Student life is radically different amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, but an aggressive testing and tracing regime plus community efforts to control the spread keep Cornell open throughout the fall semester, a model for the country. Terence Burke '21 O-1936, as Interfraternity Council president, is a key ambassador between the administration, the fraternities, and parents and alumni.
The outbreak of COVID-19 leads Cornell and universities around the world to shut down in order to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. Classes resume three weeks later online, and brothers are left to remain in touch through Zoom and various online channels.
Although scattered far and wide around the world, brothers rally to support the Ithaca community, raising funds for the Burritos for Heroes promotion to support local first responders, and for the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, the regional affiliate of Feeding America.
The fraternity continues to think progressively, to ensure Lambda Chi Alpha will enrich the lives of many to come. The Edgemoor Ten-Year Plan, by Sandy Gilbert ’63, lays out work to be done to maintain and upgrade Edgemoor over the next decade.
Alex “Baba” Aidun ’08 officially inaugrates the Alumni Advisory Board, alumni brothers who will lend advice and support to undergraduate officers in their duties. The chapter also pursues its first live-in advisor.
The house is officially rededicated at Homecoming 2015, with a huge contingent of alumni on hand and numerous accolades to the volunteers behind the effort. Doug Levens ’92 is award the Bob McKinless Award for his quarter-century of service to fraternity.
The undergraduate chapter relocates to a house on North Campus for construction. It is not an easy move; the charms and location of Edgemoor are sorely missed. Construction, for its part, goes slowly amidst a record-breaking cold.
In a twist of irony, the Ithaca Building Department declares that no one may occupy the third floor dormitory because it is unheated. While only a handful of brothers still slept there, it had been maintained for tradition’s sake, but now, the space was deemed wasted.
After a short debate, the chapter votes to convert the room into the Dormer Gym, a fully equipped weight room.
Etienne Merle ’69, the chapter’s chef since 2003, is initiated as an honorary brother of Lambda Chi Alpha. Actives and alumni entertain him at a celebratory dinner at the Beck Center in the Hotel School.
Led by chapter president Sandy Gilbert, and supported by Bill Imig, Bob Elliott, and Peter Gilbert, Omicron’s delegation to the 28th General Assembly takes a strong stand against racial and religious discrimination. After a battle almost as old as the delegates themselves, the side of equality finally wins, and the national constitution is amended to remove the last references to such restrictions.
With several decades of wear and tear on its belt (and under its floor) since its last updates, the gazebo is in need of care. After an effort led by High Pi Trevor Connor '95 O-1494, the alumni find funds to replace boards, patch the roof, and improve the electrical supply.