Fall 1995: The Beginning | Spring 1996: Colonization | Summer of 1996: The Decline
Fall of 1996: A Fraternity Died | Summer of 1997: It is the BOND
Fall of 1997: Delta Chi Now and Forever

Fall 1995: The Beginning (top)
It was a beginning of an era that was to bring Rutgers University into a state of bliss. The year was nineteen hundred and ninety-five, when two individuals in the name of Christopher Felder and Ashraf Husein got together and decided to form a social fraternity that would evolve around an "uncommon bond." Brother Felder was a transfer student from Missouri University, where he was a Delta Chi Fraternity Associate Member. He claimed "a part of me was left in Missouri, since I did not have a chance to finish my associate member education program and was not initiated. I felt responsible of making sure that the bond of Delta Chi be present in the banks of our own Rutgers University, and rediscover the part of me that was lost."

On the other hand, brother Husein had been in Rutgers University for a couple of years, and through these years he was in continuous search for a fraternity that will suit his ideal definition of "brotherhood." Unfortunately he did not find this "brotherhood" in the established fraternities in the banks. Therefore, he decided to contact Delta Chi International Headquarters to ask them to come here and start the procedure of colonization.

Spring 1996: Colonization (top)
The spring semester of 1996 had proven to be a very important semester for Delta Chi's history. The interest group tried to meet as a group every Sunday in any place possible. Since we have not yet been formally recognized by The Rutgers Fraternity Council and the University we could not reserve any room for meetings. We met at the basement of Stonier Hall (A University's Dormitory), local pizzerias, and even at the existing members' private rooms. During these meetings, we planned certain activities that would lead to a formal colonization. The first major event that the interest group held was a mixer with Phi Delta Theta, Delta Gamma, and Gamma Phi Beta at the Phi Delta Theta's chapter house on February 23, 1996 entitled "Sunplash Mixer." The mixer was organized by our social chair at that time, John Sacks. Through his hard work and dedication he managed to invite the Delta Chi brothers from Lehigh University. It was a very successful social event that marked the existence of Delta Chi here at the Banks.

The full gear of actual colonization process started during the month of March. On March 4, 1996 JD Adams from the International Headquarters addressed the Rutgers Fraternity Council about the goals and objectives of Delta Chi here at Rutgers. JD Adams claimed that Delta Chi is committed on advocating the principles of an "uncommon bond" through leadership, scholarship, and brotherhood. Then on Wednesday, March 6 1996 JD Adams addressed the Joint Committee and Delta Chi's colonization was finally recognized by the university.

During the same month on March 17, 1996 Bill Tallman came to Rutgers from Headquarters to help the interest group recruit more members for the initial pinning. From March 17, 1996- March 26, 1996 there were numerous events pertaining to the recruitment of members, and then on March 26, 1996 the Rutgers Colony of Delta Chi Fraternity was originally founded at the banks. The initial 14 members of the interest group were pinned on this date by Bill Tallman with the help of Delta Gamma Sorority. After the initial pinning within the weeks of March 26- April 4, 1996, there were several other pinning ceremonies for the founding members of the fraternity. The membership grew from 14 men to 41 men. The names were:

Cesar Alcantara
Christopher Allen
Shaileen Amin
Brain Arnold
Michael J. Canberg
Michael Capozzi
Daniel Caruso
Joseph Conte
Robert Conti
Jordan Charney
JaycerylI M. de Chavez
Adam Errico
Christopher Felder
Richard Fox
Michael Gangliff
Michael Hollis
Ashraf Husein
Eric Lavin
James Liming
Elias Liolios
James Liu
Dan Madden
Richard Malek
Richard Meyerson
Ali Moghal
Michael Olszak
Michael Plias
Jason Polk
Nirek Rastogi
Victor Restrepo
Ralph Rivera
John Sacks
Simone Sarcona
Stephen Schwartz
Anthony Sciaraffo
Thomas Scotillo
Steven Vergalito
Jeremy Vince-Cruz
Glen Weiss
Jason Wrner
Ionnis Zapitis

All these men were initiated to the bond of The Delta Chi Fraternity on April 20, 1996 with the exception of a few members who were initiated later on that week. The Rowan and Montclair State Chapters of The Delta Chi Fraternity were very instrumental in making the initiation a success, all coordinated by Bill Tallman.

During the month of April 1996, The Rutgers Colony of the Delta Chi Fraternity went into a redeveloping period. This was because in the colony meeting of April 4, 1996, the Rutgers Colony elected their first official executive board, the results were:

A: Ashraf Husein
B: Anthony Sciaraffo
C: Christopher Allen
D: James Liming
E: Michael Plias
F: Richard Fox

This election only represented about half of the forty-one members, since it was held before the pinning of many brothers. Taking this into account, the brotherhood believed it was fair to run a re-election so the votes of all forty-one men would be respected. One week after initiation, April 20'h, the re-election took place and the results are as follows:

A: Anthony F. Sciaraffo
B: James Liming
C: Christopher Allen
D: Daniel Caruso
E: Joseph Conte
F: Michael Plias

These men were the elected officers who lead the colony for the rest of 1996.

Summer 1996: The Decline (top)
The re-election towards the end of Spring semester 1996 left many hard-feelings between brothers in the fraternity and it was carried throughout the summer. The focus of discussions within the fraternity was what had happened due to the re-election, rather than how we are going to achieve our charter. The Executive Board tried their very best to heal the aching fraternity but the damage was done already and a lot of members lost their interest. All throughout the summer only 25 of the 41 initiated brothers showed interest. The summer of 1996 was a time most want to forget in Rutgers Colony's history.

Fall of 1996: A Fraternity Died (top)
The fraternity was in a deep hole due to many circumstances, and the spirit of brotherhood was buried with it. The Rutgers Colony of Delta Chi Fraternity temporarily tumbled. However, many brothers still had the heart to rebuild our foundation. During the elections of fall semester of 1996, these motivated leaders were elected as the next executive board:

A: John Sacks
B: James Dunne
C: Jayceryll de Chavez
D: Richard Malek
E: Michael Olszak
F: Simone Sarcona

These men were faced with the biggest challenge of their life, which is "how to resurrect a dead fraternity?" Hope was never lost and the Rutgers Colony was now 12 men strong and proud.

Summer of 1997: It is the BOND (top)
The spring semester of 1997 was the most productive semester in Delta Chi's history so far. At the beginning of the semester only 12 out of the original 41 initiated brothers were still active and hoping that the fraternity will see some light out of the hole that we were in. The twelve honorable men were:

A: John Sacks
B: James Dunne
C. Jayceryll de Chavez
D: Richard Malek
E. Michael Olszak
F. Simone Sarcona

Members:
Daniel Caruso
Jordan Charney
Michael Hollis
Eric Lavin
Daniel Madden
Richard Meyerson

These men made a commitment to themselves that they would not allow the fraternity to die without any attempt of resurrecting a "brotherhood in pain." We decided during that semester that the "real history" of Delta Chi Fraternity would start in the spring semester of 1997. As part of our recruitment propaganda, the fraternity decided that everyone who would join the fraternity before we achieved our charter would be extended the rights and privileges of becoming a founding father of the Delta Chi Fraternity. This fraternity that was alive in the hearts and souls of the twelve brothers who still believed in the "uncommon bond" of the Delta Chi Fraternity.

During the rush week of the spring semester of 1997, we recruited seven ambitious men in the name of:

Sebastian Eid
Steve Estrellado
Jason Rodriguez
Vincenzo Rotoli
Ashaad Toor
Andrew Wiesendanger
Matthew Youssef

These new associate members pledged their full commitment with the brotherhood, and got initiated on April 20, 1997. After their initiation the members of the fraternity had grown from 12 to 19, and the bond had never been as strong as what it was during the spring semester of 1997. All throughout the semester and during the associate member educational period, the fraternity performed many community service events, brotherhood events, and other functions that made the bond stronger within this small group of individuals. Individuals who had sworn not to commit the same mistakes that had occurred in the past history of the newly resurrected Delta Chi.

Fall of 1997: Delta Chi Now and Forever (top)
The summer of 1997 was a fruitful summer for the fraternity. The fraternity had set-up certain brotherhood events that made our "non-blooded bound-kinship" stronger than ever. We had a "Parents Day," during which we invited our parents to come and join the fraternity for barbecue, then a bunch of brothers went canoeing/camping down the Delaware River with a couple of potential associate members for the Fall of 1997. Later on that summer, a handful of brothers went to a sky-diving trip.

On top of all these events, the executive board tried to have a couple of colony meetings during the summer just to make sure everything was running smoothly, and the executive board also had a executive board retreat to plan for the fall semester of 1997. The summer of 1997 was also the first time when the whole fraternity started on planning to draft the chartering petition.