Beta Blog
Beta Bros Bum on the Slope and Frat Out at Formal
It seems hard to imagine that a whole year has already come and gone, but with the weather actually hitting above forty degrees for the first time in six months and finals looming around the corner, brothers have begun their preparations for the end of the semester and the summer. I am pleased to announce the newly-elected Executive Board that will be taking over starting this summer:
Master: Steven Henick
Lieutenant Master: Dan Chazen
Scribe: Ben Leff
Exchequer: Josh Korn
Rush Chairman: Sol Park
Pledge Master: MCS
House Manager: Robert Guber
Sentinel: Almog Gavra
Brother at Large: Michael Sobel
Congratulations to this year’s Executive Board to heading a successful year filled with nearly-cancelled paint parties, philanthropic letter-writing campaigns, rushing and pledging 14 newly initiated brothers, and much, much more. It has been a pleasure serving with this year’s E-Board and I am very much looking forward to working with an enthusiastic and spirited E-Board that will be building off the accomplishments of this year’s E-Board.
The brotherhood has, per usual, been busy as ever in finishing off the year with a Brotherhood Lock-In, Slope Day, and Spring Formal. Brotherhood Lock-In, an inaugural event this year, featured the Gold and Blue Football Game, a barbeque at the house, and other fun brotherhood events that were condensed into one night. Michael Sobel’s impeccable scouting report for the Gold and Blue Football Game put a lot of pressure on the team captains when selecting their teams, but, ironically, at the end of the day it was Brandon Zipper’s brazen attitude and overbearingly loud yelling that gave his team the victory. Slope Day featured the return of many of last year’s seniors who ventured up to Ithaca to celebrate the end of the semester with their brothers. Everyone rolled out of bed at 9 AM to party and hurry to Libe Slope where artists Hoodie Allen (an AEPi alum himself from the UPenn Gamma Chapter), 5&A Dime, and Kendrick Lamar blew everyone away with their amazing songs that clearly everyone knew the lyrics to. This year’s Slope Day T-shirts also featured a graphically coherent and wonderfully compiled design based off the retro jerseys of the NBA team the Denver Nuggets (many thanks to our esteemed T-Shirt Chair Mickey Katz). There were a plethora of complaints among the brothers about the lack of pink letters on the T-shirts/tank tops, but everyone got sunburnt enough on the shoulders to make up for the lack of pink on the tanks. Aside from the occasional complaint from David Streitman that KAN-JAM should be named the frattiest sport ever, Slope Day went very well and everyone made it back to Thurston Manor or Collegetown in one piece.
Spring Formal was held at Statler Hall this year in the same room as the Terrace Restaurant. The brotherhood rented out the space and the room was converted into a party room featuring a dance floor, much like a bar mitzvah. Before formal, brothers treated their dates to dinner at Plum Tree in Collegetown where brothers and guests alike mingled and reveled in the great year that had passed. Everyone then walked the grueling 10-minute uphill trudge across the engineering quad to Statler, where a jamming playlist and a barely lit room got everyone to dance the night away. The brotherhood purchased wine glasses as formal giveaways, because we felt it was important for the Mickey Katz-Matthew Baron-Daniel Chazen-Jon Fox-Josh Korn lineage to understand how much one glass of wine actually is. Speaking of Matt Baron, word on the street is that he lives life outside of the library and his dormitory and among college students his age; the brothers are all anxiously awaiting Matt’s return so we can take him to Five Guys and hear all about his adventures. I moan because I miss him terribly.
And with that I will be handing over my Scribe duties to our newest Scribe, Ben Leff. I have all the confidence in the world that he will continue the proud tradition of documenting our chapter’s history (even if that means having Levi Patish take all the pictures for him).
Most Fraternally,
Brother Master Steven Henick
Beta Bros Pamper Parents and Pie for $10,000
The past week has been an extremely busy one at Thurston Manor as the Beta Bros hosted Parents Weekend and AEPie Toss in a four-day span. Last Saturday, parents arrived to AEPi and enjoyed a cold brunch, followed by a four course meal cooked by Chef Dave D’Aprix that night, and then followed by a hot brunch Sunday morning. Parents, especially those of newly initiated brothers, finally had the chance to meet brothers and their parents. Parents Weekend is always one of our favorite events that the brotherhood looks forward to year after year; it is very rewarding to see how similarly a brother resembles and behaves like his parents, and it is a fun experience to see why brothers act the way they do. Between lunch and dinner on Saturday, brothers and parents either ventured to different wineries in the Ithaca area, toured the Corning Glass Museum, or relaxed and toured Cornell’s campus. During the Saturday night dinner, Brother Master Hyde gave a speech to the brotherhood and parents delineating the terms “GDI” and “TFM”, and later on in the evening Brother Rush Chair Cline (also the parents weekend chair) and Brother Master Hyde presented brotherhood awards, including but not limited to, most athletic brother, funniest brother, most outrageous brother, most dependable brother, and more. Overall, the entire weekend was very well-planned and everyone enjoyed everyone else’s company.
On Tuesday, April 16, the brothers of the Beta chapter hosted its annual AEPie Toss philanthropy event in conjunction with Hillel’s Israel Day celebration. In keeping with our core values, especially that of mutual helpfulness, we hoped to raise awareness for Sharsheret on a local and national scale by having an impact on the lives of others through service.It was truly amazing to be able to combine our philanthropy and Jewish life initiatives in the same day and host such a remarkable event. The event was organized and set-up with the help of the Israel Awareness Chair serving on the Hillel Executive Board. Starting at 9 AM, brothers donned in blue and white AEPie Toss T-shirts with the number 65 on the back to recognize the 65th birthday of Israel set up on Ho Plaza beside the Israel Day festivities. Brothers also hung up Israeli flags behind the AEPie Toss stand and explained to students and teachers passing by the significance of Israel Day. Throughout the day, brothers spread across Ho Plaza and encouraged passerbys to stop by the various Israel Day stations, including AEPie Toss. Many of these volunteers ended up pie-ing the volunteers or brothers and some generous individuals even made additional charitable donations.
Hosting AEPie Toss at the same time and place as Israel Day gave a greater level of significance to our philanthropic donation, because students and teachers who participated were able to better visualize and understand the population of Ashkenazi women that we were raising awareness for. Sharsheret is the only national organization that addresses the increased risk of Ashkenazi women developing the illness, and many of us in the chapter either know someone or have friends with family members who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. The great personal significance of this charity for us was conveyed well to the Cornell populace as they intrigued about the mission statement of Sharsheret and picked up Sharsheret material and flyers as they left.
Volunteers included sorority presidents, club officials, teachers, student assembly leaders, and even the chief of police. It was great to be able to reach out to so many prominent individuals on campus and convince them to participate in our event to raise awareness for a worthy cause. Volunteers were also given T-shirts and spread the message of Israel’s birthday throughout the rest of the day by wearing the T-shirts all over campus throughout the rest of the day. This year, for the first time, volunteers were pied by sticking their heads through cut-out holes in a plywood board, which was painted prepared by brothers. This seemed to be a more fun way for students to pie the volunteers as opposed to having the volunteers stay put in their chairs throughout their shifts. Towards the end of the day, so many students and fellow Sweet-E-Pi’s were buying and tossing pies at one another that by 4 PM Ho Plaza resembled our common room after Splash Bash ended.
On the whole, AEPie Toss was a magnificent success as we pulled in $660 in donations during the event itself, which is the most our chapter has raised during this event since our refounding in 2005. Through our philanthropic achievements, I have been very proud to represent the finest brotherhood on this campus that epitomizes all the right values that every Cornell student should embody. Here’s to another $10,000 for Sharsheret for next year.
Most Fraternally,
Brother Scribe Steven Henick
Beta Bros Programmed Successful Passover Seders
This year for Passover, the Beta Bros held a Seder at RPCC through the Hillel Super Seder on the first night, and on the second night a Seder was held at Thurston Manor. Brothers Hiller, Schindler, and Wexler led the Seder on the first night, which was held in RPCC along with many other Seders planned and organized through Hillel. Brothers who had not seen each other since spring break had a great time catching up with each other while rejoicing the holiday’s traditions, singing prayers, and eating Passover cuisine. On the second night, the brotherhood hosted its own Seder led by Brother Exchequer Chazen. The common room was reorganized and tidied up, and tables with blue tablecloths and Haggadahs filled the room. Brothers, Sweet-E-Pi’s, and friends of the house all convened to tell the story of Passover; it was a remarkable experience to chant and read the story of Passover in such a welcoming and warm setting. Everyone had the opportunity to participate, from saying blessings over the wine and matzah to singing the Four Questions. Brother Rush Chair Cline did a fantastic job of hiding the afikoman from the newly initiated brothers, who searched for a long period of time until Brother Master Hyde found it lodged in the arcade machine on the second floor. These two well-run and successful Seders truly paid tribute to our Jewish culture and heritage, and we are all looking forward to more initiatives from the Jewish Life chairs, Brother Exchequer Chazen and Brother Roberts, as we approach the end of the semester.
From around the chapter, the brotherhood has jumped into full swing since arriving back on campus a few days ago. Already, we have raised over $5,000 for Sharsheret for philanthropy, and with AEPie Toss coming up in a few weeks we hope to advocate even more for this organization and contribute an overall generous donation. (https://www.aepi.org/philanthropy/?chapter=&event=115&action= Note: this page is not completely updated because it does not include donations received by checks in the mail) The newly initiated brothers, who have already assimilated themselves very well into daily brotherhood activities, worked on their paddles for their big brothers over spring break and are preparing diligently for their pledge party a week from Saturday while also progressing with their pledge project. All minor board positions are making meticulous preparations for their big events coming up in April and May and even June for parents weekend, the pledge party, and alumni weekend to name a few of the many occasions happening at the house.
We wish everyone a Happy Passover and an easy week ahead.
Fraternally,
Brother Scribe Henick
