After a nearly 40 year absence from Colorado State University, Theta Chi International Headquarters received permission from CSU administrators to recolonize Delta Eta Chapter. In spring of 2012, Leadership and Education Consultants Eddie Higginbotham IV, Eta Omicron/Northwestern State 2010, and Cody Chinn, Eta Beta/Eastern Kentucky 2011, were dispatched to Colorado State University to begin the task of recruiting men to bring back Theta Chi. On Feb. 12, 2012, Higginbotham and Chinn held their first group meeting with the initial 15 men that they had recruited at the Best Western University Inn at Ft. Collins, Colo. These 15 CSU students shared their hopes and visions of creating an organization that would incorporate their values of leadership, involvement, service and community. The men would soon agree to focus on academics and passed a minimum GPA requirement of 2.75. On March 24, 2012, Delta Eta was formally recolonized at a ceremony held at the Embassy Suites Loveland Hotel.
Since colonization, Delta Eta grew to over 40 members, becoming the 5th largest fraternity at CSU. Delta Eta members became involved in over 100 different organizations on CSU's campus, with the average member being involved in at least 3 different organizations or activities outside of the Fraternity. Delta Eta lived up to its focus on academic with its average GPA of 3.38, the highest of any Greek chapter (fraternity or sorority) on campus. The men maintained the highest GPA of Greek organizations on campus for the past two semesters. Delta Eta also focused on giving back to the Ft. Collins community with numerous hours of community service and raised a respectable amount of money for their philanthropy, Crossroads Safehouse. Due to these and other additional accomplishments, the Grand Chapter approved the colony’s petition for reinstallation.
At 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 27, 2013, the 43 pledges of Delta Eta Colony were initiated into Theta Chi fraternity during a reinstallation ceremony held at the Fort Collins Masonic Temple. National President, Dick Elder presided over the ceremonies. Ryan Weir (2013) was installed as the Delta Eta Chapter President.
In attendance were Past National Officer, CJ Vanstrom II, Gamma Epsilon/Western State 1981, Past Foundation Board President, James J. Moylan, Gamma Lambda/Denver 1969, and Counselor and Delta Eta Colony Advisory Board Chairman, Zach Baitinger, Delta Omega/Ripon College 1997. Representing the IHQ staff were Executive Director Michael Mayer and Leadership and Education Consultant Matthew Gillis.
"The men of Delta Eta have already begun to change the landscape of Greek Life at Colorado State University," said Gillis. "They value leadership, service, and scholarship, which has been shown through their extracurricular activities as well as highest GPA on campus for two semesters in a row. Delta Eta has made a huge impact in the CSU and Greek Communities and I am very excited to see what the future holds in store," he continued.
A special moment occurred during the reinstallation when National President Dick Elder commented that when he served the Fraternity as a Field Representative in the early 1970s, he had to travel to Ft. Collins to pick up the charter and other materials from the recently inactive Delta Eta Chapter. He recalled that Delta Eta member Michael Fitz helped to collect the materials and handed him the charter. Forty years later, Brother Fitz was in attendance at the reinstallation and Brother Elder took the opportunity during the ceremony to first return the Delta Eta Charter to Brother Fitz, who in turn presented it to the new undergraduate brothers.
In addition to Delta Eta Alumni, 10 other Theta Chi Chapters were represented at the reinstallation ceremonies including: Delta/RPI, Omega/Penn State, Alpha Delta/Purdue, Beta Iota/Arizona, Gamma Epsilon/Western State, Gamma Theta/San Diego State, Gamma Lambda/Denver, Delta Omega/Ripon, Epsilon Phi/Central Missouri, and Zeta Sigma/UW-River Falls.
A celebration reception followed the ceremony at 2 p.m. at the Fort Collins Masonic Temple. The undergraduates of Delta Eta presented Colorado State University banners signed by each member to their advisers and to the National Fraternity. Numerous local awards were also presented. National President Dick Elder gave remarks congratulating the men on the reinstallation of the chapter.
Founded in 1870 as the Colorado Agricultural College, Colorado State University is among the nation’s leading research universities. Located about an hour north of Denver at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains on nearly 5,000 acres in Fort Collins. CSU has a main campus, a foothills campus, an agricultural campus and a mountain campus. The university also has 4,600 acres for research centers, Cooperative Extension offices, and Colorado State Forest Service stations.
CSU has a student population of 29,500 students, and is home to 23 fraternities and 14 sororities.