Theta Delta Chi International Fraternity Update

The revival of Epsilon Triton is just one of many exciting things happening for Theta Delta Chi on an International level. The expansion efforts at Arizona State are one piece in a huge push towards restoring the fraternity to its former levels of around 40 Charges. With currently only 25 active organizations and a pressing need to provide greater services to our undergraduates in preparing them for a rapidly changing world, the need to expand stems from financial necessity as much as from the basic desire to grow our great organization. In addition to Epsilon Triton, we currently recognize four other colonies: Iota at Harvard University, Theta Triton at the University of Binghamton, Marist Colony at Marist College and Rho Proteron at the University of South Carolina. Three of these groups, Theta Triton, Marist and Rho Proteron were interest groups of very dynamic students who Minerva guided towards TDX.

In fact, the Theta Triton Colony has been so successful that they have been approved for a Charter and with ratification from the active Charges will be initiating their first 40 men April 2006. Their dedication to leadership and community service as well as a healthy social experience has made them stand out immediately on their campus. They were the focus of two newspaper articles this spring and look to maintain their momentum growing to hopefully over 60 members by the end of next year. Many of the successes of this fantastic group will be used as a template in the building of Epsilon Triton.

The Marist Colony and Rho Proteron are two very new groups who are just beginning to learn how to function as a fraternity. The Marist Colony sprung out of friendships between some of their members and the Theta Triton group. After their first month, they have recruited 30 men and hope to retain and strengthen the group before the fall. The Rho Proteron group at the time of this writing is still technically considered an Interest Group as they will not gain Colony status before March 25 as per certain minimum requirements. This group also sprung from a driven member at the University of South Carolina whose close friend at the Mu Triton Charge in North Carolina gave him the idea to start a Charge of Theta Delta Chi. Many of you may remember the story of Rho Proteron from your membership handbook as the mystery Charge of Theta Delta Chi. Although it was chartered in 1859, it was believed to have gone immediately out of business. Unfortunately, neither we nor the school have any records of any initiates after the city of Columbia was burned in the Civil War. It was originally called the Rho Charge, but the word Proteron was added later in order to reuse Rho for the Charge at Washington and Lee in 1869. Should they be chartered, we have decided to maintain the very unique name Rho Proteron to symbolize their place in Theta Delt lore. The Iota Colony is also having a rebirth after it looked as though it was near closure. Down to one member this spring, they have exploded back to ten members, a sign that perseverance and dedication will always lead to our success.

In addition to each of these great new frontiers for the fraternity, we are happy to report that with very few exceptions, all of the rest of the Charges are functioning as strong as ever and our recruitment numbers are up across the board. Due to the efforts of Greek professionals in the past decade, the problems that brought Greek systems to their knees are being repaired and Greek membership, pride and support are on the rise across the nation.

One final, very exciting piece of news for Theta Delta Chi will be the inaugural Preamble Institute this April in Boston, MA. The Preamble Institute (PI) is a Theta Delt-only leadership conference that will be held annually in Boston to train our leaders on our ritual, values and effective means to improve their organizations. Underwritten by the Theta Delta Chi Educational Foundation, we will be providing the all-expense paid weekend for one member from each Charge and two members from each Colony to work with their peers to develop action plans to ensure the strength and survival of their Charges for decades to come as we look to make each of our groups a flagship organization on their respective campuses. This annual event should serve as a source of pride for years to come as we develop the next great Theta Delts.

If you have any questions about any of these or other goings-on with Theta Delta Chi, please email Charge Consultant Eric Kelley.