Delts Take Advantage of Leadership Opportunities

Delta Tau Delta fraternity allows for many opportunities to promote leadership, self improvement, and organizational development, and the Beta Phi chapter is taking advantage. Throughout this past quarter 8 different Delts attended an array of different retreats and academies designed to help motivate and educate attendees.

The retreats, all different in nature, fostered a high variety of different experiences to fraternity leaders as well as new members. The Emerging Leaders Leader’s Retreat, put on by the Ohio Union and the Student Organization Resource Center, was attended by 3 Delts: Zach Rossfeld, Corey Beals, and Jonathan Smith; this retreat allowed for networking and community building outside of the Greek community. “There are many times when a compromise is the best solution.  I learned how it is much easier to have other people be more open to your idea/opinion if you are open to theirs,” reflected Corey Beals on his experience. Jonathan Smith, a member of Zeta, Beta Phi’s newest initiated pledge class also took advantage of the Emerging Leaders Retreat; “I thought the retreat was a great experience. I have not really had a chance to ascend into a leadership role in the chapter yet, but once I do, I should be able to apply some of the skills I gained from this retreat.”

One opportunity, only offered through Delta Tau Delta is the Capital Leadership Academy in Washington DC; amongst the inspirational backdrop of the nation’s capital, Delts from across the nation explored the fundamental values of the fraternity by visiting The Supreme Court (Truth), The World War II Memorial (Courage), The Washington Nation Cathedral (Faith), and the office of congressional lobbyist and Delt alumni Ken Keys (Power).  This once in a lifetime chance was seized by Zach Rossfeld and David Beddingfield. “I’ve done a lot to develop skills within an organization, but the Capital Leadership Academy focused more on self improvement. Knowing that I would be taking a big role in the Fraternity, it was a great motivation for me to step up and get started,” said Rossfeld, Beta Phi’s current Vice President.  

Recently Delts have taken up strengthening ties within the Ohio State Greek community at Buckeye Greek Leadership Initiative (BGLI) and Chapter President’s Leadership Initiative (CPLI); these were weekend camping excursions designed to develop camaraderie and encourage cooperation between Ohio State’s many Greek organizations.     

Attending CPLI was former chapter president Matt Anderson and current Beta Phi president Cole Richter. “Attending the Chapter President's Leadership Initiative was very beneficial.  I made many contacts with the other presidents and learned a lot about their chapters. We worked on developing action plans for our chapter and are all working to implement them in our chapters right now.”

BGLI was attended by Delts Jerry Dunleavy and Nathan Kasper. “I enjoyed my experience at BGLI because I was able to network with members of other Greek organizations. I learned a good deal about how other chapters have handled issues and challenges that my chapter now struggles with. I will use this information to help our chapter overcome difficulties,” resolved Kasper, chapter treasurer. 

In all, these Beta Phi Delts had widely successful experiences and have already begun to use them to better the chapter as well as the surrounding community. “It was impressive to me to see that our fraternity is held in high regard by many other chapters - groups are excited to work with us on service, philanthropy, and social events alike, said Chapter Advisor Jeff Pelletier who attended BGLI and CPLI. He then added, “It really is a great time to be a Beta Phi Delt!”