion by end of 2016-2017 academic year
F R AT E R N I T Y O P E R AT I O N S
*Submission of required reports on a regular basis shall be necessary in order for a chapter to maintain its good standing.
2) Create and maintain a revolving International active member roster beginning Fall 2014
Objective 1: Increase the quantity and quality of data collected from chapters
3) 100% of chapters are tax exempt compliant by Fall 2015
GOALS
4) Pledge and initiation records are collected and chapters billed within 3 days of pledge 1) Create and execute an annual chapter accreditation process: ceremony and initiation proceedings beginning Fall 2015 2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
1.1
1.2
1.3
2017/18
1.1) 50% of chapters and colonies complete all required reports in a 2019/20 timely2018/19 fashion by end of 2014/15 academic year 1.2) 75% of chapters and colonies complete all required reports in a timely fashion by end of 2015/16 academic year
2 3 4
1.3) 100% of chapters and colonies complete all required reports in a timely fashion by end of 2016-2017 academic year
Objective 2: Bolster Headquarters staff (paid and non-paid) capacity *Submission of required reports on a regular basis shall be necessary in order Objective 1 Update: Acacia Head-
for a chapter to maintain its good standing.
GOALS
quarters has launched the “Checklist 2) Create and maintain a revolvingto International App” through ChapterSpot collect active member roster beginning Fall 2014 2) Create a 5-year projected staff model to align current and future staff around strategic reports from chapters. 3) 100% of chapters are tax exempt compliant by Fall 2015 objectives by January 2015 1) Budget for relevant personal & professional development opportunities for staff members
3) Develop a strategy to utilize alumni and undergraduate volunteers to implement strategic 4) Pledge and initiation records are collected and chapters billed within 3 days of pledge initiatives and deliver Headquarters services by Fall ceremony 2015 and initiation proceedings beginning Fall 2015 2014/15
2015/16
1 2 3
Objective 2 Update: Acacia Headquarters staff 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 hired a Director of1.1 Expansion1.2 and an Expan1.3 sion Coordinator,2 with plans to bolster the staff 3 further to support chapter services. 4
ACACI A F RATERNITY
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2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
PLAYI N G I N RH YTH M Objective 2: Bolster Headquarters staff (paid and non-paid) capacity GOALS
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1) Budget for relevant personal & professional development opportunities for staff members 2) Create a 5-year projected staff model to align current and future staff around strategic objectives by January 2015 3) Develop a strategy to utilize alumni and undergraduate volunteers to implement strategic initiatives and deliver Headquarters services by Fall 2015 2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
1 2 3
5 A CACIA FRATERN ITY
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P LAYIN G IN R H Y T H M
F R AT E R N I T Y O P E R AT I O N S Objective 3: Increase collaboration between the International Fraternity (Council and Staff) and local House Corporation Boards and Alumni Associations GOALS 1) Alumni Operations Model document completed and presented to all House Corporation Boards and Alumni Associations by the end of the 2014/15 academic year
F R AT E R N I T Y O P E R AT I O N S
2) Share chapter contact lists from the International office to House Corporation Boards and Alumni Associations on an annual basis beginning in Fall 2014
Objective Increase between the International Fraternity (Council and 3) 100% tax exempt compliance by every House Corporation Board3:and Alumnicollaboration AsStaff) and local House Corporation Boards and Alumni Associations sociation by Fall 2015 GOALS Boards, and Alumni 4) Create programming for Chapter Advisors, House Corporation 1) Alumni Operations Model document completed and presented to all House CorAssociations at Conclave by Summer 2016 poration Boards and Alumni Associations by the end of the 2014/15 academic year 2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
1 2 3
2018/19
2019/20
2) Share chapter contact lists from the International office to House Corporation Boards and Alumni Associations on an annual basis beginning in Fall 2014 3) 100% tax exempt compliance by every House Corporation Board and Alumni Association by Fall 2015
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4) Create programming for Chapter Advisors, House Corporation Boards, and Alumni Associations at Conclave by Summer 2016
Objective 4: Strengthened financial outlook
Objective 3 Update: The Alumni Engagement 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 Task Force (AETF) 1 formed to support this goal. A 1) Reduce Accounts Receivable (AR) to below 50K by July 1, 2015 2 full report of their alumni relations model will be 3 2) Reduce AR to below 35K by July 1, 2016 availible at the 59th Biennial Conclave. 4 GOALS
2018/19
2019/20
3) Current on all credit card accounts & $0 balance on operating loan by July 1, 2016
4) No more than 15% of chapters and colonies to have more than $1000 (that is more than 60 days old) accounts receivable to HQ by July 1st, 2016Objective 4: Strengthened financial outlook GOALS 5) Create an operating reserve of 20% annual HQ operations by July 1, 2020 2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
1) Reduce Accounts Receivable (AR) to below 50K by July 1, 2015 2018/19 2019/20 2) Reduce AR to below 35K by July 1, 2016
1 2
3) Current on all credit card accounts & $0 balance on operating loan by July 1, 2016
3 4
4) No more than 15% of chapters and colonies to have more than $1000 (that is more than 5 60 days old) accounts receivable to HQ by July 1st, 2016 5) Create an operating reserve of 20% annual HQ operations by July 1, 2020
AC A C I A F R AT ERNITY
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2014/15
2015/16
P LAYI1NG I N RHYT HM
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2 3 4 5
Objective 4 Update: Under the leadership of Ex10 A C A C I A F R AT E R N I T Y PL AY I N G IN RH Y TH M ecutive Director Patrick McGovern, AR has been reduced and the financial outlook of the fraternity is the best it has been in years.
F R AT E R N I T Y O P E R AT I O N S Objective 5: Increase engagement with non-Acacians GOALS
1) Reach 100% of Greek Affairs offices (or equivalent) with regular communications on every campus in which Acacia has an active chapter or colony, or has slated for expansion by the 2014/15 academic year 2) Reach at least 10% of active members’ parents with regular communications by 2016 2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
1 2
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
Objective 5 Update: The Triad is sent to all Greek Affairs Offices where chapters are present and parents are encouraged to sign up for the bi-monthly Crest eNewsletters. 6
CO R NERSTO NES IS : goal Setting\ What is Cornerstones? This is probably a question you’ve asked yourself since it was launched in 2007. This is a question many members are continuing to ask themselves almost ten years later. Why is Cornerstones so difficult to define? It’s been presented at Conclaves and Acacia Leadership Academies, but still no transparent definition across chapters. We have decided to present Cornerstones in a series of articles that will be in each Triad. Each article will have a specific theme, this edition covers goal setting.
The Cornerstones Mission
Here’s the mission statement of Cornerstones. This should serve as a good base before jumping into goal setting: “To create and foster the optimal fraternity
experience for every individual member of Acacia
Fraternity by providing an environment that promotes
continual self-development, accountability to shared goals, and standards for personal conduct. The
resulting outcome is graduating seniors who are able
to articulate the positive impact of Acacia Fraternity in their lives, as well as their plans for staying
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involved as an alumni member.”
Seven Steps to Achieving Your Goals
It’s no secret that setting realistic goals has always been a catalyst for success. It’s essentially the start of increasing your personal productivity. Cornerstones teaches us the full process of setting goals and measuring our progress until those goals are accomplished. Setting a goal and accomplishing it is at the core of the optimal fraternity experience, no matter what the goal may be. It could be that you accomplished all of your chores for the 7
Seven Steps for Goal Setting :
Step One: Decide exactly what you want. Gain clarity about what is expected of you, and in what order of priority.
Step Two: Write it down.
A goal or objective that is not in writing is merely a wish or fantasy. It has no energy behind it. Remember the three P’s: present, personal, positive. A goal should be in the present tense and use personal and positive language. For example, “I am the President of the Interfraternity Council by the beginning of my junior year.”
Step Three: Set a deadline for your goal. Set sub-deadlines if necessary. You must assign a time element to make it more real to you.
Step Four: Make a list of everything you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. As you think of new activities, add them to your list. Keep building your list until it is complete. A list gives you a visual picture of the larger task or objective. It gives you a track to run on.
week or organized a large philanthropy, it’s about accomplishing a goal to better the fraternity as well as yourself. Goals help you define specific outcomes that you want to create in your life.
More Than Membership Development
Cornerstones is more than just a membership development program, it’s a personal development plan that will stick with you for life. Cornerstones has an array of strategies to help any member thrive in a fraternity as well as in his everyday life after graduation. It encourages members to become emotionally invested into Acacia so that they may be more inclined to be involved as alumni. And we all know that healthy alumni involvement can take a chapter a long way.
Step Five: Organize the list into a plan.
Organize the list based on priority and sequence. Decide what you can do now and what you can do later. Decide what needs to be done first and what needs to be done afterward.
Step Six: Take action on your plan immediately.
Do something, anything, and you will build the momentum needed to complete the entire goal. An average plan vigorously executed is far better than a brilliant plan on which nothing is done.
Step Seven: Do something every single day that moves you toward your major goal.
Build it into your daily schedule. Whatever it is, you must never miss a day.
If you have any questions regarding Cornerstones, please contact Acacia International Headquarters at acacia.org or Associate Director of Operations Benjamin Turconi at bturconi@acacia.org 8
CORNERSTONES APP : quick facts WHO: 1,250+ active members | 23,000+ alumni WHAT: an iOS application that will guide students through the goal setting and values clarification of the personal development plan, then acts as a CRM to provide a platform for students to cultivate mentor relationships.
WHY: The Cornerstones program reflects how we aspire to live as individuals and as a community - living according to our highest values and purpose. Most of our members live most of their lives on their smart phones. This app puts a powerful CRM tool in the hands of our members at a time when cultivating relationships is critical to their future success.
HOW:
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Acacia members will define five Relationships Under Management (RUMs) that they want to cultivate. For each of the five RUMs, our members can take notes about the individuals, schedule follow-up tasks, and more. As our members use the app to cultivate mentor relationships, our members will hopefully gain access to more mentors and maybe even a job opportunity. Acacia alumni participate by indicating that they would be willing to be a mentor, or by using the app for their own personal or professional lives - we all need good mentors!
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Contact Associate Director of Operations Benjamin Turconi at bturconi@acacia.org for more information.
CONGRATULATIONS,
ARIZONA STATE COLONY !
Acacia
Expansion Outlook and Colony News
Arizona State Colony
We welcomed our newest colony into the fold this past semester at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. Led by the efforts of Director of Expansion and Recruitment Jerod Miles, our first expansion in many years (rather than a recolonization) is off to a promising start. With 20 members (18 undergraduate and 2 honorary) to spread the light, we look forward to the bright future of this colony!
Expansion outlook Acacia will be expanding to the University of Minnesota this upcoming fall semester. Last year, the Acacia Headquarters staff worked with Phired Up Productions to develop a growth plan for the fraternity which has already shown dividends. Many of the ideas and practices that have been discussed are already being implemented in our expansion efforts and are being reinforced during visits to existing chapters. The success of the Arizona State expansion can be directly attributed to these efforts. Future expansion opportunities are in the works and universities continue reaching out to our offices with interest in starting Acacia at their campuses. The expansion and growth outlook of Acacia is bright!
Indiana Colony
With almost two semesters on the campus of Indiana University, the Indiana colony has accomplished more than other fraternities of similar age. Adding 80 members to our chapter’s roll, collecting 2,030 items (1,366 of those were food items that totaled 1,503 pounds of food) for Acacia Claus, and achieved the second highest GPA in the IFC. The members are incredibly proud of the efforts we have put in to create a respectable fraternity. We understand what needs to be done and how to avoid a repeat of the disappointing events of the past.
Iowa Colony As we tie up our first full semester on campus as Active members, we’re starting to understand what it truly means to be an Acacian fraternity man. Eleven of our fourteen current members (including spring pledges) happen to be freshmen here at the University of Iowa, and while that means we are brimming with potential, it also means that we still have time to learn and grow. We hope to make a name for ourselves as not only an academically successful fraternity – taking third highest overall GPA for the fall semester – but an involved one as well. Thank you to the Iowa alumni who have made this possible.
Vermont Colony UVM Acacia has been steadily growing in membership and operations since the Fall of 2015. Although only standing at three active members strong, UVM’s trio of Acacia brothers have been working continuously to better the fraternity through recruitment and philanthropy. During the cold months of the Fall Semester of 2015 our Vermont brothers successfully organized and executed a winter clothing drive that benefitted the local homeless and underprivileged of the Burlington community. To our amazement, UVM Acacia collected and donated over $7,000 dollars of clothes.
Washington Colony We have been working to increase membership and spread the Acacia name throughout the University of Washington. We currently have four pledges ready to be initiated along with a handful of potential new members who are very interested. Our colony has found success recruiting through simple events such as canoeing, football, and basketball. Recently, we held a banquet for Shriners Hospital where we raised money and campuswide awareness for the cause. Other philanthropic efforts include consistent participation in sorority philanthropies throughout the year by all of our brothers. We are more than excited to see what the future has in store.
You can help! Do you know a young man attending one of these schools who would make a fine Acacian? Would you like to get involved as an advisor to an Acacia colony?
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Email Director of Expansion and Recruitment Jerod Miles at jmiles@acacia.org for more information.
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Chapter News & Updates
(as submitted by chapters)
No. 4) Nebraska Chapter
No. 9) Illinois Chapter
Venerable Dean Jon Anderson, jon_and13@hotmail.com
Venerable Dean Luke Staunton, luke.t.staunton@gmail.com
The spring semester brought some exciting times to the Nebraska chapter. The five young men of the fall semester class have been initiated into the brotherhood, and three of the new members have already been elected or appointed into leadership roles. The Nebraska chapter also initiated two more young men in April, bringing our membership roll to 1,338 since 1905.
As the end of the school year approaches, the Illinois chapter finds itself having reached new heights. We currently have ten pledges, each of whom has been working hard to understand the Acacian principles while remaining focused on his academic obligations. These gentlemen have found a way to fit into the active chapter while also bringing something meaningful. Upon their initiation we surpassed more than 150 Active members, making the Illinois chapter the largest it has been in recent history.
unlacacia.acaciaconnect.org
The Nebraska chapter celebrated the 111th year of our founding with some alumni. Just a few weeks later, our active chapter and some Alumni members interviewed forty high school seniors for our Acacia Leadership Scholarship. Year after year we strive to live up to our motto of “Human Service,” and this spring the Nebraska chapter participated in Seven Days of Service. We donated blood, collected cans for a food drive, did yard work for some local Lincoln residents, helped one of our brother’s youth pastor hang drywall, helped one of the local Masonic lodges, and participated in the campuswide Big Event by helping Prescott Elementary School with their outdoor classroom. The chapter’s main focus now is summer recruitment and looking to have a prosperous rush to continue the spirit of Acacia at Nebraska.
rushacacia.com
The brothers of our chapter have succeeded in living our motto of “Human Service” in the past semester. We had three wildly successful philanthropy events, raising money and awareness for organizations researching breast cancer, lymphoma, and neonatal conditions. Perhaps the most notable of these events was Acacia Skate, a date ice-skating event with all proceeds from tickets going to the Little Giraffe Foundation. This organization was started by a close family member of one of our active brothers. We also held our status as one of the largest blood donors to Carle Hospital, the largest hospital system in central Illinois, with our annual drive. The other major contributions of service are our ongoing food drive for the local homeless population as well as a supplies drive for U.S. soldiers overseas.
No. 5) California Chapter
berkeleyacacia.acaciaconnect.org Venerable Dean EJ Morera, ejmorera@berkeley.edu The California chapter has taken the initiative to actively better the chapter in every way possible. With a renewed mindset and a more positive outlook on the future of our house, the brothers have begun to decrease apathetic attitudes and become more active both within our house and within our community. In early March, the brothers volunteered on a rainy Saturday to maintain a garden in Berkeley through the Berkeley Project. The elderly couple who own the property were very welcoming and thankful for our help. An image of the event can be found on our Facebook page. The Berkeley Project was one of many volunteer events that Acacia brothers have attended this semester. To improve our house internally, we have focused on improving relations by having more brotherhood events, improving academics by submitting SMART goals to the Cornerstones chair, and improving inter-Greek relations by having more exchanges and participating in more sorority-hosted philanthropy events. We have also decided to go green by placing recycling bins at almost every corner of the chapter house and trying to reduce the volume of trash. We look forward to the great things to come in our chapter’s future.
No. 6) Ohio State Chapter acacia.org.ohio-state.edu
No. 12) Wisconsin Chapter
wiscacacia.acaciaconnect.org Venerable Dean Jake Nelson, jpnelson5@wisc.edu Greetings from the Wisconsin chapter of Acacia! This spring has been one for the books. Coming off a fantastic fall semester, the brothers from Wisconsin were ready to go for another period of rush! After activating nine new brothers in fall, we are pleased to say we initiated four more quality brothers this spring. We have grown exponentially as a chapter this past year, and we will continue working on up from here. We look forward to finishing the year strong as we hold a leadership conference for all members where the executive board will discuss the roles of each position and how members can contribute to the chapter through risk management, rushing, education, etc. Furthermore, we plan to participate in Seven Days of Service at the end of this semester to cap off the wonderful year. Additionally, our chapter exemplified our great alumni relations by holding our annual Founders’ Day. The Active members and their families had a terrific time with the alumni. Plenty of stories and laughter filled the room as Acacians old and new ate together. Overall, the Wisconsin chapter of Acacia had an amazing spring semester and an even better year. We are ecstatic to see what we can do come next fall!
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Venerable Dean Abe Lesinski, lesinski.5@osu.edu
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This year, the Ohio State chapter has undergone much improvement through taking steps in the right direction. We have recruited a larger pledge class last year, and we have made a few changes to ensure that our process is more engaging than it has been with the implementation of a pledge class retreat. This weekend retreat, which took place at a cabin just outside of Columbus, kept actives as well as the pledge class engaged and generated a great deal of morale that would be carried on throughout the year, leading to a first-place finish at Ohio State’s Greek Week. A new exec board has been elected for the fall semester of 2016 and is composed of older and more experienced veterans as well as some of the newer initiates who are eager to serve Acacia to the best of their abilities. The duration of exec terms has also been changed in order to allow graduating seniors to serve, which was what enabled some of our seniors to play a crucial role in the operations of the chapter and remain engaged. With the graduation of this senior class, a few of the newer initiates will be stepping up to fulfill the roles that were vacated by the graduating seniors and carry on the traditions of the Ohio State chapter for years to come.
No. 13) Missouri Chapter
missouriacacia.acaciaconnect.org Venerable Dean Shane Burns, shane@dburns.net Brethren, during my time as Venerable Dean I hope to grow Acacia at Mizzou not only in numbers, but academically, in brotherhood, and in service. We have achieved great things in the past couple of semesters, and looking forward, we will achieve many more. One of the great things that we will achieve in the near future will be establishing an active alumni base that will serve as the foundation for our chapter to grow from. The next thing we will accomplish will be improving our academic standing. We will hold our members to a higher standard and improve our chapter’s overall GPA to above 3.1 and maintain that. Our chapter will achieve not only academically, but with service to the community, with the
goal of reaching three hundred service hours for this semester. This will almost double our previous semester’s total service hours and put us in the top tier for service hours on campus. The next couple semesters are all about growth for us as a chapter: growth in our size, growth in our active alumni base, growth in our academics, and most important, growth in our service to the community. We, the brothers of Acacia, look forward to growing as a chapter and, as always, continue to give light to those with whom we may be associated.
No. 14) Cornell Chapter cornellacacia.org
Venerable Dean Hunter Reid, hfr25@cornell.edu Please turn to page 23 to see our full report on our upcoming 110th anniversary and kitchen remodel. So Live!
No. 15) Purdue Chapter purdueacacia.org
Venerable Dean Ben Gormley, bgormley@purdue.edu Greetings, brothers! These past few months have been a time of growth for the Purdue chapter. This spring, we initiated seven new brothers, bringing our Active membership up to forty-three. Our new brothers are already outlining plans to ensure that our chapter continues to grow and prosper. Our chapter also led Purdue’s Greek houses in per capita community service hours, once again taking the No. 1 spot on campus. For the third year running, our members led the volunteering effort for the Klondike Elementary School carnival, and we hope to continue doing so for years to come. Additionally, our chapter organized a March Madness bracket challenge in order
No. 19) Iowa State Chapter
stuorg.iastate.edu/site/acacia Venerable Dean Ben Dirks, bmdirks@iastate.edu Greetings from the Iowa State chapter! This past semester we have renewed our commitment to human service. We are in the midst of a productive Seven Days of Service that included our biannual Acacia Root Beer Floats! We donated the proceeds to the Great Relationships in Pairs mentoring program through Youth and Shelter Services of Story County. Some of the other activities and service projects included making T-shirt rugs and cleaning up a section of I-35! We are excited to announce that this year our chapter won Iowa State’s Greek Week! We were joined in this endeavor by the men of Sigma Phi Epsilon and the women of Alpha Phi. Greek Week involved tournaments, Olympics, community service, Lip Sync, Polar Bear Plunge for Special Olympics, and other fun traditions. Over the rest of the semester the men here at Iowa State are looking forward to Formal. We are also excited about our scholarship luncheon at the end of April to celebrate our academic achievements. Our Venerable Dean joined Iowa State Acacia Alumni and International Expansion Coordinator and Iowa State alumnus Drew Sherman for a gathering in Arizona. Our brotherhood remains strong across decades, and we look forward to seeing international brothers at the end of July.
No. 21) Penn State Chapter psuacacia.acaciaconnect.org
Venerable Dean Jason Kurkiewicz, kurkiewiczjn@gmail.com The Penn State chapter has initiated twenty-six members over the past two semesters, twenty-three in the fall and thirteen in the spring semester. Thanks to David Cardillo, we had two semesters of great recruitment. Our grades continue to improve each year, and we achieved the third highest GPA of all forty-six fraternities at Penn State in the fall. Our 3.30 average brotherhood GPA is the highest of our chapter’s history on record. Thanks to the hard work of our head THON chair Matthew Wall and his committee, we were able to finish third of all Greek organizations in money raised at our annual Penn State fundraising marathon, with a total of $165,906. It has been several years since we were able to reach third place in Greek life, and with the fundraising restrictions we faced this year, it is a truly amazing accomplishment by our brotherhood. Penn State as a whole was able to raise over $9 million to benefit the fight against pediatric cancer.
to raise money for Natalie’s Second Chance dog shelter. Our brothers are devising plans to further increase our philanthropic activities on campus, making Acacia synonymous with human service at Purdue. In addition, our chapter’s Acacia Racing go-kart team put on a great performance in the fifty-ninth annual Purdue Grand Prix, the greatest spectacle in college racing. After finishing thirteenth in last year’s race, Acacia Racing was projected to finish in the top five this year. Despite making it to sixth place by lap 70, a collision a few laps later took our kart out of the race. On a brighter note, due to the ingenuity and hard work of our team, Acacia Racing received the Best Engineered Kart Award for the season. Above, you can see brothers Joe Renaud, Paul Mullin, pit crew chief Pat Kennedy, Chris Lanza, and driver Shaine Coon accepting the award. As we review our accomplishments over the past months, we are excited to look ahead to what the future holds. All of us here at Purdue are ready to continue growing and bettering our fraternity’s record.
The end of the spring semester includes the end of the fraternity intramural season. I am proud to announce our chapter has won the Bischoff Trophy and finished in first place among all fraternities. Once the points are added up, we also have the chance to set a new record for total points earned in a season. Credit goes to senior Tyler Margotta, who is our intramural sports chair. He did a fantastic job motivating brothers and organizing teams this season.
No. 25) Colorado Chapter colacacia.org
Venerable Dean Benjamin King, Benjamin.King@colorado.edu This semester we have been focused on strengthening our brotherhood with activities including hiking trips, poker nights, and our inaugural Brotherhood Week, where we held an event a day for an entire week. We have also been fortunate to host brothers from houses across the country, including the Mizzou, Trine, and St. Cloud chapters. Our semester drew to a close with a successful initiation at the historic Fort Collins Masonic Temple, one of the largest lodges in the state of Colorado. We are looking forward to a successful recruitment in the fall in order to grow our chapter and gain the ability to plan new, exciting events for our brothers.
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No. 27) Kansas State Chapter
No. 35) Oregon State Chapter
Venerable Dean AJ Wertzberger, kstateacacia@gmail.com
Venerable Dean Ryan McDowell, mcdowelr@oregonstate.edu
The Kansas State chapter continued its mission to develop leaders in the areas of personal development, human service, and life-long friendships. Continued involvement on campus, in the chapter, and throughout the community have all been keys to our success.
The Oregon State chapter is proud to continue our trend of growth after the initiation of thirteen new brothers last fall by inducting eleven new pledges into our ranks this spring. We will continue to focus on retention during our spring term with a focus on ensuring that our pledges receive a quality pledge education as well as a quality pledge experience.
kstateacacia.org
We are proud and excited to welcome our newest fifteen members. For the fall 2015 semester, we had another top quartile finish in grades, rolling twenty straight semesters of placing strong. We are also proud to have had eight brothers finish with a 4.0 GPA. Our members have been achieving on campus as well as in the classroom. K-State Acacia currently has four members on the Student Senate, six members in senior honoraries, three members in Student Foundation, and several members serving as ambassadors for their respective colleges. Acacians are working to make a positive impact in every area of the K-State campus. We have also been making great strides in human service. For our Acacia Claus Toy Drive 2015, Acacia partnered with Gamma Phi Beta sorority to raise over $5,200 in toys and monetary donations to go to children and families in the Manhattan community through the Salvation Army. Brothers also worked hard to prepare for the second annual ColorDash fundraiser supporting the Manhattan Boys and Girls Club. Several members were part of the Chimes junior service honorary and the Silver Key sophomore service honorary, as well as coordinating events with the campuswide service group HandsOn K-State. Finally, we would like to congratulate Brother Max Moss, ’61, on his induction into the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame. Overall, this past semester has seen great successes for the men of K-State Acacia. We look forward to seeing everyone this summer at Conclave.
No. 28) Texas Chapter texasacacia.com
Venerable Dean Zack Fernadez, zack.d.b.fernandez@gmail.com The Texas chapter of Acacia has had a great year. On the weekend of April 1, we had our Alumni Centennial celebration, marking one hundred years of Acacia on campus. Over 150 alumni from the 1960s and onward showed up to catch up, enjoy great food, listen to live country music, and give advice and support as our chapter enters its second century of prosperity. The second day of the event featured a formal dinner at a venue downtown, with further enjoyment and speeches from various members of Acacia about their experiences in the last century.
acaciaorstate.com
This term we will continue our tradition of having every member either donate blood or volunteer at the Red Cross Blood Drive. This is to honor our late brother Loren J. Hill, who passed away in 1990 after being unable to receive a blood transfusion. We will also be putting on Seven Days of Service this term and are working on plans for a fall philanthropy as well.
Additionally we are proud to have hosted the first Acacia Pac 12 Leadership Summit. We hope to strengthen ties of friendship between chapters of our fraternity as well as work to ensure that we can progress and expand as an organization here on the West Coast.
No. 38) Washington State Chapter wsuacacia.com
Venerable Dean David Czyzewicz, david.czyzewicz@wsu.edu The Washington State Chapter finished our last fall semester strong and have been having an excellent spring semester. At the end of our fall semester we averaged around twenty community service hours per member. This current semester we inducted eight pledges and then we initiated five of them on April 16, 2016. For this past initiation we were lucky to have some brothers from the Oregon State Chapter come up and join us. Also during the week April of 10th we participated in our schools Greek Week. We were graced with the opportunity to have the lovely ladies of ΔΔΔ and the men of ΣΑΕ to be our partners. Our team came in third place for our participation in all the events and volunteering for our local community. During this semester we helped participate in many philanthropies on our campus such as ΔΔΔ’s Tri hop, ΑΦ’s Mac and Phis, Pi Burger Phri thrown by the ladies of ΠΒΦ, and AΚΛ’s event “These Hands Don’t Hurt” to take the pledge against domestic violence.
No. 42) Ohio Chapter ohio.edu/orgs/acacia
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Venerable Dean David Haddad, dh719113@ohio.edu
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The Ohio chapter has faced and conquered its share of hardships this semester. We were finally cleared of a university-mandated cease-and-desist directive in mid-February, and we have been firing on all cylinders ever since. With just a month and a half’s notice, we were able to coordinate our eighth 5cacia race, benefiting the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research. This year’s event raised $22,000 despite the late start, accounting for 21 percent of all money raised by Ohio’s thirty-four Greek organizations. Besides the usual yearly philanthropy opportunities like Movember and Relay For Life, Texas Acacia has stayed true to its promise of human service by hosting a successful crawfish boil to raise money for a group called Caring for Camo. This group focuses on providing care packages for American troops who are stationed overseas. Lots of money was raised, and we plan to host another event where the packages will be boxed up and sent.
Outside of philanthropy, we have been focusing heavily on improving our financial and academic situations. With the help of new treasurer Chaz Farren, we have successfully dug ourselves out of old debts and are currently on the right path fiscally. Our senior dean Colin Del Valle has been working closely with individual members in the fraternity to help bolster our collective GPA, as well as ensuring the smooth operation of our Academic Draft.
We look forward to accepting many new Acacians into our ranks come September!
We close the school year with some necessary updates to our chapter bylaws so that we might ensure an even stronger foundation going into the future.
Chapter & Colony closures: Syracuse Chapter (Spring 2016) Unsustainable membership size, no projected growth. HQ Staff is in communication with campus administrators & local alumni in planning to rebuild the chapter.
No. 44) Rensselaer Chapter rpi-acacia.org
Venerable Dean Eli Zervignon, eli.zervigon@gmail.com The Acacia Rensselaer chapter has undergone a lot of growth this year. We successfully went through our officer transitions, moved into the new semester without a hitch, and got a record number of spring pledges. We are excited about what we have done together as a fraternity over the past year and are even more excited about what we will be able to do moving into the future. This year we hosted successful mixers with the wonderful sororities at RPI and had the pleasure of being visited for an awesome weekend by the Carleton chapter for their road trip event. We also had a great time hosting our annual AcaciaStock benefit concert to raise money for the organization Kiva, in an effort to live out our motto. We at the Rensselaer chapter are looking optimistically to the future and hope the other great chapters of Acacia have enjoyed the same fantastic year that we have.
No. 54) Illinois Wesleyan Chapter
iwu.edu/greek/organizations/interfraternity/Acacia2.html Venerable Dean Nolen Valdivia, nvaldivi@iwu.edu Spring semester for the Illinois Wesleyan chapter saw a strong push in philanthropy, with our brothers participating in Seven Days of Service from February 28 through March 5. Our continued support of Relay For Life was highly successful as well; Acacia became the top fundraising team on campus with $2,948 raised for the American Cancer Society. The culmination of these and other philanthropic endeavors this semester was our being recognized at Illinois Wesleyan’s Civic Engagement Banquet with the Outstanding Greek Organization award. At the same banquet, one of our two newly initiated brothers this semester received a nomination for Most Engaged First Year, and another brother was nominated for Most Engaged Leader for Alternative Spring Break. We continue to strive to live up to our motto of “Human Service” and hope to see you all at Conclave!
No. 61) Central Oklahoma Chapter centraloklahomaacacia.acaciaconnect.org Venerable Dean Cole Casteel, ccasteel2@uco.edu
also did our first Seven Days of Service and ended it with our first Crawfish Boil, which brought in $426 to help support Ally’s House, a local charity that helps families pay for cancer treatments, housing, food, etc. We plan to host Seven Days of Service and the Crawfish Boil again next year, with higher expectations! Hope to see everyone at Conclave!
No. 67) Trine Chapter trineacacia.org
Venerable Dean Kyle Roskowski, karoskowski13@my.trine.edu The Trine University chapter has been very busy this past semester growing and improving. We have had another large spring pledge class rivaling those of the other fraternities on campus, despite not having a house or a place to call our own yet. We are now the fourth largest fraternity on campus out of eight, and are aiming higher! We are also getting our name out by hosting more and more events with the school. This has made us a respected organization among students and faculty alike. We are now a mainstay in the Greek life here on campus, which is a great achievement because some students still remember a time when Acacia was not a chapter here. We have also been more active this past semester with our human service. We have had a philanthropic event almost every other week nearly the whole semester! Some of the more notable events were cleaning our local Masonic lodge, which has also helped relations with our Masons; helping run a children’s night at a local elementary school; and sponsoring the North Eastern Indiana and TriState Regional Science Fair for the second year in a row — and we have been asked to do so next year, too. The active chapter has begun to work with our new alumni base to strengthen relations. We now have an alumni advisory board that is located nearby and is willing to help the chapter with matters such as finances and housing. We are currently looking at a few housing options for the near future to give us leg up on recruitment and brotherhood bonding. With a strong alumni base and a strong active chapter, we have begun to have a larger influence both here on campus and in our communities.
No. 73) Illinois State Chapter ilstuacacia.weebly.com
The Illinois State chapter had its most active semester ever, and it is not over yet. We are proud to have initiated our largest spring class, with six new members. While we have been concentrating on recruiting new members, we are just as happy to have nine new members become alumni at the end of this semester. We held our semesterly chapter retreat at a local Girl Scout camp and bonded during the time we spent outdoors together. Many of us learned a great deal about ourselves through working as a group to succeed in a low ropes course. Many individuals and groups of brothers have lived up to the motto of Acacia by providing human service to the surrounding community. Some brothers in-
Aloha from the Central Oklahoma brothers! We hope all the chapters have been killing it this semester like we have been! Our main focus has been on grades and finances. Brother Sheetz, who is Central Oklahoma’s treasurer, has been diligently getting us on track with his superb budget and his hard work at keeping all brothers accountable. We adopted Ohio’s academic draft, so we are eager to see how much it has helped us this semester! We
stalled fire detectors in houses around town, while others provided basic services to help community members with their yard work. As the end of the semester looms, we are also looking to put on Seven Days of Service.
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No. 80) Saint Cloud State Chapter
No. 84) Millersville Chapter
acacia-scsu.org
millersvilleacacia.acaciaconnect.org
Venerable Dean Matthew Kruse-Maher, mattkrusemaher@gmail.com
Venerable Dean Jeremy Houck, jphouck@millersville.edu
The St. Cloud State chapter has been busy this spring 2016 semester. We successfully added four men to our ranks, bringing our chapter to twenty-seven Active members. This past February, eight brothers participated in the local Polar Bear Plunge, where philanthropists take a jump into icy-cold waters to raise funds for Minnesota Special Olympics.
Since our last update, our chapter has seen a lot of the change that we were hoping for. Our reputation around campus is on the rise, and our campus involvement is much better than it has been in previous years. Our GPA remains one of the highest among the fraternities, which is something we set out to achieve this year.
Earlier in April, over half of the chapter members helped raise funds and walked in the Relay For Life, set up by the American Cancer Society. As of late, brothers have been collaborating with other fraternities and campus officials to help organize and introduce a new philanthropy to the St. Cloud community known as Walk a Mile in Her Shoes. In this event, participants help raise awareness of rape, sexual assault, and the like by stepping into a pair of highheeled shoes and going for a walk! This fall, we will be assisting with the recolonization of the University of Minnesota! We are very excited for Acacia to be reestablishing there, and can’t wait to have brothers who are just an hour’s drive away.
As of our last update, our chapter had completed ten hours of community service. I am pleased to say that we completed forty-two hours of community service this academic year! We also continue to have a strong working relationship with the American Red Cross and have assisted them in receiving over 110 pints of blood for people in need. We continue to be extremely proud Acacians at Millersville University. Two brothers will attend the 59th Biennial Conclave and Leadership Academy over the summer, and we expect to learn great information that will be helpful in increasing the size of our chapter. Acacia Millersville chapter is very proud of the steps we have taken this year and hope to continue our excellence going forward!
We wish all the other chapters the best, and we hope to see plenty of Acacians at this year’s Conclave in Louisville so that we may strengthen the ties of friendship with all who attend! So Live!
No. 85) Carleton Chapter
No. 83) California University of Pennsylvania Chapter
More than twenty new brothers were initiated this year into the Carleton chapter. We will be entering next year with forty-one actives, the largest our chapter has ever started a year with.
caluacacia.acaciaconnect.org
Venerable Dean Camden Hay, hay2552@calu.edu
carletonacacia.com
Venerable Dean Graham Pedregosa, graham.pedregosa@gmail.com
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The California University of Pennsylvania Acacia chapter has done a lot of good things this year. We had two Seven Days of Service events, one each semester, where we donated to numerous causes. We also had the service event Acacia Claus, where we raised over $1,500 and matched the same amount of money raised by the student government to donate to Toys for Tots. We have always taken pride in Acacia’s fraternity motto, “Human Service.” We also had our annual Alumni Golf Outing, where we had a great turnout of Alumni members, Active members, and family members of active brothers. After the golf outing we had a Founders’ Day cookout at the fraternity house, where even more alumni interacted with the current active brothers and families. We plan to increase our numbers next year by adding at least fifteen new members. We have plans in the works to do the 5Cacia next spring. We are motivated and excited to keep improving our chapter throughout the next year.
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As for current operations, the CUP chapter recently helped the University fund and implement a hazing prevention program. This program allowed a speaker to come in and have various presentations and one-on-one meetings will all of the campus organizations. The program was extremely beneficial and we were glad to help be a part of it. Homecoming festivities are currently underway. We are excited to see Alumni and put together another float.
We are also proud to have resurrected Nite on the Nile here in Ottawa and want to thank our alumni for their huge contributions to our event. Nite on the Nile brought members of the Ottawa Greek community together in an exclusive invitation-only event that was the highlight of the year.
Best of luck to all of the other chapters and I hope you all have a successful upcoming year.
Next year, we hope to continue expanding our membership; and we can’t wait to see you at Conclave this summer.
Risk Management Corner Playing with Fire(ball)
Contrary to popular belief, not everyone drinks, and even fewer drink heavily. Binge drinking is described as a pattern of drinking that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels to 0.08 g/dL. This typically occurs after 4 drinks for women and 5 drinks for men—in about 2 hours.
Often, individuals don’t mean to binge drink, but they don’t understand what a standard drink is. Here is a helpful guide to know:
There are many negative consequences to binge drinking including car crashes, DUIs, sexual assualt, alcohol poisoning, and bodily harm. Long term binge drinking can also cause permanent liver damage, as in, you may have liver problems in the future if you binge drink too much today.
◣ 12 fl oz of beer ◣ 4-5 fl oz of wine ◣ 1.5 fl oz of 80 proof liquor
No. 88) Bloomsburg Chapter bloomuacacia.org
Top 10 Chapters by Roll: 1) Indiana (2557)
6) Nebraska (1338)
No Report Received.
2) Illinois (2489)
7) Kansas State (1251)
No. 89) Indiana University of Pennsylvania Chapter
3) Purdue (2031)
8) Colorado (1250)
Venerable Dean Cody Hughes, cody.hughes17@yahoo.com
4) Penn State (1960)
9) Cornell (1213)
There has been great improvement in our chapter’s philanthropy this semester. We hosted our first winter clothing drive, which went better than we could have hoped. Our chapter will also host our first Football Frat Draft in September! Brotherhood is as strong as ever, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for us.
5) Texas (1476)
10) Ohio State (1189)
Venerable Dean Adam Binkoski, vab24527@huskies.bloomu.edu
iupacacia.acaciaconnect.org
*Based on membership records submitted to the International office through Spring 2016.
No. 90) Morningside Chapter webs.morningside.edu/acacia Venerable Dean Travis Metzger, tmm011@morningside.edu Morningside’s chapter is happy to begin an upswing in recruiting, activity in the chapter, and involvement in the community. We have had a few highlights over the past semester. Recent trips include the NAIA Wrestling Championship in Topeka, Kansas; a trip to Minneapolis and St. Paul to tour the Shriners Hospital and the Wabasha Street Caves; and helping out with the Shrine Circus in town. The brothers really enjoyed the St. Paul trip. We were able to go to an alumni event, meet Acacia alumni, and grow closer as a fraternity. All agreed that the tour of the Shriners Hospital was the best part of the trip. It is amazing to see what happens when Shriners give back to the community.
It is important to remember these amounts as it is very easy to overconsume when using dixie cups and red cups to serve drinks. Beyond the physical detriments to binge drinking, there are numerous other consequences that individuals face when they do not consume alcohol responsibly such as academic issues. About 1 in 4 college students report academic consequences from drinking, including missing class, falling behind in class, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall. In a national survey of college students, binge drinkers who consumed alcohol at least 3 times per week were roughly 6 times more likely than those who drank but never binged to perform poorly on a test or project as a result of drinking (40 percent vs. 7 percent) and 5 times more likely to have missed a class (64 percent vs. 12 percent).
The hospitals are run entirely on donations, and all bills are covered. We strongly recommend that all brothers take a trip to our national philanthropy. It is a phenomenal experience. Another highlight of our semester is the new brothers coming in. Alex Boegtter and Kyle Fowler are the pledges for this semester. It is difficult on our campus to recruit in the spring, but we are blessed to have two excellent young men join us in brotherhood. They will bring unique perspectives on how we go about our daily operations and will be a major improvement to the community and cohesiveness of the group as a whole. Morningside’s chapter is happy to be taking a step forward this semester, and seeks to improve itself further next year.
If you choose to drink, please remember to do so safely and follow these protective behaviors: 1) Alternate a glass of water with every alcoholic beverage. 2) Eat a large meal consisting of protein thirty minutes before your first drink. 3) NEVER DRINK AND DRIVE. Remember to be your brother’s keeper and hold them to these guidelines as well!
Adopted from“CollegeDrinkingFacts”by the National InstituteonAlcohol Abuse andAlcoholism (NIAAA).Web.http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/CollegeFactSheet/CollegeFactSheet.pdf.
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How Members Communicate: From the Analog to the
Digital Age
by Michael J. Moore, Central Oklahoma ‘11
Imagine opening your mailbox to find a handwritten envelope lying there with a stamp of Theodore Roosevelt’s head placed neatly in the top right-hand corner. Breaking the seal of the envelope, you pull out a letter personalized just for you. Anxiously, you read the letter, trying to decipher the penmanship of the author, making out words as you go along. Now, imagine that you’re in front of your computer processing emails from the previous day. A simple click and you’re communicating with a person who could be thousands of miles away from you or in the same city.
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It can take days for a letter to be composed, delivered, and then read, compared to the minutes it takes for an email to go through the same process of communication. From the days of the first telephones to handheld mini-computers, the way people communicate has changed drastically since 1904. Technology has accelerated the evolution of communication, especially within the past 15 years.
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From Bulletins to Emails Our chapter members have had the opportunity to experience several different forms of communicating with each other. Most information was disseminated through a chapter by bulletins, phone-tree calls, written form, word of mouth, and then typed and printed forms from 1904 to about the mid-1990s. This large timetable covers multiple generations. AIM or MSN Messenger (instant messaging) were the rage in the 1990s. In the early 2000s, email threads provided a specific dialogue for groups to refer to. Skype, Google Talk, and iMessage replaced email threads in the late 2000s. Now, thanks to technology advancements, chapters are talking in real time on applications on their phones and computers. It’s getting harder for alumni to sufficiently educate members on how to communicate with one another, mainly due to the different forms each generation experienced. It’s no wonder how a communication disconnect between actives and alumni members might happen. Perhaps not so for the most recent graduates, however the situation holds true for a large percentage of our alumni members. Due to this, people of all ages are beginning to use team chat applications to host their group conversations. Everything in One Place Team chat applications like Slack and GroupMe are specifically designed for group communication. This trend is starting to catch on in the professional realm, which will eventually harmonize with our active chapters. The main attraction of a team chat service like Slack is the convenience of being able to access several
different conversations within an organization through a single online application. Everything is essentially in one place, making online group chats more transparent than ever. These applications offer a more efficient group communication medium that doesn’t dilute a thread with information unrelated to the topic at hand. Slack Slack is an app available for your computer and phone/tablet that is easy to navigate, fast, and is constantly updated. All of your executive council, alumni advisory board, or house corporation board conversations could easily be sectioned out and accessible by anyone with a smartphone or computer. And the cool part is that it’s free for groups of any size, unless you want to keep an unlimited amount of archived messages, or use specific features offered by the app. You’re guided through the basics of the application via chat by SlackBot as soon as you start using the app. You’ll notice that this is not just an ordinary team chat application. Slack allows you to organize team chats, integrate with virtually any other app, and chat individually with any member of the team. Another appealing feature Slack offers is it gives a person the ability to work with several teams on one platform. For example, Expansion Coordinator Drew Sherman is a part of both the Acacia Headquarters Team and the Indiana colony team. You can also search through attachments anyone on the team uploaded, conversations, and integrated accounts like Twitter or Google Mail, making it easy to locate what you want. Add Another Weapon to Your Arsenal Of course communication methods such as Google Talk, email, and iMessage have their place for organizational communication, but our communication methods have to adapt to the times. The pace of our workflow is increasing year by year, making it hard for people to keep up. College students, in particular, fraternity members, have a lot of tasks that they’re trying to handle at once. Minimizing the number of apps they have to check could greatly benefit the organizations they’re in as well as them personally. While some might complain “This is just another app to login to,” I would suggest that this one app can eliminate the need for multiple other apps. It’s an app that could make communication more transparent throughout your chapter. For example, instead of checking your GroupMe, your chapter forum on Facebook, or your direct messages on Twitter; you could integrate all of these apps to Slack, having all of the information you need in one place, in real-time. It makes finding files much easier and highly reduces email traffic. Slack replaced AHQ’s group chat on GroupMe simply because it’s all there, in one place. Check out the app at slack.com. It’s merely one of the options out there, so try it out on the free version then go from there! 18
From Calculators to Space Exploration: Jack Kilby Started It All
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Any mention of technology in the Triad would be incomplete without a mention of Brother Jack S. Kilby, Illinois ’42, the 2000 Nobel Laureate in Physics and inventor of the integrated circuit (IC) – also known as a microchip - that powers everything from the cellphone in your pocket to the Hubble telescope! In 1958, Kilby began working for Texas Instruments. It was there that he invented the IC and co-created the first hand-held electric calculator. Without his chip, there would be no computers, no cell phones, no Facebook, no Internet. In fact, we never would have been able to explore space or put a man on the moon if it wasn’t for Brother Kilby’s accomplishment! Many men can be credited with ushering the way for the modern age of technology, but certainly their contributions pale in comparison with Kilby’s. A television program in 1997 said, “For the past 40 years, Kilby has watched his invention change the world. Jack Kilby – one of the very few people who can look around the globe and say to himself, ‘I changed how the world functions.’ ” Source: Texas Instruments, “Jack Kilby,” Triad, Spring 2002. 3-4. 19
Acacians Gather for First Ever Pac-12 Leadership Summit!
2016 has certainly been a year of firsts. Just three weeks after initiating the founding fathers of our newest colony, Arizona State (which has never been an active chapter before) Acacia International Headquarters added another successful event to its lineup of leadership development opportunities: the Acacia Pac-12 Leadership Summit. Held at the Oregon State chapter house in Corvallis, Oregon, 41 brothers from 4 different chapters and colonies (Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon State, & Washington State) met to experience educational presentations and talk about how to apply the lessons to their everyday operations. Headquarters staff developed new material “I gained a newfound respect for HQ Staff for putting on the other international events. I also feel like I gained experience as a leader and am more prepared to help my chapter in the future with any of its laudable undertakings.” - Ryan McDowell, Oregon State ‘14
to present on recruitment, public relations, and chapter operations. These presentations demonstrated information in new ways and showed creative approaches to age-old problems. Alumnus Tal Franklin, Washington ‘86, came to speak on fiscal responsibility and a range of other personal health topics, including sexual assault prevention. However, it was in the group discussions that these ideas were taken from the abstract to effective change in chapters today. Another first revealed was the Cornerstones app for iOS (and soon to be available for Android and as a web-app). The Cornerstones app will link undergraduates with mentors - both alumni and industry experts - and will be available at no cost to members! A special thanks to all who participated in the first ever Pac-12 Leadership Summit - we look forward to many more opportunities like this to come! 20
An Acacian’s Pledge When living the motto means saving lives by Kaden Littrell, Kansas State ‘14
It should come as no surprise that Acacia is centered on Human Service. After all, it is our motto. This spring, Jordan Martin, Kansas State ’15, exemplified our motto and had a life-changing service opportunity. Instead of spending his spring break on a beach or in some exotic locale, Martin helped save someone’s life by donating bone marrow. Delete Blood Cancer (DKMS) is a national organization that works to help cancer patients by creating a registry of potential bone marrow donators. Br. Noah Trapp ’14, community service chair, had Acacians register at a chapter meeting last spring. One of those members became a match. “This whole thing is incredible and really speaks to Acacians and their willingness to sign-up, let alone actually donate bone marrow to someone else,” said Trapp. Martin received a call initially from DKMS alerting him that he was a potential match. Following this, he went through hours of lab testing to confirm that he was eligible to donate.
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“You never really know whose life you could save if you never signup.” - Noah Trapp During spring break, Martin was flown to a hospital in California where his bone marrow was taken and donated to a suffering cancer patient. “We all know someone who’s been affected by cancer,” said Martin. “This was a way for me to help out a family that has had to suffer because of a terrible disease.” 1% of registered donors get contacted as a possible match, but the odds of being matched or much higher for younger males. If you and your chapter are interested in becoming registered, visit deletebloodcancer.org and register as a donor. “You never really know whose life you could save if you never sign-up,” said Trapp. 21
Alumni News & Notes California (PA) Ian E. Finn, #149 - Celebrated the birth of my first son Liam Timothy Finn on August 26, 2015.
Nebraska Stanley Stolt, #597 - Just married last December to my lovely wife!
Central Missouri State Don E. Kiefer, #156 – I have retired from farming, but keep busy part time with crop insurance claims.
William D. Hayes, #618 – Current Past Master of East Lincoln Masonic Lodge #210 In Lincoln, NE.
Central Oklahoma Ryan M. Allen, #555 - I recently edited a book entitled ‘Kuo Ping Wen: Scholar, Reformer, Statesman’, published by Long River Press. Cornell Thomas J. Balcerski, #1063 – I started a new position as Assistant Professor of History at Eastern Connecticut University in August 2015. Iowa James L. Carter, #591 - After 40 years as a Pharmacist & 43 years in Hospital Pharmacy retiring this year. James D. Dlouhy, #722 - Currently managing the Imaging Services expansion of VA Health Services in Kernersville, NC. The new center is designed to serve up to 40,000 veteran patients a year in a central Triad location. Illinois Dennis Young, #1164 - I graduated from U. of Illinois in 1976 with a Master’s in Architecture and enjoyed my time at Acacia. For the past 14 years, I’ve been President & CEO of Ittner Architects located in St. Louis, Missouri. My wife, Donna, and I see Steve Davidson and his wife, Debbie, a couple times per year. I am busy keeping up with our two sons. Both are single and enjoying all the opportunities that their work brings. Mike is an electro-physics engineer with SpaceX and Steve is President/Founder of Synek Co. in Denver, CO. Illinois State Marc A. Woodbury, #6 - Retired from Carmel-Monterey Travel after 38 years of getting everyone else where they wanted to be. Now it is Liz and my turn to be where we want to be. We have a 26’ sailboat, 2 dogs and a son who is a fireman. What else could you want Illinois Wesleyan David H. (Andy) Anderson, #222 – Living the dream on 101 acres in the Driftless Area of Southwestern Wisconsin. Indiana Ronald D. Finnigan, #1072 – Director, Benedictine University Center for Professional Development. Michael T. Akers, #1289 - Will be completing my 19th year with the Indianapolis Public Schools. Thomas J. DeRue Jr., #1734 - I recently joined the Atlanta office of McGuireWoods where I will practice in the commercial real estate department. Paul A. Malarik, III, #2342 – Meeting former President Bill Clinton tonight at a reception in Munster, IN. (December 2015). Kansas John N. Drowatzky, #659 - I have been using my retirement for missions to El Salvador and Haiti. Also enjoy working with inner city youth and parents. Miami of Ohio Kevin J. Smith, #334 - Recently sold my specialty running shop and race management company to the regions largest specialty bike shop operation. Both girls are off to college, Rachel is finishing her sophomore year at St. Francis in Loretto, PA as she works through a 6 year PHD program in Physical Therapy. Erin is has been accepted at University of Pittsburgh in Engineering and will start in fall 2016. Michigan Daniel R. Barr, #650 – Retired Ophthamologist still playing piano professionally. Spoiling six grandkids. Minnesota William A. Peterson, #539 – Hoping to hear of a renewed chapter at Minnesota! Missouri Michael J. Reese, #823 - I married my partner of 23 years, Glen, in April of 2015. Several members of the chapter were both groomsmen and guests at the ceremony. Robert Seney, #628- I continue to be active in retirement by doing consulting work, conducting workshops and training, and presenting at conferences. For example, I presented two papers at the World Conference for Gifted Children at the 2015 Conference in Odense, Denmark. I am scheduled to present at the Colorado Association for Gifted Children Conference and the National Association for Gifted Children Conference this fall.
New Hampshire Ralph L. Fearon, #287 – Values learned in ‘Hell Week 1954’ have guided me in my 80 year life. Carl D. Rogge, #455 – Retired (2002) Western Airlines – Delta Airlines B-727 Captain. Steven A. Fermanis, #825 - I now have three grand children (twin boys) in NH and another boy in MD. James G. Alafat II, #916 - Have entered into a great partnership with several established companies that help business owners protect and grow their business. Northern Colorado Bruce E. Smith, #17 - Still accommodating to my prosthetic left leg. Anticipate right knee replacement soon. For the shape I’m in, I’m in good shape! Ohio Nevin R. Williams, #159 – Starting my 23rd year of retirement. Never bored! Ohio State James E. Hart, #795 – Promoted to United Airlines Boeing 777 Captain – flying Asian routes out of Houston; became a Marine Corps Officer and pilot completing a 21 year career retiring as a LtCol. Now reside in Springfield, Ohio. Penn State John R. Kaufman, #439 – Would like to hear from any PSU Acacia brothers – 1950-1951 or University of Pennsylvania brothers – 1953-1958. Shippensburg Dennis G. Richards, #50 – President-Central Fulton School District-13 consecutive years – Board Member for 24 years. United Methodist Church Trustee – 30 years; Church Choir Member – 1972 to present. Oldest daughter, Dr. Kristy L. Richards, PhD, MD., is a cancer research professor at Cornell University at both the Ithaca campus and their cancer hospital in New York City. Syracuse Neil Melman, #443 - Retired in 2009 after more than 36 years with the City of Toronto. Spending time doing volunteer work and enjoying nature in my little corner of the world. Still scuba diving after all these years enjoying the beauty of the underwater world. Son Aaron is the Senior Rabbi and is married with two children: Jordan, & Hannah. Daughter Ora married with two children: Dylan, & Amelia; Ora is a teacher by profession and now has a children’s party planning company. My wife Ellen continues her career with the Canadian office of the Israel Ministry of Tourism. Texas Stephen J. Gilhooly, #1201 - I have just finished my second year as a corporate transactional partner at Culhane Meadows PLLC, based in Dallas, focused on representing small to medium sized businesses with their legal and compliance needs. Washington State Robert W. (Bob) Williamson, #285 – Retired and living in the Seattle area. Have an RV and we’re seeing the USA!
Acacia Fraternity Acacia held its third international March Madness bracket challenge this year. Congratulations to the winners! 1st Place - Darold W. Larson, Washington State ‘81 2nd Place - Scott J. Houston, Indiana ‘80 3rd Place - James M. Hoenscheidt, Kansas State ‘83 22
Cornell Acacia: 110th Kitchen Renovation
A complete overhaul of the kitchen is planned. We are not aiming to simply freshen the aesthetics, but we plan to alter the walls and the floor, redo the electrical and plumbing, and remodel the interior to build a truly modern kitchen. We have modernized much of the rest of Northcote in recent years, and we hope to bring the kitchen up to par.
It is remarkable to consider that the Cornell Chapter of Acacia will celebrate eleven decades of tradition in 2017! The history and brotherhood that the chapter has seen is breathtaking to consider, and this longevity is perhaps a testament to the service that we have provided to our fraternity, to each other, and to ourselves. We would not be here today without each and every one of the Acacians that have traveled through Northcote’s halls – thank you. As the Corporation Board began planning for a celebratory event for the momentous occasion (currently planned for August 26-27, 2017, save the date!), we felt that this should also coincide with a heavyweight project we have been considering for some time – the renovation of the kitchen. A committee was formed to tackle this project, and we have been hard at work for the last several months to make this a reality.
In order to achieve this project, we aim to raise $110,000 by the time we host our celebration. Each and every one of your contributions will go directly to the project – the committee and the Corporation Board operate entirely on a volunteer basis. Contributions can be made via a check to the Corporation Board or by PayPal to AcaciaCorpBoard@cornell.edu. Further information can be accessed at https://cornellacacia110.wordpress.com/ or by contacting myself at si75@ cornell.edu. We are completely transparent, and are always here to answer any questions, receive advice, or to simply chat. Thank you for keeping Acacia so strong! Fraternally, Sho Iketani, Cornell ’12 Chair of the Kitchen Renovation Committee
Penn State Acacia: +/- 60 Year Reunion
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Down Memory Lane
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Who says fraternal fellowship wanes with time? Not so at the PSU Chapter when Brothers from the classes of 1955 / 56 / 57, along with their wives, renewed that special fellowship on the 8th, 9th, &10th of April on the PSU campus. Yes, a 60th reunion (plus or minus) full of laughter, handshakes and camaraderie. The main event took place on Saturday, April 9th, beginning with breakfast together and then a tour of the Chapter House, briefing on chapter activities followed by a buffet lunch, and then a campus tour led by Lion Ambassadors . . . . specially selected enthusiastic students who have Penn State Proud written all over them. PSU growth has gone from the reunion years of 20,000 on campus to 42,000 today. The tour concluded at the world famous Creamery where all indulged in the likes of Peachy Paterno and Death by Chocolate. The day closed with a great dining-in followed by each Brother giving a synopsis of his life and career. Their unbelievable contributions to country and community made us all proud to be Acacians and Americans. As we said our goodbyes, all agreed to another reunion in 60 years!
On April 6th, 1916, thirty-three men assembled to form the University of Texas at Austin Chapter of Acacia Fraternity. One hundred years later, the largest gathering of Texas Chapter alumni in history assembled to celebrate that occasion. Over 125 Texas alumni from as far away as Arizona, Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia were in attendance over a fun filled weekend. Roll numbers and initiation dates ranged from #300 (1951) to #1442 (2013). The unanimous feedback has been that the attendees enjoyed the weekend tremendously. Also present were AFF Executive Director Darold Larson, Washington State ’81, and from the HQ staff, Acacia Executive Director Patrick McGovern, Indiana ’99; Director of Operations Michael Weber, Iowa State, ’06; and Jackson Aaberg, Missouri ’12, Leadership Consultant. The festivities started in Dallas on Thursday night with a small gathering at the invitation of the Acacia Fraternity Foundation. A great way to begin, perhaps the most memorable aspect was the presentation of the Acacia Award of Merit to Brother Lamar Tims. A well deserved honor for one of the most respected alumni in Texas. Executive Director Patrick McGovern, Indiana ’99, also presented a Resolution on behalf of the International Council, recognizing the outstanding achievement of reaching 100 years of brotherhood.
On Friday, the focus shifted to Austin where that evening, a gathering of over 250 people met at the Texas Chapter house. Plenty of cold beverages, a great band, lovely guests and brotherhood in abundance always makes for a fun evening. It was a great chance to catch up with brothers of all ages. Tales of brothers reuniting after several decades were commonplace. On Saturday night was the Texas Chapter Centennial Banquet, held at one of Austin’s newest downtown hotels. A pre-banquet cocktail hour was followed by a delicious multi-course dinner. After dinner began the speaking program that featured several speakers. Among those were Acacia Fraternity Foundation Executive Director Darold Larson awarding the first ever Gene Greenlees Scholarship to a very deserving young Brother Matt Dziedzic. Executive Director Patrick McGovern also awarded the Order of Pythagoras to Texas Alumni Association President Tom Shelton.
Texas Acacia: Centennial Anniversary
The Celebration of the Century!
A highlight of the evening was a number of speakers providing overviews of their various decades. The historic evening was concluded with a rousing rendition of, “We’re The Men from Acacia.” Truly, a great time was had by all. Fraternally, Rob Mickam, Texas ‘85 International Treasurer Texas Acacia Alumni Association President 24
Message from the Foundation
Darold W. Larson, Washington State ‘81 Executive Director Acacia Fraternity Foundation
Tinker to Evers to Chance “It’s our year!” That refrain is being heard in and around the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field, the north side of Chicago, and the country as optimism abounds for those who follow Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs. In 1906, the Cubs posted a modern-era record winning percentage of .763 before losing the World Series. The Cubs won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908, becoming the first Major League team to play in three consecutive Fall Classics, and the first to win twice. Since then, the Cubs have not won the series in 107 years, the longest championship drought of any professional sports team, and they are often referred to as the “Lovable Losers” because of this distinction. From 1902 to 1912 the cornerstones of the Cubs dynasty were shortstop Joe Tinker, second baseman Johnny Evers, and first baseman Frank Chance. The trio won the National League pennant four times during their time together, and their magical double play combo would be immortalized in a poem by Franklin Pierce Adams titled “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon,” also known as “Tinker to Evers to Chance.”
educational activities and percentages of “bricks and mortar” projects for housing. Over the past twenty-seven years the Foundation has provided nearly $7 million for these purposes. Early in 1989, upon the creation of the Foundation, Bernal R. Woodward, Syracuse ’25; Charles O. Willits, Cornell ’25; and Victor A. Ellis, Missouri ’40, became members of The Evergreen Society, making impactful gifts of remembrance to Acacia. Their thoughtful contributions gave the Foundation its much-needed momentum that thousands of Acacians enjoy today. I encourage you to join the growing number of Acacians in The Evergreen Society who have decided to leave a lasting legacy by designating the Acacia Fraternity Foundation in their estate plans or other planned giving instruments. I would say that just about every Acacian contributes something to one or more organizations he . believes in — his church, his alma mater, and charities beyond number. I believe in Acacia, and I know thousands of Acacians do as well. I ask that you let Acacia be among those organizations you support.
I would say that just about every Acacian contributes something to one or more organizations he believes in
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The Acacia Fraternity Foundation has its own double play combination of Woodward to Willits to Ellis. No, not athletes, but three Acacians who made a difference through estate planning and ensuring a bright future for Acacia.
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The AFF makes it possible for Acacians and friends of the fraternity to make tax-deductible contributions to provide scholarships and support the
Enjoying winning seasons since 1904, the Foundation office will be happy to send you literature explaining how simple it is to include Acacia in your will and the programs you can help support. Whether it is via our Annual Fund campaigns, gifts of stock, rememberance in your will, and/or as a beneficiary in your insurance policy, like the Cubs, let’s make Acacia in 2016 “Our Year!” Fraternally, Darold W. Larson
Please write us at: Acacia Fraternity Foundation, 8777 Purdue Road, Suite 225, Indianapolis, IN 46280
Chapter Eternal
If you have any information to share about a brother that has passed such as stories, memories, and other recollections, please email communications@acacia.org so that they may be passed on to the family.
*this list is much larger than normal as we have been informed of the passing of brothers in years past due to the efforts of the 2017 Membership Directory.
ARKANSAS Darrell D. Dover, #54 Chester L. Smith Jr., #163 Bruce O. Williams, #179 BOSTON Peter G Pelton, #19 CALIFORNIA Ted E. Rowe, #316 John R. Bell, #322 William A. McCutchan, #338 Douglas E. Guichard, #341 Ronald J. Kilgore, #422 Arthur P. Jollymour, #445 Joseph E. Cook, #499 CENTRAL MISSOURI STATE Kenneth W. Lerbs, #78 CENTRAL OKLAHOMA Cloise E. Johnson, #14 Roy L. Pamplin, #88 Hubert H. Wedell, #180 CINCINNATI Elmer J. Faust, #95 William D. Gallentine, #129 Donn A. Johnson, #149 Howard E. Dunifon, #156 William R. Rinehart, #205 John E. Tyson, #378 COLORADO H. Dale Gatchell, #396 Robert H. Purcell Jr., #457 Warren Tolman, #507 Richard E. Ahlborn, #537 Robert L. Treasure, MD, #553 Alan C. Frost, #566 CORNELL David L. Hurd, #336 Harold C. Mack, #460 Ralph R. Brown, #514 John A. Shepardson, #552 Stephen D. Browne, #611 Robert P. Matusiak, #758 Jeffrey C. Chung, #876 David J. Nevarez, #912 Scott F. Inglis, #1019 DENVER William R. Pennington, #81 Gordon C. Eggebrecht, #102 John F. Denson, #137 FRANKLIN Edward C Seeben, #366 Mark B. Wunder, #422 GEORGE WASHINGTON George H. Werner, #214 Charles R Lemley, #268 Laurance G. Locke, #296 HARVARD Harold G. Thompson, #376 ILLINOIS John J. Gray, #471 Paul A. Adams, #520 Gilbert B. North, #572
George Victor Main, #639 Kenneth A Bunchman, #645 Donald M. Kincaid, #660 Kenneth W. Davis, #724 Edward J. Glenwright, #750 David R. Goodmon, #848 Dr. James M. Tucker, #890 John W. Pound, #898 Joseph W. Phebus, #911 Roger L. Cogswell, #981 Stephen T. Blair, #1143 Michael W. Dole, #1198 Brett Keller Gorman, #1567
LOUISIANA STATE Arthur J. Haas, #70 John M. Linden, #89 Michael I. Levy, #456
ILLINOIS WESLEYAN Donald J. Kreibich, #44 Kent L. Fitzjarrald, #189
MICHIGAN Richard E. Campbell, #496 Richard J. Bahls, #501 William A. Wilcox, #512 Stuart Williams Porter, #618 Michael J. Schneider, PhD, #645 David Jay Dapprich, #685
INDIANA Charles T. Gibson, #305 Donald E Mann, #354 Glenn D Smith, #373 Douglas E. Arvidson, #567 Gerald R. Kramer, #570 Richard E. Whalley, #593 Joe D. Young, #594 Larry J. Kelly, #625 Jerry L. Garrison, #668 Joseph K. Abrell, #689 Robert H. Forney, #754 Lyle T. Dickes, #839 Tim L. Gardner, #952 Harold L. Sipe, #1020 Dale K. Kincaid, #1057 Joseph Richard Tringl, #2387 IOWA William M Henderson, #380 Gary J. Lettow, #407 Ronald P. Sundermann, #440 Stacy Ware, #457 Jan W. Post, #621 IOWA STATE Howard F. Conway, #306 Donald J. Grobeck, #346 Warren J. Oblinger, #418 Robert L. Haack, #468 Richard E. Kust, #485 Denton W. Ericson, #504 Robert A. Ketch, #648 Takenori Aso, #660 KANSAS Wallace L. Sturm, #495 Glenn E. Vernon, #529 Gary G. Hammer, #607 John A. Taylor, #792 KANSAS STATE Leonard E. Wood, #298 Orville E. Gernand, #309 Frederick A. Borck, #325 Joseph V. Morgan, #354 Richard L. Faris, #361 Robert A. Coloney, #386 James F. Shea, #387 John P. Griebel, #460 Dr. Jon R. Clark, #480 Donald G Hefty, #498 LONG BEACH STATE James N. Wilson, #8
LUTHER A. SMITH Nicholas J Fokakis, #12 Bennie A. Rohr, #57 MIAMI OF OHIO Murray M. Whitaker, #83 Richard G. Hilgeman, #154 Alan W. Plavec, #296
MILLERSVILLE Steven Dazario, #258 MINNESOTA John R. Sandefur, #566 Paul Gerin Fahlstrom, #631 Glen T Sawyer, #636
John H. Schmitz, #301 William E. Jones, #333 Richard L. Foss, #374 Frank J. Hulka, #404 John T. Haynes, MD, #438 George B. Anderson, #443 Thomas H. Dougherty, #506 Robert P. Russ, #722 OHIO Robert C. Cappel, #63 Henry T. Fillmer, #89 Kenneth L. Heichel, #155 William M. Hannen, #161 Charles D. Archbold, #185 Brian W. Kinney, #314 OHIO STATE David T. Herrman, #492 J. Robert Jay, #520 Charles T. Phillips, #523 James E Stauffer, #551 Kenneth A. Krohn, #566 Charles R. Cowdrey, #580 Jeremy F. Elliot, #612 Steven S. Lee, #770 Kenneth J. Donley, #812
MISSISSIPPI STATE John O. Bronson, #5
OKLAHOMA Charles E. Delhotal, #396 Wayne C. White, #572 John W Dunn, #605
MISSOURI Robert C Frey, #532 John S Elzea, #550
OREGON STATE Donovan W. Bollig, #179 Benton E. Stephenson Jr., #194 William C. Brooks, #608
MORNINGSIDE Donald G. Keck, #57
PENN STATE Richard A. Abbott, #256 James O. Munn, #263 George M. Leedom, #356 Jerry W. Barrho, #406 Donald P. Anderson, #425 Dr. George M. Fitting, #470 Thomas C. Wellington, #504 David J. Boland, #581 John L. Michel, #658 Christopher M. Clark, #684 David A. Yagel, #697 Douglass C. Kutz, #942 Charles F. Doughty, #959
NEBRASKA Robert J. Gutru, #436 Robert G. Steinhoff, #484 Otto L. Apfelbeck, #525 William R. Dahl, #546 Kenneth A. Krohn, #566 Paul E Andersen, #572 Ronnie L. Gemelke, #640 NEW HAMPSHIRE Richard F. Shelley, #45 Chester Gadzinski, #106 Clement L. Dunkley, #285 Marc G. Dancause, #478 Davis Walker, #483 Allan W. McLeod, #497 NORTHEAST LOUISIANA Stephen J Davitt, #105 NORTHERN COLORADO Charles H. Oshiro, #62 Charles B. Brown, #123 NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE George D. Fair, #43 Donald L. Ranallo, #151 NORTHWESTERN Martin C. Sherrill, #183 Marshall A. Burmeister, #298 Frederick E. Nagel, #299
PITTSBURGH/JOHNSTOWN Myron D. Hartman, #123 PURDUE Jesse C. Crooks, #388 Julian M. Fore, #398 William J. Harris, #419 Henry D. Mangus, #436 Arthur C. Tuesburg, #476 Norman R. Atz, #519 Donald E. Foltz, #558 Eugene F. Thomson, #593 Herbert K. Oyoung, #626 Allan L. Darling, #660 John D. Milhous, #669 Leonard A. Tracer, #674 Lawrence D. Jones, #717 Ronald A. Leaf, #748 Larry W. Foreman, #828 John P. Breese, #890 David L. Schwab, #1007
RENSSELAER Howard J. Smith, #12 Stephen Abrams, #150 SHIPPENSBURG Dwight E. Bollinger, #6 Alan T. Neusbaum, #139 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Donald I. Blomberg, #32 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN Steven L. Miller, #3 Robert L. Castle, #27 Mark C. Moore, #38 SYRACUSE Henry Graley Cody, #183 Warren M. Bartholomew, #221 Stanford Perry, #245 William J. Matthews, #262 William P. Converso, #276 Richard W. Schmutzler, #299 Bruce E. Bruder, #428 Dr. Martin J. Stevenson, #440 TEXAS Ammie W Le Noir, #242 Tamim A. Abouhalkah, #337 John W. Rhea Jr., #652 TRINE (TRI-STATE) AnthonyEdwardBrinkman,#126 UCLA Robert M. Shaw, #21 Lloyd M. Lokka, #39 Will B. Murphey, #41 William M. Ravenscroft, #124 Harold E. Davis, #154 VERMONT Lewis B. Harvey, #95 David C. Brown, #170 WASHINGTON Roland M. Trafton, #350 David B. Fenton, #359 George M. Hall, #396 Jerald C. Hall, #418 Virgil D. Lang, #419 Bruce H. Bretthauer, #623 David R. Trafton, #628 WASHINGTON STATE Richard D. Ellett, #57 Gene E. Groshong, #123 Charles A. Jehle, #124 Michael M. Smith, #162 WISCONSIN Kenneth J. Brey, #444 Robert P. Schmitz, #554 Robert W. Mazurek, #559 WYOMING Glenn D. Graham, #39 Floyd D. Harnagel, #108 Edward F Kinion, #116 Donald M. Treglown, #149 Donald L. Painter, #205 William V. Widman, #270 Steven B. Frary, #298
Acacia is symbolic of immortality. For centuries it has been emblematic of eternal life. Though we are now deprived of the physical presence of our brother, each of us shall always carry his life within us. What he accomplished and stood for cannot be taken away. He stands now, as always, with his God, and for this we must be grateful.
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Acacia Fraternity International Headquarters 8777 Purdue Road, Suite 225 Indianapolis, Indiana 46268
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Are yo u an Acacia ng M om o r D ad re ceivi ? Triad th is issue o f Th e
If your son has recently moved, we’d love to have his new address to keep in touch with fraternity publications like The Triad. Please send us (or ask him to send us) a quick update at communications@acacia.org or 317-872-8210. Feel free to keep and read this Triad! We’ll send him another copy.
Join us for the 59th Biennial Acacia Conclave!
July 27th - July 31st, 2016
at the historic Brown Hotel in Louisville, KY
Get details and register online at acacia.org/conclave or call the Headquarters office at 317-872-8210.