Delta Theta Sigma Alpha Chapter at Ohio State - Chapter of the Year

From former President Dave Dziak

In my four years involved with this fraternity, I have watched the culture of a fraternity change slowly for the better, but looking at it now it seems like it was all in fast forward. It's my senior year, and I can honestly say that my soul belonged to this fraternity for the past four years. I, along with the scores of members that have come and gone in these short years, have put quite literally blood, sweat, and tears into making this fraternity the best it can be.

When I joined Winter of 2010, I was blind to other fraternities and saw Delta Theta Sigma as the best organization ever created in the history of man. Admittedly, that was the bias of a freshly initiated member. Of course, it had to be, considering the amount of time I began putting in as opposed to other groups or organizations. I had never cared about something and so many people that much in my entire life. Fortunately, that love and appreciation for this organization has only grown over the years.

However, I realized once I came into leadership roles that there was still some things to be desired. I would not have cared about any of that if not for then President Nick Atterholt and his successor Jed Bookman. Through the one on one conversations and watching them lead with admiring eyes, I realized that they had set up a foundation for change.

From my understanding, Mr. Atterholt began a revolution. No, not like some communist coup, obviously as a true American I am not for any sort of revolution in that way. What Nick did was begin to look at the things we were doing and questioning if it was in the best interest of the fraternity in general and for the members specifically. He revamped the New Member Training Process to eliminate old, outdated practices that were putting us at risk on multiple levels. It was also a foundation that would give us the opportunity as a chapter to be awarded the Best New Member Training Process Award for the next few years in a row, as well as have it recognized by Nationals as a potential template for proper intake and training for new members. The work that presidents before me really set us up for a path to success that has accumulated this year.

(8/9 of the DTS presidents from 2005 - present)

When I was a freshman, at the urging of Jed Bookman, I attended Ohio State's Greek Life event: Buckeye Greek Leadership Institute, or BGLI for short. At BGLI, I was able to gain an appreciation for some of the things other organizations do, and how important networking between chapters really was. Upon becoming president, I had a few points that I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to increase networking with other chapters, work on our relationship with CFAES, work on our influence on main campus and other Greek chapters that weren't specifically ag, work on GPA, continue with the New Member Training Process reforms, resolve some risk management issues, and increase brotherhood.

Admittedly, I did not accomplish everything I wanted to do. In a short year, I dedicated every waking moment to improving the success of our chapter. Austin Kirk took over after me and continued on the path that our predecessors had established. He worked immediately on risk management issues, which was met with a large amount of push back from the active chapter, but was eventually accepted and instituted and eventually celebrated by Nationals as a model for Risk Management.

I continued to work with Austin, but took on a role as New Member Trainer, Philanthropy Chair, and IFC VP of Communications. Through these roles I continued to increase our involvement with other chapters and helped us raise $3,000 for philanthropies such as MDA, American Cancer Society, and St. John's Community Kitchen. I, with the executive team, spent an entire year perfecting the New Member Training Process. Austin continued to perform at the highest level of excellence and set the stage for what would happen last night. 

Tanner Schoen took over at the beginning of this year and began implementing new things to continue down our path of success. Our involvement has increased, our grades are better, and our recruitment is more functional than it had been in the past four years combined.

So that takes us to today.

Delta Theta Sigma is now officially The Chapter of the Year at The Ohio State University.

Last night, at the Greek awards banquet, Delta Theta Sigma, in front of a crowd of plenty of other Greeks, stepped up to receive the Chapter of the Year Award. 

We also took home the Challenging the Process Award for all of the risk management improvements we made in the past few years, Most Improved GPA Award, for our dedication to scholarship consistently landing us in the Top 10 of all fraternities, and Best New Member Training Process Award, for the tireless effort we put forth in changing the process from alcohol and hazing in past years to professionalism building with no alcohol or hazing.

At Conclave last fall, we won the Highest Yearly GPA, Highest Five Year GPA, and Best Publications Award. Nationals recognized our New Member Process as a template and contemplated sending us up to River Falls to Epsilon Chapter to train them on the new process. We were also asked to present our outreach efforts, publications, social media, and executive retreat. Nationals has recognized our achievements and have looked to us as an exemplary chapter for just about every facet of fraternity life.

I've been proud of everything we have accomplished during my time here, and I'm damn proud to say that I was a part of the team that won us Chapter of the Year for the first time. During all the sleepless nights and the outstanding amount of stress, there were always questions as to if it was all worth it. I am not necessarily a person that needs a plaque somewhere that says, "Hey, everything you did was for this." However, seeing some sort of validation that others have recognized what we have done over the course of the past few years makes it all the sweeter. I will be graduating soon and saying my goodbyes to my closest of friends, my brothers. Though it is hard to leave, and look back in the rear view mirror as a single tear falls down, I know that all of us have left this place in a much better position than where we found it. An even more gratifying thought is that the dedication to excellence and leadership amongst the newest members will continue. We have laid the path and achieved success. This crop of leadership is among some of the finest I have ever seen, and I know that they will continue to deliver results such as this for years to come.