Fall 2020

Brothers,

As autumn turns to snow in Hanover, a new dawn has risen on Tri-Kap. For the first time in over six months, the house was able to open its doors to sixteen brothers returning for Dartmouth’s on-campus residence this fall. Per Dartmouth Coronavirus guidelines, the brothers settled in at the house within the week before classes. Upon arrival, each brother underwent a battery of tests, along with a mandatory two-week quarantine. Though these precautions proved crucial for protecting campus from a potential outbreak, brothers were able to return without a single positive test. 

The Kappa Lodge awaits the brotherhood’s return

Once released from the initial quarantine, brothers in the house adapted to “the new normal” in the Upper Valley, spending large amounts of recreation time outdoors. Daily activities have varied, though there never seems to be a moment without some sort of outdoor activity going on. Several brothers have ventured to the fire tower of nearby Gile Mountain, taking advantage of the sunrises and peak fall foliage. 

President Colin Shaughnessy ‘21 at Gile Mountain

House Manager David Yin ‘22, Risk Manager Dan DiPietro ‘22, and House Manager Max Charmichael ‘22 enjoy Gile’s morning view.

Brother and Captain of Dartmouth Club Golf Zach Gottesman ‘22, was quite excited to see a resurgence in house Golf outings this fall. Despite the unfortunate closure of Hanover Country Club, the Donald Ross-designed Carter Country Club in West Lebanon was still within the travel restrictions established in Dartmouth’s Community Guidelines. Though there was a fair share of shanks, hooks, and slices, we’re all relieved to report no windows were broken in the process. 

Zach Bilcheck ‘21, Jacob Philhower ‘21, and Alex ‘21 tee up on a sunny afternoon.

Though a concerted effort has been made to maximize our time exploring the outdoors in the Upper Valley, rainy days and frigid October afternoons have forced the brotherhood to consider ways to use our lovely home creatively. Given the Great Hall’s open-aired nature, the brotherhood has further furnished the area with socially distant activities such as ping-pong and air hockey courtesy of Brian Drisdelle ‘21. Additionally, with limited seating available in on-campus dining hall venues, house meals with campus takeout have become increasingly popular ways for brothers to catch up. Often half of the on-campus brotherhood may be found around the projector watching television and holding a lively conversation in the dinner hours. 

Dinner and a Movie: A Staple of 20F

Brothers Studying on the Beach

A resourceful addition was most recently made to the house’s largest approved social room when Suraj Srivats ‘22 was able to secure the donation of a free upright piano from the Dean of Thayer. While some brothers admittedly have more talent than others, one can almost always expect to be greeted with a cheery tune flowing out of the Great Hall. 

Aditya Choudhari ‘22 working on his improvisation between classes

Though there were only 16 brothers approved for on-campus residence in the house, several members looked to fill in the gaps of their college experience by coming back to live in the Upper Valley Area. Because housing was incredibly tough to find, many brothers settled into local neighborhoods, caring for homes and becoming members of local communities throughout the greater Hanover area. 

Chris Kartsonis '21 cooks a meal in his Norwich home

As we transition to the close of the fall, the house is gearing up for a new virtual recruitment season this winter while also focusing on the facilitation of meaningful house-wide bonding. Even though the pandemic’s circumstances have challenged brothers to find creative ways to achieve these goals, I am confident the spirit and love for Tri-Kap shown by this resilient bunch will continue to live on. 

Yours in Kappa,

Jake Philhower ‘21

 

Summer 2020

 Brothers,

As our summer term comes to a close, I’d like to reflect on the unique experience our brotherhood had. Despite a virtual term and the unprecedented challenges posed by social distancing, I’m proud to say that we as a house have remained a close brotherhood. In Tri-Kap spirit, we did not let our current circumstances stop us from having a great summer experience full of camaraderie and recreation. 

Our sophomore summer exec board has continued to meet weekly via zoom, always striving to find ways to keep our sophomore class close despite a virtual experience. Our programming chairs Daniel Ha '22 and Max Weintraub '22 have done a great job organizing different events during our Wednesday meetings, including fun activities like brotherhood family feud and kahoot tournaments. Our social chairs David Kantor '22 and David Yin have '22 also found fun ways to engage our brotherhood with activities like our July 4th virtual BBQ. Through our sophomores’ hard work and dedication to the house, we were able to make the best of our summer term and will come back to campus a closer class this fall.

Though we were off campus, brothers all across the US were still able to meet up. Our brothers  in Atlanta met up several times and had a great experience visiting different parks like Jones Bridge Park. 

Vamsi Gadde '21, Dhaivat Mehta '22, and Aditya Choudhari '22 (not pictured) at Jones Bridge Park

In the north, several of our brothers decided to stay in a house in the beautiful town of Cavendish, Vermont where they continued the Tri-Kap traditions in full capacity. Whether it was hiking, golfing, swimming, or even ping pong, these brothers demonstrated they were true students of Dartmouth, embracing the outdoors.  Even if their time in the house has come to an end, they have undoubtedly formed many fond and unforgettable memories of their time in Vermont.Jake Philhower '21 and Kyle Immel '22 playing golf

Our brothers in Vermont ready for an outdoor dinner! 

With the onset of fall term, several of our brothers plan on coming back to campus. With a new term comes new challenges and situations. For one, our rush process has gone virtual, and our rush chairs will have to adapt to this new rush process which will take place over zoom, with a shakeout occurring next winter. For those of us living in the house, we will have to strive to ensure the health and safety of our fellow brothers as well as the rest of the Dartmouth community. However, I am proud to say that the brothers of Tri-Kap are up to the challenge and we will make the most of our fall term.

Yours in Kappa,

Aditya Choudhari ’22

Spring 2020

Brothers,

As you have probably guessed, this Spring term has brought with it a number of new challenges for the Kappa brotherhood. Despite these hard times, I am proud to say that our leadership and brotherhood has risen to meet these challenges. Our exec board has worked tirelessly to make sure our finances are and continue to be in good order. We have also been in contact with the Dartmouth administration, which has been flexible with the house in terms of our payments. The brothers on campus in student housing have done a good job of preparing the house for being empty by shutting off all unnecessary utilities double checking that every door and window is secure and locked. So far, the brotherhood and the house are both weathering the lockdown well.

Despite our isolation we have remained close. Wednesday meetings have been moved to online through zoom, as have our weekly exec meetings. Similarly, Tri-Kap recently had its annual meetings over zoom and we proud to have hosted almost 50 brothers from across 6 decades!

In spite of the quarantine, our rush chairs (Sam Lefkowitz, Aditya Choudhari and Dhaivat Mehta) have continued working diligently on assembling a rush list. Brothers have been reaching out to rising sophomores who have expressed interest in joining and we remain on track to taking another successful rush class in the fall.

Although the administration has made the decision to cancel sophomore summer and have classes online, the undergraduate exec board decided to elect a sophomore summer exec board regardless. After some deliberation it was decided that even though they won’t have the full on-campus experience, the early experience of running an exec board and the house is still invaluable. Current execs will remain on-call to help out and advise the new board to ensure a seamless transition of responsibilities and institutional knowledge. I am confident that this board of execs is made up of devoted and hardworking brothers who will carry the house onwards through these tough times.  

When possible, brothers have met up (while always maintaining a strict 6-foot separation from each other and wearing masks!) Despite, being spread across many states and countries the brotherhood is still managing to stick together and support each other.

I would like to take this opportunity, to thank, on behalf of the entire brotherhood, all of the brothers who working on the front lines in the medical profession and other essential services. While I may know only a fraction of the brotherhood, I have seen how Kappa men rise to the occasion and do their part.

Lastly, I would like to leave you with some pictures of the house and the brotherhood that we have found in the Dartmouth library reserves.  These pictures illustrate how long Tri-Kap has been around and how it has always prevailed. Pretty soon we will look back at this term as just another one of the many periods in our shared history. Tough times make strong men!

Until next time!