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!

Fall 2019

Foliage at The Kappa Lodge  

Brothers,

Fall Term is always a very exciting time as the house is revitalized with new faces and fresh energy but it is also very hectic and chaotic as upperclassmen welcome and get to know the new members. This is year was no different, and we are very proud to announce a very successful rush season. Our rush chairs, Chris Kartonis, Vamsi Gadde, and Brian Drisdell did a fantastic job organizing and recruiting the next generation of Kappa Men! We had many rush events early in the term, including our now famous Paint Ball Rush Event pictured below, which led to a great rush turn out!

Brothers and Rushees at AG Paintball Rush Event

We welcomed a total of 19 new members, who in true Kappa tradition are very diverse in both background and interests. This class is involved in many activities and clubs all over campus; to writing for the Jacko Newspaper, to being part of the Frisbee team and Club Golf!

On the photo below, from left to right, top to bottom. 

Ricardo Almazan 22', Dan DiPietro 22', Maxwell Carmicheal 22', Aditya Choudhari 22', Dhaivat Mahta 22', Sam Lefkowitz 22', Kyle Immel 22', Kevin Xiao 22', Zack Gottesman 22', Zach Shen 22', Max Weintraub 22'

Ben Citow 22', Casimiro Cosme 22', David Yin 22', David Kantor 22', Daniel Ha 22', Isuru Abeysekara 22', Suraj Srivats 22', and Ananta Pabrin Karki 22'

Tri-Kap 22s Class

A week after Rush, many new and long-standing alumni were able to make it down to the Kappa Lodge for the Homecoming Celebration. It was great to see old friends in their old stomping grounds and seeing them connect with the new faces! The 22s really enjoyed getting to know the older generations and were able to see how much these hallowed halls meant and still mean to them. We are always honored to host and hope to see more alumni come back to tell their stories!

This was the first term the house was out of alcohol probation with the college and thanks to strong leadership from our president Jonny Benitez 20’ and risk man Alex 21’, the transition was very smooth. This term there was a strong push from the exec board towards our philanthropic and academic presence on campus. Luckily both our Phil Chair (Jake Philhower 21’) and Academic Chair (Web Harrignton 20’) did an excellent job. On the philanthropic front, we orchestrated our termly efforts to assist Students Fighting Hunger, and we worked with the Greek Leadership Council to put on a trick-or-treat event on the front lawn of the house for DREAM Kids of the Upper Valley during Halloween. On the academic side of things, we invited economic professor Meir Khon to give a talk in an open to campus event that was very popular due to our advertising all over campus (See Flyer Below)!

David 21', Max Carmicheal 22', Vamsi Gadde 21', Jonny Benitez 20, and David Mena 20' handing out candy during Halloween! 

Flyer used to Advertise Academic Talk

The fall also sees our yearly Montreal Trip. This trip is a great time for brothers to bond and get away from campus for a couple of days. The brothers take time to enjoy all the city has to offer including great food, sightseeing, museums, and fun nightlife! This trip is always a highlight of the term, especially for the new members. 

Brothers enjoy Korean BBQ style Buffet in Downtown Montreal! 

Towards the end of the term, the house voted on the new leadership, which will take the reins in the Spring of 2020. The new exec board is composed of 21s and 22s and is decided this early to allow a deeper institutional transfer of knowledge and a smoother transition since the new board has a couple of terms to learn from the current exec board. I am very excited to present the next exec board and I have no doubt they will only bring great things for the house. The 21s have already done so much, and I am very excited to see the new horizons they’ll bring to Tri-Kap!

Colin Shaughnessy 21’	President
Alex 21’	Vice President
Zachary Bilcheck 21’	Treasurer
Kerem Kazmirci 21’ & Maxwell Carmichael 22’	Housemen
David Kantor 22’, Brian Drisdelle 21’, Ruben Garcia 21’	Social Chairs
Isuru Abeysekara 22’	Risk Manager
Vamsi Gadde 21’ & David 21’	Programming Chairs
Jake Philhower 21’	Philanthropy Chair
Kyle Immel 22’	Academic Chair
Blaine Grant 21’	Jock Chair
Adytia Choudhari 22', Sam Lefkowitz 22', Dhaivat Mehta 22'	Rush Chairs

Lastly, I wanted to leave you with a photo of all brothers enjoying our yearly Spaghetti Dinner as a way to close a great term! A couple of days before finals start, we spent all day cooking together (Spaghetti, Meatballs and Garlic Bread) then come together to enjoy a great meal! This year we were even honored to be joined by Al Forbes 82’ in our celebration!

Ghetti Dinner! 

Until Next Time!

Yours in Kappa,

David Mena 20'

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)