SUNY Geneseo Colonized
Geneseo, NY – On September 10, 2017, Theta Chi Fraternity established one of its newest colonies at SUNY (State University of New York) at Geneseo-the first time the Fraternity has had a presence on the campus, the ceremony saw 15 men take a pledge to help broaden Theta Chi’s influence in upstate New York.
During the fall 2016 semester, the International Headquarters had been working with the school, in hopes of building a colony after receiving an invitation to expand to the Geneseo campus. While on an early campus visit, Director of Recruitment and Expansion Taylor Dahlem met with Ryan McMillan, a SUNY Geneseo student intrigued by the opportunity of starting a fraternity. Dahlem recognized the interest from McMillan who, as a full-time student, already had a hectic schedule. From that point on, Dahlem worked directly with Ryan to help start building the group from the ground up.
Given this was the first time Theta Chi had ever been to Geneseo, one that has a heavy local fraternity presence, constructing the group did present it challenges. McMillan attended Theta Chi’s Recruitment Book Camp in January 2017 and took the knowledge back to Geneseo to construct a group of motivated men to help start the colony. Working mainly with Dahlem, the men have been able to form a group that would rival most staff-led expansion projects. The men applied for colonization in late spring 2017 and were colonized in early September.
The colonization ceremony was held at Harriman Hall on the University at Buffalo campus. This ceremony was unique in that it was held on the same day and place as the colonization for Gamma Pi/Buffalo. The ceremony was presided over by Executive Director Mike Mayer and included assistance from Taylor Dahlem, Field Executives Mitch Nolan and Patrick Zurn, and alumni from Gamma Epsilon/Western State and Gamma Pi/Buffalo.
After the ceremony, McMillan stated this had been a long time coming, and the colony is very excited to be officially recognized and ready to hit the ground running. Mike Mayer congratulated the group on their colonization and reminded them that this is the start to something great at SUNY Geneseo. Moving forward, the main goals of the colony are to continue growing and making a positive addition to their campus, in the hopes of installing as a chapter in the next year.
“Working with Ryan and the current colony members, I have had nothing but respect for how quickly they picked up and ran with operating a international fraternity,” stated Dahlem. “Since day one, they have set out to bring a new perspective to campus that focuses on setting high standards and protects its members and guests through the Sacred Purpose initiative."
