Empowering our Chapters with Technology

Stay tuned for the unveiling of a brand new phideltatheta.org and new chapter and alumni club website templates with a member's only back-end component that will enhance chapter operations.

A focus group is being held in December and much of the new technology offerings will be debuted at the Presidents Leadership Conference, Recruitment Boot Camp, and Chapter Advisory Board Summit in St. Louis in early January.

Shifting gears for the summer

Just as our undergraduate brothers shift gears from school to a summer job or internship, the GHQ staff welcomes the change in pace as well.

During the school year, much of the staff's time is spent on chapter visits, Red Letter Day reports, Founders Day celebrations, new chapter installations, and various committee meetings.

Now that school has ended for the majority of our chapters, the leadership consultants are off the road and we can spend time planning and preparing for summer projects and conferences like the Emerging Leaders Institute.

Examples of summer projects include updating officer manuals, creating the new Red Letter Day calendars, and reviewing award applications. Each consultant is also given a few projects relating to the Emerging Leaders Institute. Whether it be Phi Sports, transportation logistics, faculty orientation, binder preparation or Phi Cafe, each consultant works hard to ensure those who travel to Oxford for ELI have an outstanding experience.

One of the toughest things to do is to say good-bye to those leadership consultants who are finishing their two-year employment with us. Brothers Adam Cegavske, Kerrie Herren and Tim Bynum finish their service on Thursday, May 31. We will miss their hard-work, dedication, and positive attitudes. Each of them is leaving with a solid future and we wish them the best of luck.

A welcome change is the addition of our newest leadership consultants. Five recent graduates will be joining us in mid-June to begin their training program. They include: Daniel Holman (Nevada-Reno), Keith Wysocki (Nebraska), Jacob Kingdon (Lawrence), Dustin Strubble (Chico), and Kevin Bazner (Robert Morris). These five men will join our three senior consultants Johnathan Talcott (South Dakota), Ben Dictus (Lawrence), and Ken Colby (LaVerne) to round out our eight-man consultant staff.

Two of the new consultants will be joining Brother Talcott as leadership consultants dedicated to the expansion area. Director of Expansion Steve Good is ready to bring Phi Delta Theta back to the campuses of Utah, Michigan State, Oregon, and Butler next year.

Enjoy the shift that your summer brings. Remember, Go far...

Welcome Back to the Fold...

Phi Delta Theta welcomed Ohio Alpha "back into the fold" this past weekend. Unfortunately, I was out of town attending a wedding of a former GHQ Staffer so I missed the festivities. General Council President Rudy Porchivina and General Council Treasurer Mark Ochsenbein were on hand to watch 38 new brothers sign the Bond at the conclusion of the initiation ceremony.

Growth for any organization is a necessity. Many of you have probably heard the quote, "If you are not growing, you are dying."

I'm proud to say that Phi Delta Theta is growing. Our Fraternity expansion team of Steve Good and Johnathan Talcott (pictured on the right) have been traveling all over North America working with interest groups and colonies to ensure the future stability of our great Fraternity.

Miami University is the fourth chapter to be charted since last summer's General Convention. Phi Delta Theta's newest chapters include University of Pittsburgh (PA I), Central Methodist University (MO B Prime), and the University of Texas-El Paso (TX Tau).

Our newest colonies include Vanderbilt University (TN A), Franklin College (IN D), Indiana University (IN A), University of Louisville (KY I), and Kent State University (OH L). The following groups will be colonized within the next several months: University of North Florida, Baker University, Wilfred-Laurier University, University of Texas-Arlington, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, and Georgetown.

Expansion would not be possible if it weren't for the dedicated alumni that help shepherd the undergraduate members through the process. One of the prerequisites for expansion projects is a strong alumni base in the area that is willing to spend the necessary time, money, and energy to ensure Phi Delta Theta is not only successful but to ensure the group will grow and be leaders on their respective campuses.

To maintain the positive momentum, the GHQ staff will add two more leadership consultants to the expansion team during the course of the 2007-08 school year. The additional man-power will be helpful as we embark on projects at the University of Utah (UT A), Michigan State University (MI B), Butler University (IN G), and the University of Oregon (OR A).

You should be proud of the expansion efforts of your Fraternity. Thank you to Steve and Johnathan as well as our dedicated alumni volunteers - the Survey Commission, province presidents, chapter advisory board members, and house corporation officers - who make expansion successful. And a special thank you to the support and help from our university partners who enable Phi Delta Theta to flourish.

Until the next time, remember Go far.

Alcohol Poisoning Death

Rider University freshman Gary DeVercelly died on Friday morning in a Trenton, New Jersey hospital. His parents had flown in from California to be with their son during his final moments in intensive care.

Gary, a pledge of Phi Kappa Tau, had been drinking at the fraternity house on Wednesday evening into Thursday morning. His drink of choice - Absolut Citron vodka. It was "big-little" night and that was his "families" drink. Allegedly, he drank more than half of the bottle in 15 minutes.

Shortly after 2 a.m., Gary went into cardiac arrest and CPR was performed by rescue personnel in order to revive him before he and William A. Williams, another freshman, could be rushed to the hospital via ambulance. Williams was released Thursday afternoon after treatment. DeVercelly wasn't so lucky - he died about 30 hours after being admitted. He was just 18.


Authorities are interviewing chapter members and a hazing investigation has been launched.


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It is so frustrating to me when these senseless deaths happen because they are 100% preventable.

Phi Kappa Tau headquarters is also located in Oxford. I am friends with several of their staff members and they are experiencing the worst part of being a fraternity staffer - dealing with the death of a brother.

Unfortunately, I have been on staff for a few of these tragedies and have been the point person on-site to help our brothers deal with the aftermath. My first such event was dealing with the loss of Brother Casey Polatsek at Ohio Wesleyan University (Ohio Beta). He was killed in a chapter house fire in 1996. Current General Council member Rich Fabritius was the director of chapter services at the time and I was the director of risk management. We met with several brothers in a local restaurant and they were in a state of shock. Rich and I did what we could but we both felt so helpless.

Alcohol-free housing may be helping Phi Delta Theta reduce the chances for such an event, but we all know that there are plenty of opportunities on a college campus to drink alcohol. I am hopeful that our brothers realize you can have fun without drinking to excess. Further, I am hopeful that each brother has the courage to step in and prevent such an occurrence from happening in Phi Delta Theta.

No one on the GHQ staff wants to visit your chapter under these circumstances. If you could imagine a similar story occurring at your chapter, take the initiative now to reach out for help and guidance before your problem or concern turns into a headline.

Until the next time, remember... Go far.

Spring Break ER Visit

As many of our undergraduate brothers were trekking across the country in search of hot sandy beaches, bikini-clad co-eds, and a few cold beverages, I was doing what I hoped none of them would have to do during Spring Break.... visit the ER.

It was a nice quiet Sunday evening in the Mores household. My youngest daughter, Stephanie, had been in bed for about an hour. We had just finished the nightly game of Candy Land with Ashley, our four-year old, and we were getting ready to start the bed time routine.

As we were putting the game away, Simon Cowell of American Idol fame (insert groan here) was being interviewed on 60 minutes. My daughter is a big "AI" fan and usually acts out the singing and dancing routines of the contestants for us. (My wife loves the show and I simply just watch with them - seriously...) So when they were showing recent Idol highlights during Simon's interview, Ashley began doing "twirlees" as she calls them in the middle of our family room. She proceeded to slip and fall head first into the toy box opening up a nice gash on her forehead. So, we called a neighbor to come watch over Stephanie, and my wife drove to the ER while I held Ashley in my lap while using a washcloth to apply pressure to her forehead.

As I carried Ashley into the ER, I had the pleasure of getting the once-over by the nurses and the other waiting patients. Here I was covered in blood spatter carrying in a little girl with blood dotting her PJs... I'm sure I looked guilty as hell... it was one of those fatherhood moments I don't care to relive again.

After waiting two hours before being seen, the bleeding had stopped but stitches were still necessary for cosmetic reasons according to the resident ER doc. We couldn't have a nice dent in my daughter's forehead could we? The blood curtailing screams from my little girl as he "numbed" the wound were enough to make me a little woozy and I'm sure a few patients were scared off as well.

They placed Ashley on a backboard and velcroed her in like she was the star of The Mummy 3 - that scared her even more than the actual stitches did. After we finished, she was given a orange popsicle for her "good" behavior.

All has returned to normal in the Mores household. The stitches were removed five days later and Ashley was out riding her Cinderella bike this weekend without a fear in the world. (And no fear of further injury for Mom either since she was equipped with a helmet and both elbow and knee pads.) Anyway, kids are resilient, that is for sure.

As the weather warms up and our undergraduate brothers return to campus from Spring Break with their own fond memories, I hope everyone was able to avoid the ER. Keep in mind that historically, April is one of Phi Delta Theta's highest months for accidents and liability claims. Enjoy the weather but be smart with your activities. I doubt your ER gives out orange popsicles...

Until the next time, remember... Go far.

Bob Schieffer visits GHQ - Part II

My wife, Jennifer, and I attended Brother Bob Schieffer's lecture in Hall Auditorium on the Miami University campus a few weeks ago. For those of you who have attended Leadership College or Emerging Leaders Institute, we have held the model initiation ceremonies in Hall Auditorium before (not to be confused with Heritage Hall in the Shriver Center). It is just a short walk away from the GHQ building.

Bob's speech centered on his time as a reporter and he told wonderful stories about his days as a young newsman. In one story, he relayed how much times have changed and how you used to be able to wear a police detective style hat and everyone would assume you were a cop. One of his biggest scoops was interviewing Lee Harvey Oswald's mother immediately following the assassination of President Kennedy. The hat worked so well that he was able to accompany her to Oswald's holding cell. He thought he had a huge story until a senior FBI agent asked him who he was. His response of "Who are you?" didn't fare too well and he was escorted out.

He also discussed how political campaigns today have been removed from the community and are now on television (and now even YouTube - have you seen the latest Obama ad?) Bob said politics used to be an amateur sport as people from the communities the politician was representing would provide advice and then share in the joy of victory but when they lost they had to return to the community and live there. But today the media has turned it into a professional sport as politicians hire pollsters, advisers, use computers to figure out who is living where... it has removed all spontaneity out of politics because we have removed people out of politics...

One comment that stuck out for me was Bob's feeling that our country needed to get back to the basics. He said, "The way we can influence the rest of the world is to practice values that have made us the nation we are. I don't think we can do it for other people, we can help them, but by underlining what this country stands for and showing the other people the differences in how we go about things and how those who oppose us go about things then we have a chance to influence the rest of the world."

He went on to quote President Huebert Humphrey who said that the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which righted a wrong of over 200 years, was the single most effective foreign policy initiative that this country had ever undertaken. By that he meant it showed we were willing to correct and admit our mistakes and it showed we stood for fairness and that our system of government worked.

We have to emphasize what sets us apart and in no time should we ever find or seek shortcuts by adopting the methods of those who oppose us.

Was Brother Schieffer talking about our government or our Fraternity? Undergraduate leaders often are troubled when faced with the decision to discipline one of their own brothers due to financial delinquency or behavioral problems. They use brotherhood as their "shortcut" and therefore offer our competitors, who are willing to make those hard decisions, a window of opportunity to surpass us. Where is the value in that?

During my 12+ years on staff, the Fraternity's leadership has initiated several values-based initiatives including the alcohol-free housing policy, having Ritual as one of three educational pillars at the Emerging Leaders Institute, The Accolade member development program, and instituting a minimum standard for our chapters relating to the practice of Ritual at weekly chapter meetings. If the Fraternity can provide our members an opportunity to learn what is right, and instill in them the confidence to do what is right and to stand up against what is wrong, we are successfully influencing the leaders of tomorrow.

Until the next time, remember... Go far.

Bob Schieffer visits GHQ

One of the many benefits of being a Phi Delt staff member is meeting famous Phis.

Today was one of those days as Brother Bob Schieffer (TCU '59) stopped by General Headquarters. He is in town as part of Miami University's Lecture Series where he will speak tonight in Hall Auditorium. The title of the speech - "From the Anchor's Desk, Facing the Nation."

I was fortunate to play photographer for the quick tour given by Brothers Bob Biggs and Bob Miller. Fellow TCU alumnus and current Educational Foundation Board Chairman W.L. Gray, Jr. and his wife Lynn made a special trip from Texas to spend time with Brother Schieffer as well.

Bob was impressed with the GHQ building and enjoyed his trip down memory lane in the alumni room where he found his own picture as well as the picture of his college roommate, Brother B. Charles Coody, former Masters Champion. When he met the leadership consultants, he told stories about some of his visits to their respective college campuses.

Brother Schieffer's love for the Fraternity is strong; exemplified by the Phi Delt ring he wears everyday. He happily recounted several Phi Delt stories including one about his first out of town trip without his parents. As accomplished and well-traveled as Brother Schieffer is today, he can say his travels started with a cross country trek from Fort Worth, Texas to Asheville, North Carolina in 1958 for the 52nd General Convention of Phi Delta Theta.

We are looking forward to hosting a reception tonight in the Alumni Room of GHQ after his lecture. I'm not sure who is more excited about meeting Brother Bob, me or my wife!

Until the next time, remember... Go far.

Looking toward Miami for fraternal guidance...

I figured I might as well jump into the blogging fray before it becomes passé.

Phi Delta Theta Circle is taking off and one one of the more entertaining aspects of the site are these blog feeds. If you haven't read Rudy Porchivina's General Council President blog or Mark Ochsenbein's crazy stories on his then take an extra minute to do so. These fine brothers are your volunteer leaders of Phi Delta Theta.

It is my desire to have this blog help you understand that all of the GHQ Staff consider it a privilege to be working for the Fraternity. Each morning we get to wake up and drive to Oxford - home of Miami University and the birthplace of PDT. We get to "play" fraternity for our full-time jobs. We have a very talented and seasoned director staff, and the women of GHQ are an outstanding bunch that make us look good while ensuring the Fraternity runs smoothly. If you are ever in the tri-state area (the corner where Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio meet), take the opportunity to stop by for a tour of GHQ. The GHQ building is absolutely stunning and if you haven't stopped by in the last ten years to see the addition or the brick courtyard you should. Every Phi should stand in front of Elliott Hall where we were founded and see how their Fraternity operates at 2 South Campus.

It is my hope to entertain you with a bi-weekly update on the happenings of Phi Delta Theta. I hope to be as candid as Rudy has been with his posts but I doubt a guy from small-town Iowa like me could be as humorous.

Until the next time,

Go far.