My Band of Brothers
I have to recognize a group of men that have enabled me to live a life of excellence. Those would be the brothers of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. Before I came to campus, like most people, my thoughts on fraternities were based on stereotypes from TV and the movies. When I got to Florida Tech, never did I find myself so wrong. During the first week here, there were a wide variety of rush events going on hosted by the then six fraternities on campus. I felt as though I entered a different universe with events like a car smash and a snow ball fight in the middle of the hot August weather. Like most new students, I went to the different events and gained a new perspective of what Greek Life was about at Florida Tech. These Greek organizations had philanthropies, social-mixers with other organizations and were actively involved on campus.
The first time I met the brothers of Delta Tau Delta was, ironically, through a person who would be an influence throughout my college career. If you read my previous post, you know who I’m talking about, DJ Pate. The first event I attended was a slip ‘n slide set up in the middle of campus. Coming back from my literature class and not wanting to go back and change, I just went down the slide in the clothes I was wearing. As the week progressed, I attended more Delt events as well as other fraternity events. Then, on a Saturday morning at 7 a.m., I received a life-changing knock on my door. To my surprise, I saw four individuals in suits congratulating me and presenting me with a bid for Delta Tau Delta. Accepting that bid has been one of the greatest decisions of my life.
When I first joined the Delts, they were still an interest group. Eventually we got our charter approved from headquarters and in November of 2010, the Delta Tau Delta Iota Xi chapter was formed. Through the years, I have seen this fraternity evolve with a new generation of brothers being initiated and several brothers graduating and becoming alumni. We spent countless hours working on community service projects, parade floats, midnight movie premieres and Steak n’ Shake runs. One of the common questions people ask you when you are in Greek Life is why would you want to pay for friends? In reality, I invested in a band of brothers that will be with me for life.
I want to personally thank each and every one of my brothers who have supported me and been part of my life during these four years of college. I also want to thank Florida Tech Greek Life for supporting organizations like Delta Tau Delta and other Greek fraternities and sororities that help develop young men and women. As a soon-to-be Delt alumnus, I will always uphold our motto of living a life of excellence and I encourage anyone coming to Florida Tech to check out our Greek Life Program and GO GREEK!
