Icecraft and Blizzardry

Hey all,

Winter carnival tore through Hanover this past weekend, and with the actual blizzard (over a foot of snow!) came other blizzards of various sorts.

The first and foremost of these was thanks to brothers Andrew JL and Chris Takeuchi, to whom we could not be more thankful for hanging out over the weekend. It was great to hear some of the stories of a slightly older Tri-Kap, and to gather some life (and pong related) wisdom from some wiley veterans. The brothers and new members alike all had a fantastic time hanging out with you guys. Please, if you're ever back in the area, give a shout.

CTak and JL being ridiculous as usual

But even as the fun raged on, the undergrads were hard at work with a number of other endeavors. Kourosh Saghri '19 and Kevin Hoffer-Hawlik '19 were hard at work on Friday night cooking up one of the greatest batches of chili this world has ever seen. With this magnificent, exotic chili, Tri-Kap entered into the annual Phi-Delt chili Cookoff, which pitted many greek organizations, clubs, and even local businesses against each other for the best chili in Hanover. While the boys did not take home the gold, their chili will certainly hold a special place in my stomach for years to come.

Kourosh Saghri and Alec Pelton serving up chili at the cookoff

Prior to the festivities of winter carnival, the brothers hosted our semi-termly academic talk, featuring government professor Brendan Nyhan. A specialist in political scandal and applied statistical methods, Nyhan talked about the advent of "fake news" in the 2016 election cycle, and the scary truths surrounding human responsiveness to alternative facts. A large contingent of our very politically involved undergraduate brotherhood came for the pizza and stayed for the fake news, as many eyes were opened by some of Nyhan's most recent research findings. Many thanks to James Howe '17, our academic chair, for setting up the wonderful talk.

James Howe and Professor Nyhan next to the "burning dumpster"
of the 2016 political cycle

Professor Nyhan addressing the brotherhood

Alas came along the Sunday of Winter Carnival, and yet there was still much to do! The Tri-Kap IM basketball team had gone 4-0 in its regular season to earn a top seed in the playoffs against Sig-Ep. The battle was hard fought, as Sig-Ep showed up with their full A-team. The refs let the boys play, and the game turned into a rugby match. Unfortunately, with just seconds left, Sig-Ep hit a foul shot to go up three and the men of Tri-Kap could not hit the three pointer to tie it up. It was a great season, but alas, our championship must wait til next year. Thank you to all of the brothers who participated throughout the season. Onto softball in the Spring!

Winter NM David Dick '19 after the "rugby" match against Sig-Ep

L to R: Sam Libby (coach), Kevin Hawlik, Brian Schoenfield, David Dick
Chris Loughlin, Jeff Lang, Vince Puzak, and Joe Minichiello (coach)

An eventful carnival full of icecraft and blizzardry it was, and all involved had a heck of a time. In the coming weeks, the brotherhood looks forward to multiple tails events, lock-in, and the introduction of the 6 winter new members as full brothers of Tri-Kappa. 

All the best,

Jeff Lang

Undergraduate VP