David W. Raymond ‘67, President of ΑΤΩ Chapter House Corporation

      Last year the Board awarded the ATO Foundation Scholarship to Sean Johnson '12 during the Board’s meeting at the Chapter House in September 2011. In addition, the College Award to the ATO senior with the highest overall grade point average was presented to Brian Leshaw '12. A photo 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.

      The ATO Board has also made it a practice since 2007 to set aside a portion of our operating funds each semester for use in granting academic awards for the ATO actives with the best semester grades in each class and for the active with the most improvement in his grades from the prior semester. Information about these ATO Alumni Board Awards and the endowed scholarship programs described above can be found here.

      The Alpha Upsilon Chapter members’ grades improved slightly in the Fall semester of 2011 from the prior Spring 2011. In Spring 2011, ATO ranked sixth out of 12 fraternities with an average GPA of 2.93. The GPA for all Greek men was 2.95. In the Fall semester of 2011, the Chapter again ranked 6th out of 11 fraternities with an average GPA of 2.94. The all Greek men’s average GPA was 2.99. The Board certainly hopes that the scholarship and academic achievement awards programs that it has established over the last few years will provide additional incentives for the students’ academic success. The Chapter members are committed to work with those members who are most in need of academic improvement in order to help them succeed and achieve better average grades for the Chapter.

      The ATO Chapter had a very successful Rush on Campus in the Fall of 2011 by pledging 26 sophomores. The new ATO pledge class brings the total active Chapter membership for 2011-12 to 80. ATO continues to be the largest fraternity on campus for the third year in a row.

      In addition to academics and an extremely successful Rush program, the undergraduate members of ATO continue to be active in community service, College sports and other campus activities. In fact, a member of ATO is the Editor-in-Chief of the Gettysburgian student newspaper for 2011-12. All of these campus activities support efforts of the College’s Greek community to help maintain a positive Greek image on campus.

      The most significant development in the Chapter’s recent history came with our new relationship with the College that began in 2006 when we joined the College’s Life Safety Program in order to have the College take responsibility for upgrading the Chapter House to comply with the College’s Life Safety standards that became effective for all fraternity houses at the end of the 2009-2010 academic year. The change in relationship with the College is detailed in contracts we entered into in 2006 that give the College ownership of the Chapter House and the responsibility for all maintenance, utilities, routine housekeeping and repairs needed for the operation of the facility. In the summer of 2011, the College replaced additional furniture on the first floor of the Chapter House in accordance with the 2006 contractual agreements.

      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.

      On Homecoming Saturday in October 2011, Gettysburg College formally dedicated the College Veterans’ Memorial (honoring all College alumni who have served in the military) in front of more than 200 alumni, students, parents, and friends. Speakers at the dedication included College President Janet Riggs ‘77, Major General William Matz '61 and ATO alumnus Lieutenant Colonel Rich Brunner '58. Rich Brunner started the effort to create the endowment fund needed for the construction of the Memorial several years ago. Rich is a former President of the ATO Chapter House Corporation and remains a Director Emeritus of our ATO Alumni Board. The ATO Chapter House Corporation made a contribution to the endowment fund for the Veterans’ Memorial in 2011. See photos of the Dedication here and more information about it on the College website at http://www.gettysburg.edu/.

      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 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 renovated house, and we are all proud of our actives.