Fall 2021

Brothers, 

This past fall was a crucial moment for maintaining the continuity of Tri-Kap. Due to housing restrictions during the pandemic, it was the first term that ‘22s and ‘23s were fully on-campus and living together in the house. The atmosphere felt quite different from this summer when the ‘23s had the house mostly to themselves, and the mutual culture shock caused some tension in the earlier weeks of the term. But nothing really, that our termly lock-in discussion and more time spent together couldn’t fix. 

Many exec positions whose jobs had been stifled by pandemic restrictions were once again able to act in their full capacity. Our social calendar was even fuller than 20W, before the pandemic. Our programming chairs put on multiple brotherhood events throughout the term, as well as a house trip to Maine. Our rush chairs no longer had to put up with dreaded Zoom rush events, and our ‘24s got to physically shake out (not through a Google Form). 

Homecoming 

In October, Dartmouth held its first homecoming since the start of the pandemic. Tri-Kap alumni young and old flocked back to the house to reconnect with their friends and share stories with younger classes. At the house, brothers hosted alumni for a cookout, among other forms of merriment. 

There are many things from homecoming I don’t remember, but I recall especially well talking to Bob Russell ‘81 and Ken MacKenzie ‘81 about how pong was played back in the day. Apparently, a brother who was on the tennis team once held table for 17 games! At next year’s homecoming, we’ll be sure to reserve tables for slam pong and keep the handles on a few paddles.

The Kappa Lodge, ready for the alumni cookout. Unfortunately, I had my hands full and didn't get any pictures during it.

Rush 

Rush this year was mired in difficulty owing to the ‘24s rough introduction to Dartmouth. The ‘24s had no means to check out fraternity houses during their freshman year under the College’s COVID policies. Likewise, upperclassman brothers had few ways to meet ‘24s last year, so much of the rush effort fell to the beginning of this term. To give houses more time to scout out potential new members, the Interfraternity Council postponed shakeout by two weeks, to the fifth week of the term. 

We packed many rush events into the five weeks we had. Thanks to our generous alumni, we managed to put together two bigger-ticket events: a catered barbeque from Big Fatties and our signature closed rush event, paintball at Adventure Games Paintball. The Big Fatties event and other outdoor events with food attracted some great guys just dropping by, some of which eventually shook out! The paintball event had great reviews and the majority of PNMs in attendance shook out. 

Brothers and PNMs at Adventure Games Paintball in Weare, NH

This term, the following members joined the brotherhood: 

Quentin Calhoun ‘24

Andrew Goyette ‘23

Luis Hinojosa ‘24

Ethan Lang ‘23

Vico Lee ‘24

Ben Levy ‘24

Nick Luikey ‘24

Kashan Mahmood ‘24

Jack McGary ‘23

Grayling Peterson ‘24

Mack Reiferson ‘22

Riley Schofner ‘24

Matt Skrod ‘24

Ethan Tam ‘24

Stephen Wang ‘24

Back row, from left: Ben Levy, Ethan Tam, Riley Schofner, Grayling Peterson, Quentin Calhoun, Vico Lee
Front row, from left: Stephen Wang, Luis Hinojosa, Kashan Mahmood, Nick Luikey, Andrew Goyette, Mack Reiferson
Not pictured: Ethan Lang, Jack McGary, Matt Skrod

The ‘24s did not hesitate to integrate themselves into the fraternity and create bonds with upperclassman brothers. Several new members I talked to recounted the same general story about their rush. Due to the pandemic, they found few social outlets their freshman year, and they came to accept that as normal. They came to Tri-Kap, hung out with brothers, and realized that their Dartmouth experience thus far was not even close to normal. They rushed, and then they mustered an extraordinary effort to get to know everyone during their new member term. I can tell that the ‘24s will be one of the most active and committed classes in recent memory. 

Other happenings 

In October, our distinguished alumnus Peter Robinson ‘77 came back to campus to deliver a talk with the College’s Political Economy Project. Robinson served as a speechwriter for President Reagan from 1983 to 1988, most notably writing the Berlin “tear down this wall” speech. Brothers were eager to meet him in a more casual setting, so we had him over at Tri-Kap beforehand. As we chatted with Robinson about Tri-Kap then and now, we were impressed by how many uniquely Tri-Kap experiences we share with him. When it came time for his talk, Robinson pulled up to Haldeman Hall accompanied by an entourage of Tri-Kaps – quite an amusing sight.

Peter Robinson '77 (center) poses with some current undergrads before heading off to the speaker event

Two weekends before finals, our programming chairs Aditya Choudhari ‘22 and Dan DiPietro ‘22 organized a trip to Baxter State Park in northern Maine. We went to Maine in lieu of our usual Montreal trip, which, though possible, would have been difficult with the border control situation. Personally, I think this worked out, as week 9 is one of the more stressful times during a Dartmouth term. We all needed a break. Being out in nature, physically and mentally removed from campus, was perfect. 

On the second day of the trip, we hiked Mount Chase, a mountain about 25 miles northeast of Katahdin. Trail conditions were rough. Nearly the entire route was flooded and we made no attempt to keep our feet dry. At some points there was no trail, and we walked on the bottom of a brook. At other points, fallen leaves covered the trail in a layer so thick you couldn’t even see basketball-sized rocks underneath. Not everyone enjoyed the hike (city kids), but I bet even they agree the view at the top was worth it. 

A shirtless Jack Nicastro '23 takes in the view of Katahdin from the summit of Mount Chase

An especially wet part of the trail

Group photo at the summit 😍

Until next time

Yours in Kappa, 

David Yin ‘22

Spring 2021

In many ways, this past spring has been a time of renewal for the house. We have a lot to talk about, from spring rush to furniture upgrades to the relaxing of pandemic restrictions that let us do more in-person activities. I hope this post will be a little more uplifting to read than the previous few. 

This spring was the second term of rush for this year, and I’m pleased to announce we took on twelve new members:

TJ Dychitan

Nick Sugiarto

Luca Fagotti

David Gambee

Dhruv Uppal

Jack Hargrove

Gautham Sivadasan

Sam Crombie

Sathya Thenappan

Ian Hsu

Tony Perez

Brendan Loftus

In true Kappa tradition, our new members are diverse in backgrounds and interests. In our spring rush class, there is a track-and-field athlete, a rugby player, and a veteran of the Singapore Armed Forces. Members of this class are active in many student organizations, including TEDx, GlobeMed, and Aquinas. I have yet to meet some of them, as most ‘23s took classes remotely this past year, but I’m looking forward to living with them in the house this summer!

As I’m sure all alumni know, Tri-Kap typically embraces the “lived-in” aesthetic when it comes to house upkeep. Unfortunately, much of our furniture has become too lived-in. We’ve disposed of the worst of it and replaced it with items donated by Jack Nicastro ‘23 and his family. 

Brothers Brendan Loftus ‘23, Jack Nicastro ‘23, and Harold Than ‘23 drove the furniture up to Hanover in a U-Haul

The new furniture includes two couches and three large tables, among other items. We’ve put the tables to good use in the kitchen and the great hall -- which has become a favorite study spot for many in the house.

Brothers Anoop Nanda ‘21, Kerem Kazmirci ‘21, and Vamsi Gadde ‘21 admire their work after setting up a new table in the kitchen.

As the weather warmed up, brothers increasingly pursued outdoor activities. The Ledyard canoe rentals operated free of charge this term, and we made good use of it. We would go down to the river several times a week during the later weeks of the term. Despite our frequent excursions, only on one occasion did someone capsize a boat (it nearly sunk to the bottom).

Brothers Aditya Choudhari '22 and David Yin '22 on a canoe

Brothers Suraj Srivats ‘22, Jason McFadden ‘22, Kevin Xiao ‘22, Hank Patil ‘22, and Kyle Immel ‘22 hanging out on the Ledyard docks

Thanks to the efforts of president Max Pumilia ‘22 and interim academic chair Eric Chen ‘21, the brothers hosted a cookout with our house professors Julie Kalish ‘91 and Roger Ulrich ‘77. They were elated to be at their first real social event since the pandemic started! I enjoyed getting to know the professors that I’d thus far seen only on our composites. After the event, brothers gave a tour of the house to Professor Ulrich, a Tri-Kap alumnus, who was happy to see that the kitchen is no longer in the basement. 

The cookout with our house professors

This term, the brotherhood discovered the joy of our local minor league baseball games. The initial scouting party of Colin Shaughnessy ‘22, Jake Philhower ‘21, Chris Kartsonis ‘21, and Jacob Parker ‘23 reported very positively of their experience at a New Hampshire Fisher Cats home game, and programming chair Aditya Choudhari ‘22 took note. He planned a full house trip to another game; unfortunately, it was rained out. This house will forever have a soft spot for the Cats, though, and we hope to make Delta Dental stadium a recurring destination.

Colin Shaughnessy ‘21, Jake Philhower ‘21, Chris Kartsonis ‘21, and Jacob Parker ‘23 enjoying themselves at a Fisher Cats game

As we always do during spring term, the house held elections for the summer. Even though some ‘22s who skipped their sophomore summer will be on campus and living in the house, we decided to give ‘23s priority in all summer positions, as it’s their sophomore summer and their turn to try on leadership roles. Since most ‘23s took classes remotely this past year, many summer officers face the unique challenge of taking on leadership postions without ever having stepped foot in the house as a brother. Despite this, I have full faith that they will perform excellently, and that ‘22s will mentor them as needed and pass on important institutional knowledge.

Our 2021 summer officers are:

Jacob Parker ‘23	President
Teddy Press ‘23	Vice President
Jack Hargrove ‘23	Treasurer
Jack Nicastro ‘23 & Brendan Loftus ‘23	Housemen
Diego Perez ‘23 & Gautham Sivadasan ‘23	Social Chairs
David Gambee ‘23	Risk Manager
Tony Perez ‘23	Programming Chair
TJ Dychitan ‘23	Philanthropy Chair
Nick Sugiarto ‘23	Academic Chair
David Yin ‘22	Jock Chair

Lastly, I would like to recognize the ‘21s for all they’ve done for Tri-Kap and congratulate them for graduating! I hope the brotherhood will remember them as the class that led the house through the pandemic, who were forced to make sacrifices their senior year, and whose officers readily took on roles very different from what they thought they were elected for. I wish them success in their endeavors wherever they may go, whether it be New York, LA, or Madison, Wisconsin.

Until next time!

Yours in Kappa,

David Yin ‘22

 Brothers, 

As you might imagine, this term has proven to be unique and challenging for all Dartmouth students, including the current undergraduate brothers of Tri-Kap living on and off campus. We started our winter term 2 weeks later due to the college’s travel restrictions and are currently in our second week of full lockdown due to the recent outbreak but are hopeful it will be lifted this coming Monday. 

Given the college’s revolving system for allocating the opportunity to be on campus, the 21s make up the bulk of the brotherhood on campus aside from a few 22s who also happen to be on as well. 

The house has had to abide by the college’s stringent COVID rules and have not been able to host any in person events for guests or the brotherhood. Despite the challenging circumstances, we have tried our best to continue our traditions while modifying them to abide by the college’s policies. We have been able to ensure that meetings continue to take place in some way shape or form every week keeping both on and off campus brothers involved with the house.  

When possible under the college’s COVID rules, brothers have organised trips to the Dartmouth ski way multiple times per week.

Despite all of the challenges, I am very proud to say that our house has fared exceptionally well compared to other Greek houses on campus, not having a single positive case of COVID in our brotherhood for the entire term. 

Rush was held the first week back on campus and Tri-Kap extended bids to 6 new members. We are happy to welcome to the brotherhood:

Harold Than, Teddy Press, Diego Perez, Jacob Parker, Sudharsan Balsubramani and Jack Nicastro

We also recently elected the next year’s exec board.

President: Max Pumilia

Vice President: David Yin

Treasurer: Dhaivat Mehta 

Social Chairs : David Kantor, Cas Cosme and Max Weintraub

Risk Manager: Jacob Parker

House Manager: Daniel Ha and Jack Nicastro

Programming Chairs: Daniel DiPietro and Aditya Choudhari

Academic Chair: Kyle Immel 

Jock Chair: Jason McFadden

Philanthropy Chair: Harold Than

I am proud to say, the 23s class has upheld the house tradition of jumping headfirst into getting with involved with house leadership with two 23s being elected to the exec board (Harold Than, Jacob Parker and Jack Nicastro)

Finally, in hope of giving a little more personal context to what being on campus during these unprecedented times, Teddy Press ’23 decided to share what a “week in the life” as a Dartmouth student and new member is like.

My name is Teddy Press, and I am a ‘23 and a new member here at Trikap! I am from North Caldwell, New Jersey, about 30 minutes west of New York City; if you’re familiar with the television series, The Sopranos, they filmed many scenes in my town since David Chase went to my high school. I am a chemistry major. I’m active in many groups on campus in addition to Trikap: I play french horn in the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble, I sing tenor for the Brovertones acappella group, I conduct chemistry research on campus, I write for the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science, and I am on the editorial board for the Stonefence Review literary magazine. Although I am new to Trikap, I was just elected Rush Chair for the upcoming year and I hope to bring in another great group of guys through future rush classes. With these photos, I hope to show what it’s like for me as a new member of Trikap and a member of the Dartmouth community!

One of the reasons I came to Dartmouth was ease of access to great skiing (Ski the East!). Over the term, I have gone skiing a bunch of times and took advantage of skiing as an opportunity to hang out with fellow Trikaps. Pictured here are me (on the right) and David ‘21. 

I conduct research with Professor Dean Wilcox, chair of the chemistry department, in the field of Physical Bioinorganic Chemistry. In other words, we study how proteins bind to metals. Here I am pictured with an Isothermal Titration Calorimetry machine (basically a fancy thermometer). My current research involves studying a protein (SOD-1) that binds to zinc and copper; mutations in this protein are linked to familial protein aggregation diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and ALS. We hope to elucidate data about how changes in protein formation affect net protein charge and function and its link to these diseases. 

Near the end of the term, we did a house clean; pictured here are me and Casimiro Cosme ‘22 headed out for a lunch break!

COVID has posed challenges for many, but I have been so grateful to be on campus this term. I am an amateur photographer and have been featured on the Dartmouth Instagram a few times for my campus photography. Pictured here is the full moon above Dartmouth Hall!

I took the opportunity to go for an evening walk with my friend Adelina ‘23 around campus!

With one of the warmest days on campus (60 degrees!), my friend and I took the opportunity to study outside the Collis Student Center for our finals.