2011 parents weekend newsletter

8/4/2019 2011 Parents Weekend Newsletter

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2011 Newsletter

Picture of Beta Alpha Theta Chapter Members after Fall

Initiation Ceremony on September 27, 2011


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Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity was inspired by Richard J. H. Gottheil, a

professor of languages at Columbia University and a leader in the

early American Zionist movement. On December 29, 1898, Professor

Gottheil gathered together a group of Jewish students from several

New York City universities to form a Zionist youth society. The society

was called Z.B.T.

During this brief period, the society came to serve as a kind of fraternal body for college studentswho, as Jews, were excluded from joining existing fraternities because of the sectarian practices

which prevailed at the end of the nineteenth century in the United States. The continuing need

for a Greek-letter fraternity open to Jewish students prompted Z.B.T. to change its raison d'etre,

structure and emphasis and to become Zeta Beta Tau in 1903. Zeta Beta Tau expanded rapidly. By

1909, it had established 13 Chapters throughout the Northeast and a 14th at Tulane University at

New Orleans, thereby taking on a truly national dimension. In 1913, it established its first

Canadian Chapter at McGill University in Montreal. Five years later, it founded its first West Coast

Chapter at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. At the 1954 National Convention,

the delegates amended Zeta Beta Tau's Constitution, ritual and internal procedures both in theory

and in practice to eliminate sectarianism as a qualification for membership.

Today the merged Zeta Beta Tau Brotherhood is one of the largest, numbering

over 140,000 initiated Brothers, at more than 90 chapter locations

Through good times and bad, ZBT has been in the

forefront in pioneering new concepts as

evidenced by its very founding, its elimination of

sectarian membership practices, its acceptance

of mergers, and its elimination of hazing.


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Intellectual Awareness

Fraternity creates an atmosphere conducive to the expansion of the

individual's intellectual horizons, the interchange of ideas within the

academic community and the pursuit of scholastic excellence.

When it comes to intellectual awareness, ZBT places education and individual grades as a

top priority because, without it, none of us could be gathered at the university. The

house maintains a large 24/7 quiet study room on the third floor and provides weekly

tutoring sessions to ensure all brothers maintain above a 2.5 GPA. Additionally, for three

nights a week, the chapter room is converted from a primarily social gathering place to

an academically centered study area. During these nights, numerous tables are set-up for

brothers to congregate and study in a quiet, library setting. Since our brotherhood is so

diverse, it is easy to seek help from another brother who has experience with your

studies. Whether it be an upper-classman with the same major or a brother who is

knowledgeable in your area of study, academic advising is always within an arms reach.

The mission of the Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity (ZBT) is to foster and develop

in its membership the tenets of its Credo: Intellectual Awareness, Social

Responsibility, Integrity and Brotherly Love, in order to prepare its

members for positions of leadership and service within their communities.


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Social Responsibility

Fraternity requires the individual to commit himself and accept his

responsibility to participate.

By putting a great amount of effort into any fraternity, you will gain friendship, brotherhood, and fond memories.

By participating in as many activities as possible, you will meet many new people and be part of new experiences.

The brothers of the Beta Alpha Theta chapter firmly believe that they will "get out what they put in." In other

words, a member who participates, puts forth strong effort and continually exhibits good character will attain the

most that fraternity has to offer. Conversely, a member who consistently misses chapter meetings, skips

brotherhood events, and does "just enough to get by" will miss out on the life lessons, experience, alumni

connections, and friendships that are unique to fraternity life.

To push each other to excel and attain the most out of their university experience, the brothers of ZBT created apoint system called BATman (Beta Alpha Theta man). The system promotes brotherhood participation and

rewards individuals for their involvement both inside and outside the fraternity. It ensures brothers receive the

most the most balanced, exciting, and rewarding college experience possible by awarding BATman points for

achievements such as:

high GPA

high chapter attendance

completion of more than the minimum 10 community service hours

involvement in extracurricular activities

holding leadership positions within the house

and much, much more!

The point system is broken in to three tiers: Beta, Beta Alpha, and Beta Alpha Theta. Only 20% of those who join

ZBT will graduate in the top tier (BAT) by excelling and showing their dedication to intellectual awareness, social

responsibility, integrity, and brotherly love.


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Integrity

Fraternity generates a standard of personal integrity - a framework for the

individual to maintain honesty, exhibit loyalty and retain a sense of self-

discipline.

Integrity is defined as adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character;

honesty. To gain brotherhood status at ZBT, one must be a man of good integrity and

character. Additionally, to maintain full brotherhood status, each member must continually

exhibit the qualities associated with integrity and all Chapter standards. To ensure these

standards are upheld, each ZBT chapter holds a Semi-Annual Brotherhood Review Vote (S.B.R.V.)

at the end of each semester. Instituted nationally in 1989 in conjunction with the abolishment of

pledging, the S.B.R.V. mandates that all ZBT chapters have a vote to see who, if anyone, should be

removed from membership within the chapter. All brothers participate in, and are subject to, the

anonymous vote, which are tallied by the Brotherhood Development Director. If a brother

receives a simple majority of Nay votes, he is expelled from the fraternity. Expulsion typically

occurs only when a brother consistently acts in a manner that severely damages the well-being,

reputation, and safety of the brotherhood and community. Since the Beta Alpha Theta chapteronly rushes the highest caliber of men capable of upholding our standards of excellence,

expulsion is an extremely rare occurrence.


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Brotherly Love

Fraternity inspires and expresses the interrelation of the individual with

his fellows, his pride in the institution and respect for the wisdom of its

tradition.

At ZBT we pride ourselves on having one the closest brotherhood on campus; camaraderie

is the best word to describe what we have. Here, each brother is a name, not just another

number. Our chapter sense of brotherhood. In return, they get the most out of theircollege experience while being provided the tools and connections to be successful in life.

To celebrate our brotherhood, ZBT organizes and hosts two annual retreats: Fall and

Spring Formal. These formal events are held at the end of each semester and traditionally

take place at a ski-resort in the Rocky Mountains. Each brother is allowed to bring a date

to the weekend-long celebration that consists of a gourmet dinner, DJ-hosted dance party,

and an award ceremony where individual brothers are recognized for their academic

achievement, community involvement, and fraternal commitment.


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To live up to brotherhood standards, each Zebe is required to complete a minimum of 10

hours of community service per semester. Over the course of the most recent spring

semester, the brothers at the Beta Alpha Theta chapter of ZBT far surpassed this minimum

requirement, as the house collectively completed 454.5 hours of community service durin

various events. Among these events was a brotherhood-wide effort to help build houses

with Habitat for Humanity on February 12, 2011. Fifteen brothers spent their Saturday in

Commerce City and worked on four different houses that were each at different stages oftheir construction. Eight of the brothers spent their time constructing a roof on one of the

structures. Five brothers established the base of the unit, and assisted in constructing the

walls of another unit. The other two brothers installed insulation and attached siding on

the outside of the house. In total, the brothers gave one hundred and twelve hours of

community service during this single event.

ZBT Builds Houses with Habitat for Humanity


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Every spring the brothers of ZBT organize a formal event to celebrate and reflect on the end of a school year. This

event is much like the semi-formal held in the fall, with the exception that it traditionally takes place over the course

of two nights instead of one. Formals are an important part of ZBT tradition and are always planned by the senior

class. Although attendance is not mandatory, nearly all brothers do their best to save money in advance for the

event. This one in particular was held at The Lodge and Spa at Breckinridge and boasted the highest brotherhood

attendance in nearly four years. From freshmen to recently graduated alumni, nearly all brothers of the Beta Alpha

Theta chapter gathered for a weekend of fun. The celebration culminated on Saturday night with a formal dinner,

ceremony, and dance. During the ceremony several brothers are awarded for their outstanding accomplishments

both inside and out of the fraternity. Brothers arrived at the lodge on Friday, April 22 nd and returned to the ZBT

fraternity house on April 24th for one last week of classes. It is brotherhood bonding experiences such as these that

remind everyone why it is truly great to be a Zebe.

S rin Formal in Breckenrid e

Greek Week, much like the name implies, is a Greek-wide event that takes place over

the course of one week in the spring. Fraternities and Sororities are randomly paired

together to participate in a variety of competitions and earn Greek Week points.

Winning some events earns more points than others, but all are designed to encoura

Greek pride and develop long lasting relationships with other Greek houses. Among

these events are flag-football, volleyball, Miss Greek beauty pageant, and the mosthighly contended competition: Songfest. Songfest is a large dance competition where

members from all house of a Greek Week team choreograph, practice, and perform a

minute long routine. These dance routines are typically based upon the annual Greek

Week theme. This years Greek Week theme was the Game of Life, and each house w

randomly assigned one of the possible career outcomes from the popular board gam

Among these careers were the doctor, rock star, school and teacher. This year ZBTs

team was assigned the supermodel as their Game of Life theme and, accordingly,

performed a model themed dance routine. Songfest is worth the most points out of a

the events and nearly all teams begin practice several weeks before the competition

At the end of the week, the team with the highest amount of points is deemed theGreek Week champions. Taking home the first place trophy is one of the most highly

coveted prizes within the Greek system as it reflects house organization, dedication,

and participation. This year ZBT was proud to be paired with the Kappa Kappa Gamm

sorority and the Chi Psi and Alpha Gamma Omega fraternities for Greek Week. While

our team did not take home first prize in Songfest or Greek Week this year, the

brothers had a blast making new friendships with members of the other houses and

look forward to participating again next year.

Greek Week 2011


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Last semester the Beta Alpha Theta chapter was proud to host its first annual Fathers Weekend. This fun filled weekend,

planned by Internal Vice President David Peurye-Hissong, kicked off on Friday, February 4th with a meet-and-greet Pass th

Staff ritual, barbeque, and father-son poker tournament. The Pass the Staff ritual allows fathers and sons to introduce

themselves to the brotherhood and share their thoughts and experiences of ZBT. During the event a traditional ZBT staff is

passed around the room between each person. While in possession of the staff, an individual is allowed to speak their minand share their thoughts without interruption or judgment. Once everyone introduced themselves, the BBQ and father-son

poker tournament began. Everyone in attendance competed for the top prizes and bragging rights as the tournament laste

late into the night. The first place family won the honor of having their name engraved on the Fathers Weekend trophy. Th

also received first pick between a variety of prizes such as CU memorabilia, high quality cigars and gift cards. This years

winners were Nicholas Lubell, his father and uncle. On Saturday, the brothers and fathers went on a tour of Coors brewery

Golden, CO and Sunday was designated a free-day to give fathers and sons a chance to explore Boulder together. Overal

the weekend was a complete success and the brothers cannot wait to host it again next year!

Fun at Father's Weekend

Every year the brothers at the Beta Alpha Theta chapter t

to give back to the campus and community through diffe

philanthropic events. One of ZBTs most notable

philanthropies is the annual Get on the Ball fundraiser.

this event, brothers take turns rolling a large, inflatable b

around campus for several hours a day over the course o

week to petition signatures from fellow CU students. Fo

each signature on the ball, money is donated to charity. T

keep track of the signatures on the ball, students are also

required to sign a paper petition. This year ZBT raised a t

of $1,473 for the Council for Inclusion, Leadership and

Advocacy (CILA). CILA is a CU campus organization that w

to dispel stigmas about being disabled and raise awarene

about disabilities, all while teaching their group member

be better leaders for themselves in school and in their

communities. The philanthropic efforts gained local

recognition, as the ball being rolled around campus was

publicized in the Boulder Daily Camera.

Get on the Ball


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Fraternity Leaders Academy 201

Every semester the Inter Fraternity Council (IFC) holds a

fraternity leadership retreat at the YMCA cabins in Este

Park, CO. Each fraternity in the Greek system selects tw

promising young members to send on the weekend lon

event. During the retreat the young members are taugh

what it takes to run a successful fraternity from the IFC

executive board as well as past chapter and IFC

presidents. These notable guest speakers share stories,

experiences, and advice to the attendees. Numerous

workshops are also held to give the young men an

opportunity to work through different scenarios and

challenges they might face as a potential fraternity

leader. To promote inter-fraternity relations, theseactivities are performed in small teams with members

from other fraternity houses. The workshop is designed

to educate and encourage individuals to pursue

leadership roles both inside and outside of their

respective fraternity. This year freshmen Matthew Stav

and sophomore Andrew Bridgers were selected to atte

the retreat; both have since displayed interest in holdin

an executive position within ZBT.

On Saturday, March 12, 2011 six

brothers of the Beta Alpha Theta chaptercompeted and took home the gold

medal in Delta Gammas annual Anchor

Olympics philanthropy. This Greek-wide

fundraiser is held in support of Service

for the Sight, a charity that promotes

awareness and provides care to those

afflicted of blindness and visual

impairment. Money raised from the

event is donated to Delta Gammas local

Anchor Center in Denver which educatesand provides treatment to visually

impaired infants, young children and

their families. Every fraternity in the

Boulder Greek system competed in a

variety of fun, athletic events such as a

basketball tournament, two-legged relay

race, and pie eating contest. While the

six ZBT brothers did not place first in

every event, their overall team score

surpassed the rest, earning them firstprize! The Beta Alpha Theta chapter

congratulates Matthew Ellman, Keith

Brady, Devin Hegger, Hunter Hoopes,

Ryan Roden, and Ryan Lewis for their

hard work and dedication in the Anchor

Olympics competition.

ZBT Places First in

Delta Gamma's

Anchor Olympics

Spring Letter from the PresidenSpring semester was a very busy few months for Beta Alp

Theta. In my previous three years in the fraternity, I had

seen the amount of commitment to the community as I s

this semester. It was great to see so many individuals do

something to make a positive impact. Not only did we

complete over 400 hours of community service, with

everyones help we also collected over 450 pounds of

clothing that was donated to a local church. From our

seniors to freshman, everyone was very dedicated to

making Zeta Beta Tau the best it could be. I look forward

having all the brothers back in the August, and carrying t

momentum through the fall semester.

2011 parents weekend newsletter

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