Author: Ryan Cote

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Fall 2024

REGENT 

Brothers, 

The Fall 2024 semester has been a remarkable time for our chapter, filled with growth, achievement, and preparation for an exciting future. I’m proud to share that we’ve earned nearly 300 Schrader Award points this semester which is a testament to the dedication and hard work of every brother. As we look ahead to Spring 2025, we are thrilled to announce that we will be starting the semester with 40 active Brothers, a new record for the past fourteen years we have recorded. This milestone reflects the strength of our brotherhood and our commitment to building a thriving chapter. Staying connected with our alumni remains one of our highest priorities. Your support and engagement inspires us to push further, and we love hearing your stories, advice, and updates. Don’t hesitate to reach out, your involvement makes a real difference in Beta’s success. So please, call the house phone (906-523-7027) and you will be greeted with our old jingle, or come by and visit the house if you’re in Houghton.  Looking ahead further, we’re eagerly anticipating the Summer 2025 National Convention in Milwaukee. We are the current front runners for the Schrader Award as told to the chapter from our Regional Director. With the current state of the chapter I see no reason why Beta Chapter won’t be bringing home the Schrader Award. Thank you for your continued support of our chapter! Here’s to another successful semester and an exciting year ahead!

In H&T,

Mitchell Warner X!

“Egon Spengler” 1503

Graduating Spring 2026

Computer Engineering

VICE REGENT 

Brothers,

I am proud to announce that 12 additional members will be joining the Theta Tau Beta Chapter Brotherhood. Through hard work and determination, these young men have proven themselves worthy of bearing the Greek letters of true H&Ts. During this process, this pledge class completed two projects: A flagpole proudly displaying an American flag, and the other, a table designed for one of our favorite party activities, ‘stack cup’. The Fall Class of 2024 embodies the values, dedication, and camaraderie that make Theta Tau Beta Chapter truly special. 

I introduce your fall class of 2024  

Pin 1518 Andy Mleczek (Ferb), Pin 1519 Clark Aapala (Boog), Pin 1520 Owen Rapp (Yukon Cornelius), Pin 1521 Nathaniel Werdon (Anton Ego), Pin 1522 Joshua Walters (Max Goof), Pin 1523 Wyatt Bolton (Dipper Pines), Pin 1524 Eli Stewart (Scrat), Pin 1525 Tyler McCoy (Roddy St. James), Pin 1526 David Derusha (Donald Duck), Pin 1526 August Nordine (Gibby), Pin 1527 Killian Sullivan Pin 1528 (Chick Hicks), Pin 1529 Jose Martinez (Boots).  

Let us welcome these outstanding individuals into our brotherhood with open arms and the pride that comes with knowing they have earned their place among us. 

Congratulations to our newest brothers. Their journey with us has just begun.  Let’s look forward to the incredible contributions that these young men will bring to our chapter!” 

In H&T, 

John Cooke

“Jonesy” 1487

Graduation Spring 2025

RUSH 

Brothers,

Hope this finds you well.

We have had one of the most successful recruitment periods in our history this fall! We held 8 rush events ranging from Volleyball, Golf, Basketball, Movie Night, and so much more. We also had a very high presence at our resume workshop rush this semester helping new and old faces prepare for MTU career fair. 

We had many rushees and possible new members this semester although only 13 bids where given out. 12 possible new members picked their bids up and the brotherhood is very excited for what they can bring for our future. Overall we have had an extremely successful rush this fall and the spring will be no different.

In H&T,

Hunter Stayton

“Gromit” 1512

Graduation Spring 2027

Software Engineering 

HOUSE STEWARD 

Brothers,

With our house coming up on a decade of standing now we have a lot to celebrate. The actives take a lot of pride in our house being the nicest on campus and we all do our part to make sure it stays that way. We have had a couple of issues pop up this past semester. For a little while the urinals were giving us some trouble, along with each of the dryers going out at one point this semester. One of the bigger issues that we faced has been with our boilers and heating pumps once we had to start heating up the house. Our house cook Annette Butina has continued to be one of the biggest supporters and biggest helpers in getting our problems solved. One of our biggest goals for the house remains to be refinishing our living room with new couches. The current furniture is in a state of disrepair and truth be told can be an embarrassment for us when visitors come by. All in all things are running smoothly and we are all doing our part to keep the house clean and in upkeep. I look forward to seeing you all this coming summer for our annual brotherhood reunion. 

In H & T,

Quentin Couturier

“Manny” 1492

Graduation Spring 2026

Environmental Engineering

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY 

Brothers,

I hope all is well with you. The past semester has treated our house greatly. As the Corresponding Secretary I have done my best to maintain a strong social media presence for our fraternity and have tried to increase engagement not only on Facebook but on Instagram as well. For any of you who wish to join our Facebook page you can do so by finding us under the name “Theta Tau – Beta Chapter” and you can also find us on Instagram at @thetataubeta. We keep both pages updated with pictures of events we hold as well as updates on pledge classes and philanthropy events. Following our pages can allow for all of our alumni to stay up to date and connected to the house long after graduation. The actives up here in Houghton greatly appreciate all of the alumni support and we always look forward to letters and visits. Our house is always open to all of our alumni and we are eager to see you all. We are also very generous for donations made to help out the house. Any donations can be made through this link https://givebutter.com/DugganFund. Thank you for all of your unwavering support and we look forward to bringing you great news about our house in the future. 

In H&T, 

Pietrino Censoplano 

“Guido” 1497

Graduation Spring 2026

Civil Engineering

PHILANTHROPY

Brothers,

For philanthropy this fall semester, our fraternity committed to several impactful events that benefited the local community. We held a pig roast for the Adams Fire Department, successfully raising $1,000 to support their essential services and their new station. We kept the streets clean through our highway cleanup on our adopted stretch of M-26 where we collected 10 bags of litter. We assisted at a local celebration, valeting for Father John’s retirement from St. Ignacius at The Bonfire, the church of our house mom Annette. Lastly, we cleaned and closed up our university’s paintball course for the season, ensuring it was in condition for future use. We are proud of our contributions and the positive impact we’ve made in our community this semester.

In H&T

Eduardo Rengifo

“Daniel LaRusso” 1510

Graduating Spring 2027

Mechanical Engineering

DOG STEWARD

Brothers,

For Dog Steward this past fall semester, Beaufort has been growing in size and his relations with the brothers. Over these past few breaks he’s been able to stay at multiple other brothers’ homes, and is becoming a lot more sociable with everyone he’s around. He loves the snow as it is falling and will let us know every 10 minutes that he would like to go nap in it. While he weighs in at about 150 pounds he has been eating about 9 cups of food a day and growing at a good pace. Beau is ready for this coming semester, and he can spend all the time outside with us during the statue building. He has been a very good boy and continues to be so.

In H&T

Wilson Riggs

“Trevor” 1493

Mechanical Engineering Technology

STATUE

Brothers,

For the statue this semester, I have a few things planned. First off, the theme for this year is Medieval, as such I have designed some basic 3d models of our two separate builds. The first one is going to be a dragon in the front of the house with its tail being a long swaying slide down the hill. On the other hand, the plan is to turn the volleyball court into a mini broomball/hockey rink. The rink will have walls around the sides that are shaped like castle walls and will include towers and goals as well. Having these statues not only fills in the theme of the event but also creates some extra use cases that can be used by the brothers before, during, and after the winter carnival. I’m planning on making the rink to be used for a possible philanthropy event or even just a fundraiser for one of our choosing.

In H&T

Wilson Riggs

“Trevor” 1493

Mechanical Engineering Technology

Spring 2024

Regent

Brothers,  

I would like to open by saying that I am personally very proud of the actives this year, and excited for the direction our Fraternity is heading in. Coming off a highly successful year that saw us finish second in Schrader Points and winning the Founders’ Award for being the most improved chapter, we jumped right back into the fire and have continued to work hard and set high goals for ourselves. 

I was very excited to be reelected Regent for a second term knowing that this year we would continue building on the success we had last year. This semester specifically, I trained several brothers who were chosen by the actives to be Regent Understudies so that they could learn the position and become proficient at it before taking it on. After training these four brothers, I have no concerns for the future leadership of our fraternity. 

In other news, we attended the MidWest Regional Conference in Iowa City, Iowa and made a trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota to help restart Alpha Chapter. We also had the Omicron Beta Chapter from U of M – Dearborn visit us. The one thing all the other chapters we interact with notice about us is the strength of our brotherhood. I am very proud to be as close knit with the group of guys we have right now, and I hope that every future H&T gets to experience that for themselves too. 

This year, the actives also took it upon ourselves to complete several painting projects around the house and by building more efficient storage spaces inside of the house. This was the tenth full year of living in the Fairview House and was also the first year that I believe every room was filled. The house is looking very nice as usual, and we have the new Enduring Benefactors Donation Board hung up in the first floor hallway for the Alumni Foundation to place plaques on for those who join the program. 

Lastly, this semester we started a tradition of calling alumni to update your contact information. I hope that eventually the phone calls turn into alumni sharing stories, and the actives learning about the old houses and traditions. Plenty of alumni who we did call this semester had great stories to share. If you’d like to call the actives, weeknights are usually the best times. The phone number for the house is 906-523-7027.

I am very excited to become an alumnus and watch what our Fraternity accomplishes, and then be able to visit Houghton to celebrate their achievements. The future of Beta Chapter is brighter than ever, and my fellow graduates and I are leaving it in great hands. 

Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy reading the rest of the articles.

In H & T,

Alex Stockman X!

“Wilt Michaels” 1475

Graduation Spring 2024

M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering ‘24

B.S. Computer Engineering ‘23

Vice Regent

Brothers, 

I’m very pleased to announce that we had four new brothers joining Beta Chapter this semester. Each of them has shown a distinguished and persistent passion for the brotherhood, and I am incredibly proud of who they are and what they have accomplished. I have no worries about the success of the Brotherhood in the future. 

The four new members are: 

Paul Ruesch “Lone Starr” 1514

Matt Allbritten “Emmet Brickowski” 1515

Mason Staedt “Hiccup” 1516

Hunter Moyle “Shaw” 1517

I’m excited to see the brothers that will be made out of them when they become full actives of this fraternity. Pledging is an effort that involves the whole house, and I’d like to thank all the brothers who aided in its success this semester. 

In H&T,

Aidan Flanery

“Blinkin” 1491

Graduation Spring 2025

Mechanical Engineering

Corresponding Secretary

Brothers, 

This past semester has been an exciting and successful time for our house. As Corresponding Secretary I have been working on keeping our Instagram (thetataubeta) and our Facebook page (Theta Tau – Beta Chapter) up to date with what our house has been up to. Plenty of pictures showcasing the positive impact we are having on our community, as well as updates about our house, and other events we may have going on. Hopefully you received a call from an active brother at some point this past semester. We have been working on updating our alumni contact sheet to make sure that we can keep everyone up to date with house information. It was an absolute pleasure getting to talk with some of our fellow brothers throughout this process. If you would ever like to contact an active member please reach out to our Facebook page, Instagram, call our house, or simply send us a letter! 

In H&T,

Quentin Couturier

“Manny” 1492

Graduating Spring 2026 

Environmental Engineering 

Dog Steward

Brothers,

I hope that you have been doing well. Our dog is in good condition. He is healthy and has adjusted to the ways of the house very well. He has been trained by us to be well behaved, with some minor things that need to be worked on here and there. Everyone seems to love him, especially our female guests and sweethearts. Keep checking our social media pages for updates on him. We hope to see you come by to visit and see what we have done.

In H&T,

Tyler Crispell, Esquire

“Kevin Murphy” 1478

Graduation Fall 2024

Environmental Engineering

Professional Development

Greetings Brothers, as always we as a chapter are heavily focused on professional development. We believe that during our time at Tech we should be growing academically as well as professionally. With this we have held two Professional development events at the time of writing this, with one more planned for the future. The first event was just before the spring career fair, in which we helped prepare our younger members for what the career fair would entail, as well as what they can do to give themselves a better chance of securing an internship for the coming summer. The next event was an internship open mic. This gave all the older brothers an opportunity to speak on their past experiences, and give younger brothers an idea of what to expect, as well as what things they may have learned to help those going into their first job. The final event will be about etiquette in the office, so those going into their first job know what to expect as far as communication and such. As always we are striving to better ourselves in this area, as it is very important to gain these skills in the beginning of our careers. 

In H&T, 

Mikey Puchalski

Fred Jones 1488

Graduating Spring 2025

Mechanical Engineering

Philanthropy

Brothers, 

I hope you are all doing well. All is well here in Houghton philanthropy wise and the actives were able to clock in over 160 community service hours this semester and had a few ways of doing that. The biggest event held this semester was the Pigs N’ Heat fundraiser hockey game at the SDC. The brothers were able to help with selling 50/50 tickets, organizing tables, and getting dressed up as mascots and skating around the ice. Throughout lent we were also able to volunteer at the local church, St. Ignatius, with their fish fry Fridays. Here, brothers helped by serving food as well as staying late after to help clean and pack everything up. Of course we had to get some exercise in too and we did that by chopping wood for Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly. All in all we were able to make ourselves quite useful this semester and I am looking forward to what we are able to do in the future. 

In H&T,

Pietrino Censoplano 

“Guido” 1497

Graduating Spring 2026 

Civil Engineering 

Statue

Brothers,

This year proved to be a very difficult year for statue building with the unforeseen and

abnormally warm winter we experienced in the Keweenaw. Luckily, we experienced a

fairly big snowstorm fairly early in the semester, allowing us to complete our formwork

for the statue. The statue that was voted upon by the brothers was a recreation of an

eagle statue previously constructed by the fraternity. Even with the unusual weather

experienced the brotherhood was able to reach a final product. With successfully

following through on a design for the first time in a couple of years the brothers are

hoping to replicate the same success matched with more accommodating weather

conditions, producing an even better statue next year.

In H&T,

Josh Gould

“Sheen Estevez” 1476

Graduation Spring 2024

Civil Engineering

Graduating Seniors

Brothers,

We have 8 Actives graduating this semester. We wish them all the best in their future careers. They are:

Eli Paulen 1464, MS Applied Ecology, will start work with fisheries in Green Bay, Wisconsin in July. 

Alex Stockman 1475, MS Electrical & Computer Engineering, will start work with Northrop Grumman in Rolling Meadows, Illinois as a Systems Engineer in July.

Josh Gould 1476, BS Civil Engineering, will start work with Fisher Contracting in Midland, Michigan as a Field Engineer in June.

Eddie White 1477, BS Accounting, will start work with Cleveland-Cliffs in Indiana Harbor, Indiana as an Associate Analyst – Accounting/Finance in June.

Tim Hauxwell 1480, BS Management, is still pursuing job opportunities, but will start by moving back to the Detroit area.

Clay Patterson 1481, BS Chemical Engineering, will start work with Cleveland-Cliffs in Indiana Harbor, Indiana as an Operations Engineer in June. 

Stephen Gillman 1505, MS Electrical & Computer Engineering, will start work with Milwaukee Tool in Brookfield, Wisconsin as a Machine Learning R&D Engineer in June. 

Ben Stier 1513, MS Electrical & Computer Engineering, will start work with Kautex in Detroit, Michigan as an Automation Engineer in June.

Fall 2023

Regent

Brothers,  

Beta Chapter has been doing remarkable work these last few years, and this semester we have truly outdone ourselves. Not only have we earned the most Schrader Award points ever in a semester by earning 250+ points, but we will also be starting the Spring 2024 semester with the most actives ever recorded in our last thirteen years of record keeping with at least 36 actives being in Houghton to start the semester.

Even as an unaffiliated organization, we continue to outperform compared to most campus-recognized fraternities, and as a chapter of Theta Tau we rank in the top eight out of all 94 active chapters due to the amount of Schrader Award points we earned in the last two years. At the 2023 National Convention in Lexington, Kentucky, we were awarded the Founders’ Award for having the most improvement in our Schrader Award score over the last two years and were acknowledged by Grand Regent Stuart Kardian for all of our efforts to earn Schrader Points.  

This is the first time in a long time that we have been in the running for this award, so for those alumni who may be unfamiliar with what it is awarded for, it is given to the Chapter that best represents the ideals of Theta Tau, judged by earning points for hosting and attending brotherhood, philanthropy, and professional development events, maintaining high academic achievement, and by completing tasks on time. This sets a high standard for our Chapter and shows to all Theta Taus that we are doing our part in operating as a quality chapter. 

While pushing forward these new high standards, we have also been strongly maintaining our traditions, this even includes bringing back some old ones. Thanks to Brothers Cote, Irwin, and Ricker for the idea, we have brought back the gold jackets that Brothers receive when they are done pledging and can be easily spotted wearing on campus. If any alumni would like to purchase one to represent us at home, please reach out to us and we will get you in our next order. Any proceeds from the jacket purchases will go directly to the chapter. Lastly, we have the first Saint Bernard of the Fairview Street house. His name is Earl of Beaufort, and he has been doing great work as our mascot.

As I always say, we really enjoy hearing from alumni. So please, call the house phone (906-523-7027) and you will be greeted with our old jingle, or come by and visit the house if you’re in Houghton. Alumni visits are always a highlight of the year. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy reading the rest of the articles. 

In H & T,

Alex Stockman X!

“Wilt Michaels” 1475

Graduation Spring 2023

M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering ‘24

B.S. Computer Engineering ‘23

Dog Steward

Brothers,

If you haven’t seen on social media outlets such as Facebook and Instagram, the House has continued tradition with our new Saint Bernard puppy, Earl of Beaufort (or as we call him, Bo, spelled Beau). Beau has adjusted well to living at the house, although it has required some trial and error with the collective training of the brothers. A great bonus with him is that he is a great joy to the brothers, and the women love him. Currently, he weighs in at 110 lbs. with plenty of room to grow and is healthy as can be. If you have it, check out the Facebook and Instagram pages for pictures of him. I hope that you are able to visit and see him sometime soon. He loves new people, and I am sure he would love to meet you.

In H&T,

Tyler Crispell, Esquire

“Kevin Murphy” 1478

Graduation Fall 2024

Environmental Engineering

Vice Regent

Brothers,

It is my pleasure to say that Beta chapter has six new brothers that are sure to become exemplary H&T’s. Brothers; Cole Herrmann (Barry Bee Benson, 1508), Eduardo Rengifo (Daniel LaRusso, 1509), Mason Kulavar (Wallace, 1510), Luke Pietluck (Peter Parker 1511), Hunter Stayton (Gromit 1512), Ben Stier (Merlin, 1513) have shown their true characters; in philanthropic work, academic perseverance and excellence, and overall display of merit. Once again, welcome brothers, and congratulations. With the conjoined efforts of every position in this house as well as fellow brothers, great things have been achieved, as we look forward to what our fraternal fellowship is capable of.

In H&T,

Adrian Yair Reyna Y!

“Lt. Arcott Ramathorn”

Graduation Spring 2025

Mechanical Engineering Technology

Corresponding Secretary

Brothers,

This past semester has been fantastic for the reputation and online presence of Theta Tau Beta Chapter. With the help of our Social Chair (Jonesy 1487), we were able to release a high-production rush video at the beginning of the semester that we are very proud of. Hopefully, it will set a precedent for the future Rushes at Beta Chapter, and more videos like it will continue to be produced. The introduction of our new dog Beau into our day-to-day lives has also brought a spotlight to our social media and presence on campus, as he is one of the cutest and most likable dogs on the planet. It has brought great joy to all of us Brothers and our followers to watch the Earl of Beaufort grow into the nearly full-grown pup he is now. We will continue to push into the hearts and minds of our community by displaying our value through Philanthropy, Academics, Athletics, and Brotherhood! 

If you would like to stay up to date on the activities of the H&T’s, you can follow us on Instagram at “thetataubeta”, or on Facebook at “Theta Tau – Beta Chapter”. 

In H&T,

Aidan Flanery

“Blinkin” 1491

Graduating Spring 2025

Mechanical Engineering

House Steward

Brothers,

This year we are happy to share that we have a full house with 21 brothers living here this year. With that being said, it is still our priority to keep our house looking great. We have “details” being done twice a week where a brother is assigned a part of the house to clean. We also had our semesterly cleanup, where we got a lot more thorough to get even the nooks and crannies of the house up to date. There have been multiple improvements to the house thanks to our project management chair, like the downstairs closet being turned into shelving for tools and other house supplies. We are also in the process of repainting some walls in the house to continue keeping our house looking new. Like always, we are striving to keep our house the #1 on campus. 

In H&T,

Kyler Esselink

“Thomas Kub” 1489

Graduation Spring 2025

Materials Science and Engineering

Philanthropy Chair

Brothers,

I hope all is well with you. The actives have spent many hours this fall semester aiding our community. To start our semester out strong we organized our annual charity pig roast and had a great turnout of students and locals to our chapter house. While selling pork sandwiches and multiple options of sides we were able to raise $1102.58 and donate it to the Adams Township Volunteer Fire Department. We were also able to help out with events around Houghton like the Keweenaw Color Run. The brothers were tasked with blasting runners with color powder as well as directing them on the right path for their 5K. To end our semester, we spent some time chopping, measuring, and organizing firewood for Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly to help out the elderly during the harsh U.P. winters. We greatly hope our efforts for the community make you just as proud as we are. 

In H&T,

Pietrino Censoplano 

“Guido” 1497

Graduation Spring 2026

Civil Engineering

Professional Development

Brothers,

The Actives at Beta Chapter have been working very hard to secure jobs and internships for the upcoming summer. As a house, we have always prided ourselves on our professionalism and being able to translate the skills we learn from school and Beta Chapter to the working world. This semester, we hosted many different professional development workshops and events including a resume builder prior to Career Fair as well as a personal finance presentation detailing many different things such as budgeting income, basic tax knowledge, and retirement savings vessels. I would like to give a special thank you to Brother Stefan Scharret and all the other alumni who were able to set up and meet with active Brothers before the career fair to do mock interviews. If you have any job listings or internship opportunities and would like the position to be filled by an H&T, please feel free to contact the house or myself at edwardwh@mtu.edu.

In H&T,

Eddie White

“Diego” 1477

Accounting 

Heating Homes and Warming Hearts

The members of Beta Chapter happily supported their local community by chopping wood for Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly’s Upper Peninsula Chapter! The brothers were blessed with a beautiful, sunny spring day in the Upper Peninsula, encouraging us to get out there and support our local community in any way we could. With a total of 20 brothers helping out in the wood chopping event, our brothers were able to cut and stack roughly three cords of wood. This wood will be dried over the summer and used for the elderly members of our community as a heat source.

We were fortunate to be able to show up and get right to the cutting, using aces and mauls to split the wood. We used wheelbarrows to transport the wood and then stacked the wood in its corresponding area based on its size. The work took roughly two hours and we had to cycle positions regularly in order to not get too tired while cutting wood. After drying out over the summer, this wood will be transported to the elderly members of our community so that they can use it in their wood-burning stoves in order to heat their homes over the brutally cold winters that we receive in the Upper Peninsula. it is a pleasure for us to be able to assist the elderly members of the Copper Country by providing them with a heat source this winter!

By Eli Paulen, Michigan Technological University (Beta ’24)

Find Us

Address
407 Fairview St.

Houghton, MI 49931

 

About This Site

This site is maintained by the Theta Tau Beta Alumni Foundation in coordination with the Active Brothers in the Fraternity.