Acacia Fraternity of Syracuse

As potential new members (PNMs) began to filter in, Brother Derek Li couldn’t help but take advantage of his new audience. After having already thoroughly exhausted the active brotherhood he hastily picked up the guitar and let loose on the newbies. His dedication to the art stirred memories in the minds of the older actives who recalled when Brother Jordan Rennert did much the same thing…except with a real guitar and a significantly enhanced repertoire of songs. Memories of Jordan aside, Brother Li’s efforts are appreciated and his attempts will live on in infamy.

Looking for a good place to get some work done? Great news! No longer is there a need to bundle up and head to Carnegie: the Acacia Study as it was envisioned from the start is now your place to hit the books. Special thanks go to recent alumni Brother Ben Peskin for donating the awesome computer and to Brother Dhaval Shah for being willing to part with his beloved room.

To strengthen the ties of friendship and foster a better understanding of the unique working style the recently elected executive board, Chapter Advisor Brother Charles Cutshall facilitated the chapter’s first e-board leadership workshop. Brothers gave up their Sunday to come out and engage in a meaningful conversation about some of what they thought were upcoming challenges for the chapter and how they planned to lead the fraternity during their tenure. Said Brother Tuan Nguyen, “It was a time to reflect on where we have come from, where we want to take the chapter, and how we plan on doing it.” Special thanks go to Refounding alumnus, Brother David Flagg, for participating and providing the brothers with a great lunch, and to recent alumni, Brother Gemayel Jean-Paul, for allowing the chapter to use the retreat house where he currently resides as a space to hold the academy.

While most of the campus was just waking up from an added night of the usual weekend activities, the brothers of the Syracuse Chapter of Acacia Fraternity were already out and about helping to prepare and deliver meals to the less fortunate and elderly people of Syracuse. The director of MOW volunteer services, Ed Brown, made the conscious decision to give the day off to all of the everyday volunteers. The brothers of Acacia, always ready to do some Human Service, heard the call and came out in great numbers. Many brothers volunteer regularly at Meals on Wheels and the great turn out for MLK day only helped to strengthen the already good relationship that we share.

The gentlemen of Acacia wined and dined the lovely ladies that, in most cases, willing joined them for their Fall Formal at the Double Tree hotel. Brothers and their dates had the option of either having a strip steak or something fishy. Those that were most aware of the finer things in life had no trouble passing on the fish and heading straight to the steak. The others, less experienced, enjoyed the fish and felt that it was a wonderful dinner. Dinner was followed by an intimate party back at the house where brothers and their dates were able to sit back, kick off their shoes, and enjoy a friendly game of Twister. All in all a great time was had by all. Thank you Bro. Matthew Hagerty for making it happen!

The Syracuse Chapter of Acacia Fraternity once again took to the busy sidewalks of Wal-Mart’s around town to take in donations for boys and girls who did not believe that they would be receiving a visit from Santa Claus this year. AcaciaClaus was brought to the Syracuse chapter in ’06 by recent alumni Jordan Rennert and appears to have turned into an annual event. Brother Tyler Chu who did a fantastic job coordinating and rallying the troops led this year’s effort. He recalls, “When I was younger there were some Christmas when I didn’t get anything. It feels good to know that I helped make a difference and bring joy to some kids who might be like me.” Most of the toys donated were passed on to Cassandre Henriquez-Kaba who personally delivered them to an orphanage while visiting her family in Haiti. The remainder, too large to be packed into a suitcase and shipped to Haiti, was donated to Toys for Tots.