David W. Raymond, President of ATO Chapter House Corporation

In 2008, the ATO Alumni Board began a new relationship with the Eisenhower Institute, which now has a Gettysburg office in the former ATO Chapter House on North Washington Street. Our Board member, Rod Tosten ’85, who is the College Vice President for Information Technology, has been helping the Institute establish its computer systems and communications link with its Washington headquarters. Rod saw an opportunity to commemorate the ATO connection with the house in which the Institute now has offices and houses Eisenhower Undergraduate Fellows, and he   and his wife decided to make a contribution to the College to start an endowment fund to name the Eisenhower Institute’s Boardroom on North Washington Street.

On Homecoming Saturday in September 2008, the Eisenhower Institute held a special reception for ATO alumni to visit the former Chapter House and see the renovations that have been made to accommodate the Institute’s offices and to provide residences for the Undergraduate Fellows. At this reception, Rod and I asked other ATO alumni to contribute to the endowment fund that Rod started to reach the level necessary to name the Boardroom for our ATO Chapter. More information on this endeavor can be found on this website here.

In Spring 2007, the ATO Alumni Board endowed scholarships for active Chapter members through the College and the ATO Foundation with $100,000 of the funds received from the College when ownership of the Chapter House was transferred in 2006 to the College. More detailed information about the endowed scholarships is provided on this website here.

Last year the Board awarded the ATO Foundation Scholarship to Mike Lynch ‘09, Chapter President, during a presentation on Homecoming Saturday. In addition, the first College Award to the ATO senior with the highest overall grade point average was presented to Daniel Capkin ‘09. Photos of this event can be seen on this website here. We encourage ATO alumni to make charitable contributions to the College and/or the ATO Foundation specifically designating the contributions to be added to the endowment funds for these scholarships.

All Chapter members improved their grades in the Spring semester of 2007-08. ATO ranked second out of 11 fraternities with an average GPA of 3.05. The GPA for all Greek men was 2.95. However, in the Fall semester of 2008-09, the Chapter fell to 5th out of 11 fraternities with an average GPA of 2.91. The all Greek men’s average GPA was also 2.91. The Chapter members are committed to work together to help those members who are most in need of academic improvement in order to help them succeed and to help achieve better average grades for the Chapter. The Board also hopes that the new scholarships and academic achievement awards that it has established will provide additional incentives for the students’ academic success.

In addition to academics, the undergraduate members continue to be active in community service, College sports and other campus activities and to continue to support the efforts of the College’s Greek community to help maintain a positive Greek image on campus.

The year 2008 also marked the second full year of the Chapter’s new relationship with the College. As previously reported, the College now owns the Chapter House and is responsible for all maintenance, utilities, routine housekeeping and repairs needed in the operation of the facility.  Our Chapter’s actives now engage the Facilities Department of the College for any unusual repairs and other major services required to maintain the house in good condition. The actives are still responsible for keeping the house clean and preventing damage to the facility and its furnishings. Any active member responsible for damage to the house or its furnishings must pay the College for the costs of repair and, in some cases, a fine.

The College completely renovated the Chapter House and installed all required Life Safety equipment in the house in 2006. All fraternity houses at Gettysburg must be in compliance with the Life Safety Standards of the College by the end of the next academic year (2009-10). In addition, ATO National now requires all ATO Chapter houses across the country to meet enhanced fire safety requirements.

Our all-volunteer Alumni Board of Directors of the ATO Chapter House Corporation is comprised of 20 members including graduates from every decade starting in the 1960s and extending up to the year 2005. We also have Directors Emeritus from classes of the 40’s and 50’s.  It is a very competent and diverse Board consisting of a Vice President of the College, past Gettysburg College professors, computer specialists with companies large and small and professionals in the areas of law, banking, accounting, optometry and dentistry.  We have numerous businessmen and a Pennsylvania County commission member. Of course, several of us are retired. Regardless of age, profession or employment status, all of the Board members share a commitment to seeing the Alpha Upsilon Chapter continue to thrive and to assuring that the Chapter House is and continues to be a place of which we can all be proud.

            The Alumni Board is always interested in having other ATO alumni become new Board members or help with specific projects. If any alumni are interested in helping out or becoming  Board members, or know someone who is, please contact any current Board member

We encourage all ATO alumni to come visit the renovated Chapter House whenever you visit the College. Even though sprinklers and other life safety features have been added, the original look and character of the house have been maintained. The current actives are very pleased with their newly renovated house, and we are all proud of our actives.