November 2020 Newsletter
Rho-Omega Stays Busy During the COVID-19 Pandemic
While this past semester has presented unprecedented challenges to the Kappa Sigma Fraternity, the Rho-Omega chapter continues to strengthen their brotherhood through both virtual and socially distanced in-person events. For example, new member education marks an important time for new members to both integrate with the chapter as well as learn about the history of all of the brothers who have made their impact on the chapter and the Fraternity. Brothers Ryan Ludemann (Spring ‘19) and Matthew Kirby (Fall ‘19) led the new member education process virtually this semester while allowing brothers to participate and create a cohesive environment for both current brothers and new members.
Brother Kirby described the process and told us “Taking in new members and adapting the new member process to a virtual setting was quite a challenge but we are lucky that it ended up working out and created a strong bond between both new members and brothers. I’m excited to see how next semester’s new member educators approach the new member process since we now have an idea of our strengths and weaknesses in an online process, and can use these next few months to fix our weaknesses and create an even stronger online process.”
The strengthening of the brotherhood can be largely contributed towards Brother Development Chair, Brother Alex Mattes (Spring ‘19), as he organized both in-person and virtual events for brothers to attend. Some of these events include game night, hiking, and paintball. When asked about the importance of brother development events, Brother Mattes told us that “through brotherhood development events such as hiking or paintballing, we created a safe environment for brothers to bond and strengthen the brotherhood of this chapter.” Brother Development and New Member Process events paved the way to a successful semester for the Rho Omega chapter. Even through challenging circumstances, we continue to find ways to improve.
The Newly Elected Kappa Executive Committee
A good Executive Committee is the backbone of any successful chapter. Especially in the midst of COVID-19, solid leadership is critical to maintaining the success that Rho-Omega has enjoyed since our founding. On October 25th, the chapter elected the Kappa EC for 2021. The EC consists of Ryan Ludemann (Spring ‘19) as Grand Master, Matt Leong (Spring ‘19) as Grand Procurator, Matthew Kirby (Fall ‘19) as Grand Master of Ceremonies, Alex Mattes (Spring ‘19) as Grand Scribe, and Joey Roselli (Fall ‘19) as Grand Treasurer. Each candidate brings a unique perspective to the team and will tackle challenges such as a recruitment and new member education process during another virtual semester of college, securing a chapter house for the future, and continuing our tradition of service and fundraising during a pandemic.
Most recently, Brothers Kirby and Ludemann have served as the New Member Education Team for the Sigma Class during a virtual process this fall. All other members of the EC have also been active in the chapter. This fall, Brother Leong has served as Social Chairman. Brother Mattes has served as the Brothers in Action Chairman and Assistant Grand Master of Ceremonies, and Brother Roselli was the Health and Wellness Chairman. In addition, Brother Ludemann is a Master of the Ritual and a Jackson’s Man, and Brother Roselli is working on his real estate license, which will aid the brotherhood in finding its permanent home.
Brother Ludemann had this to say about his team: “I’m truly excited about working with Brothers Leong, Kirby, Mattes, and Roselli for the next year on the Kappa Executive Committee. They are a phenomenal group of guys, and I’m looking forward to the unique things we can crank out as the pandemic ensues. We will hopefully get to see Rho-Omega functioning normal again in the latter part of our term, too!” Brothers, whatever you do, do well, and may success attend your efforts!
Matthew Goczalk Alumni Spotlight
This month’s alumni spotlight features one of our chapter’s founders, Matthew Goczalk, who first started attending meetings in 2010. He graduated in 2013 with a Computer Engineering degree and is currently working for an insurance technologies company called Duck Creek Technologies. Matthew lives in Jersey City with his wife of 6 years, and spends some of his free time as part of a Christian philosophy study group with another one of our founders, Dan Munt, where they’ve recently been finding ways to tackle current issues that minorities may face rather than acknowledging it but remaining complicite. He also showed an interest in local politics and wants to explore more ways of influencing them more to follow what their constituents want, a common issue many communities face when looking to their elected officials. As a more relaxing hobby Matthew likes holding board game nights with friends, which have since been moved online since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before Matthew decided to join our founders in bringing our Rho Omega chapter to Stevens, he was looking to join another fraternity at Stevens. He was ultimately let down by their lack of focus on community service especially when compared to our chapter, even in its humble beginnings. In his time as an undergraduate, Matthew served as the A Greater Cause chair where he organized our community outreach and even established our connection with the Vendy Awards, a service event that was a fun staple in our chapter until it came to an end. Other than that he served as our Assistant Grand Scribe where he led our social media presence and got word out about our newly formed chapter. Funnily enough, he said it seemed like a big part of the appeal of our chapter that drew people in was how we were in a way rebelling against the school. We were an underdog fraternity, and that resonated with a lot of students at the time, along with our other strong values that seemed to overshadow the other fraternities on campus.
One of Matthew’s most memorable moments as an undergrad was right around when Hurricane Sandy hit. He had made plans to go to Boston as students were getting kicked out of their school housing. Instead of staying and wondering what the school would have him do, he decided to go to Boston anyway, and was treated a little like a refugee trying to escape the storm. He was met with a lot of very nice hospitality and actually enjoyed himself as he got his mind off what was going on back home for a little bit.
Matthew’s advice to the undergraduates is to develop hobbies, especially now during a pandemic when meeting with other people isn’t as easy as it was before. Try to develop a hobby that you can do on your own as a way to get away from others. He does woodworking and said that being able to set a goal and work toward it is a lot more rewarding than just playing video games.
Dante Monteleone Undergraduate Spotlight
I was able to catch up with one of the oldest active brothers in Rho-Omega, Dante Monteleone (Spring ‘17) to talk about how this strange year has gone for him both inside and outside of the chapter.
In 2019, Dante made the tough decision to take a two semester break from Stevens to serve our country in the Air Guard. His decision to serve in the Air Guard meant he had to pack up for 4 months of training, starting with boot camp at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, continuing on to Technical School at the Sheppard Airforce Base in Texas. Dante explained that his experience taught him a lot about himself and it greatly challenged his mental and physical strength. He was able to successfully graduate the program, becoming an Aircraft Maintenance Airman and walked away from the experience with valuable lessons about diligence, perseverance, and a greater appreciation of his friends and family. While the bulk of the responsibilities for the Air Guard were completed during boot camp he still has to complete monthly service weekends at a base near his current residence in South Jersey.
Dante was excited to make a grand return to Stevens and to Rho Omega after his hiatus however like many others during this time, COVID-19 changed a lot of his plans. He opted not to move back to Hoboken this fall and instead has been taking his classes as a Business and Technology Major with a concentration in Accounting and Analytics from home.
This fall semester has been busy with senior design and other higher level classes all of which he has been taking virtually. Much like many others during this time, the isolation and craziness of quarantine have taken a toll. To manage this, Dante has started some sessions of therapy. He explained that these sessions have helped him immensely during this time and he and I both highly recommend to anyone reading this article to take some time for yourself and think about taking steps to cope with the stress of this pandemic.
Being at home though has not completely prevented Dante from reconnecting with the brothers of the chapter. This summer he reconnected with other Kappa Sigs by attending a couple of golf and beach outings with brothers.
When not in class Dante has filled his days by spending more quality time with his family and dog, picked up new hobbies like running and golfing, and even has participated in some of the virtual brotherhood development events put on by the chapter.
With only one semester left before graduation he is very excited to move back to Hoboken and into 926 Castle Point Terrace this spring. Upon graduation he has a job lined up at Protiviti where he will work alongside some other Rho-Omega alumni. Dante is also planning on enrolling in online Masters classes at Rutgers starting next year so he can qualify to sit for the CPA exam. Congratulations Dante! We are looking forward to hearing all about your success in the years to come. AEKDB
A E K Δ B
Not for a day, or an hour, or a college term only, but for life.
