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September 2023 Alumni Newsletter

Hello Theta Delts,

My name is Alejandro Erazo, and I will serve you as the new Undergraduate Alumni Chair this year!

I am a 3rd-year student in the College of Arts and Sciences, and I joined Theta Delta Chi in the spring of 2023. I am double majoring in Psychology and Sociology and intend to work in Business Management after graduation. My hometown is Annandale, Virginia, but I’m originally from Lima, Peru.

I am very excited to update you on the state of the House and share with you the Brotherhood’s plans for the upcoming fall semester. I’ll be discussing the following:

  1. House Renovations
    1. Epoxying the Basement’s Floor
    2. Fixing the Gold Room’s Uneven Floor
  2. Alumni Weekend
    1. Alumni Weekend Interest Form
  3. Recruitment
    1. Fall Informal Rush
  4. Preserving Our History
    1. Brother List
    2. Executive Board List
    3. Big Brother + Little Brother Lineage Tree

House Renovations

The ongoing house renovations have improved living conditions for the brothers who reside in it. The list of improvements completed this summer and scheduled for this fall, by contractor Edwin’s Painting, include refinishing the basement floor with a speckled epoxy, replacing two doors in the bar room (to the bathroom and furnace room), repairing water damage to the drywall ceilings in the Gold Room and basement, and replacing rotten wood below the roof line at several locations around the house exterior.

This summer, the Alumni Board hired a structural engineer to inspect the Gold Room floor, which was observed by the Brothers during the Spring Semester to deflect during a well-attended party. Brad Kerchof ’77 and the engineer performed an inspection on August 1, 2023, and determined that there was no evidence of floor system failure, that the two-floor joists that they were able to examine were in excellent condition, and that the likely cause of the floor movement was loading (a large number of people dancing in sync) that exceeded design capacity. The reason why floor movement was first reported recently may have to do with a change in Gold Room use – in previous decades, the Gold Room had been the band’s set-up room, or had been converted to bedrooms. Our short-term plan is to modify the use of the Gold Room – no group dancing allowed. Long term, we are evaluating using steel plates to reinforce the existing wood joists. The earliest this repair would take place would be the summer of 2024.

For these ongoing renovation projects, the undergraduate Brotherhood would like to extend our gratitude for your continuous commitment to preserving and protecting our beloved house. Thank you so much!

Alumni Weekend

We are excited to invite all of you to this year’s Alumni Weekend, tentatively scheduled for November 3-5, 2023. Please register through this form and contact me directly if you have any questions or comments. More details on Alumni Weekend’s schedule to be released soon!

Recruitment

Currently, we have 24 active brothers and 9 brothers living in the house. We understand that these numbers are low, but we are actively working on recruitment. Next, we would like to update you on this year’s recruitment plan. Our plan for recruitment currently exists in two phases: (1) informal fall rush; and (2) formal spring rush.

Regarding fall rush, the University has done away with the formal process a few years ago, so even though we are allowed to rush potential new members in the fall, we have to be discreet in our recruitment efforts. We plan to successfully recruit and initiate 5 – 8 non-first-year students by the end of the fall semester. We intend to achieve this goal by following several organized operations to scout and connect fitting upperclassmen students to our fraternity throughout the semester. We will then set our sights on gaining a large spring new member class through the traditional rush process. The traditional rush process schedule will be solidified near the end of the fall semester, so more details about this matter will be revealed at a later time.

If you know any students who could be interested in joining Theta Delt this year or would like to know more about this semester’s recruitment plan, please contact me at alejandroerazotdx@gmail.com, or (571) 337-4897.

Preserving Our History

I have also begun a record-keeping process of former brothers and other important matters. I think it’s important, internally, for us to have an easily and readily accessible database of brothers, executive boards, and lineage trees to consolidate and take ownership of the history of our Charge. Thus, I have created the following documents:

  1. Brother List
  2. Executive Board List
  3. Big and Little Brother Family Trees

I started this initiative by cross-checking the Charge Constitution, Composites, MyTDX.org, and speaking with Alumni on multiple occasions. However, this is not a one-man project, and would appreciate any brothers who are reading this to help fill in the gaps in these documents.

If you’d like to contribute any information to complete these documents, please email me directly at alejandroerazotdx@gmail.com.

Thank you so much for reading, and please share this information with your brothers! At 1811 Lambeth Lane, we are excited to continue building on our strong Alumni relations, and we cannot wait to welcome you to the house this fall.

In the Bonds,
Alejandro Erazo
Alumni, Recruitment, Mentorship, and Diversity Chair
(571)337-4897
alejandroerazotdx@gmail.com