168th Convention Recap

TDX168

Another Convention is in the books. The 168th Convention was held at the Hotel Chicago in Downtown Chicago. This Convention was the 11th in Illinois, only one of the 11 was not held in the city of Chicago. The culmination of the Convention was the Grand Banquet. The Banquet was held on Saturday night and had the largest attendance of any of this year’s Convention events. Over one-hundred-and-ninety attendees enjoyed dinner, desert, and drinks as return emcee Jeff Horton Nu Triton ’90 (Virginia Tech) lead the night’s program. Bagpipes played during the induction of five new members into the 139th Grand Lodge, which took place in the banquet space.

The new 139th Grand Lodge members are:

  • President Jason Dietz, Sigma Triton ‘01
  • Graduate Secretary Stephan Johnson Gamma Triton ‘92
  • Executive Member Jim Leuck Upsilon Deuteron ‘09
  • Secretary Josh Greenburg Sigma Deuteron ‘16
  • Treasurer Clarens Philippe Xi Triton ‘16

Kevin Hahn Delta Deuteron ’12 is returning for his second year of his two year term as Executive Member. The Graduate Treasurer was a two-year positon held by Brother Dietz, who ran mid-term for the position of the PGL. It is now Brother Dietz’s duty as the vacating member to appoint a suitable replacement for his past position. Once he does so, the replacement will be sent out to the Charges for ratification. Once ratified, the 139th Grand Lodge will be whole and under the control of the newly appointed 66th PGL, Brother Dietz.

In addition to PGL Jason Dietz, we had six former Presidents of the Grand Lodge in attendance. 51st PGL Phil Curley, Kappa Triton ’76, 56th & 60th PGL Don Laxton, Kappa Triton ’77, 57th PGL Don Noveau, Beta ’70, 58th PGL Peter Niche, Chi ’78, 63rd PGL Eric Kelley, Sigma Triton ’04, and 64th PGL Richard Wood, Gamma Triton ’73.

The presentation of awards and scholarships followed the introduction of the 139th Grand Lodge. The winners are as follows:

Complete List of Awards and Scholarships Presented at The Grand Banquet

    • Triple Threat Award Presented by Autism Speaks – Delta Deuteron (The Triple Threat award recognizes our Charges' continuing commitment to our national philanthropy, Autism Speaks, since our partnership began in 2011. The Charge with the strongest participation in the three fields of: fundraising, community involvement and awareness, receives the award)

Individual Awards

    • Undergraduate of the Year - Ved Rajkumar, Beta ‘15
    • Alumnus of the Year - Wisconsin Association of Theta Delta Chi, Sigma Deuteron Charge

Loyalty Cups:

      • Highest Number of Donors - Gamma Deuteron
      • Highest Percentage of Donors - Rho Proteron
      • Highest Number of Undergraduate Donors - Nu Triton

Convention Awards:

    • Glenn Marston Travel Cup - Sigma Deuteron
    • Graduate Attendance Trophy - Kappa Triton
    • #TDX168 Photo Contest - Robert Palumbo from Tau Triton
    • Brian J. Bertges Service and Philanthropy Cup - Sigma Deuteron
    • Guy C. Pierce Improvement Cup - Beta
    • Ritual Improvement Cup - Gamma Triton
    • President’s Cup - Beta Deuteron
    • Theta Delt of the Year - Ron Hallenbeck, Beta Deuteron ‘71
    • Victory Cup - Lambda Triton

General Awards ($2,500)

    • Nick Saltarelli, Lambda Triton ‘14
    • Eric LeSage, Sigma Deuteron ‘16
    • Adam McCready, Chi Deuteron ‘02
    • Matt Conley, Rho Proteron ‘10

Davenport Foundation Scholarships ($4,000)

  • William Wu, Alpha ‘16
  • Ender Dettlaf, Gamma Triton ‘16
  • Kyle Friend, Beta ‘17
  • Ryan Walker, Lambda Triton ‘16

First and Second Business Sessions

Convention Photos

There is always a great deal to discuss during the business sessions at the annual convention, but this year there was a particularly strong emphasis on the new legislation brought to the convention floor. Brother Rick Wood, presented the newly proposed “Educational Programming Standards” during the annual report of the Executive Director. These new standards would require Charges to complete one hour educational programming sessions in two of the four following areas:

  • Alcohol and Drug Abuse
  • Sexual Assault/Bystander Intervention
  • Hazing Prevention
  • Gender, Cultural, and Sexual Orientation Awareness

Failure to comply with these standards could result in a revocation hearing with the Grand Lodge. This legislation represents an idea on the cutting edge of the fraternal community. If ratified, Theta Delta Chi would be one of the first fraternities to enact this sort of programming requirement. Some concerns were raised by both graduates and undergraduates alike about whether these programming standards were truly feasible and whether they cast the international fraternity in a positive light. The convention floor needed to be frequently reminded that the specific tenants and requirements of the new programming standards were not being voted on. Rather, the convention floor was to simply decide whether or not we would enact any sort of educational programming standards. Despite these concerns, the new programming standards were approved and will soon be sent to the charges for ratification. As was mentioned in the business session, it may be beneficial to form a committee to address how the fraternity will go about implementing these new standards. The possibility of a revocation hearing resulting from a Charge's failure to participate in this new educational programming raised concerns about the policy and procedures for suspending a Charter. The Standing Committee on legislation has been asked to investigate this further.

To supplement these new standards, it was also decided that a new position on Gender, Cultural, and Sexual Orientation would be drafted. Several revisions were also recommended for the position on Sexual Assault and Violence.

Two additional pieces of legislation were also approved on the convention floor. These changes simply required altering the language in the by-laws discussing the international fraternity's liability insurance and the convention travel reimbursement policy. Most notably, the By-Laws were changes so that the convention travel reimbursement policy aligned with the travel reimbursement policy of the CFO.

Several awards are also given out annually that recognized a Charge's exemplary performance in certain areas of operation.

Awards at this year’s business session were given to:

  • Gamma Deuteron: Excellence in Finance
  • Kappa: Excellence in Risk Management
  • Alpha: Excellence in Programming
  • Beta Deuteron: Excellence in International Brotherhood
  • Sigma Deuteron: Excellence in Recruitment
  • Upsilon Deuteron: Excellence in Campus involvement
  • Beta: Excellence in New Member Education
  • Nu Triton: Excellence in Hospitality

Lastly, Brother David Vogel, Gamma Triton' 14 and Brother Nolan Slifko, Upsilon Triton' 12 were voted in as the new annual directors of the Educational Foundation.

Minerva Sessions

Thursday and Saturday of Convention, undergraduate delegates took part in two Minerva Sessions. Minerva Sessions have developed into new programming and learning sessions. The sessions focus on relevant and topical information with regards to the current undergraduate experience and Greek issues. This year, delegates took part in the following four sessions: Autism Speaks Presentation by Alyssa Zavislak, Field Development Manager for Autism Speaks out of the Chicago Office, Personal Consequences: Understanding the Personal Liability of Your Greek Experience by Bobbi Larsen, Education Consultant from our Insurance Company Holmes Murphy, The Process: How to Implement a Championship Philosophy in Your Charge by Chad Ellsworth, creator of The Power Button, Bros UniteD: A How-to Guide by Xi Triton & Lambda Triton delegates with help from CFO Staff.

Omega Service

As expected, this year’s Omega Service provided a moving moment in which we were able to honor our brethren that have passed on to the Omega Charge in the past year. The Service was presided over by Reverend Myron McCoy and Rabbi Andy Bossov, Kappa Triton' 81 at the First United Methodist Church in Chicago. This time of reflection is vitally important to our brotherhood and its impact still remains, despite the changing of the times.

Charitos Society Reception

Alumni and Undergraduate members of The Charitos Society of Theta Delta Chi along with their spouses and dates gathered on Thursday evening at the home of Phil and Judy Curley for what has quickly become one of the most popular Convention events. Recognizing those brothers who have made leadership level gifts to the Educational Foundation, this thank you reception was well stocked with great food, fine spirits and spectacular company. Slated to end at 8 pm, but thwarted by the joviality in the air and a keen interest in watching the Republican debate, the attendees lingered for a few more hours as we renewed in union our social joys. This is definitely an event to mark on your calendar for the 169th Convention next year in Boston!

Social Events

The week’s formal social events were held Wednesday and Friday Night. Wednesday night consisted of hors d’oeuvre and karaoke, with prizes to five of the Charges who gave the most entertaining performance. Friday’s event brought out many new guests. The Cubs game was the first event for many of our Convention registrations. The Game Day Warm-up reception prior to the game was held at Goose Island Brewpub in Wrigleyville and featured local Chicago beers for our of age guests with pub grub for all. The game following was an exciting one with 140 guests sitting in the bleachers to the left of the leftfield foul pole, a great view at Wrigley. Wrigley Field was one of the most photographed locations in our #TDX168 photo contest. The Cubs won 7-3 over the Giants. The local fans were happy to remind our west coast brethren of this win.

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