Kappa Lambda/San Marcos Installed
San Marcos, CA - Theta Chi Fraternity installed the Kappa Lambda Chapter at in San Marcos, CA, on March 23, 2019. This is the Fraternity’s 12th active chapter, and 22nd chapter overall, in the state of California.
The process to start a new fraternity chapter on campus was spearheaded by then-freshman Brady Phillips (2020). “After visiting with the other fraternities at San Marcos, I realized they weren’t a great fit for me,” stated Phillips. “The same thing happened with some of my friends. One night we sat down and were conversing about fraternities when the idea came about to start our own. We talked through how this could add to the student involvement experience on campus and how it would give us the opportunity to create a legacy that could last a lifetime.”
Deciding to start a new fraternity was just the first part of the equation. The decision to affiliate with Theta Chi came from the Fraternity’s ideals of patriotism and our historical support of the military. “Many of us come from military homes,” said Phillips. “Seeing Theta Chi’s historical impact on veterans and people overseas, we wanted to be a part of that and help in every way we can.” The process to becoming a chapter officially started on February 4, 2017, when the group was colonized with 16 men.
Over the next two years, the men worked to become a chapter and promoted Theta Chi vigorously on campus and in the community to recruit new members. This included participating in beach cleans in San Diego, sorority philanthropies at San Marcos, park cleanups, helping out with local elections, and partaking in an event that helped to commemorate veterans who have succumbed to mental health issues.
Beyond that, the colony members were involved with numerous campus organizations including: Accounting Society, Associated Student Inc., Association for Computing Machinery, Army ROTC, Christian Club, Club Soccer, College Republicans, CSUSM Autos, Finance Society, Intramurals, Kamalayan Alliance, Kinesiology Club, Management Society, Outdoors Club, Residential Advisors, Rotaract Club, Snowboarding Club, Surf Team, Turning Point, Weightlifting Club, and Wrestling Club.
Christopher Rodriguez, a member of the Oceanside (CA) City Council, benefited greatly from the civic assistance of the colony members. “I found their eagerness to be civically engaged within the community to be very impressive,” stated Rodriguez. “Whether it was going door-to-door to speak to the citizens of Oceanside, or speaking to donors at my fundraising events, they put forth their best effort and made great impressions. I feel that no matter the situation, they will adapt and overcome to achieve success.”
These efforts helped to establish Theta Chi as a force to be reckoned with on campus, and helped to recruit those interested in becoming Resolute Men. Upon approval by the Grand Chapter, the Kappa Lambda Chapter was officially installed on March 23, 2019.
The 56 Kappa Lambda Charter Members are: Reese Afromsky (2022), Kardon Aston (2020), Jaymes Barrios (2022), Saud Carillo (2022), Zach Conaway (2022), Frederick Davis (2020), Lucas Dias (2020), Carson Dimond (2022), Braden Duke (2020), Will Duncan (2022), Jesse Enright (2022), Elijah Estrada (2022), Bronson Fahringer (2020), Jon Fajardo (2022), Levi Farag (2022), Danny Flores (2020), Zach Freedberg (2020), Josh Funderburg (2022), Roman Gonzalez (2023), Travis Gonzalez (2021), Adam Greve (2022), Jessie Guerrero (2021), Ryan Hashimoto
(2022), Nate Hatton (2022), Ryan Hauman (2022), Tanner Hildebrand (2021), Jeremiah Ibarra (2020), Brandon Jara (2020), Nick Javier (2021), Kevin Kempis (2020), Mason LaForte (2021), Trevor Lawrence (2020), Nicolas Lucius (2021), Evan Mansfield (2022), Paul Matzkin (2022), Cory Megna (2021), Paolo Melendez (2022), Andres Munoz (2020), Jeremy Nava, Blake Newell (2020), Brady Phillips (2020), Connor Rittershofer (2022), Anthony Rubino (2020), Connor Sandford (2022), Vince Serritella (2021), Cole Stidham (2022), Ryan Vinci (2021), Andrew Walsh (2022), Cade Watkins (2022), Jacob Willhelm (2022), Jacob Wilson (2020), Chase Winchak (2022), Nick Winton (2022), Joseph Worland (2022), Deric Younce (2022), and Jerry Yu (2022).
The Installation Ceremony was held at the Escondido Center for the Arts (Escondido, CA) and was presided over by International Chaplain Herb Morgan. Official family members in attendance included past Grand Chapter member Ron Ramos, Director of Recruitment and Expansion Taylor Dahlem, and Field Executive Colin Ogle. Others in attendance included CAB Ambassador Jim McMahon (Zeta Epsilon/Long Beach State 1979), Zeta Epsilon Chapter Adviser Rick Robbins (Zeta Epsilon/Long Beach State 1981), Kappa Lambda Advisers Dennis Sisneros (Eta Tau/CSU-Stanislaus 2009) and Kevin Sternagle (Theta Omega/Appalachian State 1999), and additional brothers from Gamma Theta/San Diego State, Zeta Epsilon/Long Beach State, and Theta Iota/UC-Santa Cruz.
“I am highly esteemed to be a part of the chartering class at the Kappa Lambda Chapter,” stated Chapter President Lucas Dias (2020). “This is a hard-working group, and I am proud of the work every member has put in to bring our shared vision to life.”
Following the Installation Ceremony, a banquet was also held at the Escondido Center for the Arts. Those in attendance included the brothers listed above along with members of the fraternity and sorority community at San Marcos and family members of the newly installed chapter brothers. Those who spoke at the banquet included Herb Morgan, Taylor Dahlem, Colin Ogle, Jim McMahon, Dennis Sisneros, Chapter Vice President Brady Phillips, and Chapter President Lucas Dias. During the banquet, chapter awards were presented to the following:
- Assisting Hand Award – Jessie Guerrero
- Brother of the Year – Nic Lucius
- Scholar of the Year – Blake Newell
Along with these awards, Adviser Dennis Sisneros was presented with the David E. Devol Award for Exemplary Service to the Fraternity. “I am very proud of all the men of Kappa Lambda,” said Sisneros. “They set a goal and reached it! They're already setting bigger goals when it comes to philanthropy, recruitment and brotherhood. I know they will be leaders on and off campus.”
“I am incredibly proud to have Kappa Lambda as members of our brotherhood,” stated Field Executive Colin Ogle. “They are leaders on campus and have a true understanding of brotherhood. It will be awesome to see how they will develop as Kappa Lambda and San Marcos grows in the coming years.”
Congratulations to our new brothers of the Kappa Lambda Chapter!
Congratulatory notes may be sent via email to Chapter President Lucas Dias.
You can follow the progress of Kappa Lambda Chapter on Facebook and Instagram.
Check out additional photos from Kappa Lambda’s Installation on our Flickr Page.
Founded in 1856, Theta Chi Fraternity is a men’s collegiate fraternity with more than 191,000 initiated members and has established 240 chapters. Leadership development, personal development, and service to alma mater are fundamental to Theta Chi Fraternity’s mission.