Macri Joins Theta Chi Foundation Board
- jcmooney7
- Sep 19, 2024
- 3 min read
Report of Steve Macri ’82 to Alpha Omega Chapter Board of Governors
September 19, 2024
Dear Brothers,
Please accept my apologies for submitting this written report –the rare occurrence of meaningful Mets games in late September requires my presence in Queens.
It was a pleasure to serve as our Chapter’s Alumni Delegate to the 168th Anniversary Convention of Theta Chi. I have attended three international conventions for the Fraternity—1980, 1982 and 2024. All were held in New Orleans. In 1980 I attended with Brother Greg Geopfert and in 1982 I was with Brothers Jim Mooney and Jeff Aceto. Let’s just say that I enjoyed New Orleans much more 44 years ago when I spent the majority of my free time with those brothers at Pat O’Brien’s saloon.
The principal difference I perceived in convention during the 40+ year gap was a true emphasis on leadership development and education for undergraduates. The fraternity refers to part of those initiatives as the Resolute Man Program. In addition to classroom instruction and workshops, there is a tremendous amount of formal and informal career networking built into the Program.
My principal reason for attending the convention was to participate in a full day of board meetings for the Foundation Chapter. My official term as a trustee of the Foundation Chapter began September 1 and continues for a period of 4 years. The Foundation Chapter provided more than $600,000 in scholarship support to undergraduate and graduate scholarship support last year. A Foundation Chapter scholarship made it possible to attend Cornell Law and I have done my best to replenish the wood pile for others to stay warm in the subsequent years. The Foundation Chapter also funds annual three-day leadership education institutes for more than 200 local chapter officers. In all, the Foundation funds about $1.5 million annually in educational, scholarship and charitable aid to Theat Chi brothers. Truly great stuff, particularly when you factor in an absolute minimum of red tape and just four annual meetings.
In addition, I attended the convention sessions on engaging alumni, chapter finance and governance. None of that was particularly germane to Alpha Omega’s current status but it was good to confirm that, when we were running an active chapter, we were doing it right.
Interestingly, about 30% of the convention attendees (700 in all) were alumni. I made some new friends and rekindled some friendships from long ago. The alumnus chapter advisor from Drexel was very helpful. He offered his chapter as a resource if we are ever able to get traction on recharter of Alpha Omega.
Less surprisingly, the vast majority of the almost 9000 active members (a record) are from public institutions—with more than 500 undergraduate members from FSU and Alabama alone. While banners hung in the convention hall from the venerable old institutions of the past—including chapter banners from MIT and Dartmouth—brothers from what are sometimes referred to as “competitive” colleges in the Northeast were scarce. Conclusion—without the protection of the First Amendment at private colleges, we should anticipate such trends to become even more lopsided in the future.
The only delegate voting issue was the election of Grand Chapter officers. Surprise! Our new Grand Chapter president is from Alabama and our VP is from FSU.
There was some rightfully proud discussion about the defense of USA values by fraternity men at UVA. However, the law/governance discussions were sharply focused on the UMD actions and subsequent litigation. Briefly, the local Theta Chi chapter and three other Greek organizations successfully challenged the University’s suspension of the fraternity/sorority system. If you would like further information, you may look here:
The legal complaint against the University is embedded in that news article. If anyone wants to track the litigation, you may look here:
I look forward to being with you on October 26th. Until then, may God bless you and your families.
Fraternally,
Mac
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