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In a recent speech at The Episcopal Academy, Will Forbes ’96 recognized his Great-Uncle Frank Forbes, who today is 94, a retired fighter pilot from the Flying Tigers in the 14th Air Force during WWII. Frank was shot down and MIA for 3 weeks and managed to get out. In telling his Great-Uncle’s story, Brother Forbes reminds us of the lasting impact the experiences of our formative years has on our lives. Will passed along the following note:
If you have 15 minutes to watch it, it is a great story. How many times in your life do you get the chance to honor someone who is still with us?
The New York Law Journal recently reported Brother McCurdy ’82 was elected chair of the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren:
Kelley Drye & Warren has announced the election of Paul McCurdy as firm chair, succeeding John M. Callagy, who has been in the role since 1992. James J. Kirk, a partner in the real estate practice group, will continue to serve as managing partner, a role he has held since 2004. Mr. McCurdy, 51, said that among his goals as chair will be to create an environment for partners to become more engaged in firm governance; to continue to recruit high-quality lateral partners; and to build on Kelley Drye’s culture of “collegiality, inclusiveness, diversity, transparency, community service and pro bono.”
The Am Law Daily has more detailed information on Brother McCurdy’s background, the firm, and the selection process including:
The firm brought in consultants Dominick Volini and Bob Rosen from Healthy Companies International, a consulting firm McCurdy says a client recommended, to lead a thorough review of Kelley Drye’s governance structure. That review is not yet complete, says McCurdy, adding that his first goals as chair will be to successfully adopt new policies to shape the firm based on the feedback the consultants and firm leaders have gathered via their extensive interviews with the partnership.
Please join us in wishing Paul well in his new role of firm chair at Kelley Drye. Paul previously served as the President of the Rho House Association and President of the Lafayette College Alumni Association. He currently serves as a trustee of Lafayette College.
Brother Glock ’86 is again rallying the Rho Dekes from ’86 (plus or minus a few graduation years…the more the merrier!) Contact Peter Glock for more information.
Gentlemen, we are having our 3rd annual Rho ’86 DKE summer outing this year on May 5th (and 4th for those who are interested) in Washington, DC. We are planning to see the Phillies play the Nationals on the 5th at 1:05 pm, sandwiched by obligatory “cultural events,” of which there are certainly plenty in our nation’s capital. Given some of our brothers’ ties to DC, I’m sure we can also plot some outstanding night spots for Saturday night. We had a great time a couple of years ago in NYC. Our group continues to express a desire to reunite with Dekes from the years around us, so this is the perfect vehicle to bring the larger group together.
A few of us are planning to arrive in DC around noon on Friday, and do some sight-seeing, so we’ll be staying for 2 nights. Still, it’s fine if you just want to do Saturday night as well. If there is interest, I can see if we can get some group rates for hotel rooms if enough guys are interested.
I have been in touch with the group ticketing office of the Nationals, and it sounds like we will be able to get tickets together for the game, but because it’s a Phils game, they expect high demand for group tickets for the game. So the earlier we can get our request in, the more likely we’ll be able to get seats together in a desirable section. Please let me know if you’re going to be able to attend by Thursday so that we have a pretty firm grasp on the number of tickets we’ll need, and I can get our deposit in to give us a better chance.
We got 15 of us last time for the Yankee game (picture below). I’m hoping with this larger audience that we’ll be able to get double that for a major DKE reunion.
Feel free to extend this invite to any other Dekes that I may have missed, and “persuade” your fellow Dekes to attend with you. The more, the merrier !
Hope you can make it !!
Rho Dekes at Yankee Stadium
Lafayette’s Communications Department agreed to post Greek related news to their Greek Life website under Fraternity/Sorority Community in the News. Please remember to send all alumni news updates to rhonews@rhodke.org. We’ll make sure your updates get published to rhodke.org as well as Lafayette’s website for Greek Life.
On November 25, 2011, between 3pm and 6pm, the Jiwanko Saathiharu Foundation will be hosting a Volleyball tournament at Amity High School in Amity, CT. Proceeds will be donated to benefit the children of the beautiful, yet impoverished, nation of Nepal, as well as an annual Amity scholarship in memory of Jeremy Saxe. DKE supports the foundation annually with it’s undergraduate event “The Saxe Basketball Tournament.” We encourage all brothers who are in the area this holiday season to stop by and support this noble cause. For more information: http://www.ctbulletin.com/articles/2011/11/17/news/doc4ec5389d1c00c307020110.txt
For those who are unaware, Jeremy is a member of the DKE RHO class of 2009, and passed away his Senior year from natural causes. The Jiwanko Saathiharu Foundation was set up in his honor to support the children of Nepal. These children had a special place in Jeremy’s heart after his study abroad experience in that region. The foundation has many goals at hand, including to construct a better Napali school. For more information on the foundation please visit www.jeremysaxe.com
This newly established committee held its’ inaugural meeting on 10/20. The members are Brothers Mark Fedorov ’91, Rich Phillips ’98, and Hudson Cashdan ’01; and is chaired by Rho House Association Treasurer Peter Carlson ’02. This committee will manage the financial assets of the Rho House Association account which is funded by your dues and sinking fund contributions. The conversation touched on cash needs, portfolio construction, and long term strategy. One key plan for the future is to get the undergraduates involved and provide an opportunity for them to manage a financial portfolio; several options were discussed. This is the first committee established as part of the push to construct the Rho House Association in line with the best practices of non-profit corporations.
The undergraduates welcomed DKE attendees of the Marquis Founders Dinner to the DKE House on Friday October 21. Attendees included Brothers Matt Sheeleigh ’50, Bob Loughlin ’53, Allan Kirby ’53, Paul McCurdy ’82, and Mitch Wein (Treasurer of the College and VP of Finance & Administration). Students were glad to engage with their fellow Dekes and welcome them back to the DKE House.
DKE was recently charged as an organization for a food fight that trashed the kitchen and dining room in DKE. DKE held both the alumni participants and the student bystanders accountable with monetary fines and barring them from DKE events in the near term. Destruction in the DKE House must stop and we expect all Dekes to respect the investments we make in the house.
In the future we will hold enablers and bystanders equally accountable to any active participants in future incidents. DKE property was placed at risk by this incident. Additionally, the Dean raised questions about how we cleaned the food fight up because it was mostly sophomores when the Dean came to observe the mess. Trashing the kitchen and dining room must stop!
The Student Conduct Committee levied several penalties on us as a result of this incident. Among other penalties, we are under social probation until October 17th, 2012. During this time, we are not required to remain dry; however, we cannot host social events on or off campus. The full decision is available from Brother De Lisi. Contact him at webmaster@rhodke.org if you would like to review the decision. We are working to place this decision into context of the Campus Climate, particularly the recent Board of Trustees decisions regarding Greek Life.
We are proud to anounce the 2011 SummerFest Get Together; A time ment to catch up with one another, and have a few cocktails. This year’s event will take place at the Bohemian Beer Hall in Astoria Queens. It is the oldest Beer Hall in New York City, and has always served us well.
When: Saturday September 24th from 2pm to ?!?!?
Where:Bohemian Beer Hall
29-19 24th Avenue
New York, NY 11105
(718) 274-4925
Exit from the Subway: Astoria Blvd (the exit is right across the street from the Beer Hall)
Link: http://www.bohemianhall.com/en/Index.php
We look forward to seeing everyone there, and to LET THE LION ROAR. Any questions feel free to contact us.
ITB,
Christian (garellic@gmail.com) and John (jcrerand@gmail.com)
This story is a prequel to the excellent series of the early ‘50s recently penned by Brother Don Ayers.
First let me set the scene. I was among 86 high-point, combat veterans to enter a special class which Lafayette started in early November, 1945, to catch up with the freshmen of the already formed Class of 1949.
Pre-WWII, Lafayette had been a small men’s school, closely oriented to the Presbyterian Church, of some 1500 students. But, when we arrived, the Campus was almost deserted after being relinquished by the Army’s pre-training program (ASTP) for Air Cadets earlier in the year. Frankly, the school was starving for students, or practically none of our Special 1945 Veteran’s Class would ever have qualified for admission.
Soon after settling in on Campus, I started meeting other high-point Marines. Among them was Andy Olinger, who asked me to join him and several other Marines as Zete (Zeta Psi) pledges.
However, my first room mate at top of Old McKeen Hall was Joe Trickett, who had already pledged Deke. Although a recent high school graduate, Joe was a very mature football player and had already met a number of the newly-arrived veterans. He soon introduced me to several other good guys–combat veterans–who were already members of his pledge class. They included Marine Jim Schultz; Air Force Pilot, Charlie Brownie; and Navy Blimp Pilot, Jim Mott. So, after being invited, I decided to join them as the newest member of the Deke pledge class. The four of us soon became such good friends that we roomed together in a first floor suite at the tiny, old dorm: Newkirk Hall. Over looking the, then, much larger Quad, this delightful living experience couldn’t have been much different than veterans of that time saw in the days immediately following the Civil War.
Our large pledge class of some 12-15 recent prep/high school grads, mixed in with about an equal number of older combat veterans, was the first group of Dekes to open up the Old House after it had been evacuated as a barracks by the Army ASTP program. Continue reading »
Sample from DKE Gallery
Latest Update from IAGGL- An Update from the ChairFebruary 8, 2012 To Lafayette alumni and members of the on-campus community: Greetings from unseasonably warm College Hill. I am writing to provide an update on the work of the Implementation and Assessment Group on Greek Life (IAGGL) and to … Continue reading → […]
- An Update from the Chair
- Undergraduate news
- DKE Super Fans February 14, 2012 John Burke
- Jon Williamson Futures Quest February 8, 2012 John Burke
- Brother Leonard Excels on the Track February 3, 2012 John Burke
