176th Convention – Chicago – 2019
Annual Communication
of the Executive Council
Annual Communication of the Foundation
New Executive Council & Foundation Board Members
New Undergraduate Advisory Board Members
2019 Leadership Institute Curriculum
Convention Photos
Award Winners
176th Convention Records
In Memoriam
Psi Upsilon Annual Fund Report
177th Psi Upsilon Convention
Psi Upsilon’s 176th Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois from July 26 – July 29, 2019 under the auspices of the Omega chapter at the University of Chicago.
Annual Communication of Executive Council
Epsilon Phi, ’93 (McGill)
Given by the Executive Council President Evan Terry, Epsilon Phi ’93 (McGill), to the Convention attendees, the Annual Communication of the Executive Council reports on the state of the Fraternity and addresses issues to be dealt with by the Convention.
Annual Communication of the Foundation
Eta, ’06 (Lehigh)
Given by the Chairman of the Psi Upsilon Foundation, Alex Senchak, Eta ’06 (Lehigh), to the Convention attendees, the Report of the Chairman captures the state of the Foundation and the work being done to support the educational goals of the Fraternity.
New Members Elected to the Executive Council & Directors of the Foundation
We’re excited to announce new members to the Executive Council for the 2019-20 year
At the 176th Annual Convention the following new members were elected to the Executive Council:
Christian Brydges, Nu ’95 (Toronto)
David Hollis, Gamma Tau ’11 (Georgia Tech)
Jon Szynkowski, Epsilon Nu ’06 (Michigan State)
Tim Zepp, Chi Delta ’08 (Duke)
And the officers of the Executive Council for the 2019-20 year are:
Evan Terry, Epsilon Phi ’93 (McGill), President
Jeremy McKeon, Eta ’08 (Lehigh), Vice President and President-Elect
David Hollis, Gamma Tau ’11 (Georgia Tech), Secretary
Tim Zepp, Chi Delta ’08 (Duke), Treasurer
For a full list of members of the Executive Council please go here
In addition new Directors of the Psi Upsilon Foundation were announced at the Convention:
Doug Jackman, Omega ’89 (Chicago)
John Ong, Gamma ’84 (Amherst)
Larry Rakers, Omicron ’86 (Illinois)
And the Officers of the Foundation for the 2019-20 year are:
Alex Senchak, Eta ’06 (Lehigh), Chairman
Matthew Eckenrode, Epsilon Nu ’04 (Michigan State), Vice Chairman
Martin Brayboy, Gamma ’84 (Amherst), Secretary
John Ong, Gamma ’84 (Amherst), Treasurer
For a full list of the Directors of the Foundation please go here
2019-20 Undergraduate Advisory Board Members
In recent years the Convention has been electing 2 undergraduate members to advise the Executive Council and help keep the leadership of undergraduate chapters engaged in the work of the Fraternity. This year the 176th Psi Upsilon Convention elected Joey Cobau, Phi ’21 (Michigan) and Wes Cantrall, Phi Delta ’20 (Mary Washington) to serve in these positions.
In this position they are invited to all meetings of the Executive Council and also placed on one committee, all travel and hospitality expenses are paid for the International Office to facilitate their participation.
The 2019 Leadership Institute Curriculum
The 2019 Leadership Institute featured Ross Szabo, the Wellness Director at the Geffen Academy at UCLA who has shared his story on mental wellness with hundreds of organizations and campuses and is the author of the book Behind Happy Faces. His keynote helps reduce the stigma that surrounds mental health and empowers others to seek help and assist their peers.
Other Leadership Institute topics included David Westol, CEO of Limberlost Consulting, speaking about incidents that have affected the higher education landscape, particularly with regards to Greek Life, and trends we are seeing in the industry. We also had sessions reviewing our recently updated Risk Management Policy, new technology that we have, and will soon be launching to our members, and breakout sessions reviewing some best practices.
On Sunday evening our Awards Banquet had the honor of Morris Wolff, Gamma ’58 as the keynote speaker to close our convention. Morris’s life has been dedicated to philanthropic service: he worked with Robert Kennedy in writing the Civil Right Act, helped desegregate public schools in Alabama, successfully sued the Soviet Union for their imprisonment of Swedish Diplomat and war hero Raoul Wallenberg in US Federal Court. He has been recognized for his work by the United Nations, receiving the Humanitarian Award at Carnegie Hall in 1993. His keynote included stories of his life and how fraternity, and the love brothers have for one another, was such a crucial part of it.
Convention Photos
You can view the photos of the 176th Convention on our Flickr account HERE. Included are photos of our cookout at the Omega Chapter House, Chicago River Cruise, and Scholarship Luncheon. Special Thanks to Steve Malinski, Epsilon Iota ’09 (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) for serving as the Convention Photographer!
Awards
The Diamond Award recognizes chapters that distinguish themselves by exceeding the Psi Upsilon Fraternity chapter standards, and is the top recognition a chapter can receive in Psi Upsilon.
During the 2018-19 Academic Year the Upsilon Chapter at the University of Rochester had almost half its members achieve the Dean’s List and / or a Liberty League All-Academic Award, averaged above 10 hours of Community Service per Member, developed specific leadership expectations for its officers and were recognized by the University for their Expectations for Excellence program.
Click the link below to view chapters that received awards including: Award of Distinction, Owl Award, Garnet and Gold Award and Clasped Hand Award.
Convention Records and Constitution
The Convention Records document the actions taken by the 176th Convention. Resolutions of a legislative nature are called General Resolutions, while the rest are termed Special Resolutions. The Records also contain Recommendations. In addition we’ve included an updated version of the Constitution of Psi Upsilon as amended at the 176th Convention.
In Memoriam
John Paul Stevens, Omega ’41 (Chicago)
Brother Stevens spent 35 years as a Supreme Court Justice of the United States. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Chicago in 1941, and joined the U.S. Navy that December, days before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
President Gerald Ford nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and he took his seat December 19, 1975, after being confirmed 98–0 by the Senate. Brother Stevens retired as the third-longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court with 34 years and six months of service in 2010.
Read more about his life and times at the University of Chicago here.
Barry Kowalski, Sigma ’66 (Brown)
Brother Kowalski was a civil rights champion with the Department of Justice for many year. He was most notable for trying to case against two Los Angeles police officers in 1993 for the beating of Rodney King.
Read more about that case and his distinguished career here.
To report the passing of a brother, please send the date of death and a copy of the obituary to intl_ofc@psiu.org or snail mail it to:
Psi Upsilon Fraternity
3003 East 96th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46240
Annual Fund
Gifts to the 2019 Annual Fund support educational programs, scholarships, chapter assistance and the promotion of moral, intellectual and social excellence.
Please join this list of brothers by making your gift online by clicking the button below!
You can also mail a check to:
Psi Upsilon
3003 East 96th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46240-1357
Contact Bethann Taylor if you would like to donate appreciated stock or include Psi Upsilon in your will.
177th Psi Upsilon Convention and 2020 Leadership Conference
The 177th Psi Upsilon Convention will be held in the heart of Downtown Atlanta from July 24th-27th at The Sheraton Atlanta Hotel. Next year’s Convention and Leadership Institute program will allow local alumni network, learn about the fraternity, and give us time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Gamma Tau Chapter at Georgia Tech – we hope you can join us!