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On February 10, 1998, the Kappa
Delta Rho national office approved Group of Intent status to the
gentlemen at the University of Detroit Mercy. Frank Hattula then became
the group’s first faculty and alumni advisor as the group was
“officially” recognized by Kappa Delta Rho.
Continuing their recruiting
efforts, Dan talked to Pat Lamie, a member of the UDM Pep Band, which
Dan was also involved in, about joining KDR. Later, the KDR Group of
Intent held a spaghetti dinner rush event at which Eric McGrath, Nick
Erber, and Pat Lamie signed up to become members of Kappa Delta Rho.
Dan, J Hart, and Eric then approached Evagelos Bantios, another member
of the UDM Pep Band, about joining KDR. They invited him to go bowling
at Garden Bowl near downtown Detroit. Evans later decided to join and
sign up as a member.
Some additional rush events held
during winter term 1998 included a trip to Xochimilco’s (our restaurant
of choice) in Mexican Town and Laser Quest (a laser tag arena). Other
events included massage therapy with Sigma Sigma Sigma, the Detroit PBS
telethon, and putt-putt golf.
It was also during the winter of
1998 that the Colleague Lounge in the UDM Student Union Building was
reserved to hold general business meetings. Towards the end of the 97/98
school year, the KDR Group of Intent recognized the need for fundraising
and painted Chuck’s dad’s boat to raise money.
Interested in seeing what
established chapters of Kappa Delta Rho were like, the UDM Group of
Intent went down to the University of Toledo for a visit. While there,
they observed the Greek system and saw how things worked on the Toledo
campus. It was also a time for establishing friendships with active
brothers of Kappa Delta Rho. The brothers at Pi Alpha were very gracious
and offered to help the UDM gentlemen with anything if they ever needed
it.
Near the end of the school year,
the KDR Group of Intent held a movie night with Sigma Sigma Sigma and
watched “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Steven Singson and Eric
Steiner attended and soon after became members of Kappa Delta Rho.
Before the school year ended, the men at UDM decided they needed a
sweetheart. After holding a vote, it was decided that Becky Langrill
would be the first sweetheart of Kappa Delta Rho at the University of
Detroit Mercy.
During the last meeting of the
school year, elections were held for the 1998/99 school year. The
results of the election were as follows:
Officers for 1998/1999 School Year
Consul: Jessie Hart
Senior Tribune: Rich Haefner
Junior Tribune: Eric McGrath
Praetor: Nick Erber
Quaestor: Evans Bantios
Propraetor: (Vacant)
Pontifex: Pat Lamie
Centurion: Eric Steiner
Social Chair: Dan Palazzolo
Historian: Steven Singson
During the summer of 1998, Charles
Pankratz II graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy. Also, Nick
Erber and Pat Lamie left UDM to pursue other interests. In July, Chuck’s
annual camping trip with his friends also became the First Annual KDR
Camping Excursion. Then in August, Frank, J Hart, and Eric attended the
Kappa Delta Rho National Convention in Pittsburgh, PA. There they met a
lot of brothers from around the country and were thoroughly impressed by
the starched jeans worn by some of the brothers from Tarleton State
University, Texas (Zeta Beta chapter).
In the fall of 1998, the Kappa
Delta Rho Group of Intent participated in their first formal rush period
at UDM, gaining 9 pledges from their efforts. As the pledge program
began, Bill Paris, Director of the KDR Foundation and former Executive
Director visited UDM to meet and talk with the members of the KDR Group
of Intent. Later, Scott Johnson from the KDR national office also came
to visit and meet the group at Detroit Mercy.
After the new pledge class had
established itself as members of the group, elections were held to fill
some vacant offices. Robert Jennison became Praetor, Brad Brzuchalski
became Propraetor, and Chris Arendoski became Pontifex.
Needing an excuse to get off
campus and bond as a group, the brothers of the KDR Group of Intent went
on a road trip to Ball State, Indiana (Beta Beta chapter). Everybody was
excited to see another chapter of Kappa Delta Rho, but was disappointed
to find a chapter that was in shambles. The Beta Beta KDR house was a
disgrace and there were only a handful of brothers in the chapter. The
KDR Group of Intent took this as a positive experience, seeing first
hand what can happen to a group that loses focus.
Soon after the road trip, on
November 12, 1998, Kappa Delta Rho participated in their first Union
Hours at UDM. Union Hours being the weekly tradition of campus Greek
fraternities and sororities singing their songs during pledging. This
was a momentous occasion because it was the first time the KDR Group of
Intent really made itself public as a group among all of the other
campus Greek organizations.
On November 15, 1998, the KDR
Group of Intent became a Provisional Chapter of Kappa Delta Rho with 16
members. Executive Director Chris Miller, Director of Programming and
Member Services Scott Johnson, and Dominic Schirripa from Cornell
University (Beta chapter) along with Frank Hattula performed the
ceremony. One of the original 9 pledges dropped out, so the first
completed pledge class consisted of 8 first year founders and 8 new
members, thus a total of 16.
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