Pledge Class Histories


Founders
Initiated:Winter 1997
Brothers:National Web Committee Theta Tau, Cullen Worthem Jr., Dan Jensen, Julian Broggio, Carl Fischer, Ryan Sekela, Derek Sorensen, Ryan Meder, Jason Bailey
History:On October 8th, 1997 Executive Director Mike Abraham, Regional Director Chris Stockman, and Justin Wiseman held a meeting at the University of Michigan with hopes of establishing a Theta Tau chapter. Four University of Michigan students who attended the meeting decided to organize a colony of Theta Tau at the University of Michigan, called Mu Theta Tau. The colony recruited four new members and began developing what would become Theta Gamma chapter of Theta Tau.

Α Alpha
Initiated:Fall 1998
Brothers:Aaron Furman, Matt Feustel, Drew Batchelder, Mark Ascione, Angie Olsofsky, Julianne Schaefer, Dave Moenssen, Todd Moilanen, Darin Cepeda, Stan Bisgaier
History:The fifteen members of the Alpha class were the first to pledge the Mu Theta Tau Colony. They started many traditions, such as the pledge retreats, and also established the philanthropy, social, and web chair committees.

Β Beta
Initiated:Winter 1999
Brothers:Beth (Tuttle) Gardner, John Myers, Dan Allen, Philip Waligora, Matthew Olsofsky, Gregory Sabo, Tanuj Mehta
History:The Beta class was the last class to pledge the Mu Theta Tau colony. One week after their pinning, Mu Theta Tau was certified as a chapter and became Theta Gamma Chapter of Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity. The Betas were also the first non-charter members of the fraternity. The Beta class started the Theta Gamma Save the Egg competition, and was involved in campus events such as Engineering Service Day, where Brother Jensen had an unfortunate run in with a 12,000 lb log at the Arb. After their initiation as brothers, the National Officers, including Grand Regent Lee Haas attended the Beta Class initiation party.

Γ Gamma
Initiated:Fall 1999
Brothers:Mark Giska, Jim Mellentine, Jack Stepanian, Andy Valiquett, Nityanan Tapia
History:In Fall of 1999 with Nacho Dan Jensen for a pledge instructor seven pledges became Theta Gamma Chapter's Gamma class. They were the first pledge class of chapter status and the class that started the pledge book tradition. Together they survived a winter retreat without any heat and made the most successful pledge project of any class, a large lighted version of the Theta Tau badge.

Δ Delta
Initiated:Winter 2000
Brothers:Marvin Riley, Javed Jinnah
History:In winter 2000 the Delta pledge class was formed of three prospective brothers. During their pledge term they were given the responsibility of making a chpater photo album as a pledge project.

Ε Epsilon
Initiated:Fall 2000
Brothers:Jonas Daunoravicius, Reid Bronson
History:The Epsilon pledge class was Theta Gamma's smallest pledge class with only two members, but it was also probably the closest pledge class in chapter history. By the end of their period Reid and Jonas had become best friends. Their pledge term included making a voting box, visiting the Epsilon Beta chapter, going to Pumpkin Bash, and the beginning of a love affair with 40s.

Ζ Zeta
Initiated:Winter 2001
Brothers:Latha Mellentine, Darrin Tracy, Bayly Wheeler, Ray Tervol, Christopher Van Ittersum, Theodore Ketai, Mark Peraino
History:In winter 2001, the Zeta pledge class was formed, consisting of 14 pledges; it was Theta Gamma's largest pledge class. As a class they survived Reid's mass destruction of pledge books during the Toledo retreat and two daunting (and still unfinished) pledge projects. The Zeta class also had fun along the way; they began the pledge tradition of painting the rock and had a very eventful initiation party.

Η Eta
Initiated:Fall 2001
Brothers:Suzanne Rauch, Beth Kilbourne, Sara Quintana, Justin Washburn, Paul Conlin, Erin Robbins, Russell Burkhard
History:The first pledge class dominated by women, the Eta class was quite enthusiastic. Brother Quintana became the first pledge to successfully interview all active brothers. Furthermore, following initiation, every Eta assumed at least one appointed position within the fraternity. With such gusto, the future of Theta Gamma looked bright.

Θ Theta
Initiated:Winter 2002
Brothers:Erica Schmidt, Kate Gunberg, Patrick Doll
History:Yet another class comprised of mostly women, the Thetas were the first class since Epsilon to successfully complete their pledge project. Quite possibly the most memorable event of their pledge period occurred during the Cleveland retreat when the members of Theta Gamma dined in a four star, upscale steakhouse wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and assorted Michigan apparel.

Ι Iota
Initiated:Fall 2002
Brothers:Michael Quinn, Amanda Graor, Joe Fairchild, Jessica Kron, Greg Fischer, David Pinkney, Kiran Dashairya, Jeff Grimm, Michelle Albright, Rebecca Stoloff, David Preston, Aaron Kluck, Mark Thomas, Monika Patel, Philip Kofahl, Becky Sherman
History:Despite being the largest pledge class in the history of Theta Gamma, they were also one of the closest. After a rousing fall retreat at Houghton Lake, with a few nicknames earned, the pirates and ninjas Halloween party was one not to be forgotten. A lot of fun and bonding was had at the basketball concession stands. Capping off a successful semester was the painting of the rock, which ended up with more paint on the pledges than on the rock itself.

Κ Kappa
Initiated:Winter 2003
Brothers:Alex Kotula, Matt Byom, Matt Bowman, Adam Schrems, Sarah Barr, Joel Donoghue, Danielle Boyle (White), Kate Maher, Larisa Ensign
History:A 50/50 mix of males and females, this pledge class completed the most visible pledge project to date, a Theta Tau table made out of bottle caps. Winter retreat at the Double JJ Ranch, complete with snow tubing and a bonfire, proved a big success. At the end of the pledge semester, the toga-themed initiation party was a big hit with brothers and friends alike.

Λ Lambda
Initiated:Fall 2003
Brothers:Jacob Milliken, Maggie Reed, Kathryn Blodgett, Quan (Kevin) Zhu
History:The Lambda class was a small but close-knit group. One of the more memorable experiences during this pledge semester was Kevin Leung's serenade of Dear Old Thermo after losing his book at retreat in HOugton Lake. The pinning party was a success, and the Founders' Day BBQ, where the pledges could interact with alumni members, was one they all remember fondly.

Μ Mu
Initiated:Winter 2004
Brothers:Rosa Abani, Courtney Martin, Ben Friedland
History:

Ν Nu
Initiated:Fall 2004
Brothers:James Bloomsburgh, Jennifer Dolan, Christina Sadler, Matthew Rodriguez, Eli Busen, Kendra Sass, Michelle Zenczak, Francis Szalay, Nate LaFave, Nicole Kizy, Jennifer Sutherland, Stephanie Iatrow, Lauren Furlong
History:

Ξ Xi
Initiated:Winter 2005
Brothers:Kelly Sanderson, Hillary Kast, Heetal Patel, Kurt Oster, Patrick Liu
History:

Ο Omicron
Initiated:Fall 2005
Brothers:Jennifer Gehle, Christopher Muhich, Vincent Verdeschi, AJ Frantz, Eily Clemens, Miriam Scherkenbach, Cindy Wang, Phillip Clark, Tanvi Singh, Nick McGrail, Jim Freeman
History:The Omicron Pledge Class was given the most ambitious pledge projects to date, and had lots of fun along the way. Not only were they to create a collapsible flag pole, lovingly referred to as "modern art" or "Flag pole version 2.0", but they were also to raise $500 for the alumni housing board and donate money to charity. They started the semester by concentrating on the money raising. Several ways to raise money were tried, including leaf raking, a bake sale(where the pledges enjoyed watching passerbys run into the guide wire of a telephone pole) but the most successful was can collecting. In the end the omicrons collected around 6000 cans. In the end the omicrons spent a 13 hour day the Saturday before the project was do re-designing and building the flag pole. This entailed not only a 3 hour trip to Home Depot (or Home De-Pot), painting it on a 1 ft by 3 ft balcony but also a midnight trip to the chapter room to ensure the flag pole would stand. The Omicrons were also the first class to sing a Theta Tau Song for the Chapter.

Π Pi
Initiated:Winter 2006
Brothers:Karan Patel, Phillip Poisson, Karen Hall, Kristopher Schilling
History:

Ρ Rho
Initiated:Fall 2006
Brothers:Chelsea Ellis, Stephanie Praus, Casady Wyckoff, Todd Bueschen, Brittany Flaherty, David Genevich, Andrew Danielsky
History:The pledge semester for the Rho Class was a very memorable one indeed, including the very night they were pinned. Thank you to the Brothers of Chi Beta who came to help make the night so interesting! Other memorable events included Brothers of the Corn, a chapter visit to Chi Beta for a Halloween party, and of course, a very enjoyable Fall Retreat in Caseville. At retreat, they bonded with each other and with older brothers, and even sang a Karaoke version of the Rho Class theme song, "Livin' La Vida Loca." Their pledge project consisted of raising $500, much of which came from a can drive, to donate to St. Jude's Children's Hospital and The Theta Gamma Alumni Housing Board. The Rho Class motto is "takin' it to the streets."

Σ Sigma
Initiated:Winter 2007
Brothers:Jessica Fong, Jessica Rilly, Steven Batchelor, Marcus Lewis, Audra Osborne, Rachel Eggert, Ryan McKee
History:The Sigma class had a fun semester pledging Theta Tau. After a lot of confusion, the pledges went on a very interesting pledge trip to Buffalo, NY. Despite having to build a rocket with no supplies, wandering around downtown Buffalo, and ending up in Toronto while on the way home, they had fun and bonded with each other. They made an awesome founders' plaque, threw an awesome 80's party, and did a sweet dance to the Theta Tau Song.

Τ Tau
Initiated:Fall 2007
Brothers:Rachel Peterson, Maggie Hwang, Jillian VandePutte, Margaret Chang, Nicholas Clay, Philip Rose, Ryan Ethier, Liz Boettner, Kathryn Siuniak, Jeremy Dall, Rohan Biswas, Ishaan Shah, Shannon McDevitt
History:

Υ Upsilon
Initiated:Winter 2008
Brothers:Veronica Ward, Robert Appel, Megan Brown, Kristin Dannemiller, Alex Mead
History:

Φ Phi
Initiated:Fall 2008
Brothers:Jason Fernandez, Caitlin Schultz, Bethany Glesner, Catherine Patterson, Kunal Mehta, Meghan Joki, Lyndsey Pohl, Waiman Liu, Max Kotula, Ethan Stark, Michael Qin, Aaron Avila, Chris Sookhai
History:

Χ Chi
Initiated:Winter 2009
Brothers:Mary Winsemius, Andy Brown, Mary Lo, Heather Dorer, Asha D'Cunha, A. J. Carter, Laura Crookston, Josh Miyamoto, Gerald Lou, Andrew Jimbo, Doug McEwan
History:

Ψ Psi
Initiated:Fall 2009
Brothers:Thomas Indeck, Nicholas Montes, Jason Brendel, Nathan Klamerus, Molly Flynn, Aarthi Arab, Abby Grajek, James Swift, Antonio Osorio, Abigail Senyk, Samuel Janicki
History:

Ω Omega
Initiated:Winter 2010
Brothers:Kyle Faircloth, Cameron Miller, Caitlin Cramer, Melanie Faibish, Michelle Fernandes, Malvika Bhatia, Eda Soybay, Greg McEwan, Kamal Knight
History: