FRATERNAL FOOTSTEPS The Fraternal Society Volume I, Issue 182

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1 FRATERNAL FOOTSTEPS The Fraternal Society Volume I, Issue 182 Written and Edited By: Fraternal Secretary Patrick Wolf Presidential Report Men of Fraternal, As the scholastic school year ends, I could not be more proud of the way the seniors and all active members have come together this year to strengthen and unify the Fraternal Society. When I set out as second term president for the spring semester of 2016, I knew I had big shoes to fill with those who have served before me. I was well aware of the expectations set upon myself and the fraternity and knew that we as a group were responsible for continuing the legacy of those who have created such a strong foundation before us. Through there were challenges that confronted us throughout the spring semester, the way in which all active members rallied behind each other to get the job done is something that truly sets us apart from any other Greek organization. This year we welcomed 21 new members to the Fraternal Society as well. The pledge class of 182 possesses tremendous character and leadership ability that will serve the fraternity well over the course of their college careers as active members. As an extremely diverse group of individuals, Pledge Class 182 consists of football players, lacrosse players, rugby players, basketball players, and soccer players as well as many involved with other on campus organizations. We are incredibly proud of this new group and are confident in the leadership abilities they possess that will serve them well over their remaining years. Looking back at the past three years, the twelve senior Fraters of 2016 from Pledge Classes 179 and 180 have really grown and matured over our time at Hope College. We have made countless memories and become stronger individuals in each other s presence which we are extremely proud of. From the days as freshman and sophomores partying in the basement of CC with no worries to the nights spent at DC just down the street, we have seen so many changes and stuck with it throughout. We have pushed each other to be better in all facets of life and seen incredible growth over our time together. I can t thank each and every guy enough for what they have given to me. 1

2 Finally, the seniors and all active members would like to thank all of the alumni who have supported and helped us through our careers thus far. The amount of time and energy that you have given back to us is unbelievable and has really set standard for us moving forward. Through your efforts and dedication we have grown to be stronger and our cherished tradition continues on. 182 years of excellence is something to be proud of and we look forward to the continued growth of the Fraternal Society in years to come. Fraternal President, Austin Bremer In this Issue: President s Report 1-2 Blotter Page 3-4 Athletics 5 Cottage Update 5 Current Actives 6-8 Service Events 8 Alumni Board Update 9 Where we go one, we go all 2

3 The Fraternity has had an eventful year to say the least. Here are a few of the highlights, excluding the events of a more social nature, from this past year: Few & Chosen: As previously mentioned in the Presidential Report, we have laid claim to 21 fine young men who we have shaped, and will continue to shape, into members of the Fraternal Society whom every other member, whether active or alumni, would be proud to call their brother. As an organization, we are extremely excited about this particular group of men and will be enthusiastically watching in the coming years as they work to forge their own positive identity within the Fraternal Society and the Hope College community. Dad s Club: The academic year marked the sophomore season of our main off-campus house s campaign and by all accounts, it was a rowdy one. This year s lucky party house occupants were senior Frater Tanner Jacobs, juniors Patrick Wolf Fraternal Blotter and Damon Thomas, and sophomore Jared Vite. Aside from hosting more parties than all the other Greek Organizations combined, DC also hosted the biggest parties Hope College saw this year including the Fraternal Halloween Bash and the annual Merry Fifthmas party. Due to all the good-natured fun, house sustained significant damages, but with hard work and a bit of luck, the Frat fixed it up and managed to secure Dad s Club for yet another year, which is sure to be full of fraternal debauchery. Next year s occupants include Fraters Mark The Shark Gorte, Devin Butler, and Brad B-Rad McNicholas. Intramurals: For yet another year in our storied history, The Fraternal Societies Intramural teams continued their legacy of intramural domination. This year s Fraternal Intramural squad started off with somewhat of a bittersweet season. The fall season calls claim to perhaps the most exciting Intramural game of all, Flag Football. This year, the Frat brought together what some have said to be the most 3 talented Intramural Flag Football team the Fraters have fielded in decades. With consistent IM all-star performers like Fraters Jacob Budde, Tim Alteri, Will Zawacki, and Zac Steffan leading the team into the 2015 Fall season, the campus knew The Frat Flag Football team was a force to be reckoned with. In addition, the Frat s team boasted new talented Intramural players in Damon Thomas, Jay The Giraffe Brinks, Grant Wheeler, and Patrick Wolf, all of whom previously played on the Flying Dutchmen s Football team. With this level of skill and experience, coupled with hard hitting, all-heart X-factors like Kory Big Red Harner, Gerrit Immink, Zac Francisco, and Jake The Snake Foster, the 2015 Frat Flag Football Team posted a perfect, undefeated regular season record of The initial three rounds of the playoffs seemed easy enough, as the Frat blew past the competition (even dispatching an extremely underrated and talented team of basketball players) until they met their match in the final round. A team composed of graduated football players and current talented Hope

4 students challenged the Frat to an epic triple-overtime duel which may go down as the greatest Intramural Flag Football game in Hope College history. To all our dismay, the Fraternal Society s team, talented as they were, fell at the hands of the opposing team The Fraternal Intramural Basketball and Softball teams did not finish the season with a final win either. While hopes were initially high and teams posted excellent regular season records, the Frat could not pull off a championship season in either of these categories. While it was a disappointing year in terms of a lack of trophies, the Frat can still boast the best combined intramural record, the highest number of intramural wins, and the best win-loss percentage out of any fraternity on campus. We will be back and we will continue to dominate. Campus: The scholastic school year was one of great change for Hope College. Among the change around campus was one of a more physical nature. The brand new, thirty-five million dollar Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts building was completed during the Fall 2015 semester and is the latest large scale addition to Hope s campus under the $175 million dollar fundraising campaign known as A Greater Hope. As many of you know, this music center is named after Fraternal alumni Jack H. Miller. Never in Hope College s storied 150 year history has the college ever had a venue entirely devoted to the musical arts. Now, through the opening of this music center, made possible by the generosity of Frater Miller, the college has taken a great step forward and widened its sphere of influence a tremendous amount. The Jack H. Miller center is one of the largest and most state-of-the-art music centers in all of Midwest and now serves as one of West Michigan s main concert halls. Talented groups such as the Grand Rapids Symphony, the West Michigan Guitar Quartet, and the Julian Lage Trio have graced the stage already. We ve even had an active Frater, junior Patrick Wolf, perform at the Jack H. Miller Center and we are excited to see many more young Fraters do so as well in the coming years. The fall semesters concerts include the Jazz Organ Summit, The Tony Monaco Trio (ft. guitarist Chuck Loeb), and the world-famous Trio con Brio Copenhagen. In addition, the academic year will mark the opening of the Jim and Martie Bultman Student Center, yet another building on campus to be built through the generosity and influence of an alumni of the Fraternal Society and the A Greater Hope campaign. This particular new building is named after Frater Jim Bultman and his wife, Martie. In addition to being a member of the Fraternal Society, Jim Bultman also served as Hope College s 11 th president, from , and is widely regarded as one of the most effective presidents the college has ever seen. The Bultman Center will replace Nykerk Hall (also named after a Fraternal alumni, J.B Nykerk) and be campus s center for student activities. 4

5 While the overwhelming majority of Fraters originally came to Hope to play a sport, the official sport of the Frat continues to be debauchery. However, some actives have been able to maintain their health and ability to see their toes by participating in varsity athletics. Making plays both on and off the field is one of the many attributes that set the Fraters apart, and our Friday night parties have yet to prevent us from dominating in our respective sports on Saturday morning. Beginning with the most important sport, lacrosse, Grant Brogan, Gino Battaglia, Micky Williams, and Joey Williams have led the team to its winningest season in school history. Brett Bethke and Travis Hoving snapped necks and cashed checks for the football team. Mitch O'Brien, Dante Hawkins, and Zach Littleson helped lead the men s basketball team in one of the greatest seasons in recent years and earned the Dutchmen an MIAA title. Hawkins, as just a sophomore, earned the starting guard position and will continue to lead the Dutchmen on the hardwood for the next two years. On the soccer pitch, Devon Butler, Ben Hagman, and James Reymann managed to Ole' their way to starting spots. Zach Williams changed careers from football to track and field this past year and has been a solid jumper for the track team. Hope s rugby team might as well be called the Frater Demolition Crew with Tyler Olesh, Cody Berkobien, Patrick Wolf, Tom Gomez, Ben Stryker, and Mitch Larsen all earning starting spots and providing the team with Fraternal guts. Several Fraters also had a role in founding the Hope College Team Handball Club and the Hope College Ski Team. Joey Williams Best Damn Lacrosse Goalie in the NCAA Cottage News This year there were two resident assistants at the cottage, one during each semester. Grant Wheeler took the helm for the Fall semester, but then was offered a great internship with Deloitte in Detroit that he simply could not turn down. Frater Wheeler left for the spring semester and Dan Gignac took over for the second semester. The guys that made sure the cottage didn t burn to the ground this year were Grant Wheeler (Jr.), Jay Brinks (Jr.), Cody Berkobien (Jr.), Dan Gignac (Jr.), Chase Merryman (Jr.), Quinn Brant (Jr.), Cadan Kleinheksel (Jr.), and Riley Livingway (So.). This year the cottage hosted many of the rush events including the Poker and Wings to the Post-Rush Business Meeting get together. It was an interesting mix of personalities at the start of the year but everyone bonded very well, which made the living dynamic cohesive and fun. Like every year, the main goal is to not get in trouble, which we successfully did yet again this year. Great job gentleman, thanks for an exciting year. Daniel Gignac Fraternal Cottage RA Fraternal Athletics 5

6 Frater Zachary I m not leaving Steffen Pledge Class 178 Major: Education Hometown: Wheaton, IL Frater Timothy Alteri, Major: Education Hometown: Bay Village, OH Frater Collin Brady Hometown: Owosso, MI Frater Austin Bremer Hometown: East Grand Rapids, MI Frater Jacob Budde Hometown: Muskegon, MI Frater Mitchell Devries Hometown: Ada, MI Frater Zane Griffin Frater Mitchell Larsen Hometown: Forest Hills, MI Frater Tyler Olesh & German Frater Michael Wilbur Fraternal Actives Hometown: Mona Shores, MI Frater Jay Williams Hometown: Niles, MI Frater William Zawacki Hometown: East Grand Rapids, MI Frater Cody Berkobien: Major: Biology Hometown: Spring Lake, MI Frater Quinn Brant Hometown: Sylvania, OH Frater Jameson The Giraffe Brinks Hometown: Wheaton, IL Frater Ethan Shady Groothuis & Accounting Hometown: Grand Haven, MI Frater Robert Jacobs Hometown: Grand Haven, MI Frater Cadan Kleinheksel Major: Biology& Exercise Science Hometown: Spring Lake, MI Frater Sam McNulty Major: Biology& Exercise Science Hometown: Green Bay, WI Frater Chase Merryman 6 Hometown: San Diego, CA Frater Jeff Dad Smith Hometown: East Grand Rapids, MI Frater Grant Wheeler Hometown: Novi, MI Frater Patrick Wolf Major: Political Science & Philosophy Hometown: Ann Arbor, MI Frater Brett Bethke Hometown: Jenison, MI Frater Ryan Billman & Communications Hometown: Columbus, OH Frater Grant Brogan Hometown: East Lansing, MI Frater Derek Chen Major: Political Science Hometown: Fountain Valley, CA Frater Keenan Donk Frater Mat Fleis Major: Exercise Science Hometown: Leland, MI Frater Jake Foster

7 Major: Exercise Science Hometown: Kalamazoo, MI Frater Zachary Francisco & Political Science Hometown: East Lansing, MI Frater Dan Gignac Major: Sociology Hometown: Grand Haven, MI Frater Kory Harner Major: Exercise Science Hometown: Elburn, IL Frater Bill Harrison & Economics Hometown: South Lyon, MI Frater Gerrit Immink Major: Communications & Political Science Hometown: Zeeland, MI Frater Scott Keith Hometown: Normal, IL Frater Zach Littleson & Management Hometown: Rochester Hills, MI Frater Riley Livingway Hometown: Dearborn, MI Frater Mitchell Obrien Hometown: Kankakee, IL Frater Damon Thomas Hometown: Fenton, MI Frater Jared Vite & Communications Hometown: Buchanan, IL Frater Joey Williams Major: History& Economics Hometown: Farmington Hills, MI Frater Gino Battaglia Major: Mechanical Engineering Hometown: Lebanon, OH Frater Harrison Burke & Economics Frater Devon Butler Hometown: New Baltimore, MI Frater Luke Champion Major: Exercise Science & Biology Hometown: Oxford, MI Frater Mitch Damstra Major: Accounting & Management Frater Mark Gorte & Computer Science Hometown: Midland, MI Frater Thomas Gomez Major: Philosophy & Economics Frater Ben Hagman & Communications 7 Hometown: Columbus, OH Frater Dante Hawkins Major: Frater Travis Hoving Major: Biochemistry Frater Liam Klienhecksel Major: Geology & Environmental Science Hometown: Spring Lake, MI Frater Dan Lubben Major: Pre-Med Frater Brad McNicholas Major: Economics & Women s Studies Frater Blake Alexander Parmer Major: Economics & Management Hometown: Williamston, MI Frater James Reyman Major: Hometown: Frater Samuel Winston Schuster & Economics Hometown: Dewitt, MI Frater Ben Stryker Major: Mechanical Engineering Frater Chris Vanderhart Hometown: Caledonia

8 Frater Will Vandommelen Major: Business Management & Economics Hometown: Carlsbad, CA Frater Micky Williams Major: Political Science Hometown: Farmington Hills, MI Frater Zach Williams Major: Biology Hometown: Dowagiac, MI The majority of the active members before final business meeting of the year Service Events As a fraternity this year we also placed an emphasis on community service events and adopted a stretch of US-31 in the fraternity s name. We thought this would be a good way to give back to the west Michigan community and it is something we plan to continue on for years to come. We also participated in Dance Marathon again and raised the most money in fraternity history. Fraters Ethan Groothuis and Scott Keith led the charge and made Dance Marathon an incredibly successful event once again. We also participated in Relay for Life through Hope College and once again raised a record breaking donation amount. I would like to thank the alumni and everybody who helped us reach our goals in making this year one to remember. Written by: President Austin Bremer 8

9 Alumni Board Update The Board s purpose is to grow and strengthen the Fraternal Society through fostering relationship and partnership amongst Fraternal Alumni and with Active Chapter members. The Board goals are creating a more connected Fraternal Alumni body, guiding the Active Chapter in running a more effective organization, and nurturing a positive and productive relationship with Hope College Administration. This past year, the Board planned and held an event celebrating Fraternal s 180th Anniversary. This year, the Board plans to further simplify and improve the Fraternal Society s website (thefraternalsociety.org) in an effort to create more connectedness amongst Fraternal Alumni and with Actives. The Board also plans and holds the annual Fraternal Golf Outing. Eric VanRavenswaay is the chairperson responsible for organizing the outing scheduled for August 2016 Loren Kronemeyer remains the acting president of the Board, but would like to transition leadership to an interested and qualified alumnus. Responsibilities include coordination of duties and delegation of responsibility for annual alumni events, relationship development and management with the Active Chapter and with Hope College Administration. If you are interested in either learning more about the Board, joining or leading, please contact the Loren (lkronemeyer@gmail.com). The Fraternal Society 337 College Avenue Holland, MI fraternal@hope.edu Current President: Jeffery L. Smith FEW AND CHOSEN 9