Late in the fall semester of 2005, Daniel Catalano, a freshman from Monticello, NY was eager to start a new Greek organization on campus here at SUNY Cortland. He had contacted several fraternal organizations and Delta Chi was one of the most prompt and most thorough in responding to Danny’s inquiry. Delta Chi told Dan to start an interest group and find potential members for the possibility of starting this new group, and in the beginning he had to look no further than his very own dorm, that being Bishop Hall. There were several brothers recruited from Bishop including Matt Muzza and Rob Westcott who were freshman roommates and lived right next to Danny. Also coming from the third floor of Bishop were Craig Sollenberger, Tony Mandile and Jonny Koltun. Recruits were also found in the pit of bishop when Jimmy Classey and Adam Fetterly decided they wanted to also join. Although Andy Carnright did not live in Bishop hall, he was friends with many of the soon to be brothers there and went to high school with Jimmy Classey. Almost parallel to this Bishop hall group was a group of freshman who lived on top of the hill in Cheney and DeGroat. These recruits included Joseph DeMarchis, Scott Hausthor, Andrew Trager, Eddie Dolenk, and Anthony Ferretti. Many of these men from Cheney and Degroat considered joining other fraternities and even starting a new one here on campus. The rest of the Founders were men who had heard about Delta Chi through the constant advertising and other work done by our national leadership consultants Jeremy Rosen, and Kenny Sooter. Ryan Dooling was inspired to join by sorority girls who knew about the new group coming to campus. Thomas Crary, Jeffrey Helion, Travis Light, Joseph Huber, Jon Vega, Branden Green, and Dale Paden all heard about the group through friends and the hard work of everyone in recruiting. In the first ever pinning ceremony there were nine brothers pinned including; Danny Catalano, Matt Muzza, Craig Sollenberger, Jonny Koltun, Travis Light, Dale Paden, Rob Westcott, and Andy Carnright. The second pinning ceremony included the rest of the founders and was observed by representatives from many of the sororities and various other girlfriends and friends. After pinning, this group underwent training and guidance into how to run and operate a successful colony, and ultimately how to gain our ranks among the other chapters of Delta Chi through gaining a Charter.
That summer the brothers of Delta Chi held a 3 day retreat at a campsite in Bath, NY to plan upcoming rush along with the Associate Member program. This retreat has and will continue to remain a staple event for Delta Chi Cortland, instilling the ties of brotherhood while also providing an avenue to get important business done while on summer break.
In the fall semester of 2005 the Delta Chi Cortland Colony looked to expand its membership through gaining new membership in its Alpha Class. Despite early recruitment struggles the colony was able to gather six determined and eager gentlemen to join the ranks of the 22 founding fathers. Armed with our new members and renewed spirit, Delta Chi Cortland was poised to make great strides in every facet of fraternal affairs.
In the fall semester of 2005 the Delta Chi Cortland Colony looked to expand its membership through gaining new membership in its Alpha Class. Despite early recruitment struggles the colony was able to gather six determined and eager gentlemen to join the ranks of the 22 founding fathers. Armed with our new members and renewed spirit, Delta Chi Cortland was poised to make great strides in every facet of fraternal affairs.
In the spring semester of 2006 and the hard work of the colony along with the initiation of the Beta Class, Delta Chi was firmly supplanted as a mainstay at SUNY Cortland, proving the legitimacy of the fraternity to everyone. The spring semester produced 15 new members eager to help advance the fast rising colony along with a number of awards and recognition. After only the first full year on campus Delta Chi was named the Greek Chapter of the year by the Inter-Greek Council, beating out all other Greek chapters and colonies on campus. The Cortland Colony was also honored to receive awards for Outstanding Recruitment and Outstanding Intramurals program given out at the Delta Chi Convention in Cleveland. Along with these awards two brothers, Matt Muzza and Michael Blake, received individual praise through being recognized for the Marge Lee “C” award and Valor award winners respectively.
While withholding the vast majority of founding fathers along with the Alpha and Beta Classes in the fall semester of 2006 Delta Chi continued to progress and grow as a Colony and soon to be Chapter. The main focus of the semester centralized around the main pursuit of obtaining Chapter status. The Gamma class added six new members to Delta Chi bringing Delta Chi’s total initiates to 48 members. Together in true Delta Chi form, old and new brothers alike were able to pitch in and help finish the Chartering petition in the remaining days of the fall semester. The fall semester of 2006 also saw Delta Chi being asked to take over the running of the homecoming queen competition which allowed the fraternity to raise substantial amounts of money for the Jimmy V Foundation while also enabling the brothers to show a sense of school spirit and pride.
The spring semester of 2007 was another wonderful success for Delta Chi Cortland thanks to the hard work of all brothers along with a small cast of helpful alumni. News of the approval of the Chartering petition fostered an overwhelming sense of accomplishment in all the brothers, being the ultimate achievement for any colony of Delta Chi. The Delta Class was initiated 6 strong just in time to celebrate the first two years of Delta Chi Cortland and more importantly being named the newest Chapter in the Delta Chi Fraternity. The Chartering banquet was a high class affair which involved an afternoon reception and a Catered banquet with an awards ceremony and the presentation of the Charter Proclamation. The proclamation was presented by many high Delta Chi officers including Tom Horowitz “DD”, Ratheen Damle “CC”, Dr. Duane Meyer (Region VII Regent), Greg Hauser past “AA”, and Vice-Regent Mike Tumolo.
In the remaining months of the semester the fraternity worked hard to maintain the high level of excellence that had been achieved through the trials and tribulations of the past two years worth of work. This hard work paid off as the Delta Chi Cortland Chapter was named Region VII Chapter of the year along with Adam Fetterly being named the Region VII “A” of the year at the Regional Leadership Conference held in New Haven Connecticut. Fetterly was also named the Outstanding Fraternity Member by the SUNY Cortland Inter-Greek Counsel. This success of the Chapter carried on when Cortland won awards given out by Delta Chi International at the Delta Chi Leadership Conference. These awards include; Outstanding Alumni Newsletter, Outstanding Campus Leadership, Outstanding Community Service Program, along with individual awards being given out to Matt Muzza, who received an “E” Key Award, Dave Bernacki who won a Marge Lee “C” award, and Ed Reiser who won a Delta Chi Humanitarian award.
The fall semester of 2007 was filled with many new and exciting things for Delta Chi Cortland. The Fraternity moved into a beautiful off campus Chapter House at 70 Tompkins Street. Eighteen Brothers filled the three story house to capacity and enabled for the further growth of the young Chapter. With the help of great recruitment and the new house the Chapter was able to initiate 9 Associate Members making it the best fall AM class in Delta Chi Cortland’s short history. Throughout the semester the Delta Chi Cortland was graced with many visitors to the newly acquired Chapter House including Steve Bossart “AA”, Tom Horowitz “CC”, Dr. Duane Meyer (Region VII Regent), Fred Hammert past “AA”, and several other members of The Delta Chi Educational Foundation. Along with the many visits from distinguished alumni, Cortland’s Alumni Board of Trustees was able to help and guide the Chapter to further success and even started the “Campaign For Cortland” to help raise money for the Educational Foundation. Overall the semester was another success for Cortland Delta Chi and helped the brothers excel.
In the Spring of 2008 the chapter welcomed the Zetas, 9 associate members. We also welcomed 5 Alumni initiates. This was an outstanding semester for the chapter in which the chapter received various awards from Delta Chi International at the Delta Chi Leadership Conference. These awards included: the Award of Excellence-Buff Division, Outstanding House Corporation, Outstanding Alumni newsletter, Outstanding scholarship, outstanding BB, outstanding financial management, Outstanding membership recruitment, Outstanding website, along with individual awards being given out to Tom Irving , who received an "E" key award, Andrew Trager, who received the Marge Lee Outstanding "C" award, Michael Tumolo, who received the Meritorious Service Award. At the Region Leadership conference Cortland Chapter was named Region VII Chapter of the year along with Ed Reiser being named the Region VII “A” of the year and Matt Muzza was named Outstanding Brother of the Region.
The school year of 2008 to 2009 was a quality year. In the fall we welcomed the Etas, 3 associate members. In the spring we welcomed the thetas, 13 associate members. For the second straight year the Delta Chi Cortland chapter received the award of excellence-buff division, which is a huge accomplishment. Also at the Delta Chi Leadership Conference the Cortland chapter received various awards including: Outstanding Alumni newsletter, Outstanding House Corporation, Outstanding intramurals, Outstanding recruitment, Outstanding Website, Outstanding ABT, and Outstanding BB.
to be continued...
In the Spring of 2008 the chapter welcomed the Zetas, 9 associate members. We also welcomed 5 Alumni initiates. This was an outstanding semester for the chapter in which the chapter received various awards from Delta Chi International at the Delta Chi Leadership Conference. These awards included: the Award of Excellence-Buff Division, Outstanding House Corporation, Outstanding Alumni newsletter, Outstanding scholarship, outstanding BB, outstanding financial management, Outstanding membership recruitment, Outstanding website, along with individual awards being given out to Tom Irving , who received an "E" key award, Andrew Trager, who received the Marge Lee Outstanding "C" award, Michael Tumolo, who received the Meritorious Service Award. At the Region Leadership conference Cortland Chapter was named Region VII Chapter of the year along with Ed Reiser being named the Region VII “A” of the year and Matt Muzza was named Outstanding Brother of the Region.
The school year of 2008 to 2009 was a quality year. In the fall we welcomed the Etas, 3 associate members. In the spring we welcomed the thetas, 13 associate members. For the second straight year the Delta Chi Cortland chapter received the award of excellence-buff division, which is a huge accomplishment. Also at the Delta Chi Leadership Conference the Cortland chapter received various awards including: Outstanding Alumni newsletter, Outstanding House Corporation, Outstanding intramurals, Outstanding recruitment, Outstanding Website, Outstanding ABT, and Outstanding BB.
to be continued...
