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Murray’s Keynote at the 177th Convention
Murray receiving this award

The David A.B. Brown, ΕΦ ’66 Distinguished Alumnus Award is the highest award which may be bestowed upon an alumni of Psi Upsilon for bringing honor to the Fraternity by exemplifying the true spirit and meaning of brotherhood in all that they do and say, for dedicated and unselfish service in pursuit of the advancement of the Fraternity, and for demonstrating a commitment to serve the educational environment, their community, and their country. The Executive Council is pleased to announce this award has been bestowed on Murray L. Eskenazi, Lambda ’56 (Columbia) for his lifetime of service to Psi Upsilon and the nation.

Brother Eskenazi has been active in the life of Psi Upsilon since his initiation as an undergraduate at Columbia. He has served for 52 years as a director and for 17 years as President of the Lambda Alumni Association.

Author of 3 Psi U songs, creator of 11 chapter coats-of-arms, and designer of the Psi U Sesquicentennial Plate and the Psi U Distinguished Alumnus Medal, Brother Eskenazi is a gifted man of diverse talents. He has served on our Foundation Board and, after 19 years on the Executive Council, is now an honorary life member.

Colombia granted him a BA in Mathematics and Engineering; New York University an MBA. He holds 3 U.S. Patents, invented “Super Scrabble”, and is also a published author.

His professional career includes roles as a Sales Engineer with International Trucks, VP of Production for a division of Bobbie Brooks Corp., VP of Centaur Industries (where he invented an electronic slot machine), and an agent to game and toy inventors.

Currently enjoying his retirement in Delray Beach, FL he is a former resident of East Rockaway, NY where Brother Eskenazi devoted over 40 years of service to his community in various appointed, volunteer, or elected positions.

One important business item at our Convention is the election of two brothers to the Undergraduate Advisory Board (UAB). This board serves to facilitate input from the undergraduate chapters to our Executive Council. UAB members serve on committees as well as attend all Executive Council meetings through the academic year. All costs associated with the position are covered by the International Office, we only ask that UAB members do their best to attend the Fall and Spring meetings in person.

While the UAB members are elected by the Psi U Convention, we are accepting applications in advance of the weekend that will be shared with the committee on Nominations and Credentials, and all brothers who apply for the position will have their information passed along to the elected members of the UAB to consult with over the course of the year.

If you are interested in being a member of the UAB please fill out an application here

From the Convention Rules:
Undergraduates desiring membership on the Executive Council must present a letter of under 500 words to the Nominations Committee before its first meeting.  The letter must state the candidate’s qualifications, including reasons for seeking election, positions held in chapter, college and community and other pertinent information.  An undergraduate need not attend the Convention to be considered for such office.  Only one applicant from any chapter will be considered by the Nominations Committee.  The Nominations Committee will select the five most qualified candidates to be presented to the Convention.  If a candidate serves on the Nominations Committee, he or she will be recused from the discussion.  If there are fewer than five candidates, the Nominations Committee shall present all candidates to the Convention.  At an appropriate time, the candidates will have an opportunity to address the Convention for a maximum of two minutes.  If a candidate is not present, a member of the Nominations Committee shall read the candidate’s letter to the Convention.  The Convention will then vote to elect two undergraduate members of the Executive Council by popular vote, with the third-highest recipient of votes to serve as an alternate undergraduate member of the Executive Council.

The “Diamond” of 1979 records James ”Jim” M. Pugliese, Tau ’78 (University of Pennsylvania) was an early contributor to Psi Upsilon international, starting a tradition of giving that has lasted from his time as a new graduate to the present.

While at Penn, in additional to being an active brother of Psi Upsilon, Jim joined the track team and competed in the Decathlon. Upon graduating from the Wharton School of Business Jim returned to Samford, CT to join the family business while at the same time pursuing his MBA.

For 14 years he built up the company and spent 6 of those years as president. During that time he joined the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and has remained an active member ever since. In 1993 he sold the business and went into work as a Corporate development officer where he began a career in the insurance industry. After 20 years of being president and CEO of various companies Jim began his current role and transitioned to the Securities industry. “Best part is that, 40 years after graduating from Penn, I just joined [Stonegate Capital Partners,] the Dallas-based securities firm of one of my Psi U/Castle brothers [Jessie Shelmire, Tau ’79], and couldn’t be happier that we’ve reconnected and are working together.  Truly amazing, in my opinion, and it just shows that the bonds of Psi U are amazingly strong!”

Throughout his life Psi Upsilon has remained a constant. Jim attended reunions over the years for brothers of the late 70’s chapters and “each time was a wonderful experience.” He donated generously both to his home chapter and to Psi Upsilon International over the years. Jim, along with three of his brothers from the Tau, have a regular tradition of ski trips to recreate a shared undergraduate trip to Aspen in 1977.

“It’s a cliche, but its true that you will get out of Psi U what you put into it, so I urge brothers to take some time to attend events, support the Foundation, and stay in touch with your brothers.  There are few relationships and experiences in our lives that are as fulfilling!”

In his private life, Jim spends time for with amazing family including his wife Anne and children Caroline, Catherine, and Andrew. Anne attended the University of Florida and has remained a lifelong Gators fan. All of their children have grown and graduated college. While none attended Penn for their higher education, all of them have visited the Castle (the nickname for the Psi U house on Penn campus) and know the deep meaning it holds for Jim. Nowadays Jim and Anne split their time between Florida and Connecticut. Unity Church in Delray, Florida, plays an important part of their life and was originally founded by Anne’s family. In his private time Jim plays tennis and golf and has a pilot’s license.

Jim has recently increased his role at the International level still further, taking on this new role on the Investment Committee of the Psi Upsilon Foundation. Jim brings a wealth of experience to the table. With his history as a President and CEO along with his securities background it is easy to see how much experience brings to the team. Jim is specifically looking at financial products and services that may benefit the Foundation and be a fundraising effort for the Foundation.

You can learn more about Jim from his LinkedIN profile here.

The 27^th Archons’ Academy is in the books! Having to navigate online learning posed some unique challenges but also offered new opportunities and we are very proud of what we were able to put together: Rather than just try to do what we always do, we greatly broadened the scope of the academy and opened it to more members and new topics. Over the course of January, we hosted 8 educational sessions with over 16 hours of total programming. Sessions ranged in size from well over 150 undergraduates, to some smaller more targeted discussions with only a single representative from each chapter in attendance. In the end we had just over 200 unique undergraduate visitors to the Archons’ Academy in 2021 – making it the largest educational event Psi Upsilon Fraternity has ever hosted!

The academy opened on January 9^th and had a more traditional Archons’ Academy agenda, but allowed us to not only invite Archons, but also both 1^st and 2^nd Angelos. The International Office staff led a day where our members: learned about the importance of our history and values; walked through what to do in a crisis and how to think more through a harm reduction lens; participated in a session around organizational leadership and exploring what their Chapter’s capabilities were; learned and practiced some fundamental goal setting skills; and we rounded out the day with the nuts and bolts of reports, paperwork, and deadlines.

Our January 11^th session focused on mental and emotional wellness and how to support each other in that space. Through a new and exciting partnership with the Jed Foundation, Dr. Thea Zunick led our Chapters’ 1^st Angelos, Risk Managers, and Health & Wellness Chairs through the “You Can Help a Brother” curriculum, which focuses on noticing signs and healthy ways to intervene between peers. Through our partnership, this curriculum is now made available for Advisors and/or campus professionals to deliver to every Chapter.

Executive Director Tom Fox led our Treasurers in a detailed session on Budgets, Dues, & 990s on January 12^th. Our Treasurers were able to understand the process and concepts of budgeting, they were able to engage with each other on different methods of dues collection, and lastly were able to understand the forms required to remain an organized group.

Our Service, Philanthropy, and Fundraising Chairs were invited to our January 14^th session on Philanthropy in a Remote Environment. Through our excellent partnership with CrowdChange, Director of Client Success Liam Moore discussed the purpose and need for raising funds now more than ever, and different tools to do that. We ended our session with our members having the opportunity to engage, brainstorm, and crowd-source ideas to turn their in-person events into virtual ones.

On January 19^th, we held our biggest session of Archons’ Academy. National Speaker Mike Dilbeck presented his keynote “DignityU” that focused on understanding dignity and treating each other with respect. Our Chapters’ 2^nd Angelos, Risk Managers, Social Chairs, and New Member Educators were able to receive great information and steps on how to embrace dignity, and then participated in a very engaging question and answer session with our Speaker.

Through our new partnership with the educational company Plaid, we offered our Chapters’ Archons, 1^st, and 2^nd Angelos a new personality leadership assessment that covered team dynamics, conflict, and career exploration. Plaid Partner Chris Woods delivered an engaging deep dive into the Birkman Method Assessment, and broke down each category thoroughly and explained how the categories all relate to each other.

Recruitment Chairs and at least 2 other members from each Chapter joined us on January 26^th to explore recruitment tips and tricks. Zach Lepperd, Director of Fraternity Growth for Beta Theta Pi Fraternity led our “Let’s Talk Recruitment” Session, where he unpacked recruitment fundamentals, social media recruitment in a virtual world, and best practices for a relationship centered recruitment.

We rounded out our new Archons’ Academy with our January Archon Town Hall and “Advice from an Archon”. Roy Krishnan, Upsilon ’21 (Rochester), Drew Hill, Xi ’21 (Wesleyan), and Randall Kliman, Gamma Tau ’21 (Georgia Tech) each shared their own advice from being an Archon through the Fall semester. All attendees were then placed in breakout rooms where they could get to know each other, bounce ideas, and ask each other questions about how to be successful during their time as Chapter President. We ended the session with Randall, Drew, and Roy sharing the most important thing they have learned from being Archon, and how new Archons can be successful this Spring.

We hope and plan that in 2022 our Archons’ Academy will be in person at the Psi Upsilon International Office and give our chapter presidents the ability to interact with one another but cannot ignore what we learned from casting a wider net and meeting with so many officers. E-learning is not a fad that will be going away, and we will be continuing to host virtual opportunities to compliment in person experiences going forward. We are also extremely proud and thankful to all our brothers who participated in the 27^th Archons’ Academy – our undergraduate leaders were thoughtful, engaging, and sincere with their care for Psi U.

We are excited to announce we have recently launched online Alumni Advisor Training Courses to better support our dedicated volunteers in 2021 and beyond. Developed by Plaid LLC, an organizational management firm that specializes in both Higher Education and Greek Organizations, these courses are designed for volunteers of all ages and experiences.

There are six primary courses offered:

• The Role of the Advisor – The chapter advisor’s role, responsibilities and expectations for working with student organizations.
• The Interfraternal Experience – The history of the interfraternal experience, tactics for advising Generation Z, and methods for tackling specific advisor, chapter and student obstacles. 
• Mentoring College Students – The skills and tactics to mentor undergraduates today, and how to confront conflict, address accountability, and co-create SMART goals.
• Interfraternal Relationships – The local, regional, and national relationships that exist in the interfraternal community, and the support systems in place for an advisor. 
• Hazing Identification and Prevention  – Identifying and addressing a hazing culture. 
• Eradicating Harmful Tradition – Understanding motivations and needs of individuals or a chapter, to move towards creating a healthy chapter culture. 

In addition, advisors will also have access to Recruitment Training, Our Risk Management Program, and Inclusive Practices.

Learn more and sign up!

William “Bill” Gossett, Omicron ’45 (Illinois) was honored this Veterans Day and received a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Lincoln College in his hometown of Lincoln, IL at the age of 97. Brother Gossett attended Lincoln College for his freshman year of college in 1941 and transferred to the University of Illinois the following year, living in the Omicron Chapter House. He remembers enlisting at the Armory Building across the street of the Omicron Chapter House in 1942 and the Captain telling him after he took the oath, “Well son, you’re ours now!”

Brother Gossett served in the Army Air Corps in the U.S. and Europe from 1943 to 1946, during the height of World War II. After returning home, Gossett took over the family business, Gossett’s Cleaners. He has been an active member of numerous civic organizations including the Abraham Lincoln Hospital Association, American Legion, Knight’s Templar, Lincoln Rotary, Lincoln Toastmasters Club, Lincoln-Logan County Chamber of Commerce, Masons, Oasis Senior Center, Salvation Army, and the Union Cemetery Association. He joined the Lincoln College Board of Trustees in 1998 and served as a member of the Board for 15 years. Upon his retirement from the Board, Gossett was elected as Trustee Emeritus in 2013.

Brother Gossett gives a piece of advice to all his brothers, a lesson he learned from his father, “Don’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands – throw something back!”

View the Ceremony on Youtube

Brothers,

To say this Fall has been unique would be an understatement and as Executive Director of Psi Upsilon I wanted to take a moment to pass along a progress report to let you know how our chapters are performing. This summer, as we were trying to predict the fall, there was a lot of uncertainty and anxiety. Now that we are into October, and most campuses are starting to learn their new routines, we are finding that ‘fraternity’ can truly endure in this environment. While no one will deny that this semester has offered distinctive challenges, an organization that offers “A Mighty Friendship” has a place on college campuses, possibly more so now than ever before. If you aren’t familiar with how your chapter’s campus has responded COVID-19 The Chronicle of Higher Education has created a helpful resource (you will need to create an account to view the webpage, but it is free).

Retention was a primary concern with most of our campuses offering few opportunities for in-person classes. Like many fraternities, we anticipated a drop in membership of about 30% from prior years. As of now I am thrilled to report that we only saw a 15% drop in membership. Recruitment is the next concern, and while our Fall statistics are still incomplete, chapters are performing similar to prior years and are reporting an average reduction of only 10% of their Fall New Member classes. I have been impressed with the adaptability of our members to pivot to a hybrid, or even completely virtual, recruitment environment. The good thing is the feedback we’re receiving from many of our chapters is that since they are recruiting and taking classes in a remote environment, transitioning New Member Education to a virtual experience isn’t as daunting a task as we anticipated for them.

Our chapter support model has changed a lot without in person chapter visits, but I think this has accelerated some necessary modifications rather than hindered the support we offer. I would break this new model into four components: Improved Assessment, Consistent Support, Chapter Collaboration and New Opportunities.

Improved Assessment: We’ve had a committee reviewing how we measure chapter performance, and prior to COVID-19 were developing a way to better evaluate chapter performance and mindsets over time – we’ve collected many quantifiable items for years (GPA, Service hours and money raised, retention of new members, size) in the past but knew this was an area to improve and only tells a part of a story. We just introduced a new survey this fall, asking every chapter to report back on their perceived performance, strengths, and weaknesses. This data will help us guide our conversations and over time should lead to some meaningful observations about how to better assist chapters.

Consistent Support: While staff have always made it a priority to visit chapters and respond to needs as they arise we’ve found ourselves to be more proactive in this environment. Jason Allen, our Director of Chapter Services and I have had regular contact with the leadership of our chapters and pivoting to remote meeting software has facilitated this. While I still believe the in person handshake matters, no one can deny the ability to set up regular Zoom chats with leadership has built some stronger relationships. The fact that remote meetings are more normalized in the current environment has helped greatly.

Chapter Collaboration: One of the advantages of an organization like Psi Upsilon is our membership. We have been holding regular Town Hall meetings between alumni advisors and leadership, as well as chapter officers, to not only improve transparency but allow one another to connect and share best practices. The input and ideas shared during and in between these meetings from our leaders was indispensable as we designed guidance for this year. An example of this in action is the fact that undergraduate members of our Delta (NYU), Phi (Michigan), Eta (Lehigh) and Alpha Omicron (NJIT) chapters have been developing an e-sports league to encourage interaction between chapters.

New Opportunities: Another development that has been evident in this current environment is a more collaborative effort across organizations and our professional partners. Whether this is town hall meetings from our insurance company, the fact we were able to make the annual Foundation for Fraternal Excellence seminar accessible to all our board members or finding other events that would be meaningful to our members like “Dignity U” (A program for Chapter Officers to consider how dignity impacts a person’s own thoughts and actions, in both their lives and in their respective organizations) or “Brotherhood, Sisterhood and the Power on Belonging” (A program for advisors hosted by Pennington and Company). We have been able to distribute this information to those who need it. Even 10 years ago these opportunities were not as widely available. The fraternal marketplace has always been incredibly collaborative on a professional level, and I am truly excited about being able to make that collaboration accessible to more of our brothers. We have also been making these opportunities available on our website when we can – either on our events page or our Covid-19 resource page.

I would personally like to thank the continued involvement of all our volunteers – at the chapter level to our Foundation and Executive Council. Without their ongoing commitment and generosity we would not be able to achieve so much. If you would be interested in getting more involved, please take a moment to review our involvement page, fill out an interest form, and feel free to contact me.

I am always honored and humbled to be able to serve as the Executive Director of Psi Upsilon and excited about the great future we have ahead.

Yours in the Bonds,

Thomas Fox, Omicron ’00 (Illinois)

Executive Director

Psi Upsilon Fraternity