Spring 2019

Brothers,

I would first like to extend a warm welcome all the Tri-Kap alumni who have taken the time to visit their old stomping grounds once again. I hope you have a wonderful time that reconnects you with your brothers (and connects you to some new faces) and brings back great memories from past times. We are always honored to have you stop by the lodge.

Brothers enjoying pizza and the warm weather during lock-in

Spring term is always bittersweet. Though the sun has finally emerged from its long winter hibernation and the days are longer and prettier than they’ve been all year, we are faced with the realization that the seniors—who have been our drinking buddies, teammates, tutors, confidants, role models and, most importantly, friends for years—will soon be alumni and are embarking on the next stages of their lives.

Now that the bitter is done with, we can move on to the sweet. With longer, sunnier days and more free time than any other term, there is so much more opportunity to have fun and enjoy the twilight days of college. Hope they were good ones!

Tri-Kap had a great run in IM softball this term, going undefeated into the finals which we unfortunately lost. We had beaten the team before, but the scheduling during finals period left our dugout spread thin and outnumbered.

   

In other athletic news, special props to ‘19s Sam Lawhon (Left), Alex Chan (Mid), and Tony DiPadova (Right) for running the Shipyard Marathon in Maine this May.

Though it may not have been the most graceful thing I’ve ever seen the three of you do in recent years, it was still an impressive feat nonetheless.

Montreal, always a highly-anticipated event, did not fail to impress. It was a great time for the brothers to blow off some steam away from campus and strengthen their bonds of friendship, or form new ones.

Tri-Kap is known for the diversity of its brotherhood, both in backgrounds and interests.

Special congratulations to David Dick (’19, pictured second from right in the back row) for winning the 2019 NASA BIG Idea Challenge! It was both the first time Dartmouth students had entered, and won, the competition. The team created an innovative design for a greenhouse, called DEMETER, capable of growing food and sustaining a team of astronauts on a possible future mission to Mars.

Equal congratulations must be extended to Kevin Hawlik, Drew Leonard, and Afnan Enayet (as well as anyone else) for completing their senior theses.

Jason Wei (’20) received a Goldwater scholarship, designed to “foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering” and is one of the most selective and competitive programs of its kind, for his machine learning research at DHMC.

Feel free to also tune in weekly to listen to Vamsi Gadde’s (’21) weekly radio show, with some special guest stars (Kerem Kazmirci, ’21).

Of course, Dartmouth isn’t all work and no play. Days and nights were spent hanging out on the beach, barbecuing on the porch, watching movies in the great hall, and other perhaps-less family-friendly activities in the basement. Formal and Green Key were both blasts, and special recognition ought to go out to our tirelessly-working social chairs Raj Chanda (’21, Green Key Photo far left) and Eric Chen (’21).

Brothers during Green Key's Block Party

Formal at Dowd's Inn

Spring term also marked the transition from the 19s executive board to the underclassmen. This transition was made daunting due to many execs taking off terms. Nearly half the positions were interim positions, and Tri-Kap perhaps saw her first interim-interim president. The transition was quite smooth however, due to a talented and committed ‘21s class, who enthusiastically picked up the reigns. Interim-President David Mena (’20) did a great job of holding down the fort and Cris Cano (’20) performed equally as well as Treasurer, both of these individuals having no prior experience in their roles. Both winter rushes, impressively performed in their new roles as houseman and risk man (respectively). The new officers, as always, were assisted by the now-retired 19s. The 19s have been watching over the house for quite some time now, and I think it’s about time they got some well-earned rest (see President Emeritus Johnny “The Starfish” Emanuel, ’19, below).

As summer term begins, I have no worries that the ‘21s will keep Tri-Kap running smoothly and successfully. They have more administrative experience than any other recent class and are cohesive to the point that they wouldn’t even need it. We look forward to passing on the torch to our ‘21s summer executive board.

Vamsi Gadde	President
Jake Philhower	Vice President
Alex	Treasurer
Blaine Grant and Colin Shaughnessy	Housemen
Raj Chanda and Ruben Garcia	Social Chairs
Danny McClafferty	Risk Manager
Zachary Bilcheck and David	Programming Chairs
Luis Flores	Philanthropy Chair
Christopher Kartsonis	Academic Chair
Kerem Kazmirci	Jock Chair

Congratulations (again) to the 19s for graduating. You are a great group of guys and I’m proud to be able to call you all my brothers and friends. You will be dearly missed. I have no doubt that all of you will succeed in whatever pursuits you choose and I wish you nothing but the best in life.

Wherever life takes you after Dartmouth, don’t forget about your roots and your friends still on campus. We’ll all be here eagerly waiting for you to visit.

Yours in Kappa,

Zachary Wang (’20)