This was passed along to me by Brother Jono Hred BN, Fl. Tech.
Hi Tom,
Hey, this is a tad long but also a pretty good read, so I thought I'd
pass it along to you. The writer is soon to become our chapter's new High
Pi. Hope you like it. Notice the date(s).
ZAX,
Jono
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Bouffard" <bouf@thewhippingpost.nu>
To: "Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity Alumni" <lca-alum@lyris.fit.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2001 4:43 PM
Subject: [lca-alum] Delta Rho Zeta
> Brothers;
>
> This past weekend I got a chance to reunderstand about what makes this
fraternity a great one. Despite having visited Wyoming and O'Reilly's crew
twice before, I still don't think I had a very good appreciation for exactly
what went on in the Northern Wasteland that is Laramie, WY.
>
> The Associate Director of Expansion, whose name eludes me at the moment,
mentioned some things in his comments that I didn't know about the Lambda
Chi's of Wyoming.
>
> Very few chapters of Lambda Chi are started by brothers who transfer to a
different university. Most are started when the Expansion guy and one or
two ELCs decide that they are going to start a colony at a campus. They
arrive for two-three weeks, meet people, hand them the systems that make up
the High Zeta, and then check back with them from time to time to see how
it's going. Most colonizations take about 3-4 years. DPZ took four years,
but had a different set of circumstances. Through discussions with Pat and
other brothers of DPZ, I garnered the scoop and I think it deserves a
telling.
>
> Four men who were friends, but couldn't find what they were looking for in
a substandard greek system decided that they would make their own fraternity
on UW. As I was told the story, around that time they just happenned to see
our intrepid prophet, BN 446, walking around campus, on a Friday, wearing
his letters as proudly as the day he was born and slapped on the ass. One
of the four pointed at the weirdo with the letters nobody knew and said
"Let's be that fraternity." With what appeared as a chance meeting, DPZ was
born.
>
> Pat once admitted to me about a year later that he was extremely skeptical
about having started a colony. He said that as he learned more about these
guys who wanted to be in the know, the more convinced he was that they were
the type of people to see things through. So he agreed to look into what he
and they would have to do to become a colony.
>
> Two years passed before Wyoming Colony #329 would become an official LCA
colony. During those two years, Pat and several other soon to be brothers
wrote to National telling them about what they were doing and what was going
on. It wasn't until Spring of 1999 that 2 ELC's arrived in Wyoming to spend
their 2-3 weeks installing a colony. What they found was very different
from what they expected.
>
> What they found was a colony of already 15 men. An already functioning
High Zeta. An Exec that met regularly. High spirits, good grades, and a
colony that wasn't even a colony yet that functioned more smoothly than some
of the chapters those two ELC's had visited earlier that year. As Justin
Wimbish told me, "They just kinda showed up and said 'Uh, ok, here's the
books; call us when you start checking things off.'" The Expansion Director
had similar comments. He talked about a colony that was far better than any
he had seen before. A colony that didn't need National's help. To further
illustrate the point he read comments from two other ELCs about how silky
the WY operation was. Here were things that even I didn't know yet. Pat
and these boys were more to be reckoned with than even I thought. Even
despite having heard of Deja Vu...
>
> >From 99 - this semester the colony checked point after point off on their
chartering checklist. But those weren't the only things that they were
doing. Of course, they did philanthropy in the thousands of man-hours and
tons of food. Naturally they know how to have a good time, even if their
beer die rules are a little off-kilter. But they also managed to put
together the Ruckus, something fairly similar to Poor Mans' as I understand
it. On a campus with plenty of competing houses they took 3rd in Greek Week
this year. Volleyball champions. WaterPolo Gods. Three years running. In
fact, last year the A Team played the B Team in the finals. But if you read
The Whipping Post, you knew that already. It would be a match of stellar
proportions to see a squad of BNs led by O'Connell, Reid, Liebig, and Kopko
go head 2 head with the DP boys.... Ooooh what a match that would be.
>
> Finally, on the 29th of March, Shaun Sherman, the Alpha, called national
and informed them that they had met their last goal. They had just
associated 2 more men than they needed to. With 37 men, the chartering was
on.
>
> I'm not sure I can describe the feeling of being at this tuxedo and gown
event. When the charter was presented, and we all got a look at it, I felt
as though it was 1972, but this time around I wasn't swimming around my
Dad's Nads, and I was at the BN chartering ceremony. The feeling in the
room seemed like it was much the same as it must have been in Melbourne long
ago, and that was cool to experience. The looks on these guys faces, the
pride inherent in their eyes and movements, was really something to see. It
reminded me of the roots of our own chapter, and the branch that one of ours
has managed to plant in rocky soil a long way from the sandy reaches of
greater Brevard. I actually stood there, quite stupified, and I hadn't even
had a drop of liqour yet.
>
> There are so many more things to tell about, from a made-for-the-event
movie to a live performance of Magic Carpet Ride that was beyond anybody's
expectation, but the real highlight for me was listening to that same
Director mention the following fact:
>
> Patrick Goytisolo O'Reilly is the first name on the DPZ charter, and it's
the first time in a long time that National has allowed a transfer brother's
name onto a charter. That small tidbit of information ought to be enough
for you to understand what kind of dedication it takes to do what O'Reilly
did.
>
> So despite two days of never-ending rain on a motorcycle to get to
Laramie, it was all worth it to see the look on Pat's face as the charter
was presented to the outgoing and incoming High Alphas of DPZ.
>
> So Congratulations again to the Men of Delta Rho Zeta, and welcome. And
to Patrick, my brother, who has replaced himself in a way that seldom few
have, there are lots of things that people say you simply can't do. So as
Montera once wrote "Thanks for reminding me of some things that I had
forgotten."
>
> Forever in ZAX,
> bouf
> BN425
If this is not the True meaning Of Brotherhood to us ALL, I dont not know of what I speak, not only for LXA, but for ALL of the Greek Organizations!
Congratulations to the Brothers Of U. Wyoming DR Zeta!!!!
Something for ALL LXA To read along with anyone Greek or Not to READ!!!
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