Alpha Lambda Reinstalled
Columbus, OH – Theta Chi Fraternity has always had a heavy presence in the state of Ohio with 12 installed chapters. The opportunity to return to old stomping grounds was made official with the reinstallation of the Alpha Lambda Chapter at The Ohio State University.
The story of the reemergence of the Alpha Lambda Chapter started in the fall 2016 semester. Field Executives PJ Ricketson and Bob Eberling planned on going to Columbus to help restart the chapter. About a week before classes were to begin, they received some help. Collegian Max Maistros contacted International Headquarters with a list of ten men who were interested in helping restart the chapter. When Bob and PJ arrived on campus, they met with Max and the rest of his interested friends to go over their plan to restart Alpha Lambda. “We went into the meeting skeptical, and came out completely sold,” stated Maistros. “From there we just got to work."
The group held their recolonization ceremony on September 24, 2016, where 19 men became pledges and over 40 people attended. Their goals from that point were to recharter with over 50 men and have a grade point average rank in the top three for fraternities at Ohio State.
The dream became a reality in the spring 2017 semester. Over 21 years after it had closed its doors, the Alpha Lambda Chapter at Ohio State University was rechartered on April 8, 2017. The reinstallation ceremony, that saw 61 brothers initiate, was held at Amlin United Methodist Church and was presided over by International President Joseph Couch. Others in attendance included International Counselor Darick Brown, past International Chaplain Paul Brause (Alpha Lambda/Ohio State 1955), Director of Recruitment and Expansion Taylor Dahlem, Director of Volunteer Development Zack Brown, Field Executive Bob Eberling, and brothers from the Beta Lambda/Akron Chapter.
The banquet also took place at the Amlin United Methodist Church after the reinstallation ceremony. International President Couch talked about maintaining the high standards set by the group and how to translate those moving forward. Brother Brown spoke about what it means to be a Theta Chi while Bob Eberling talked about where the group started and the potential for the chapter given their short-term success. Coordinator for Fraternity and Sorority Life Devin Walker and IFC President Drew Cooper both mentioned how this was an ideal expansion project. During the ceremony, Chapter Adviser Alan Copeland (Zeta Beta/Adrian 1989) was presented with the George T. Kilavos Alumni Award. The David E. DeVol Award was presented to Chapter Advisory Board members Steve Putka (Beta Omicron/Cincinnati 1988), Pete Hackman (Alpha Tau/Ohio 1987), Jim Carlson (Zeta Beta/Adrian 1989), Gary Lions (Eta Zeta/Edinboro 1980), and Dave Lukens (Beta Nu/Case Western 2000).
“After 8 months of work, there was nothing more exciting than getting to stand up and speak in front of 61 new brothers, their families, the alumni and collegians from different chapters,” stated Bob Eberling. “These men are ready to carry the torch to make Theta Chi a high performing chapter at Ohio State University."
Now that they have officially become brothers of Theta Chi, the Alpha Lambda Chapter hopes to set the record to become the chapter that reaches 100 men the fastest upon (re)chartering. Along with still striving to have a GPA that ranks of the top three for fraternities on campus, the chapter continuously works towards building up interfraternal relationships and their reputation at The Ohio State University.
Situated in Columbus, OH, The Ohio State University is a public university that sits in the state capital of Ohio. Founded in 1870 as a land-grant university it is widely considered one of the largest universities in the country with just under 60,000 full-time collegians at its main campus in Columbus. Often referred to as the Buckeyes and competing in the Big Ten Conference, Ohio State University is currently ranked as one of the top 100 national universities by U.S. News and World Report.
