On Thursday, March 8 Phi Gamma Delta presented the 39 Ohio Wesleyan men picked to be their founding fathers.
The event, “Evening with the Fijis,” highlighted the men chosen to help cultivate the fraternity.
According to Brett Pytel, the assistant director of expansion, the 39 men chosen were picked in hopes of forming a group that well represents the OWU community.
“We don’t want to have a diverse group of men for diversity sakes because it looks good,” Pytel said. “We wanted to select a group of men that share common ideals, goals and vision of a truly values-based organization at OWU, and by chance, happens to be diverse as a result.”
The men chosen participate in various clubs and organizations on campus, including various sports teams, political clubs and academic student boards. The fraternity also has a 3.3 average GPA.
Throughout the next six weeks, the fraternity will participate in a colony retreat to elect officers, committees, and set both short and long term goals.
Pytel discussed the need to create a strong brotherhood in order to ensure the fraternity’s success.
“We don’t want to rush things. The first and most important task is for the group to build a stronger relationship with each other,” Pytel said. “These men know each other but throughout this six weeks left in the semester our focus will be on a stronger bond.”
At the event, Delta Delta Delta was recognized for their help in the recruiting process. The sorority was given a 200 dollar check for their philanthropy, Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Fiji also presented a White Star Scholarship, which at first was supposed to be a $5000 dollar scholarship given to a non-affiliated man who is an upstanding member of the OWU community.
Due to the overwhelming number of worthy applicants the scholarship was transformed into two $500 dollar scholarships, which were awarded to senior Sharif Kronemer and junior Ryan Kaplan.
There were four $1000 dollar scholarships, which seniors Casey Chan and Tim Carney, junior Kale Booher and sophomore Andrew Paik won.
“Evening with the Fijis” was a reception that celebrated the promising colonization of Fiji back onto OWU’s campus,” according to Pytel.
“The university was gracious enough to invite us to return to campus and we wanted to make sure we returned the favor with an excellent new group of men that involved the entire communities input,” Pytel said.
“We understand that once we leave, this group of men become your fraternity and we want everyone to be proud of the group.”
Delta Colony’s
Founding Fathers
Jordan Alexander (2014)
Colin Beemiller (2015)
Colton Bloecher (2014)
Jonathan Bocanegra (2014)
Josh Boggs (2014)
Ken “KC” Callahan (2013)
John Carlson (2012)
Tim Carney (2012)
Ryan Clark (2013)
Michael Cook (2015)
Sam Gioseffi (2015)
Jack Hall (2012)
Casey Helms (2014)
Kyle Hendershot (2015)
Paul Hendricks (2013)
Mason Hoge (2015)
Bret Irvine (2013)
Ryan Kaplan (2015)
Iqbal Khan (2013)
Oore Ladipo (2014)
Alex Lothstein (2015)
Kevin McCarley (2015)
Taylor McGinnis (2015)
Jerry Moore (2013)
Memme Onwudiwe (2015)
Logan Osborne (2013)
Andrew Paik (2014)
Andrew Pang (2014)
Saar Rajpuria (2014)
Cody Reinsel (2014)
Mark Schmitter (2012)
Jesse Sheldon (2012)
Matt Sommi (2015)
Jon Stegner (2014)
Matt Swaim (2013)
Will Thieman (2013)
Mason Tice (2012)
Ben Witkoff (2014)
Stephen Zawodzinski (2012)