Two alums were recognized at the 180th Psi Upsilon Convention during Saturday evening’s Awards Banquet for their service to Psi Upsilon and commitment to the values of our fraternity.
First, Dr. Richard Rasmussen, received the David A.B. Brown Award for Lifetime Achievement, the highest award which may be bestowed upon an alum 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.
Brother Rasmussen has served as the Executive Director of the University Athletic Association since it’s inception in 1987. The UAA is a NCAA Division III Conference of highly selective Universities that has served as a bold statement of what college athletics can and should be – that it is highly desirable and possible for a group of committed institutions to conduct a broad-based program of intercollegiate athletics for men and women; to compete with like academic institutions spread over geographically expansive areas; and to seek excellence in athletics while maintaining a perspective which holds the student-athlete and the academic mission of the institution as the center of focus.
He was the keynote speaker at our Awards Banquet and addressed the importance of our members to live our mission and values, and to remember that correlates with the academic mission of our Colleges and Universities – and we must be partners, not apart, from our hosts.
View a list of past recipients of the David A.B. Brown Award.
The Distinguished Alumni Service Award recognizes brothers whose service to their chapter, or the International Fraternity, is worth special commendation. Since its creation by the 155th Psi Upsilon Convention in 1998, 38 alums have received this honor. It is customary for a recommendation to come from an alumni association or another member of the fraternity and then is discussed by the Awards and Recognition Committee, who then recommends to the Executive Council or the Psi Upsilon Convention to consider the alum for the award. All award winners are presented with a medallion recreated by our Director of Member Engagement, Jonathan Chaffin, Gamma Tau ’00 (Georgia Tech) and originally designed by Murray Eskenazi, Lambda ’56 (Columbia).
This summer at the 180th Psi Upsilon Convention presented Steve Moore, Eta ’84 (Lehigh) with this award.
Brother Moore has served as the president of the Goodale Literary Society, the Alumni Association of the Eta Chapter at Lehigh University, for a number of years, and during that time he has helped balance a commitment to connecting alums with one another, the chapter, and the University. He was recognized by Gary Pan, Eta ’86, who introduced Brother Moore by reading the preamble of our Constitution:
We who are or were students in universities and colleges throughout the United States and Canada and who believe in similar principles of life and standards of human conduct, consider that the existence of a fraternal bond among us is eminently calculated best to promote our educational achievements, the development of our personal character and happiness, and the overall interests of the universities and colleges of which we are a part. We believe further that we may thereby better contribute to a continual improvement and expansion of the educational system of these two great nations.
Brother Moore has done much to help promote those values and keep those traditions alive at Lehigh, at a time when many other fraternal organizations have closed or faded away.
View the full list of recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Service Award.
If you know of a deserving alum, and would like to recommend them for an award, please submit their information to the Executive Director of Psi Upsilon, Thomas Fox at tfox@psiu.org.