In the spring of 2012, Simeon Beal (2014) began taking the steps to form an interest group to start a new fraternity at Binghamton University. He began reaching out to friends, and started a dialogue with his university and Theta Chi Fraternity's International Headquarters. Then-Sr. Director for Recruitment and Expansion JD Ford explained the expansion process to Simeon and laid out the next steps for the group.
Soon after the conversations had begun with Ford, then-Leadership and Education Consultant Beau Slayton was sent to the campus to get to know the members, assess the interest group, and to provide support and advice.
Just as the group was starting to take off, Binghamton University suspended all fraternity and sorority pledging activities due to reports of hazing. Ultimately, several organizations were held accountable and suspended from campus. Soon after, the university also experienced a turnover in its Director of Greek Life position.
So began the reconstruction of Greek Life at Binghamton. Beal and his group held true to Theta Chi’s values and saw the opportunity to rise above and share their vision of fraternity with Binghamton’s Greek Life community and administrators. They began participating in countless hours of community service, philanthropy and leadership events.
Nearly two years after beginning their journey, 28 members of the Bingham Interest Group participated in a Colonization Ceremony at the Holiday Inn in downtown Binghamton on Sept. 14, 2013. Then-Assistant Director for Recruitment and Expansion, Joe Macko presided. Also in attendance were then-Leadership and Education Consultant, Chris Barker and Jacob Mullen (2015) and Ahmed Sabih (2016), undergraduate brothers from Alpha Chi/Syracuse.
After becoming a colony, the group began to participate in more campus events such as Phi Kappa Psi’s Steve Kovac 5K and Dodgekin’s Lymphoma Dodgeball Tournament, and even started to host events of their own. That fall they held their first charity concert, “Theta Chi Band Showcase” and they became involved in the Dance Marathon for Children’s Miracle Network. The colony gained a seat on the Dance Marathon Committee and helped to plan the 2015 event. The colony was also successful in a variety of philanthropic competitions such as winning the Habitat for Humanity Sack-a-Thon and then donating their prize money back to Habitat for Humanity, and the Trashion Show where competitors had to make clothing from discarded materials.
For Theta Chi’s national partner, the United Service Organizations (USO), the brothers organized a Cookie Mix fundraiser where they designed the packaging and made the mix themselves. Packages of the mix were then sold to raise money for the USO. Binghamton Colony also headed the Night for Warrior’s Banquet, an event that was co-sponsored by Pi Kappa Alpha and Alpha Epsilon Phi. The event featured performances by Binghamton University dance teams, a catered dinner and a pool tournament. The widely attended event netted a $500 donation to the USO.
The colony has also been recognized as a top performing fraternity in the classroom. This was the first year that the colony was eligible for awards that are presented to Greek organizations on campus, and Theta Chi received the “Excellence in Academic Programming” award for their work with their members and non-members who had come to them for support.
Binghamton Colony participated at the national level by sending members to the National Convention in Minnesota where Liam Adair was presented the Key Man with Excellence Award. Members also attended Recruitment Boot Camp, Initiative Academy and the Deranian President’s Conference. From each of these events the members returned to the Colony with valuable knowledge to share.
Members are involved in a wide variety of organizations on campus such as: The Global Education Initiative, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Scholars, Pre-Vet Society, Engineers without Borders, College Republicans, Intramural and Club sports, Binghamton University Zoo, Taste Buds, Deeds for Diabetes, SUNY Kids, Binghamton Sound, Stage and Lighting (BSSL), Actuarial Association, Nukporfe, Binghamton University Finance Society, Pre-med Club, Snowboard Club, Committee for Relay for Life, and the Collectible Card Game Association.
On April 18, 2015, 39 men were initiated in to Theta Chi Fraternity’s Iota Chi Chapter during an Installation Ceremony held at 11:30 a.m. at Traditions at the Glen in Johnson City, New York. National Chaplain Darick Brown presided.
Representing International Headquarters were Associate Executive Director Ben Hill, Director of Recruitment and Expansion Justin Jones and Field Executive Darien Key. Also in attendance were Former Regional Counselor Shawn Prohaska (Delta Omicron/Gettysburg 1989), and members of Eta Pi and Beta Theta chapters.
The 39 men initiated were: Liam Adair, Kevin Aussenheimer, Simeon Beal, Ahmed Babar, Paul Bender, Mark Borakove, Justin Burnett, Brendan Cavanagh, David Coard, Daniel Donovan, James Duckham, Sean Earls, Matthew Feldman, Ethan Hagel, Daniel Horowitz, Tarek Khalil, Christopher Koenitzer, Timothy Konetchy, Jesse Krasner, Christain Lawlor, Andrew Leto, Justin Maggi, Connor McCormack, Galen Merigliano, Andrew Palmer, Michael Pedone, Zachary Pozniak, Gregory Rovenger, Justin Scarpa, Zachary Schleier, Alec Shapiro, Matthew Shapiro, Dylan Sklar, William Smith, Jonathan Tatti, Anthony Ventimiglia, Marc Waldstein, Cal Wilkens and Adam Zable.
Nine chapters were represented at the Installation Ceremony including Beta Theta/Drexel, Gamma Theta/San Diego State, Delta Omicron/Gettysburg, Epsilon Psi/NJIT, Eta Gamma/Morehead State, Eta Kappa/James Madison, Eta Pi/East Stroudsburg, Eta Phi/Oakland, and Iota Pi/LSU. Epsilon Psi/NJIT continued their streak of attending (re)installation ceremonies by following up on their March 2015 trip to Iota Phi/South Carolina.
A banquet followed the ceremony at the Holiday Inn in downtown Binghamton. It was a simple brotherhood banquet for those who had stood by the colony through its tumultuous journey. Special guests included Director of Fraternity and Sorority life at Binghamton University LC Coghill, National Chaplain Darick Brown and representatatives from the International Headquarters.
Chapter President Liam Adair spoke briefly about how the chapter got to where they were today. Original organizer and Past President, Simeon Beal spoke about what his dream was, how it turned out, and where he hopes to see the Fraternity in the future. Both Darick Brown and Ben Hill gave their regards and shared stories and lessons to learn from recently (re)installed chapters of Theta Chi and provided expectations to the Charter Members of Iota Chi Chapter.
“Starting this Fraternity has given me more than I could have ever expected to take away from my college experience,” said President Liam Adair. “I have made life-lasting friendships and have been able to learn so much, both scholastically and emotionally from this experience. I am proud to be a Theta Chi and call these men my brothers,” he said.
“It was a great feeling of relief that it [the chapter] was finally official,” Adair continued. “It was around 70 degrees and sunny out the whole day of initiation; a terrific day for one of the most memorable experiences in the lives of 39 men,” he added.
Going forward, Iota Chi Chapter has set some pretty high goals for themselves. Not only do they plan to win the Alter Award, but they plan to raise more than $1,000 for a philanthropy, and up their GPA by .3 points.
Iota Chi Chapter will continue to be led by a Chapter Advisory Board led by:
- Mike Smith, Advisory Board President, Alpha Chi/Syracuse 2012
- Michael Veraldi, Financial Advisor
- James Kucko, Health and Safety Advisor
- John Kesselring, Academics Advisor
Congratulations to our new brothers of Iota Chi Chapter!
Originally located in Endicott, NY, five miles west of the current day campus, Triple Cities College opened its doors in 1946 to serve local veterans returning from service in World War II. Four years later, the college was incorporated into the State University of New York system and was renamed Harpur College in honor of Robert Harpur, a Colonial teacher, patriot and pioneer who was devoted to the settling of the area around Binghamton. Harpur College was one of two public liberal arts colleges in the state until 1953. The campus was moved across the Susquehanna River to Vestal in 1961. In 1965 the campus was formally designated the State University of New York at Binghamton, and in 1992, Binghamton University was adopted as the informal name.
Today, Binghamton University has a student population of 15,308 students, and is home to 52 sororities and fraternities.
Letters of congratulations and encouragement can be sent to Iota Chi Chapter President Liam Adair at ladair1@binghamton.edu.
You can find Iota Chi on Facebook by clicking here. You can also follow Iota Chi Chapter on Twitter: @ThetaChiBing