Category: President’s Message

Brother Carl Gladfelter joins Chapter Eternal

2011-Congress-Lunch

Brothers,

If you haven’t heard the news, the Chi Phi Fraternity lost a hero on Sunday, November 2nd. Brother Carl Gladfelter, previous Grand Alpha and National Director, passed away at the age of 102. Many of you have fond memories of Brother Gladfelter, as I know I do too.

Brother Gladfelter’s family asked that, for those inclined to show support for Carl, to make a contributions toward a display that is being made in his honor in the Greek Life Museum. Here is a link if you are inclined to give: http://goo.gl/0o2G9F

In addition to a monetary contribution, or in place of for those of you unable to make one, I challenge you to honor brother Gladfelter, by doing one more thing. The Chi Phi National office is asking people to share their memories of Brother Gladfelter in the comments section of their article which can be found here: http://chiphi.co/carl , but I challenge you to do one more thing. Take a moment and remember Carl in your own way, whether that be privately or publicly, but after that, I challenge you to do one more thing. Think about how Carl lived his life; what he believed to be just; how he chose to lead the fraternity in a manner that placed the vision and mission before the self. When you’re done with this, do one more thing. Act as Carl would for a day, open one more door, give one more moment of yourself to a worthy cause, live the ritual of our fraternity in your actions, think about the oath you took at your initiation when you’re faced with a decision that has both an easy path and a right path. When you’ve done all of that, I challenge you to do one more thing, because Brother Gladfelter never stopped doing one more thing.

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He joined Chi Phi in 1926 and never stopped doing one more thing. Just last year Brother Kyllan Purdon and I met with Carl at the spritely age of 102, and we spoke with him about his work and his vision for Chi Phi.  He didn’t push forward in hopes of fame or to feed his vanity, he didn’t even act simply to help the fraternity. Carl worked tirelessly to progress the idea of Chi Phi, that it would someday become the premier avenue for young men to become honorable men, for the enthusiastic to become leaders and for the wondering to find a home.

If every last one of us did one more thing to advance Brother Gladfelter’s vision for Chi Phi, then I feel confident in saying that Carl’s vision would become a reality.

 

Fraternally,

David Ebner

DZAA-President

President’s Message

ChiPhi_Crest_2009

Brothers,

As many of you have seen and comment about on Facebook, the 30th ish reception and Founder’s Weekend was a smash. I owe a debt of gratitude to the DZAA Board members and other volunteers for their steadfastness and diligence in planning and executing the weekend’s events. Yahoo for all Delta Zeta’s!

The next large event on the horizon is the 2nd Annual USF/Chi Phi Scholarship Scramble. This year it will be held on October 26th at the Babe Zaharias Golf Course in Tampa. The registration costs will be similar to last year, but the prize structure and on-site competitions have changed to better align with participant feedback.  Mark your calendar, call your Brothers and book your travel. It will be a great event and hopefully just as successful, if not even more so, than last year. More information will be available soon, but in the mean time, we are looking for volunteers. If you are interested in giving a small amount of your time to this event, please email me at dzaa@gmail.com.

That’s all for now, have a fun and adventurous summer!

Fraternally,

David Ebner, DZ ’08
DZAA-President

President’s Message – Good Things are Afoot!

Brothers,

Another month has come and gone, and we as an Association continue to move forward. We are looking forward to the Founders’ Weekend this Spring. If you’re considering coming into town, please do! Bring the family along with you. We will be holding a happy hour on the evening of Friday, April 11th, a banquet to celebrate 30 years of Delta Zeta on Saturday the 12th, and we will cap off the weekend with the annual Scarlet and Blue Classic Softball Game on Sunday the 13th.

This June will be a very important time for the Fraternity as we will elect a new Grand Alpha at Congress in Ron FrankAustin, Texas. We are very happy and proud that Brother Ron Frank will be running for the position and support him fully in his endeavor. Chi Phi has come a very long way in the past 5 years under the leadership of Grand Alpha Jim Soderquist. Our Chapters have never been healthier, larger or as plentiful, and this can be attributed to the vision of Brother Soderquits and the rest of his Grand Council. I see this vision being carried forward and expanded where need be by a Grand Council under Brother Frank.

Good things are afoot all around us, and it is our Alumni Association Board’s mission to take advantage of all the opportunities present. We look forward to seeing you at the Founders Weekend as well as the many social events from now until then.

Fraternally,
Brother David Ebner
DZAA-President