50th Anniversary Banquet
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On July 30th, a celebration for the ages occurred. We looked back in time while maintaining a focus on the future. It was the Anniversary Banquet, themed as “Westminster’s Resolute Men: 50 Years of Theta Chi”.
During an evening filled with smiles, laughter, old memories, and new friends, we celebrated the successes of the Zeta Lambda Chapter. Many in attendance couldn’t believe that it’s been 50 years since the chapter was installed at Westminster College.
The banquet was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Pittsburgh-Cranberry. The location was chosen because of its centralized location for a significant number of alumni in the Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Youngstown, and New Wilmington areas, along with accessibility to Pittsburgh International Airport for alumni arriving from Texas, North Carolina, and other states.
The event began at 6 p.m. with mingling and drinks being served. At 7 p.m. dinner was served. Following dinner, a select few brothers offered both some history of the chapter and their reflections on what Theta Chi means to them. After the speeches were complete, everyone joined in for some dancing and conversation.
A memorabilia table in the corner of the ballroom included our original colony paddle (Alpha Kappa Epsilon) and other significant artifacts. The undergraduate brothers organized another table for fundraising sales of t-shirts and commemorative beer glasses.
The banquet was well-attended by graduates from every decade. There were 63 brothers, both alumni and undergraduate, in attendance, along with 26 wives and girlfriends. Brothers from the first few years of the colony and chapter included: David Dudgeon (1966), James Wertz (1967), David McCormick (1967), Michael O’Hea (1967), George Kingsbury (1967), Jim Warnock (1967), John Du (1969), and William Lynn (1969).
We asked a couple brothers why they thought our chapter has been successful at maintaining such longevity, and here is what they said:
“I attribute it to the embodiment of the helping hand and a dedication to our brothers. We faced a lot of adversity over the years but we have never backed down from it. We hold fast to the tenets of our creed. I also think that jumping in the lake has inoculated us to the disease of giving up.”
“I would attribute it to a school that isn’t keen on seeing experiments fail, a really good IHQ, and an extremely close brotherhood throughout the years.”
A huge “Thank You” to everyone who attended the banquet. It was an amazing success and the largest gathering of brothers in recent memory.
Hope to see you at Homecoming, October 7th-9th.
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