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2011 Newsletter
Picture of Beta Alpha Theta Chapter Members after Fall
Initiation Ceremony on September 27, 2011
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Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity was inspired by Richard J. H. Gottheil, a
professor of languages at Columbia University and a leader in the
early American Zionist movement. On December 29, 1898, Professor
Gottheil gathered together a group of Jewish students from several
New York City universities to form a Zionist youth society. The society
was called Z.B.T.
During this brief period, the society came to serve as a kind of fraternal body for college studentswho, as Jews, were excluded from joining existing fraternities because of the sectarian practices
which prevailed at the end of the nineteenth century in the United States. The continuing need
for a Greek-letter fraternity open to Jewish students prompted Z.B.T. to change its raison d'etre,
structure and emphasis and to become Zeta Beta Tau in 1903. Zeta Beta Tau expanded rapidly. By
1909, it had established 13 Chapters throughout the Northeast and a 14th at Tulane University at
New Orleans, thereby taking on a truly national dimension. In 1913, it established its first
Canadian Chapter at McGill University in Montreal. Five years later, it founded its first West Coast
Chapter at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. At the 1954 National Convention,
the delegates amended Zeta Beta Tau's Constitution, ritual and internal procedures both in theory
and in practice to eliminate sectarianism as a qualification for membership.
Today the merged Zeta Beta Tau Brotherhood is one of the largest, numbering
over 140,000 initiated Brothers, at more than 90 chapter locations
Through good times and bad, ZBT has been in the
forefront in pioneering new concepts as
evidenced by its very founding, its elimination of
sectarian membership practices, its acceptance
of mergers, and its elimination of hazing.
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Intellectual Awareness
Fraternity creates an atmosphere conducive to the expansion of the
individual's intellectual horizons, the interchange of ideas within the
academic community and the pursuit of scholastic excellence.
When it comes to intellectual awareness, ZBT places education and individual grades as a
top priority because, without it, none of us could be gathered at the university. The
house maintains a large 24/7 quiet study room on the third floor and provides weekly
tutoring sessions to ensure all brothers maintain above a 2.5 GPA. Additionally, for three
nights a week, the chapter room is converted from a primarily social gathering place to
an academically centered study area. During these nights, numerous tables are set-up for
brothers to congregate and study in a quiet, library setting. Since our brotherhood is so
diverse, it is easy to seek help from another brother who has experience with your
studies. Whether it be an upper-classman with the same major or a brother who is
knowledgeable in your area of study, academic advising is always within an arms reach.
The mission of the Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity (ZBT) is to foster and develop
in its membership the tenets of its Credo: Intellectual Awareness, Social
Responsibility, Integrity and Brotherly Love, in order to prepare its
members for positions of leadership and service within their communities.
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Social Responsibility
Fraternity requires the individual to commit himself and accept his
responsibility to participate.
By putting a great amount of effort into any fraternity, you will gain friendship, brotherhood, and fond memories.
By participating in as many activities as possible, you will meet many new people and be part of new experiences.
The brothers of the Beta Alpha Theta chapter firmly believe that they will "get out what they put in." In other
words, a member who participates, puts forth strong effort and continually exhibits good character will attain the
most that fraternity has to offer. Conversely, a member who consistently misses chapter meetings, skips
brotherhood events, and does "just enough to get by" will miss out on the life lessons, experience, alumni
connections, and friendships that are unique to fraternity life.
To push each other to excel and attain the most out of their university experience, the brothers of ZBT created apoint system called BATman (Beta Alpha Theta man). The system promotes brotherhood participation and
rewards individuals for their involvement both inside and outside the fraternity. It ensures brothers receive the
most the most balanced, exciting, and rewarding college experience possible by awarding BATman points for
achievements such as:
high GPA
high chapter attendance
completion of more than the minimum 10 community service hours
involvement in extracurricular activities
holding leadership positions within the house
and much, much more!
The point system is broken in to three tiers: Beta, Beta Alpha, and Beta Alpha Theta. Only 20% of those who join
ZBT will graduate in the top tier (BAT) by excelling and showing their dedication to intellectual awareness, social
responsibility, integrity, and brotherly love.
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Integrity
Fraternity generates a standard of personal integrity - a framework for the
individual to maintain honesty, exhibit loyalty and retain a sense of self-
discipline.
Integrity is defined as adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character;
honesty. To gain brotherhood status at ZBT, one must be a man of good integrity and
character. Additionally, to maintain full brotherhood status, each member must continually
exhibit the qualities associated with integrity and all Chapter standards. To ensure these
standards are upheld, each ZBT chapter holds a Semi-Annual Brotherhood Review Vote (S.B.R.V.)
at the end of each semester. Instituted nationally in 1989 in conjunction with the abolishment of
pledging, the S.B.R.V. mandates that all ZBT chapters have a vote to see who, if anyone, should be
removed from membership within the chapter. All brothers participate in, and are subject to, the
anonymous vote, which are tallied by the Brotherhood Development Director. If a brother
receives a simple majority of Nay votes, he is expelled from the fraternity. Expulsion typically
occurs only when a brother consistently acts in a manner that severely damages the well-being,
reputation, and safety of the brotherhood and community. Since the Beta Alpha Theta chapteronly rushes the highest caliber of men capable of upholding our standards of excellence,
expulsion is an extremely rare occurrence.
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Brotherly Love
Fraternity inspires and expresses the interrelation of the individual with
his fellows, his pride in the institution and respect for the wisdom of its
tradition.
At ZBT we pride ourselves on having one the closest brotherhood on campus; camaraderie
is the best word to describe what we have. Here, each brother is a name, not just another
number. Our chapter sense of brotherhood. In return, they get the most out of theircollege experience while being provided the tools and connections to be successful in life.
To celebrate our brotherhood, ZBT organizes and hosts two annual retreats: Fall and
Spring Formal. These formal events are held at the end of each semester and traditionally
take place at a ski-resort in the Rocky Mountains. Each brother is allowed to bring a date
to the weekend-long celebration that consists of a gourmet dinner, DJ-hosted dance party,
and an award ceremony where individual brothers are recognized for their academic
achievement, community involvement, and fraternal commitment.
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To live up to brotherhood standards, each Zebe is required to complete a minimum of 10
hours of community service per semester. Over the course of the most recent spring
semester, the brothers at the Beta Alpha Theta chapter of ZBT far surpassed this minimum
requirement, as the house collectively completed 454.5 hours of community service durin
various events. Among these events was a brotherhood-wide effort to help build houses
with Habitat for Humanity on February 12, 2011. Fifteen brothers spent their Saturday in
Commerce City and worked on four different houses that were each at different stages oftheir construction. Eight of the brothers spent their time constructing a roof on one of the
structures. Five brothers established the base of the unit, and assisted in constructing the
walls of another unit. The other two brothers installed insulation and attached siding on
the outside of the house. In total, the brothers gave one hundred and twelve hours of
community service during this single event.
ZBT Builds Houses with Habitat for Humanity
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Every spring the brothers of ZBT organize a formal event to celebrate and reflect on the end of a school year. This
event is much like the semi-formal held in the fall, with the exception that it traditionally takes place over the course
of two nights instead of one. Formals are an important part of ZBT tradition and are always planned by the senior
class. Although attendance is not mandatory, nearly all brothers do their best to save money in advance for the
event. This one in particular was held at The Lodge and Spa at Breckinridge and boasted the highest brotherhood
attendance in nearly four years. From freshmen to recently graduated alumni, nearly all brothers of the Beta Alpha
Theta chapter gathered for a weekend of fun. The celebration culminated on Saturday night with a formal dinner,
ceremony, and dance. During the ceremony several brothers are awarded for their outstanding accomplishments
both inside and out of the fraternity. Brothers arrived at the lodge on Friday, April 22 nd and returned to the ZBT
fraternity house on April 24th for one last week of classes. It is brotherhood bonding experiences such as these that
remind everyone why it is truly great to be a Zebe.
S rin Formal in Breckenrid e
Greek Week, much like the name implies, is a Greek-wide event that takes place over
the course of one week in the spring. Fraternities and Sororities are randomly paired
together to participate in a variety of competitions and earn Greek Week points.
Winning some events earns more points than others, but all are designed to encoura
Greek pride and develop long lasting relationships with other Greek houses. Among
these events are flag-football, volleyball, Miss Greek beauty pageant, and the mosthighly contended competition: Songfest. Songfest is a large dance competition where
members from all house of a Greek Week team choreograph, practice, and perform a
minute long routine. These dance routines are typically based upon the annual Greek
Week theme. This years Greek Week theme was the Game of Life, and each house w
randomly assigned one of the possible career outcomes from the popular board gam
Among these careers were the doctor, rock star, school and teacher. This year ZBTs
team was assigned the supermodel as their Game of Life theme and, accordingly,
performed a model themed dance routine. Songfest is worth the most points out of a
the events and nearly all teams begin practice several weeks before the competition
At the end of the week, the team with the highest amount of points is deemed theGreek Week champions. Taking home the first place trophy is one of the most highly
coveted prizes within the Greek system as it reflects house organization, dedication,
and participation. This year ZBT was proud to be paired with the Kappa Kappa Gamm
sorority and the Chi Psi and Alpha Gamma Omega fraternities for Greek Week. While
our team did not take home first prize in Songfest or Greek Week this year, the
brothers had a blast making new friendships with members of the other houses and
look forward to participating again next year.
Greek Week 2011
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Last semester the Beta Alpha Theta chapter was proud to host its first annual Fathers Weekend. This fun filled weekend,
planned by Internal Vice President David Peurye-Hissong, kicked off on Friday, February 4th with a meet-and-greet Pass th
Staff ritual, barbeque, and father-son poker tournament. The Pass the Staff ritual allows fathers and sons to introduce
themselves to the brotherhood and share their thoughts and experiences of ZBT. During the event a traditional ZBT staff is
passed around the room between each person. While in possession of the staff, an individual is allowed to speak their minand share their thoughts without interruption or judgment. Once everyone introduced themselves, the BBQ and father-son
poker tournament began. Everyone in attendance competed for the top prizes and bragging rights as the tournament laste
late into the night. The first place family won the honor of having their name engraved on the Fathers Weekend trophy. Th
also received first pick between a variety of prizes such as CU memorabilia, high quality cigars and gift cards. This years
winners were Nicholas Lubell, his father and uncle. On Saturday, the brothers and fathers went on a tour of Coors brewery
Golden, CO and Sunday was designated a free-day to give fathers and sons a chance to explore Boulder together. Overal
the weekend was a complete success and the brothers cannot wait to host it again next year!
Fun at Father's Weekend
Every year the brothers at the Beta Alpha Theta chapter t
to give back to the campus and community through diffe
philanthropic events. One of ZBTs most notable
philanthropies is the annual Get on the Ball fundraiser.
this event, brothers take turns rolling a large, inflatable b
around campus for several hours a day over the course o
week to petition signatures from fellow CU students. Fo
each signature on the ball, money is donated to charity. T
keep track of the signatures on the ball, students are also
required to sign a paper petition. This year ZBT raised a t
of $1,473 for the Council for Inclusion, Leadership and
Advocacy (CILA). CILA is a CU campus organization that w
to dispel stigmas about being disabled and raise awarene
about disabilities, all while teaching their group member
be better leaders for themselves in school and in their
communities. The philanthropic efforts gained local
recognition, as the ball being rolled around campus was
publicized in the Boulder Daily Camera.
Get on the Ball
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Fraternity Leaders Academy 201
Every semester the Inter Fraternity Council (IFC) holds a
fraternity leadership retreat at the YMCA cabins in Este
Park, CO. Each fraternity in the Greek system selects tw
promising young members to send on the weekend lon
event. During the retreat the young members are taugh
what it takes to run a successful fraternity from the IFC
executive board as well as past chapter and IFC
presidents. These notable guest speakers share stories,
experiences, and advice to the attendees. Numerous
workshops are also held to give the young men an
opportunity to work through different scenarios and
challenges they might face as a potential fraternity
leader. To promote inter-fraternity relations, theseactivities are performed in small teams with members
from other fraternity houses. The workshop is designed
to educate and encourage individuals to pursue
leadership roles both inside and outside of their
respective fraternity. This year freshmen Matthew Stav
and sophomore Andrew Bridgers were selected to atte
the retreat; both have since displayed interest in holdin
an executive position within ZBT.
On Saturday, March 12, 2011 six
brothers of the Beta Alpha Theta chaptercompeted and took home the gold
medal in Delta Gammas annual Anchor
Olympics philanthropy. This Greek-wide
fundraiser is held in support of Service
for the Sight, a charity that promotes
awareness and provides care to those
afflicted of blindness and visual
impairment. Money raised from the
event is donated to Delta Gammas local
Anchor Center in Denver which educatesand provides treatment to visually
impaired infants, young children and
their families. Every fraternity in the
Boulder Greek system competed in a
variety of fun, athletic events such as a
basketball tournament, two-legged relay
race, and pie eating contest. While the
six ZBT brothers did not place first in
every event, their overall team score
surpassed the rest, earning them firstprize! The Beta Alpha Theta chapter
congratulates Matthew Ellman, Keith
Brady, Devin Hegger, Hunter Hoopes,
Ryan Roden, and Ryan Lewis for their
hard work and dedication in the Anchor
Olympics competition.
ZBT Places First in
Delta Gamma's
Anchor Olympics
Spring Letter from the PresidenSpring semester was a very busy few months for Beta Alp
Theta. In my previous three years in the fraternity, I had
seen the amount of commitment to the community as I s
this semester. It was great to see so many individuals do
something to make a positive impact. Not only did we
complete over 400 hours of community service, with
everyones help we also collected over 450 pounds of
clothing that was donated to a local church. From our
seniors to freshman, everyone was very dedicated to
making Zeta Beta Tau the best it could be. I look forward
having all the brothers back in the August, and carrying t
momentum through the fall semester.
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