Phi Kappa Tau is excited to welcome Delta Kappa Chapter at University of Tennessee-Knoxville back into our ranks. This past weekend 59 new members initiated at a chartering ceremony in Knoxville. They were joined by nearly 50 alumni to assist with initiations and partake in the festivities.
The Delta Kappa chapter began the re-chartering process a few years ago when Harrison Moser, Tennessee ‘20, a legacy and the son of Jeff Moser, Tennessee ’87, reached out to a member of the University’s development office, Steve Catlett, Tennessee ’81, who was also interested in restarting the group. Catlett and Moser got on a call with the Executive Offices and local alumni to begin the collaboration process of bringing the group back to campus.
Chapter President Alex Burns, Tennessee ‘20
This re-chartering would not have been possible without the help of these local alumni. Catlett has remained a vocal advocate for Phi Tau on campus through the entire process. Jeff Moser, Harrison’s father, is chapter advisor and assisted greatly in the process, as well as Trey Grant, Tennessee ’00, the financial advisor.
As a colony, Delta Kappa went to a Regional Conference to work on their recruitment and leadership skills, both of which helped them form a solid interest group. Last year two staff recruiters traveled to campus to grow the group, which resulted in an associate class of 44 in the spring.
The colony worked hard over the past year to grow and set a goal of chartering within one calendar year of their colonization day – 364 days later they did, according to chapter president Alex Burns, Tennessee ‘20, at the banquet Saturday night.
The event was organized with assistance from another local alumni, Gene Perkins, Tennessee ’81. Initiations were followed by a post-ritual explanation workshop and a dinner, which included the gavel presentation, chartering signing, and was capped off with great speeches from staff and undergraduates. The weekend included lots of alumni activity and participation, as well as attendance by university professionals. The weekend was made more special by the inclusion of Buzz Green, Ole Miss ‘66, a staff member who helped the original group charter in 1971, and Dan Dillion, Tennessee ‘71, one of the first Delta Kappa members.
The chartering was held in conjunction with a National Council meeting, where charter petitions were approved for both Alpha Rho at Georgia Institute of Technology and Omicron at Pennsylvania State University on April 18th and April 25th, respectively.
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