The older I get, the more evident it becomes that things change. Sometimes the shift happens far too glacially for my taste and other times I just wish I could slow everything down to make it more manageable. I guess I am more like Goldilocks than I knew—looking for the “just right” of things in my orbit.
As such, last year was relatively quiet without much need to focus on repairs to the House. An infusion of enthusiastic pledges committed to increasing the membership made a difference in recruiting and the number of residents in the House grew from 6 to 10. That change resulted in a fatter bank account than 369 College Ave., Inc had seen in several years.
The healthier balance allowed the combined Boards of the Alumni Association and 369 College Ave to turn our focus to how and when we could install a sprinkler system in the House. It is a needed upgrade that the McMinnville Fire Department will eventually demand that we get, whether there is money to install it or not. It’s an expense likely to approach $40,000 and we were all breathing a sigh of relief that it might be in reach.
Last month, while we were looking at that goal, another water related emergency gave us whiplash and demanded we turn our focus to a leaking first floor shower. After the current members noticed water leaking from the basement ceiling, a plumber was called. He estimated somewhere around 20 gallons of water had been accumulating under the shower. This time the flood came from above as compared to below in December of 2022.
More investigation revealed no leaking pipes but rather a shower floor that revealed its age and was no longer waterproof. Unfortunately, water damage related to deterioration is not covered by our property liability insurance. The tear out and dry out has been done and we await estimates this week for the build back of the shower floor and basement ceiling repair. They could be in the $20 to $25,000 range.
This latest turn of events could have been much worse for the Deltas financially had an alumnus not bequeathed the Fraternity $25,000 in his will. That check arrived in January and hopefully will enable us to weather this crisis and again turn our focus to the sprinkler system upgrade by the 2025 Fall term.
Several years ago, I heard a saying that seems appropriate here: fortune changes like the swish of a horse’s tail. This particular “swish” was a huge blessing and incredibly timely. In the last 18 months there have also been other blessings to serve as a counterpoint to the financial challenges.
Contributing to that “swish,” in no small part, was Larry Baker’s establishment of the Delta Psi Delta Housing Grant. The semester’s worth of money has been made available to second term freshmen, sophomores or juniors who applied for the grant and committed to living in the House for a year. That is an attractive “signing bonus” to entice qualified students to consider joining the Deltas and has led to an infusion of new energy amongst the members has boosted recruiting on campus.
This Spring term, Larry also contracted with Phired Up, a non-profit marketing firm aimed at helping the members grow their numbers further by teaching them effective recruiting strategies and idea that will help them generate more interest on campus.
There are also transitions happening as older Board members hand off responsibilities or retire.
Wally Karstad, the longstanding Treasurer of the 369 Board, has decided his days of paying bills, managing spreadsheets and crunching forecast numbers are at an end. Adrian Duncan-Valdez will be taking over for Wally as Treasurer, utilizing several years of experience in the banking industry post-graduation. Wally has served competently in that position for 10 years and I, for one, am glad he is not leaving the Board. Not only would I miss his wise counsel, I would be the only grey haired alumnus left!
Another transition on the 369 Board is the impending retirement of John Shadden as our long-time legal representative to State and Federal entities. His wise counsel aided all of us in dealing with liability issues we would have otherwise been unaware of. At this moment there is no one yet in the wings to step into John’s role but we are hoping there might be a Delta out of law school who might be interested.
Alumni Ben Niesen and Jim Harger have been working consistently on maintaining and improving Delta’s presence on social media platforms. Together, they have been updating our website with new features and archiving old photos from past decades. This is a much needed upgrade that has enhanced our ability to stay in better touch with Deltas across the web.
Another transition is happening on the Education Foundation. Jeff Kresner, who has chaired the trust for many years, retired early last year due to health concerns. Adam Hernandez, another young alumnus, has stepped into his place to lead the Trust.
Many of the newer members on the Boards are past presidents of the Fraternity and bring their own competencies and skill sets to help sustain our organization. We will need them as we forge ahead.
One particular area that we have identified in need of attention is the Education Foundation. As the years have gone by, the Trust account has diminished and we are looking to begin fundraising to replenish the scholarships it awards each semester for best GPA and most improved GPA. Those $500 awards don’t go as far as they used to and to be competitive with other fraternities on campus it would be in our interest to have enough capital in the Trust to support increased awards.
To that end, we will be working towards boosting the fund. You will be hearing more about those efforts later this year.
Overall, I am quite optimistic about the future of Delta Psi Delta. That, too, is a change from my worries four or five years ago about the organization’s longevity.
During my four years at Linfield in the mid-60s, the Fraternity played a pivotal role in my development as a person. Being around a lot of people of quality thankfully rubbed off on me and my involvement in the Alumni Association has been my way of paying that forward so future generations of Deltas can have a similar experience. It is very encouraging to see that vision continue.
Fraternally,
Larry Thornton-Jones, Chair Alumni Association
