delta theta sigma spring 2013 echo

7/27/2019 Delta Theta Sigma Spring 2013 Echo

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tsalpha.com / dtsalpha.blogspot.com / @deltathetasigm



419.217.2012 Tanner Schoen [email protected]

Execuve Team

President:

Tanner Schoen

Vice President

Michael Moore

Secretary

Ausn Bahnsen

Treasurer

Alex Davidson

Recruitment

Nick Wise

Adam Benne

New Member

Trainer

Ausn Davis

Editor

Dave Dziak

This past spring has been a me for change for us living here in

the house, we are geng use to being on semesters now and the many

newly elected ocers are seling into their posions smoothly. The biggest thing

we've done as an ocer team is restructuring our commiee system, instead of there

being 18 dierent topics to cover, all aspects of the house are put under one of six com-

miees. These commiees include Rush, Professional Development, House Improve-

ment, Budget, Outreach and Social. The reason we decided to take this approach was the

success we saw in recruitment this past fall when, for the rst me in years, we were

compeng with the other ag fraternies for kids living in the dorms and not just relying

on our move in scholarship. Instead of it just being the rush chair’s responsibility to re-

cruit people, a group of people stepped up and saw that when the work is divided up, the

end results are much beer. This approach is already beginning to bear fruits as we are

geng more communicaon between brothers which is leading to beer ideas and

quicker results on events such as socials, fund raisers, philanthropy's and rush events.

Last semester we had seven new members go through and each one has stepped up to

take leadership posions somewhere within the organizaon. The prospects of having a

fall class things on the recruitment front are looking up.

This past semester we've been able to accomplish a lot on the house itself. The chapter

and music rooms have had face lis and look great. General repairs around the house

have also been a big focus for us since we will host conclave in 2014. Our goal is to havethe house inside and out look the best it has in many years by this me next year.

This coming school year we will be having 35 students live in the house: 18 members, 4

boarders and 13 freshmen scholarship kids. The fact that 13 freshmen out of 18 that in-

terviewed accepted the scholarship, makes us think that as an organizaon we are geng

beer at talking to kids one on one about joining or moving in. Hopefully by this me next

year we will have the most members we've had in a long me and with the group we

have working on it now, I have no doubt that we'll get there.

For those of you that haven't heard, DTS won this year's IFC Chapter of the Year, tying

with Sig Ep. For us, a fraternity of 20 something guys and only 7 chapters naonally to ewith a fraternity of 150 guys and 250+ chapters was a huge accomplishment. The ocer

team sat down at the end of last school year and asked the queson how do we get back

up to that level? We looked at three things we could really improve on: recruitment, phi-

lanthropy and alumni relaons. We've went through the steps we've made up to this

point in recruitment and philanthropy and the newsleer is the start of connecng with

more of our alumni base.

Our hope is that by the me Greek life judges for its' awards come February we will have

accomplished most of the goals we've set for DTS.



On April 7, 2013, Delta Theta Sigma Fraternity made history. DTS became the first Greek agricultural organization to

win the coveted Chapter of the Year Award.

Each year, one fraternity within the Inter-Fraternity Council is selected as Chapter of the Year. The considerations for

the award involve academics, philanthropy, community service, involvement, new member training, as well as a host

of other things. The Greek life office goes over the criteria and selects a few finalists, and then interviews the chapters

that were nominated. The chapters give a presentation, and then Greek life makes a decision and announces it during

the Greek Awards Banquet.

This year, DTS did with less than 30 members what the previous

year’s winner, Sigma Phi Epsilon did with over 130. It is a true

testament to the hard work, dedication, and determination of the

Alpha chapter of Delta Theta Sigma.

DTS was one of the finalists two years ago, but Sig Ep won that year

as well.

The announcement came as a shock to the active chapter. This is

predominantly because the Greek system seemed to favor the

larger chapters, while overlooking the accomplishments of the

smaller organizations. However, when a fraternity has such as

presence within its college, continues to excel academically, and

have the best new member training process four years running, some acknowledgement was inevitable.

Still, members could hardly believe it.

“I've been proud of everything we have accomplished during my time here, and I'm damn proud to say that I was a part

of the team that won us Chapter of the Year for the first time,” 2011-2012 DTS President Dave Dziak said in a post on

our blog. “During all the sleepless nights and the outstanding amount of stress, there were always questions as to if it

was all worth it. I am not necessarily a person that needs a plaque somewhere that says, ‘Hey, everything you did was

for this.’ However, seeing some sort of validation that others have recognized what we have done over the course of

the past few years makes it all the sweeter.”

“The men of Delta Theta Sigma are very excited about this recognition and our current and future standings and en-

deavors,” 2012-13 DTS President Austin Kirk said to CFAES . "We will continue to proudly represent our organization,

The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, and The

Ohio State University as we constantly improve and positively affect

our membership and those around us, as a fraternity at Ohio State.”

“During our new class, right when they were all going through, I said if

you guys win an award like this, this is going to be in the trophy case

forever,” current president Tanner Schoen said in a YouTube video on

our channel. “It’s different than just looking at your picture in a com-

posite. When you come back, whether it be during an alumni night,

Founder’s Day, or just for a football game, you can go into the chapter

room and see this in the trophy case and say, ‘I was a part of that.’”



Undefeated: five years running. Once again, DTS has captured the title of Aglympics champion. The program wasbrought back to CFAES five years ago, and DTS has yet to do anything but come in first. It is of course, another great

honor that we can proudly display in the trophy case, among the countless other awards that DTS has brought in over

the years.

Though the other awards are just as, if not more signifi-

cant than this one, it is always a proud moment when

DTS members win something against rival ag organiza-

tions, especially AGS, AGR, and ATZ.

Aglympics is a contest that goes on within the College of

Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences. Each year

there are ag themed events, such as bale tossing, milk

chugging, corn eating, etc. Each year, DTS has proven

that they remain the powerhouse amongst the ag organi-

zations.

DTS has the opportunity to enter similar contests each

year, with Greek Week being the most similar. While DTS

usually performs in the top tier, it is limited only by the fact that there are teams. Occasionally we have great pairings of

bigger fraternities and sororities that love working with such a determined fraternity. However, some years such as thisyear, we get paired with organizations that aren’t as willing to include other chapters. It is unfortunate that these or-

ganizations don’t recognize the output of DTS, but events

like Aglympics give DTS the opportunity to prove how much of a

threat in can be in any competition.

It’s interesting to have such a dichotomy of involvement in one

specific college as well as the rest of Greek life. It gives DTS two

unique avenues of involvement and a chance to rise to the top of

each of them. Maintaining positive relations and a high amount of

involvement in the ag college is important to the men of DTS. It’s

events like this that can bring the community together as well as

provide some fun competition. The question isn’t, “Will we win

next year,” but “How many more years can we go undefeated?”



On April 22, only 17 days after winning Chapter of the Year, the active chapter came into possession of some

amazing pieces of DTS history. Brad Moffitt, class of ’83 had heard of the recent accomplishments of the ac-tive chapter, and decided it was time to pass on some DTS artifacts, as he saw the responsibility of the chap-

ter after achieving such a huge accomplishment.

Mr. Moffitt spent a few hours at the DTS house in the chapter room, and slowly unloaded two giant bins of

DTS treasures. Some of the items (highlighted on the next page, going clockwise) were the original compo-

site, the original articles of incorporation, a paddle containing the signature of Samuel N. Kerr, a program

from the very first Founder’s Day, and the first active pin. Other items (not pictured) that Mr. Moffitt brought

were the original ritual book, some stitch work done by little sisters of DTS, songbooks, the keynote speech

from the 100 year commemoration, and various other old documents and awards.

Later that year, during the summer some DTS guys were cleaning the attic and stumbled upon some very old

documents. After riffling through receipts, meeting minutes, and other notes from the 60s, they came upon

some really neat things. One of the documents uncovered was a letter from Paul R. Henderlong to Nationals

as to the possible establishment of a DTS chapter at West Virginia University. Other expansion documents

were found, and prompted actives to begin to document the information in preparation for conclave this

coming fall. The active chapter has begun the process of scanning the documents, and will be available later

this year to view.

Some of the other things that DTS came across were three year books: 1958, 1959, and 1918. DTS does not

own the yearbooks are currently on loan to the house. Photocopies of the pages will be made available soon,

but pictures are up on the DTS twitter account (@deltathetasigma).

Understanding the past is the key to future success. Sometimes the very fact that we are an organization that

lasted through two world wars as well as the Cold War gives us a little insight into the hardened men that

came before us. If they could succeed despite the turmoil of a very fragile world, then DTS can for sure be

able to continue our success now, and in the future.



DTS Raises $1,722 for Charity The spring usually constutes DTS’s new annual philanthropy, Roast Away for MDA. Due to scheduling con-

icts, the philanthropy has been rescheduled for this fall. However, that didn’t stop the men of DTS from

working relessly to work for charitable organizaons.

Through various venues, DTS was able to contribute money to the following organizaons and events:

Ronald McDonald House—$200

Buckeye Ranch—$200

Scarlet and Gray Ag Day—$250

Fall Fest— $20

College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences Recognion Program—$52

Total—$1,722

The signature event of DTS is Roast Away for MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Associaon), and is rescheduled for

Saturday, October 26th. Other events that DTS have been a part of are currently pending, and dates are TBD.

There is sll DTS Wiefest (which raises money for St. John’s Community Kitchen in Columbus, and now in its

h year), Strikes for Spielman (a bowling tournament to raise money for the Stephanie Spielman Founda-

on, which ghts cancer, and status is pending while looking for a new sorority to co-host), Liquid SOAP night

(SOAP—Soldiers, Our American Protectors, which gathers comfort items for the troops, is sll pending aer

our partner sorority dropped out), and various other emerging ideas.

Philanthropy has become a main priority for DTS, and the commitment to giving back to the community has

grown exponenally over the course of the past few years, where thousands of dollars have been raised for

all kinds of organizaons doing good work.

If you or someone you know would be willing to contribute to any of these organizaons listed above, please

get in contact with us!



Keeping a house together that houses over 30 guys every day in tact can oen be quite the challenge, at least seeming-

ly on the surface. This year, we were able to add a few items to the house that have been benecial. First, in order to

keep up with our newly renovated kitchen, we added some new appliances including a brand new fridge and new

freezer. Other crucial appliances that were added were a few new toilets throughout the house. In addion to appli-

ances, some landscaping was done over the summer to connue to beaufy the house. Landscaping included adding

river rocks to the front beds, in order to help with weed control, cut down on mulch costs, and make it look beer.

Perhaps the most benecial improvement to the house was the addion of the conference table and business chairs to

the chapter room in the house. This has led to a more professional atmosphere—not only for execuve meengs, but

also for hosng meengs with outside organizaons or important university folks. In addion, it has provided a useable

workspace for studying and homework compleon. This space, while previously underulized, is now a perfect place

for brothers who have similar classes to work on homework together. Not only does this space help with scholasc

achievement, it fosters a spirit of brotherhood.

As opposed to brothers sing in their own respecve rooms, they have all ocked to the chapter room over various

parts of the day and thusly have come together and have prodded each other to achieve beer scholasc results.

While there are always things evolving with the state of the house, this improvement has probably been the most ben-

ecial.

In the digital age, it is more important than ever to maintain a solid online presence. While this document in which you

are currently reading is no longer sent out via snail mail, archived copies, including this one, are available on the web-

site. For any informaon on DTS, the website (dtsalpha.com) is a great place to start. However, to tailor more directly

to our younger audience, we have adapted an aggressive social media policy to get out informaon as quick as possi-

ble. The main stories to recap things that we have done are on our website, but for day to day updates, our Facebook

and Twier pages are the most up to date. We also have our YouTube channel as well as our blog. All of that infor-

maon can be found both on the website as well as at the back of this document.

The new site has some unique new features. In addion, the content has been updated to include recent years. The

photo album has a ridiculous amount of new pictures, so be sure to check it out.



Delta Theta Sigma

Agricultural Fraternity

Alpha Chapter at

80 E 13th

Columbus, OH

43210

Phone: 614-294-2635

E-

mail:[email protected]

Dave Dziak

Editor

Delta Theta Sigma

[email protected]

Delta Theta Sigma OSU DeltaThetaSigmaOSU

@DeltaThetaSigma

dtsalpha.blogspot.com

dtsalpha.com

[email protected]

What’s Coming in DTS’s Near Future Needless to say, when coming o a Chapter of the Year Award, there is a lot to be done toaempt to retain that tle, as well as increase our opportunies for other awards and

recognion. That being said, our eorts have already been doubled, if not tripled. The rst

realm of increased eort has been recruitment. This past semester as well as summer and

going into fall our recruitment eorts have made past years look embarrassing. I say that

not to shame past years, but to look at how far we’ve come in just recent me. From de-

veloping strong lists to even beer follow-ups, we have built a solid recruitment base.

Combine that with the freshman move in scholarship guys, we are looking at a class of four

for fall, and potenally 13 or so spring. As the process for new guys becomes beer and

beer, so does ocer training with our execuve retreats. The quality of men that we re-

cruit to start with is geng stronger, and combined with the training they receive once an

acve member, our membership is growing in leadership potenal.

Something not as excing is the Ohio State STEP program, which is supposed to go into

acon by 2016. Essenally what it does is kill our freshman move in scholarship and pro-

hibits the consumpon of alcohol (regardless of age) in public areas (such as the day room,

basement, or front porch) without rst geng permission from IFC and Greek Life. We rst

heard of this plan the last week of the semester, and the university voted on it in June, not

giving us much of a window to speak up about it. We have already voiced our obvious con-

cerns of how this will negavely aect us as a smaller chapter to the university, but it ap-

pears as though they will connue on for sure regardless. They have claimed they will tailor

it to meet our specic needs, but there could be a huge impact on recruitment as well as

alumni relaons when they (you) come back to the house on a game day or a random

Monday. Stay tuned to our website and blog for more details as we get them.

delta theta sigma spring 2013 echo

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