Congratulations, Graduate!

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The DZAA would like to recognize and extend our most heart-felt congratulations to our Association’s President and fellow Alumnus, Brother David Ebner, who graduated this month with his Master’s Degree from the University of Tampa. Brother Ebner obtained his MFA in Creative Writing, and he plans to pursue a career teaching Creative Writing (and quite possibly go on to get his PhD!).

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Congratulations on this great accomplishment, Brother Ebner – we wish you great success with all your future endeavors!

The Alumni Directory is Coming!

In case you may have forgotten, we are still hard at work on the DZAA Alumni Directory. Plans are in place to have the directory completed by the Spring Bi-Annual Meeting of the Delta Zeta Alumni Association.

alumni-directoryHowever, in order to complete the Directory, and to ensure that we have the most up-to-date and correct information about our Alumni, it’s important that you provide us with the necessary information. In the coming weeks, we will be reaching out to you to confirm what information we already have and to ask that you provide us with any information we may be missing.

The Directory will be a single source for our Alumni to be able to locate and reach out to our Brothers within the DZAA, providing you with the names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and professions of our distinguished Alumni. The next time you need an accountant … or an attorney … or a computer technician … or just a Brother that you haven’t seen or spoken with in a while, the DZAA Alumni Directory is going to be your new source!

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The Directory will only be provided to our Alumni, and once the “Members Only” section is up and running on the website, the Directory will be made available online as well.

So, don’t ignore those e-mails and messages that you receive in the coming weeks – help us have the most accurate information for this Directory, and you’ll be helping us draw the DZAA closer than it’s ever been!

Google It, Chi Phi!

Pretty much everyone these days uses Google – on the internet, it’s pretty much the go-to for finding anything on the web. But here’s something you probably didn’t know: one of our very own, a Delta Zeta Brother, now works at Google!

Having joined Chi Phi back in the Fall of 2007, Brother Tony Dieppa ultimately graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. Me Big BrotherFrom there, this amazing young man went on to graduate school at the University of Florida, where he graduated in 2013 with a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship.

When he first graduated, Brother Dieppa originally thought he would get into computer security research, but quickly found himself disillusioned with academia shortly after starting his Masters studies. “One day,” he says, “I just decided I needed a change, and left for Japan for six months to do a bit of soul-searching. After returning, I wanted to start my own venture and proceeded to do so while I worked on my MS in Entrepreneurship.” While ultimately starting his own company is still Brother Dieppa’s goal, he decided that his dream job before launching off on his own would be to join Google or Facebook and really grow in his abilities.

After graduating, he joined Syniverse Technologies and worked on a Wi-Fi calling product that he had the opportunity to test while he was abroad in Japan, and later again in Ireland. Shortly thereafter, he started working on his own venture, Eatable, and jointed a start-up out of Miami called New Frontier Nomads. Within that team, he launched “NFL Now” to millions of users nationwide.

Brother Dieppa’s success in getting hired on with Google was a matter of knowing the right people. “Initially,” he states, I was looking for a way to go out west and find a team I could join to really grow my skills. After talking with some friends, I discovered that I had contacts in Google who could refer me. After that, the rest is history!” Me Google - 2He applied for the position because he wanted something that was more than “just another job.” He was looking specifically for a team of people who could challenge him, an environment where he could grow and a destination where he could meet the right people to move his plans forward. “Joining Google,” Dieppa says, “brings me several steps closer to my ultimate goal!”

When he was offered the job, he was ecstatic. It was a long series of challenging interviews, but for Brother Dieppa, it felt amazing to know that he was ultimately deemed to be Google material. Now that he’s on board, he plans to continue growing his skills with Google for the next few years, to proper him for the final phase of his plans. Areas he is hoping to grow are not only his technical skills, but also his leadership abilities.

Brother Dieppa is definitely a shining example of Chi Phi success, and he provides an inspiration to our Active Chapter’s members as to what one can achieve with the drive and determination that a true Chi Phi possesses.