2013 Centennial Celebration

Festivities

Almost 300 alumni and guests descended upon Cornell the weekend of October 18–20, 2013 to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the installation of Omicron Zeta as the twelfth chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha, the biggest event in chapter history, and a fitting kickoff for the Campaign for Omicron Zeta. Ari Rubin ’15 welcomed the guests on behalf of the undergraduates, Philip Prigmore ’69 gave a detailed tour of plans for the renovation of Edgemoor, and the chapter was privileged to receive addresses from Doc Dirghalli, former Grand High Alpha of Lambda Chi Alpha; Susan Murphy ’73, Vice President of Student and Academic Services; Bill Farkas, CEO of Lambda Chi Alpha, and Jesse Grayman, brother of the late Matt Omans ’10, among others.

Remarks

• Remarks by Ari Rubin '15
• Invocation by the Rev. S. George "Doc" Dirghalli
• Keynote by Susan Murphy ’73, PhD ’94, University Vice-President of Student and Academic Affairs
• Remarks by Stephen B. Ashley ’62 and Presentation to Ralph V. Wilhelm ’67
• Address by Bill Farkas  (Butler ’88), International CEO of Lambda Chi Alpha
• Remarks by Greg McElroy
• Remarks by Alexander "Baba" Aidun ’08
• Remarks by Jesse Grayman

Recognitions

At the banquet, Steve Ashley ’62 presented Ralph Wilhelm ’67 with a plaque in recognition of his contributions to Lambda Chi Alpha and to the fraternity and sorority system at Cornell.

Among lighter recognitions, Stan Leong ’90 was found to have traveled the farthest distance to attend, flying in from Taipei, Taiwan. The largest century club in attendance was the ’12s, with Bob McKinless ’48 O-612 leading the pack, followed by Tom Bruno ’90 O-1412, Jason Cho ’98 O-1512, John Zelenka ’03 O-1612, Max Shapnik ’09 O-1712, and Kevin Ross ’15 O-1812.

The longest direct lineage in attendance was that of Simon Franceschi ’92, Brett Ainsworth ’92, Andy Rosenberg ’93, and Frank Goppel ’95; their extended lineage in attendance included Greg Knight ’96, Mike Filiatrault ’95, Kevin O’Connor ’98, Brad Husted ’99, Ben Kuhn ’00, Alaric Eby ’10, J-M Grant ’12, Gabe Mahan ’13, Andrew Lui ’14, Jon Schedlebauer ’15, and James Asselin ’16.

Downloads

• Capital Campaign Prospectus (3.5 MB PDF)
• Capital Campaign Presentation (1.4 MB PDF)
• JHL Tecture Architect’s Drawings for Edgemoor Proposal (1.3 MB PDF)
• Centennial Invitation Mailer (3.2 MB)

Acknowledgements

The success of the weekend we owe to all of our members, sweethearts, guests, and honored VIPs who participated, and the months of preparation and hard work of our alumni and undergraduate volunteers, of Jennifer Lawrence Birnbaum and countless staff at Ceremonies and Event Planning of the Finger Lakes, the Statler Hotel, Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars, The Hot Truck, and Chris Kitchen Photography.

Centennial Celebration Committee