2006 Theta Epsilon graduate Jesse Epstein has remained involved in day-to-day fraternity operations like no member of our chapter before him—as a Chapter Leadership Consultant. If your memory is cloudy, these were the men who spent three to five days with us each semester, reporting on our strengths and (few) weaknesses, and offering guidance to our chapter’s executives. These were also the guys living out of their cars and sleeping in our cramped chapter room on the couch. Clearly, it was not the money or the luxurious accommodations that drove these men in their service to the Fraternity. Jesse checked in this month with The Eagle Delt and gives us an idea of what a life on the Delt circuit has been like so far.
Rolla, Missouri. This middle America town is where my journey as a chapter leadership consultant for Delta Tau Delta began. This was quite the wake-up call for a recent graduate of an East Coast school who was suddenly living out of a Nissan Altima and changing home addresses every four days. And since my first days in Rolla, I have spent the last three months consulting chapters all over the Western Plains Division, shocked by the differences between our Theta Epsilon home and the other chapters in our Fraternity.
Some of the glaring differences include using a two-Vice President system, Summer Rush schools, and of course, living in a Fraternity house. The most rewarding part of my tour thus far was participating in the expansion at the University of Michigan. Along with one other consultant, I was on-site for three weeks recruiting men to restart the Delta chapter, one of our Fraternity’s oldest. Despite a slow start, the re-colonization was a success with 53 new Delts up in Ann Arbor.
In addition to working with new faces, I was able to reconnect with one of Theta Epsilon’s own in Dallas. Our chapter brother, David Paul (’93), was recently named the Division Vice President for the Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas Christian, and Baylor chapters. Shortly after that meeting, I had the eye opening experience which opened my eyes to just how global the Fraternity is. Sitting in a basement in Baldwin City, Kansas (a town no bigger than 1,000), I saw 9 new Delts get initiated in the same exact ceremony we perform in Butler Board Room each semester. Often it’s taken for granted that we are part of something bigger, and seeing Ritual for the first time since Karnea in a basement in Kansas was quite the eye opener.
Thus far, my travels have taken through the state of Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, Oklahoma and all over the great state of Texas. After Thanksgiving, I will also travel to Louisiana and experience New Orleans.
To say living on the road is easy would be a lie, but there’s certainly something to be said for playing dominoes with 25 guys in College Station, or going golfing with 3 in Vermillion, South Dakota…and having one thing in common.
- Jesse Epstein
