Looking Down The Road
Dear Alpha Delta Alumni,
I just got back from the Blue/White weekend. The actives hosted a great event and dinner at the chapter house. I enjoyed meeting many of the newer actives for the first time and was very impressed with the quality of guys who are being invited to join our great chapter. We even requested that “Rap Music” be absent from the Saturday evening party and we “Older Alumni” were honored with a CD of 70’s & 80’s music, compliments of Brother Bob Butella!
The alumni board missed the Blue/White game because we spent the majority of the day at our board meeting. We continue to confront numerous issues that will affect Greek societies at Penn State including borough enforcement actions, University prescribed minimum standards for Greek societies and stricter code and insurance restrictions. Many of these issues are already being addressed through IMH programs that are making Kappa Sigma chapters the envy of other fraternities on campuses across the continent. Many are specific to Penn State and require alumni corporation action. The most significant of these is the condition of the chapter house and Alpha Delta’s inability to meet code, major repairs and member expectations in the future.
As a result, we will soon begin exploring our options with regard to replacing the chapter house. The initial work will involve fund-raising feasibility studies and housing alternatives. Our guiding principles will be responsibility in our judgments with a long-term view for meeting the needs of a premier organization. We expect that many chapters will fold in the next few years under the pressure of the rapidly changing environment at Penn State. Given the outstanding support of Alpha-Delta alumni, we are confident that we can and will be successful in meeting our goal of assuring that fifty years from now, Kappa Sigma will remain as a premier fraternity at Penn State.
This newsletter includes another outstanding alumni profile, which has proven to be very popular. This profile is for Richard L. Kelly ’67. Brother Kelly is currently a Lieutenant General in the Marine Corps. For our non-military type alumni, that means Brother Kelly wears “Three Stars” on his uniform. In other words, there are very few people between him and President Bush! After reading Brother Kelly’s profile and the previous profiles, it is clear the Alpha Delta chapter is filled with very successful alumni.
Also, check out the undergraduate updates for Star & Crescent scholarship winners, THON and other highlights of the spring semester.
I hope this newsletter finds all of our alumni doing well in their personal and professional lives. Please send us a little note in our “What’s New” section and include your email address. We also send out monthly E-Newsletters, but we need your email address!
Fraternally Yours,
Edward D. Gorkes ’79
President