Theta Elders Association, Inc.
Annual Corporation Meeting Agenda
September 6, 2009     

Meeting was called to order by President Donaldson at 4:00 PM.

Roll Call by Ron Niederwerfer.

• Secretary called the role by passing a sign in sheet.

• Directors in attendances: Doug Donaldson, Bob Kravecs, Ron Niederwerfer, Michael Joyce, Tim Vellrath, Tim Pagnucco, Jeff Marvin, and Don Burr.

• Non-voting members present were: Joe Lauria and Wes Morrison (both recent grads paid their dues and become voting members after the time lag in the by-laws passes.) There were 22 undergraduate guests at the meeting. Lynn Donaldson and Suzanne Kelley acted as House Mothers.

Declaration of a Quorum by Doug Donaldson.

• President Donaldson reviewed the role call and declared that a quorum was present.

Opening Ode

• All the Brothers joined in a spirited rendition of our gathering song. Don Burr was praised for learning the words after only 49 years. He remains the only Brother to know the Delta Chi Delta songs and ritual.

Appointment of Parliamentarian.

• President Donaldson appointed Bob Kelley to serve as Parliamentarian.

Approval of Minutes from the last annual meeting.

• The minutes of the 2008 annual meeting were approved and with the Motion by Brother Bob Kravecs; Second by Brother Don Burr; Carried.

President's report: 

• President Donaldson thanked the Directors and Officers for their service again during the past year. He singled out Brothers Burr and Niederwerfer for their long term service and he asked for a moment of silence to commemorate the passing of Brother Bob Norton. There will be a memorial service for Bob on September 14 at 11:00 AM in Mansfield.

Secretary's report:

• Brother Ron Niederwerfer chose not to submit a report.

Treasurer's report:

• Brother Don Burr's written report was distributed:

  • General Checking Account $3,602

  • Certificates of Deposit $63,194 (was 60,916 in 2008)

  • Fidelity Investment Account $43,085 (was $46,422 in 2008)

• There are three remaining certificates of deposit with rotating maturity dates approximately every four months. Interest rates range from 2.5% to 3.75%. One with Bank of America, and two with the Savings Institute Bank and Trust. Brother Don Burr reported that interest rates have dropped significantly and when these certificates are rolled over we will not be able to renew at rates even close to those we have now.

• Brother Bob Kravecs moved acceptance of the report and Brother Michael Joyce seconded: Carried.

Housing Committee Report: 

• Brother Doug Donaldson reported that the committee remained in touch with local realtors Brother Peter and his wife Doryann Plante to research property in the Storrs area. They toured (virtually or in person) several more properties and decided that we would need a legal in-law apartment to bring the legal number of residents up to eight from the four allowed by town zoning in a single family residence. The problem to date has been that any property that seems suitable is either too far from campus or is in too upscale a neighborhood.

• TEA has commitments from several Elders Brothers but we are intentionally delaying collection due to the House Bill that is still active in Congress that may make donations to campus housing tax deductible.

OLD BUSINESS

Website Report:

• Brother Michael Joyce reported that the web page continues to be visited regularly, We are still looking for a complete email list so please submit updates whenever your address changes. He updates the page regularly with new news and photos as well as reports from the undergraduates. He is still seeking news and photos with which to refresh the site. He remarked that the lost Elder list is growing.

Investment Committee:

• Timing is everything in life and we invested at the worst possible time in 2007. However our results have not been as dismal as most private investors because our investment advisor Panfillo G. has kept most of our funds in Money Market 's rather than being fully invested. This has resulted in a 15% drop in our portfolio when most fully invested portfolios are down more than 40%. The initial balance of $20,000 that was invested in the Fidelity account has diminished to $12,000. but his firm kept our asset allocation 60% in money market funds.

• The Committee met with Panfillo ten days ago and decided to avoid ETF's at this time and otherwise to continue to allow the investment advisor to do asset allocation as he deems fit.

Active Chapter Update:  

• Mike Barnhardt, the undergraduate Phi, delivered an excellent summary of the Chapter's activities and membership:

  • 25 undergraduate members of which 18 are new from Spring/Fall of 2008

  • House is in great shape

  • Among the Chapter's major goals are: clearing a major debt to the Grand Chapter by making a payment of $4,500 next week; their goal is to have 10+ Pledges in the Fall; they have a web page <Zeta Psi-UConn.com>; they have a philanthropy egg toss on campus upcoming.

• Composite photos were discussed. Brother Doug Donaldson asked for extra personal sized composites to be given to him for long term storage.

Theta Chapter Active Scholarship Grant:  

• Brother Don Burr moved that we allocate $1,500 for scholarship grants for 2010 with the application deadline of December 31st, 2009. Brother Michael Joyce seconded. The motion carried.

Theta Fund at International Headquarters: 

• A restricted fund has been established at the Grand Chapter. Brothers who make gifts to the International Fraternity may wish to earmark their gifts to the Theta Fund. Brother Doug Donaldson reminded the Brothers that this was not a tax deductible donation if it is made to the Fraternity. Gifts to the Educational Foundation are tax deductible but they can not be used for non-educational expenses.

Actives Web Site: 

• In 2007 authorization of up to $250 to support an Active Chapter web-site was approved. There has been no request for the funds because the site is still being developed by the Active Chapter. A motion to reaffirm the previously approved funding was made by Brother Bob Kravecs and Seconded by Brother Michael Joyce. The motion carried.

House Fund Raising:

• In 2007 a plan was discussed to solicit funds from alumni members to raise $100,000 over five years to supplement the existing housing funds. Brother Michael Joyce made an informative presentation and Brother Doug Donaldson was charged to begin the program. EDITORS NOTE: Subsequent to the initial meeting in 2007 Brother Donaldson learned that a vehicle for tax deductible donations was before the Congress of the United States. Therefore, the implementation of the campaign was put on hold until the resolution of that proposal.

50th Anniversary Committee: 

• Brother Bob Kravecs reported on his contacts with the Nathan Hale Inn. He booked rooms for our 50th Anniversary Celebration for the weekend of April 10th. EDITORS NOTE: Subsequent to this meeting UConn Greek Community decided to host events for a Greek Reunion on the weekend of June 4-5, 2010 and the Reunion Committee decided to piggy back on that date to provide a broader array of events for our membership. Brother Bob Kravecs changed the room reservation accordingly.

NEW BUSINESS

Approval of Actions Taken by TEA Board since last meeting: 

• Brother Don Burr made a motion to approve all of the actions taken by the Officers and Directors since the last annual meeting. Brother Bob Kravecs seconded and the motion carried.

Request for Rush and Initiation Participation: 

• The Active Chapter requested increased participation from the Elders for Rushing and Pledging.

Donation of Funds: 

• Brother Doug Donaldson reported that members of the Theta Chapter donated funds for the refurbishment of two past Phi Alpha's photographs in the Grand Chapter archives; William H. McElroy, Theta Chapter '60 (Union College) Phi Alpha in 1901-1902 and Max Schwerin Theta Chapter '70 (Union College) Phi Alpha in 1883-1884.

Election of Directors: 

• The following Brothers were elected as directors: Tom Stevens, Don Burr, Ron Niederwerfer, Doug Donaldson, Chris Heacox, Bob Kravecs, Jeff Marvin, Tim Vellrath, Joe Lauria, Wes Morisson, Tristan Laurie, Michael Joyce and Tim Pagnucco.

• The Brothers elected as directors select the officers and those not elected as officers serve as the directors.

HA Plaque

• Brother Shelly Katz was nominated and elected unanimously for inappropriate behavior at Iota Delta's birthday party.

Good and welfare:

• The gavel was not passed because the President failed to bring it. A salad serving spoon was deemed an appropriate substitute. All Brothers present expressed their pride in being Zetes and part of the Theta Chapter and the salad spoon was used for a casual anal probe to remove Brother Donaldson's hemorrhoids just as it was before the salad was served.

Closing Ode and Adjournment

• The meeting was adjourned at 4:40 PM.

Respectfully submitted in Tau Kappa Phi,  

Ron Niederwerfer

Secretary

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