September 2013 Omegaphone
Are You Signed Up for the Party of the Century?
The culmination of a Century in the Making is almost here! Join us for our gala celebration the weekend of October 19th. This is not your standard Theta Chi & Penn State party. Consider the following itinerary, which is outstanding, and keep in mind that many generations of Omega Chapter brothers will be in town for the weekend, creating an incredibly valuable and unique opportunity to reconnect, relax, and enjoy.
This is an exciting time for the fraternity and a great and unique opportunity to catch up, have a fun trip with the family, and celebrate what we all know is an outstanding Fraternity and University.
Find full details of the weekend’s activities at www.thetachiomega.com/gala. A few of the highlights include:
Friday, October 18
The Theta Chi letters adorning the house are an iconic symbol of our home at Penn State. The 2013 spring pledge class added new letters to the front of the house in April. The last time the letters were changed was back in 2007.
Check in at the Nittany Lion Inn. The Theta Chi of Penn State reception desk will be open Friday and Saturday in the Rotunda to assist with any arrangements and to provide infor- mation regarding the weekend.
Optional mid-afternoon golf outing at Toftrees Golf Resort, hosted by Jeff Damcott.
Evening welcome reception at the chapter house, with drinks and light hors d’oeuvres (shuttle from Nittany Lion Inn provided).
Saturday, October 19
Annual Corporation meeting at the Nittany Lion Inn, with a continental breakfast and plenty of opportunity to connect with the brotherhood.
Complimentary bus tour of campus hosted by the Nittany Lion Ambassadors, with a stop at the chapter house for a buffet lunch and drinks before returning to the Inn.
Saturday evening marks the big celebration, A Century in the Making with a grand reception outside the Inn’s boardroom, followed by a black tie gala with entertainment, great food, plenty of dancing, and time to connect and network. Penn State Trustee Anthony Lubrano will be the keynote speaker.
Sunday, October 20
Sunday Brunch at the Inn, providing time to reconnect, remember the fun of the previous two evenings, plan for future events and pre- pare for another day at University Park and State College.
Don’t miss out on being a part of a Century in the Making! Take advantage of the last chance to register by:
Returning the RSVP form enclosed in the invitation you received in the mail
Logging on to www.thetachiomega.com/gala-rsvp
Calling 800-975-6699
We are looking forward to celebrating with you in October!
Honoring a Tradition, Celebrating a Century
Howard Alter ‘41 (L) and William Renton ‘46 at the 75th Anniversary Celebration.
Leo Sugg ’88, chairman for the Century in the Making celebration, drew inspiration from fellow Theta Chi Bill Renton ’46, who served as honorary chairman at Omega Chapter’s 75th anniversary celebration in 1994.
He writes: “In the spring of 1994, I had the privilege of working with many others to help create Omega Chapter’s 75th Anniversary Celebration Weekend. Bill Renton was our honorary chairman for the event, and he spoke eloquently about how special Omega was, is and always will be, and fondly of the many Theta Chi memories and lifelong relationships that were formed. We enjoyed an amazing level of support in 1994, experienced a unique opportunity to reconnect that weekend, and had an absolutely great time - Omega Chapter black tie style. I am extremely excited to help continue this tradition, celebrating Theta Chi at Penn State’s Century in the Making. I am also thrilled to see Omega reconvene our corporation meeting for the second time in our history at the historic Nittany Lion Inn on Saturday morning, followed by many activities throughout the weekend, and of course, a Black Tie Gala at the Nittany Lion Inn on Saturday evening.”
Join us as we continue honoring this tradition the weekend of October 18-20.
L to R: Robert Kramer ‘88, Owen Fishman ‘85, Joey Kopetsky ‘86, Leo Sugg ‘88, Phil Katchur ‘88 and Mark Holst ‘88 at the 75th Anniversary Celebration.
PSU Trustee, Spikes’ ballpark namesake to Serve as Gala’s Keynote Speaker
Anthony Lubrano
We are honored to have Anthony Lubrano serve as keynote speaker during our gala event. A PSU Trustee, Mr. Lubrano is simply an amazing supporter of the University and is very happy to be part of the Theta Chi reunion. He is a lifetime member of the Alumni Association and a member of the Nittany Lion Club, and has served on the Athletic Committee at Penn State during A Grand Destiny Campaign, a fundraising effort that resulted in over $1.3 billion in gifts. A former baseball player at his alma mater, his lead gift to Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics led to the construction of Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, the 5,400 seat baseball stadium that opened June 2006 and serves as home to the State College Spikes. Mr. Lubrano is also a member of the Laurel Circle of the Mount Nittany Society as well as the Presidents Club.
Your Participation Needed to Meet Our Goal and Complete Items on Project List
As we celebrate a Century in the Making, there’s no better time to pledge your commitment to the Omega Chapter capital campaign in our effort to raise $500,000 to renovate the chapter house at 523 S. Allen St., and to fund an endowment that will enable Omega Chapter of Theta Chi to remain a viable and leading force at Penn State.
You should have received a thorough update on our campaign status in the mail this summer (if you did not, you can view it online at www.thetachiomega.com/update).
Your participation is critical to completing the projects on this list so that we can preserve Theta Chi Omega for another century. To pledge your commitment, go to www.thetachiomega.com/capital-campaign-donations/.
Alumni Updates
Stephen Rozyckie ’92 - Just after Joe Paterno’s passing I became involved in starting a charity called Success With Honor. A good friend/co-worker had the idea during JoePa’s memorial service after hearing all the good things that Penn Staters were doing to help others. He was pretty much fueled by all the negativity that we’d been hearing for months. About 18 months later we’ve vetted over 50 PSU charities, connected with the Lettermen’s Club, and have about 20 or so volunteering their time with us. I would love for some fel- low Theta Chis to get involved. Learn more at www.successwithhonor.org.
Steve Brummel ’03 - I got married on June 22, 2013 to my beautiful wife Lauren. We had a perfect wedding day with weather in the mid 80’s and an overcast sky. William Hertrick ’04 was able to attend. That was a huge surprise for me. It was great to see him again.
Jacob Kerr ’10 - In February I moved to York for a new job as an R&D Engineer for Magnesita Refractories, one of the largest refractory companies in the world. As part of my initial training, I was sent to Orleans, France for a week to participate in what is called “FIRE School”, or simply a refractories education course. While I was there, I spent time with David Hartwich ’09, who also works in the world of refractories and was attending the course through his employer.
In other fraternity-related news, over the past several months I was reunited with sev- eral brothers at events including the weddings of Kent Rentschler ’10 in October, Jared Case ’10 in June and Jason Chottiner ’09 in September.
Tyler Doppelheuer ’12 - Regrettably, I have left my job with Penn State and moved away from Happy Valley! I have moved to Manayunk to work with Cornell Homes as a Project Manager and Sales Associate.
Edward Wallace ’12 - After graduation I moved to the DC Metro area where I work for an engineering firm specializing in commercial nuclear power. I have been traveling to different nuclear sites across the US performing all kinds of various work. Recently I have been heavily involved in performing modifications to US nuclear plants to help mitigate Fukushima Daiichi-like events. Sadly, my job has started to become my life. I was able to make it back to the house for fall initiation and I got to meet up with brothers in Washington DC during a brotherhood trip for our new members. Hopefully as I get more free time I will be able to be more active to the chapter.
Brothers visit AJ Bobby at Hershey
Undergraduate brothers traveled to the Hershey Medical Center to visit their THON Brother AJ Bobby on May 14. In February, Theta Chis danced for 46 hours at THON for AJ and countless other families afflicted by pediatric cancer. The chapter raised $30,788.83 for THON 2013.
Did You Catch the Omega brothers on the Today Show?
Brothers Liam Fennecken (singing lead vocals) and Zach Kramer performed on the Today Show with the PSU Statesmen on May 15. If you missed it, you can find the video and others at www.thetachiomega.com/video/.
Thank you to all those brothers that shared their news.
Checkout past issues of the Omegaphone by clicking here.
Download the September 2013 Omegaphone
UPDATE: An error in the Sept. 2013 Omegaphone that included some incorrect bio information and an archived photo for one of our Century in the Making gala honorary chairmen, Dick Jones ’60. In a case of mistaken identity, our editors uncovered an old photo and some biographical information from LaVie of who we thought was Dick. This information was actually for Richard W. Jones, another class of ’60 Omega brother who was killed in a plane crash circa 1962. We apologize to our honorary chairman, Richard (Dick) R. Jones, for this error, and for any confusion it may have caused our readers. We apologize to Br. Dick Jones for this error.