The
Beta Delta
NEWS
Beta Delta of Beta Theta Pi • Cornell University
ITHACA, NEW YORK
WINTER 2004-’05
Celebrating 125 Years of _kai_
Dear Brothers:
What a weekend! Over 100 alumni
returned to the Castle on the Rock to
celebrate the 125th anniversary of our
chapter and remember our days at
Beta. On Friday night, the hot truck
was parked in the driveway and the
Buffalo wings steamed out of the deep
fryer. The house looked great when we
arrived, thanks to a lot of work by the
chapter and some helpful guidance
from Jeff Frey ’89. Over the course of
the evening, alumni had the opportunity to catch up with classmates and meet
the current undergraduates.
On Saturday night, the Memorial
Room was packed to capacity for our
banquet with 250 brothers and guests
in attendance. Cornell president Jeffrey
Lehman congratulated our fraternity
on 125 years of contributions to the
Cornell community—from the lyrics of
“Give My Regards to Davy” to the
Lindseth Climbing Wall, Kroch
Library, and Duffield Hall. Chapter
president Robert Leslie ’06 welcomed
the alumni back to campus and offered
a toast to the next 125 years. Cornell
vice president for student and academic
services Susan Murphy shared her
thoughts on the importance of a strong
Greek system to Cornell and the
importance of a strong Beta to the
Brothers, family, and friends pose for a historic
photo at Beta Delta’s 125th Anniversary Celebration.
Greek system.
After a terrific dinner, alumni corporation president Paul Leo ’81 led a classic Beta countdown—identifying those
who have been members of the fraternity the longest and inviting those who
have been Betas for more than 30 years
to speak, including Don Vitters ’62,
John Burton ’57, Jon Lindseth ’56,
Clyde Loughridge ’43, Gustavo
Vollmer ’42, and Harry Bovay ’36,
who has been a Beta for 71 years. Beta
Theta Pi general secretary David
Wright updated the audience on the
progress at the general fraternity.
A highlight of the evening was the
presentation of the Beta Delta Diamond Legion Award to Harry Bovay
’36, Ted Doan ’45, Dave Duffield ’62,
and Jon Lindseth ’56, who joined Bob
Kane ’34, Carl Kroch ’35, Pete Atkins
’36, Gus Vollmer ’42, and Joe Littleton
’42 as recipients of Beta Delta’s highest
honor. Harry and Jon each inspired us
with their reflections on their time at
Beta and the importance of the fraternity on their success. Ted Doan could not
be with us, but he was represented by
his wife, who shared with us Ted’s
advice on life. We had planned to present Dave with his award at a dinner
with the undergraduates prior to the
dedication of Duffield Hall, but he had
to cancel the event when he was reappointed CEO at PeopleSoft.
After the banquet, we returned to
the Great Hall, where 150 brothers
joined together for the Loving Cup.
(continued on page two)
125th
LOOK INSIDE FOR
MORE ON THE 125TH!
2
The Beta Delta News
Homecoming 2004: A Historic Time For The Chapter
Homecoming Weekend 2004 was a
historic time for Beta Delta. Not only
did it mark the 125th anniversary of
one of Beta Theta Pi’s oldest chapters
still in existence, but it was also the
largest gathering of Beta Deltas in
decades.
The weekend’s festivities meant different things to different people. For
some it was a chance to catch up on the
past few years or decades and introduce
new wives and children. For others it
was a chance to return to the home that
was left just a few years ago. For everyone involved, though, the weekend
afforded incredible memories.
We undergraduates are no exception. The 125th celebration was a great
chance to meet Beta Delta alumni from
many different decades. For many of us
the weekend was the first real opportunity to meet with alumni and just have
fun. In the past, most alumni visits were
prompted by meetings to discuss chapter business, and as a result, the generational differences were emphasized.
The 125th anniversary, however, had
the power to emphasize the similarities:
the love for Beta Theta Pi, Beta Delta,
and Cornell University. It allowed the
alumni to look back upon their undergraduate years with fondness and gave
the undergraduates the chance to hear
alumni success stories and eagerly anticipate the future.
The 125th anniversary also brightly
illustrated exactly why Beta Delta has
been around for as long as it has—the
alumni support. The capacity crowd at
the Willard Straight Memorial Room
during the formal dinner was a testament to this. During any fraternity’s
existence there are rocky times. What
allows a chapter to stand the test of
time is the willingness of alumni to support and believe in the chapter.
On behalf of the undergraduates,
thank you very much for coming to celebrate 125th anniversary and support
the chapter. Take care, and do not hesitate to stop back!
Yours in _kai_,
Daniel J. Friedman ‘06
Our 125th Anniversary Celebration chairmen
Andrew Servais ’05 and Daniel Friedman ’06 with their dates.
RECAPPING THE 125TH
(continued from page one)
The line of presidents leading to current president Robert Leslie ’06 had
only one missing member from John
Dalton ’89 to Nate Gunsch ’00—and
elsewhere in the room were former
presidents Bert McCulloch ’71, Bob
Mendola ’72, Lance Greenberg ’76,
Dan Loughridge ’82, and Eric Degenfelder ’86.
As you looked around the circle,
generations of Betas joined by blood
and brotherhood could be seen. Father
Gustavo Vollmer ’42 with Cornell
President Jeffrey Lehman.
and son Clyde ’43 and Dan ’82
Loughridge were in attendance, as
were brothers Bob ’82 and Bill ’85
Ellis, John ’86 and James ’90 Berner,
Bill ’95 and Bob ’97 Nahmias, and
brothers-in-law Steve Kohls ’91 and
Dave Kenny ’95 and Ted Goldwyn ’90
and Jeff Davis ’91.
We sang “My Beta Sweetheart” to
James Berner ’90, Jeff Davis ’91, Rich
Forest ’87, and Greg Gresock ’90. For
some reason, we were surprised when
the DJ had never heard of songs from
our eras. As the night wore on, the Red
Sox got crushed—the last time they
would lose en route to the World Series
Championship—but that only seemed
to bother us Bostonians, as the undergraduate brothers and their dates
seemed to be enjoying one another. As
groups of classmates spread from Collegetown to the State Street Diner, it
was a lot like the good old days.
On Sunday morning, we gathered
for the annual alumni corporation
meeting. Franklin cooked breakfast,
and as we all left, there was the hope
that it wouldn’t take eight years to get
together again.
I want to give a particular thanks to
some of the chapter officers who did so
much to prepare for the weekend: president Robert Leslie ’06, vice president
Bryce Webster ’06, social chairman
Steve Lund ’07, and risk manager Mike
Lerario ’06.
I still remember being the undergraduate president at the Centennial
Plus Ten in 1989. I know how much
effort it takes to do the kind of job that
Rob Leslie did this weekend. I have
been extremely impressed with Rob
and confident is his leadership of our
fraternity.
I also want to provide a final thanks
to the two men who have been my
partners in this effort, Andrew Servais
’05 and Dan Friedman ’06. These
brothers represent the finest in our Beta
tradition, and the celebration would
not have been successful without them.
It was great to see everyone and
meet wives, girlfriends, and children.
Thank you all for coming. Mighty glad
to be a Beta...
Yours in __ kai __,
Douglas E. Onsi ’90
3
The Beta Delta News
Beta Delta Diamond Legion Award Presented
The Beta Delta Diamond Legion
Award is Beta Delta’s highest honor
presented to its most distinguished
alumni in recognition of a lifetime
of Service to Beta, Cornell, and society as a whole. It was first awarded
at the Centennial Plus Ten Celebration in 1989, and we are pleased to
continue the tradition. The Beta
Delta Diamond Legion Plaque contains the Beta Coat of Arms and a
symbolic key to the fraternity house.
Harry E. Bovay ’36
Harry graduated from Cornell
University in 1936 after attaining
his degree in civil engineering.
Harry started his career with Humble Oil and Refining Company in
Texas as a project engineer and later
as their consulting engineer. In
1946, Harry formed
his own firm, the
Bovay Engineers of
Houston, a company
which would undertake projects for
NASA and the U.S.
Atomic Energy Commission as well as
Bovay
participate in the construction of major airports, schools,
universities and factories around the
world. He served as president and
later chairman of the board of
CEOs of Bovay Engineers until he
sold the company in 1984.
After his retirement, Harry
remained active founding a new
company—Mid-South Telecommunications Co.—serving on the
national executive board of the Boy
Scouts of America, becoming a
member of the National Academy of
Engineers, and becoming president
of both the Texas Society of Professional Engineers and the National
Society of Professional Engineers. In
1998, Harry and his wife Sue established endowments at both Texas
A&M and at Cornell university to
support the development of curriculum related to the history and ethics
of professional engineering. He has
also established the Harry and Sue
Bovay Professorship in the History
and Ethics of Professional Engineering as part of a campus-wide initiative to teach ethics throughout the
disciplines. Harry is also being hon-
ored with Cornell’s Frank H. T.
Rhodes Distinguished Service
Award, Cornell’s highest honor for
its alumni volunteers.
Herbert E. “Ted” Doan ’45
Ted Doan was born in Midland,
Michigan in 1922. As a child, his
mother expected him to one day
become a teacher or a preacher, but
upon his cum laude graduation from
the Cranbrook private school in
Michigan, he headed to Cornell University where he
majored in chemical engineering. At
Cornell,
Ted’s
roommate, Kenneth Hillas ’45,
who had pledged
Beta the year prior,
brought Ted into Junia Doan,
the house. “It’s a who accepted
wonderful house,” the award on
he said. “The guys her husband’s
were really a fanbehalf.
tastic
bunch.
You’re lucky if you end up in the
right place.” In 1943, Ted temporarily left Cornell to serve his country
in the United States Air For ce,
where he served as staff sergeant in
the weather service. After the war,
Ted returned to Cornell where he
completed his degree in chemical
engineering. Upon his graduation,
Ted went to work for Dow Chemical, the company founded by his
grandfather in 1897. At 40, Ted
became president of Dow and
worked to reorganize its structure to
ensure its survival in a rapidly
changing technological world. After
his retirement from Dow, Ted went
on to join the Board of American
Research and Development in
Boston, helping to extend venture
capital to Michigan businesses and
allowing technological initiatives to
thrive there. Ted is now the chairman of the Dow Foundation and
responsible for directing the philanthropy interests of the charity
around the world.
Jon A. Lindseth ’56
Jon graduated from Cornell with
a degree in mechanical engineering
as part of the super class of 1956.
According to his classmates, Jon
was always driven and dedicated in
everything that he did. Jon is the
chairman of Kindt-Collins, a manufacturing company based in his
hometown of Cleveland. Jon has
also put his entrepreneurial leadership to use through his venture capital efforts. Products created by Jon’s
companies include Thermoscan,
which allows a child's temperature
to be taken by putting a thermometer for one second into the ear, and
the Interplaque toothbrush, now
sold by Braun.
Within Beta, Jon's leadership has
been the cornerstone of every major
Beta activity for the
past 47 years. Jon's
extraordinary dedication, vision, and
passion for our fraternity made the
Castle Campaign
possible, provided
us with the chairs
Lindseth
in the dining room,
and allows us to offer two brothers
with a work-study relief scholarship
through the university. The Cornell
community owes Jon an unrepayable debt of gratitude for his
leadership in the Kroch Library
campaign, the Lindseth Climbing
Wall, for endowing the university
librarian and the associate dean of
students for Greek life—currently
held by Suzy Nelson—and his
decade of service on the board of
trustees.
PAST BETA DELTA
DIAMOND LEGION
AWARD WINNERS
ROBERT J. KANE ’34
CARL A. KROCH ’35
H. PEARCE ATKINS ’36
GUSTAVO J. VOLLMER ’42
JOSEPH C. LITTLETON ’42
4
The Beta Delta News
CELEBRATING 125 YEARS OF
James Berner ’90, Greg Gresoch ’90, Richard Forest ’87,
and John Berner ’86 with their wives and fianceés.
Bert McCulloch ’71, Rick Banks ’72, Curtis Christensen ’72,
Robert Mendola ’72, and John Stewart ’72.
Susan Murphy, vice president for
academic and student services.
Lance Greenberg ’76, Paul Leo ’81, D.J. Ledina ’91,
John Kilcoune ’89, and Ted Goldwyn ’90.
John Stewart ’72, John Burton ’57,
Robert Kennedy ’99, and Jason Bobby ’00.
David Kenny ’95 and Joe Lavin ’75.
5
The Beta Delta News
BETA DELTA BROTHERHOOD
Kevin Yam ’91 with his son, Benjamin.
Back row: Don Vitters ’62, John Burton ’57, John Curtis ’63, John Lindseth
’56, and Bert McCulloch ’71. Front row: Gustavo Vollmer ’42, Harry Bovay
’36, Clyde Loughridge ’43, and Larry Heller ’69.
Harry Bovay ’36 with the dean of students, Kent Hubbell.
Bill Nahmais ’95, Bob Nahmais ’97,
Eric Sophir ’98, and Jeremy Graff ’98.
Brothers sing “My Beta Sweetheart.”
Front row, from left to right: Noemi Arzaga-Leo,
Paul Leo ’81, Dave Wright (Ohio State ’67), and Rob
Leslie’s date. Back row, from left to right:
Gus Vollmer’s daughter, Junia Doan, Gus
Vollmer ’42, and Robert Leslie ’06.
6
The Beta Delta News
House Improvements Strengthen The Castle
Maintaining the Castle on the
Rock has not always been an easy job,
but it certainly has been a rewarding
one. Through the collective work of
the undergraduates and the alumni,
the house has transformed itself wonderfully into its current state and is
ready to meet the challenges of the
future.
Upon entering the house at the
beginning of the semester, one could
easily see that the lack of in-house
brothers over the summer had taken
its toll. The brothers quickly realized
plenty of work needed to be done.
Through physical effort and the financial and consultative contributions of
alumni, our house was restored to a
comfortable state.
Our house is comfortably full this
year—with 16 singles and five doubles. Having 26 brothers in house
makes maintenance more interesting,
but it also gives us more hands to
tackle long-term problems that otherwise might not be addressed. We
cleaned out one of the “storage”
rooms in the alumni suite (formerly
called the “pledge closet”) and turned
it into a well-equipped weight room. It
has been in constant use ever since.
The storage room outside our basement dance floor has been cleaned as
well as the room across from the laundry room near the kitchen.
Our greatest house improvement
this year is due to our alumni. Early in
the year, the undergraduates realized
that we could get the inside of the
house looking good, but something
more drastic needed to be done about
the outside. Through the tireless work
of Jeff Frey ’89 and Rick Banks ‘72
and financial support from the alumni
corporation, the driveway was
repaved, allowing for a complete landscaping of the front of the house.
While the plants are still young now,
in the next few years, they will flourish and ensure the lasting beauty of
the property. I can’t express how
thankful all of the undergraduates are
to have such a major improvement to
the house. The front driveway is now
more than just a parking lot, it is a
haven for brothers to play catch or
just hang out.
The culmination of all of our joint
efforts was the 125th anniversary celebration. Brothers, enthused by such a
historic gathering of Betas, ensured
that the house looked great. I think
the returning alumni were happy to
see that the house had not been completely ruined since their graduation
and that their alumni funds had been
put to good use on the carpeting of
the stairs and great hall last year, on
the front of the house, and on
Franklin’s new freezer this year.
Things were looking pretty good at
100 Ridgewood Rd., and they still are.
Rest assured that the clean house
was not solely because of the coming
125th. The house will remain in good
condition as long as Betas are living
here. Our current plans for improving
the house deal with revamping
Franklin’s kitchen, renovating the
bathrooms, and extending the sprinkler system into every bedroom. We
hope that continued improvements to
the physical plant and undergraduate
commitment to maintenance will
secure the Castle on the Rock. as a
permanent landmark in the Cornell
community.
All of the undergraduates would
like to express their thanks to the
undying contributions of all Beta
alumni.
Yours in __kai__,
Andrew Wetzler ’07
Recruiting The 126th New Member Class
THE BETA
DELTA NEWS
Published regularly by the Beta
Delta Chapter of Beta Theta Pi
Fraternity at Cornell University for
its members and friends.
News contributions and pictures
are welcome and can be sent to
Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, Alumni
Records Office, P.O. Box 876,
Ithaca, NY 14851-0876.
First let me say, congratulations
Red Sox! Now, with that aside, I
am proud to announce that the
b r o t h e r h o o d ’s h a r d w o r k a n d
recruitment efforts have already
been paying off.
We have a list of approximately
70 recruits who have been coming
by the house for various events
such as barbecues and Monday
Night Football. The house also participated in Greek Week, a campuswide recruiting event. We took a
core group of about 20 recruits to
play paintball followed by a
Thanksgiving dinner at the house to
showcase Franklin’s talents.
If you know of any Cornell
freshmen who would be good
Betas, please do not hesitate to con-
tact me by phone at (630) 6708120 or by e-mail at jcm82@cornell.edu.
The 125th anniversary celebration really gave me the opportunity
to get new perspectives on recruitment. I was able to talk to numerous alumni, many of whom were
recruitment chairs themselves, and
brainstorm rush events and tactics.
I cannot stress how important it is
for the current brothers to keep in
touch with alumni. Only by learning from past successes and failures,
can we truly run a program that
works.
Yours in _kai_
Judd Meyer ‘06
Recruitment Chairman
7
The Beta Delta News
Beta Delta Remains Strong Philanthropically
In my opinion, the reason for
philanthropy is to give back to the
citizens of a community from
which we take so much. Ithaca is
inhabited both by some of the best,
brightest, and most privileged students in the world and by many
year-round residents in dire need of
assistance.
Living in a fraternity, we have
the power to organize a group of
people very easily to assist people,
and it is our duty to do so.
This semester, we decided to
participate in an annual program
run through the Cornell Public Service Center called Into the Streets
(ITS). Founded in 1991, the ITS
program organizes teams of stu-
dents to perform a day of service
for agencies in need of volunteers.
The agencies assist work for a
noble cause, but are severely
understaffed. ITS teams have volunteered over the years to work for
the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the YMCA, the Ithaca
Breast Cancer Alliance, Books
Through Bars, Better Housing for
Tompkins County, and many other
incredibly worthwhile organizations.
This year, our chapter volunt e e re d t o w o r k f o r t h e C o r n e l l
Plantations, whose mission is to
improve and maintain the natural
areas of Cornell and the surrounding community. On October 30, all
of the 25 in-house brothers performed maintenance and restoration work on gorge trails in Ithaca.
It was an exciting day of outdoor
activity and participation that benefited the large number of students
and community members who
enjoy these lovely spots.
I hope that in the future the
Beta Delta Chapter of Beta Theta
Pi can be known not only as fine,
upstanding gentlemen, but also as
socially conscious individuals willing to be members of a greater
community.
Yours in __kai__,
Stephen Lightfoote ‘07
Philanthropy Chairman
Something To
Chew On:
News From The Kitchen
The kitchen has been presented
with some major improvements this
semester, and the undergraduates
are eager to see many more to follow.
Our chef, Franklin Sawyer, is
still preparing the high-caliber
meals that many alumni may
remember, as Franklin has been a
part of the Beta Delta team since
1986.
Some new additions to his repertoire have made a huge impact on
the seemingly-insatiable appetites
of the undergraduate brotherhood,
such as an antipasto salad, an icecream sundae bar, and, the brotherhood favorite, fettuccini alfredo
with shrimp and broccoli.
Assisting Franklin in the kitchen
is our “executive dishwasher” Judd
Meyer ’06, who, although he has
only started this semester, has made
an enormously noticeable difference in the cleanliness and general
maintenance of the kitchen. He has
a tough job battling the mess created by the brothers who feast over
fried food, but the kitchen always
seems to appear immaculate (relatively-speaking) when Franklin
walks through the door in the
morning!
Finally, the undergraduates have
Undergraduate brothers with their dates.
had tremendous help from Jeff Frey
’89, in starting to purchase new
kitchen appliances and to commence the other necessary renovations of the kitchen itself. He is the
man behind the house’s new stainl e s s - s t e e l , d o u b l e - d o o r f r e e z e r,
which premiered during Beta
Delta’s 125th anniversary celebration, when alumni and undergraduates cooked and ate the 150 pounds
of chicken wings that were housed
inside of it. With Jeff ’s help the
brotherhood, is looking forward to
even more additions to the kitchen
in the near future.
Yours in __ kai __,
Mike Lerario ’06
Steward
8
The Beta Delta News
Beta 2004-’05: Keeping The Ship On Course
It will take a collaborative effort
between undergraduates, alumni, and
the general fraternity to return the
chapter to its rightful place as one of
the leading and award-winning chapters at Cornell and within Beta Theta
Pi. To accomplish this mission, the
chapter has set the following objectives to be completed throughout the
course of the 2004-05 academic year:
• A trained five-person advisory
team is placed. Members of the advisory team must be separate from
membership in the alumni corporation board of directors, unless
approved by the general secretary or
district chief.
• A Cornell university faculty
member, who need not be a member
of Beta Theta Pi, is recruited to serve
as a faculty advisor and will meet
with the chapter or chapter officers
at least two times each semester.
• Two local alumni who are not
members of the alumni corporation
board of directors, and one of whom
is not a Beta Delta alumnus, are
involved with the chapter and meet
with the chapter or chapter officers
at least two times each semester.
• Each additional officer who is
not advised by the trained five-person
advisory team selects an advisor from
the advisory team, approved alumni,
alumni corporation board of directors, faculty advisor, or local nonBeta Delta alumni and communicates
with the advisor on a weekly basis.
• A new member education program, which is void of any forms of
hazing, is created. Local alumni and
the district chief must approve the
program, which will include the dates
and times of all new member sessions
and rituals. The chapter must follow
the approved program. An approved
alumnus, faculty advisor, or general
fraternity representative must attend
at least one-half of all new member
sessions and all rituals.
• A risk management program for
the chapter is developed and
approved by the district chief and
local advising team. At least two
social events per semester must have
an approved alumnus, faculty advisor, or general fraternity representative present to observe compliance
with the risk management program.
• A recruitment program/plan is
developed for the upcoming year,
which is centered on values-based
recruitment and completely void of
any alcohol influence, exotic dancers,
or entertainment of similar nature.
The local advising team and the district chief must approve this
plan/program. An approved alumnus,
faculty advisor, or general fraternity
representative must attend at least
one-half of all recruitment events.
• The chapter goals and end-ofthe-year reports that are required to
be provided to Cornell university are
completed on a timely basis and distributed to the general fraternity,
advisory team and alumni corporation board of directors. An interim
report outlining progress towards the
chapter goals is provided to the general fraternity, advisory team, and
alumni corporation board of directors on a monthly basis.
• One substantial philanthropy,
community service, scholarship, university relations, or alumni relations
project is completed each semester.
• One new member education,
risk management, sexual awareness,
health, or leadership session facilitated by a member of the university
community or general fraternity is
completed each semester.
• Active involvement within the
Cornell Interfraternity Council and
attendance at all Office of Fraternity
and Sorority Affairs leadership and
officer education programs.
• Four undergraduates attend the
Institute for Men of Principle in the
summer of 2005.
• One undergraduate member
attends the Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute during the summer of
2005.
• One undergraduate member
attends the Leadership College at the
166th General Convention during the
summer of 2005.
• One newly elected executive
officer (preferably the president)
must who will serve as the chapter
delegate will attend the 166th General Convention.
• 100 percent of the undergraduates attend a retreat that will be facilitated by the general fraternity during
the first month of the fall 2004
semester.
• The chapter applies for the Sisson Award at the end of the 20042005 academic year.
This process will require an extraordinary commitment on the part of
the undergraduates. During this
important time for the Beta Delta
Chapter, the general fraternity, the
alumni and the Beta Delta advisors
will offer their complete support.
Jeffrey Cohen ’90, Doug Burtnick ’90, Clyde Loughridge ’43,
and Dan Loughridge ’82.