The 2013 Recolonization
DU Membership Status
Our Fall success has been directly tied to the expansion team provided by DU and the subsequent training they will provide this semester and with additional training for members at DU off site seminars. Twenty five (25) new members are pledging and undergoing training guided by a DU team. This consists of 3 juniors, 17 sophomores and 5 seniors. The class make up, all but guarantees, we will be meeting our up coming house commitments and will not be depending on the unknown for the next several rushes to fill the house.
Colonization Class 2013 Founding Fathers
I would also point out the success goes beyond the numbers. The quality of the class is excellent. As you may know, a 2.5 out of 4.0 is the minimum GPA for student eligibility to pledge. That figure is above the college men’s average. The “all fraternity average” is around 2.8. Our DU average is 3.1 for all classes and 3.1 for sophomores and juniors classes. This group is active and diversified, participating in many clubs and campus activities. These are the reasons we worked hard to bring the fraternity onto the campus. The class is made up of student & club officers and participants in ROTC, Clarkson football, student government, formula team racing, the entrepreneur club and the Hispanic club just to name a few.
Our Pledge rushing period ended September 27th. Students have a four day Fall break and then the officer and colony training commences under the direction of the DU expansion team. Throughout the month of October with the appointed officers, a retreat and weekly meetings are held to establish the colony goals, strategies and plans for the semester. The DU recruitment team will check back in late November to insure the colony is functioning as trained. Paramount is the January Rush; where we have our sights set on adding freshmen to the mix and have requested a “C.O.R.E.” waiver from the University.
President Gregg Steiner ’16 swearing in Executive Board Officers - September 27, 2013
Another bit of good news; we have two legacy freshman, with whom we have met, and they are looking to bring others into DU with them. One is in the ROTC program, whose dad is a Clarkson DU’82 retired officer after 27 years in the Army and the other freshman was his high school class president. Our eight alumni volunteer Mentors are in place and available. The alumni board currently has a waiting list of very experienced alumni that includes several former house presidents and shortly will be reorganizing with specific lines of responsibility to continue managing the success of the recolonization process.
House Status
The interior and exterior design is finished pending the contractor’s confirmation of budget estimates. On confirmation, construction is ready to commence. A ground breaking ceremony was held September 17th located on the spot of the housing foundation, marked and oriented. The university intends to get the foundation poured and as much of the house enclosed before winter sets in. Past indoor winter construction of theme houses was found to be inefficient and will not be practiced on the project.
Construction will restart in spring, working an expanded schedule in the better weather to finish in time for the 2014 Fall term. It is expected that spring and early summer milestones will not be as far along as was the case for houses built using winter construction. We anticipate by the July Reunion, it will be possible to hold a celebration event on the front porch or LR porch. Just how far along the rest of the house is, depends on weather conditions and that will be monitored and updated near the end of the year.
Regarding house maintenance, the house keeping maintenance are by the fraternity members. Repairs, painting, heavy maintenance and replacements are by the university as they would do for any of their residences.
The fraternity is committed to pay Clarkson for 19 beds over the year. We are building 22 single bedrooms and one Double/or handicap room for a total of 24/23 beds. Room rates are set by the university. Rents collected by the fraternity that exceed the 19 beds go into our DU treasury account which the DU Alumni Board can use for worthwhile purposes, i.e. risk management, furnishings, improvements, rent reduction, DU scholarship, etc
There was a good turnout at the Clarkson DU / Lambda Iota Chapter Alumni Meeting at Reunion touring the new Sigma Delta and Sigma Chi fraternity row houses. The Sig Ep house is just underway. Ell vines was there to point out some of the areas in our design we feel are improvements to the fraternity theme houses. After the Alumni meeting you couldn’t help but feel, the DU/Lambda Iota Chapter house will stand out, both inside and out on campus and by far exceeds the facilities we had on 30 Elm.
By the same token, the allure of all these Fraternity Row Houses will certainly overwhelm any downtown house. Attraction to those fraternities on fraternity row will dominate preference, except perhaps where the members simply want to escape the eyes of the University and we know how that winds up in the long term. These Adirondack styled houses are appealing, built in heavily wooded, on prime campus property, and in close proximity to virtually everything on campus.
The DU/Lambda commitment is well spent providing the most bang for the buck. The house is the same 9600 s.f. as Sigma Chi, but the layout we feel uses space more efficiently and provides for better living by the students. Not considered in our floor space count, are the two spacious, covered porches/decks which are amenities perfect for today’s social activities, even better than the porch at 30 Elm. The one off the living room is great for both hanging out & large social gatherings; while the one off the dining room will work well for outdoor eating and Bar-B-Qs. One of the best features as alums is our neighbor is Sigma Delta. They have built a good looking house that has the look of the “Green House”. You only get one shot at doing this house right and that has been our focus. I think you will be impressed and proud to call this your house or The Owl House as the new mounted decorative weathervane will announce.
For those brothers not familiar with this site, it was started by retired alumni and provides contacts & information for Florida Spring Reunions operated by DU and lambda Alumni. Our March reunions are open to all Clarkson DUs and Lambdas. Going on line you can gather details for next year as well as past reunions. You can contact Stub Estey for further Reunion Information and Paul Zolin with your contact information. We are struggling to add another 40 plus years to our data base.
Dave Rossi and Don Dangremond outlined the Campaign in Potsdam. We picked up six more donors interested in naming rights during the meeting. Almost $220,000 has been raised by large donations with naming rights to kick off the general campaign. The plan is to raise 50% this way and 50% through many affordable gifts from as many brothers as possible. There are still some naming rights left if anyone is so inclined ranging from $3000 to $25,000, on first come first serve basis. Call Chuck (Trowbridge) or Dave (Rossi) regarding them. If there are any questions on how to submit your pledge, contact Don Dangremond or one of the other members named below
Next years Clarkson Summer Reunion will be special one with the new house opening for dedication. If it’s your reunion year, plan to come and see it. If it isn’t come anyway. The “Bill Lane’53” Entrance Foyer will have a permanent plaque listing all donors who have pledged $500 or more to the house fund. We would love to see your name on it.
When you think of it, a tax deductible, $500 payable over 5 years is 2 bucks a week, (a beer a week?). In fact, if just 50% of our alumni base makes that minimum commitment, we reach our goal of $400.000. By now you should have received an email through Clarkson or a letter in the mail if they don’t have your email, describing the details of the Campaign. With your support this year, next year will be a great year to be a DU or Lambda Alumni. We all have our biggest special memories of Clarkson, Mine was president Chuck Huber’56 standing on the steps calling out my name and pinning the White over Maroon pin on my jacket. Chuck’s physical presence may have left, but the moment remains always for me.
We will be with several other volunteers going back to Clarkson for the fall rush to work along side DU International’s representative(s) to initiate the rebirth of the Lambda Iota Chapter of Delta Upsilon on campus. We met some great, interested kids at last January’s Rush and look forward to completing the bid cycle this Autumn. Several have already committed to DU to accept an invitation to join when it’s given. And don’t forget to let us know of any DU or Lambda legacies going to Clarkson this year. Our DU representative’s past year turned out 50 members at Iowa and 70 members at Quinnipiac, so expectations are running high. We haven’t seen numbers like that since the 80s.
We have spoken with several brothers, including Class presidents/VPs, enthused to make contact in the campaign. So don’t be surprised if this is not just one of several others you get urging you to add your name to the “Bill Lane ’53” entrance foyer Plaque. Lets get over 500 names on it. And by the way, give your big brother and little brother a call and get them to match your pledge. All pledges can be made directly to Clarkson’s Don Dangremond’72 DU office or online per the Clarkson mailed DU/Lambda letter..