Theta Elders Association, Inc.
Annual Corporation Meeting Agenda
October 18, 2020     

NOTE:  Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this annual corporation meeting was held via ZOOM.  The meeting was called to order at 1:01 PM by Phi Bob Kravecs.

Roll Call:

• Officers: Phi Bob Kravecs, Alpha Phi Shelly Katz, Gamma Don Burr, Sigma Ron Neiderwerfer

• Directors: Doug Donaldson, Michael Joyce, Al Smith, Cal Lord

• General Membership: Jim Conklin, Jeff Davis, Jim Henderson, Tom Stevens, Pete Slomianyj, Steve Rogers, Dave Debowsky, Earl Ott, Curtis Halla, Claudio Capone, Mike Slomianyj, and Ken Millard

Declaration of a Quorum by Bob Kravecs.

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

Opening Ode

• All the Brothers joined, with gusto, in a spirited rendition of our gathering song.

Appointment of Parliamentarian.

• PHI Kravecs appointed Jeff Davis to serve as Parliamentarian.

Approval of Minutes from the last annual meeting.

• The minutes of the July 28, 2019 annual meeting were approved as electronically distributed without revision following a motion by Michael Joyce and a second by Doug Donaldson. The motion carried.

President's report: 

• PHI Kravecs thanked the Officers and Directors for their service during the past year.  He also expressed his concern of the safety and health of the entire membership and their families. Doug Donaldson moved acceptance of the report.  Al Smith seconded.  The motion carried.

Secretary's report:

• None.

Treasurer's report:

• Don Burr submitted and explained the detailed report electronically submitted prior to the meeting.

• The general checking account balance as of 10/18/20:  $8,008.87 (was $8,016.94 at 2019 meeting).

• Fidelity Investment Account balance as of 10/18/20: $249,483.04 (was $193,740.44 at 2019 meeting).

• Zete4Life:  National Headquarters has not yet sent out our annual distribution. This should be about $600.00.

• GAMMA Burr and PHI Kravecs remain the authorized co-signatories on the accounts.

• Doug Donaldson moved acceptance of the report.  Al Smith seconded.  The motion carried

Investment Committee:

• The Committee is comprised of PHI Kravecs (Chairman), GAMMA Burr, Tristan Lawrie, and Al Smith.

• PHI Kravecs maintains primary contact with investment advisor Panfilo Guglielmi who continues to work with no fee as a courtesy to Bob.

• GAMMA Burr said that the accounts have bounced back nicely from recent market declines.

• No changes were recommended regarding investment strategies in the near future.

• There was discussion of giving Mr. Goglielmi a gift for his services

• Doug Donaldson moved acceptance of the report.  Jeff Davis seconded.  The motion carried..

Housing Committee Report

• None, due to the absence of an Active Chapter.

Website Report:

• Michael Joyce has been handling these duties for years.  He submitted the following information: there are 719 members listed in the TEA database.  Roughly 200 of those are ‘lost Zetes" with no mail or postal addresses.  Currently there are 218 valid email addresses.

OLD BUSINESS

Active Chapter Status:

• The Active Chapter became inactive in 2014.

• Several Greek organizations have recently had their recognized status revoked by UConn.  There appears to be an opportunity to reengage talks with the UConn administration about reactivation.

• Zeta Psi Headquarters have been unsuccessful in their efforts to persuade a reactivation effort.

• Doug Donaldson was authorized, by PHI Kravecs, to make contact with Greek Like Director Jamel  Catoe to ascertain Zeta Psi’s viability for reactivation.  Mr. Catoe has been unresponsive with our previous efforts.  Doug will initiate a discussion with Mr. Catoe as soon as is practicable.

• There are organizations available to do a complete activation.  The cost is roughly $40,000.00..

Theta Fund at International Headquarters: 

• Restricted funds are established at the Grand Chapter for donations to be earmarked to those donors specific Chapters, in our case the Theta Fund.

• Essentially there are 2 Theta Funds:

• First, The Educational Foundation Fund is for donations which can only be used for educational purposes.  These donations are tax deductible.Currently, there is about $45,000.00 in this fund.  A possibility exists that some of this money could be used for reactivation.

• The second Theta Fund is the Fraternity Theta Fund.  These donations are not tax deductible. We  have somewhere between $12 and $14,000.00 in this fund with no restrictions for how they can be  used..

University Liaison Committee

• The Committee has not been active due to the lack of an Active Chapter.

Zete4Life Update:

• The TEA should be receiving our annual check for about $600.00 soon.

• All graduating seniors are solicited to sign up for Zete 4 Life upon graduation with one half of the funds going to the Grand Chapter and one half going to the TEA in support of the Active Chapter.

• Donations may be made for as little as $1.00/week.

Convention Report:

• The International Convention was held virtually due to the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19.

• Shelly Katz attended a few of the meetings.

Other Old Business:

• None.

NEW BUSINESS

Moment of Silence:

• The Brotherhood stopped and reflected for a moment, in honor of our departed Brothers.

Bylaw Change (amendment):

• At the July 28, 2019 meeting, the Membership Eligibility and Gender Identity Study Committee (appointed in 2018) issued the following recommendation to change the By-Laws: 

• “Membership in the Theta Chapter shall be limited to males or those who identify as “male” and who regularly utilize HE, HIM, and HIS as their preferred gender pronouns.” 

• The motion to accept the recommendation was made, seconded, and carried by the Board and placed on the agenda for this 2020 Annual meeting.

• PHI Kravecs called for a vote of those in attendance and the change (amendment) passed.  There was one dissenting vote and one abstention.

Approval of actions taken by the TEA Board since the last meeting:

• Doug Donaldson moved to approve all of the actions taken by the Officers and Directors since the July 28, 2019 meeting.  Michael Joyce seconded the motion.  The motion carried.

Dues Notices:

• After much debate, a motion was made by Jeff Davis to send out dues notices.The motion was seconded by Shelly Katz.  The motion carried.

• The revenue from the dues received essentially offsets the expense of the mailing. The positive gain is the upkeep of an accurate address list.

• Michael Joyce will do the work in this effort, with help from others if necessary.

• Concurrent with the sending out of the dues notices, Mike will procure Headquarters address list to make cross-reference and make updates.  The list costs $150.00.  Doug Donaldson moved to purchase the list from Headquarters.  Shelly Katz seconded the motion.  The motion carried.

Theta Chapter Memorabilia Consolidation

• Bob Kravecs moved all remaining memorabilia from Doug Donaldson’s previous residence in  Manchester.

• Doug Donaldson moved to reimburse Bob for his expenses in the effort, up to $50.00.  Michael Joyce seconded the Motion..  The motion carried.

• Jim Henderson has some miscellaneous memorabilia and will get them to Bob

2020 - 60th Anniversary Update

• The event has been postponed until sometime in 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  A   rescheduled date will be determined when the situation changes for the better.

• $5,000.00 was allocated, at the July, 2019 meeting, to fund the event.

2021 Zeta International Convention:

• The Convention is to be held in New Orleans.

• Doug Donaldson will be attending but doesn’t want to replace a TEA appointed delegate.

• Discussion to appoint a delegate was tabled until future date due to the uncertainty if a Convention will be held.

Election of Directors: 

• The following Elders were nominated as Directors for the upcoming term:  Ron Niederwerfer, Jeff  Davis, Tom Stevens, Bob Kravecs, Shelly Katz, Michael Joyce, Earl Ott, Al Smith, Cal Lord, Harvey Beinstein, Don Burr, Doug Donaldson, Bob Bentley, and Chris Heacox.

• Don Burr moved that the nominations be accepted with a single affirmative ballot.  Doug Donaldson seconded the motion.  The motion carried.

• NOTE: 14 Directors were elected.  They chose the officers from amongst their group which reduced the number of Directors to the mandated range of 3 to 8.  he election of Officers was a follows: PHI: Bob Kravecs, ALPHA PHI: Shelly Katz, SIGMA: Ron Niederwerfer, GAMMA: Don Burr, ALPHA SIGMA: Michael Joyce, DELTA: Doug Donaldson

• It was decided not to elect the optional officers of Alpha Gamma and Beta Pi, the Active Chapter liaison.

Other New Business:

• None

HA Plaque:

• Ron Niederwerfer nominated Doug Donaldson for performing unspeakable deviant acts with Theta Chapter memorabilia.  The good news is that he is comfortably in rehab in Florida after a swift Intervention by Bob Kravecs who removed the memorabilia and thereby saving (at least temporarily) Doug’s public image.

• Al Smith nominated Steve Rogers for not blinking, even once, during the entire ZOOM meeting.  All other members in attendance noticed this too, but were reluctant to say anything because Steve had appeared dead. After further inspection Steve was found to be merely catatonic.

• In a close and contentious election, Doug won.  It must be noted that this is the second consecutive Year Doug has won the HA.  It must also be noted that Doug is in possession of the HA Plaque and prominently displayed it during the meeting. HMMMM?!

Good and Welfare:

• PHI, Bob Kravecs metaphorically passed the gavel and all Brothers present expressed their pride in being Zetes and members of the Theta Chapter.

Closing Ode and Adjournment:

• The meeting was adjourned at 2:16 PM with the singing of the “Farewell Ode”.

Respectfully submitted in Tau Kappa Phi,  

Ron Niederwerfer

Secretary

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