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.
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| 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.
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| 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).
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| Brothers Aditya Choudhari '22 and David Yin '22 on a canoe |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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:
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.
David Yin ‘22
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