Summer 2016
Delta Upsilon Tailgate Supreme |Dave "Sarge" Sugrue '90
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Brothers, in only a little over 90 days, like two great rivers, 100+ SU DUs will converge on MetLife Stadium. There on Saturday, October 1st, Syracuse will host Notre Dame in a nationally televised football game. We're hosting a tailgate of equal scale. We've contracted with ManCave Events LLC to provide us with an unforgettable experience. They will provide a complete experience built around, "The Premier Tailgating Trailer". This beast brings one 55" LED TV, two 32" LED TVs, 1000-watt sound system, X-Box, 2 keg taps, a PRIVATE restroom with sink and mirror, chairs, tables, tenting, heaters, coolers and a Corn Hole game. ManCave also provides a fully catered BBQ prepared by a professional chef and a server. Enjoy the menu with beer, wine and soft drinks. All of this for only $75/adult, $15 for minors. Bring your family and friends. Please register here.
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Sarge Sugrue
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Brotherhood, Glorious! |Rick Holland '83
Pictured, left to right: Phil Nardone, ’82, Rich Shelley, ’84, Jim McKay, ’82, Oz Street, ’80, Rick Holland, ’83, Dave Fish, ’80, Denis Robitaille’82, and Bob Gingrich, ’82. (Not pictured: Kurt DeVries ’82, and Tom Darling ’81)
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More than three decades have passed since graduation from SU for a group of early-to-mid 1980’s-vintage DUs living in the Boston area. While Father Time has exacted his predictable toll on the hair color and waistlines of these Brothers, nothing has dimmed their enthusiasm for regular reunions over good drinks and great dinners. Most recently, the gang gathered at Row 34 in South Boston (and at Lucky’s Lounge for a pre-dinner Happy Hour, of course) to Promote some Friendship and take the collective and miraculous time-machine journey that accompanies any gathering of DU alumni Brothers. These Boston-based SU DUs meet for dinner about every 6 or 8 months, and as long as you don’t mind the risk of possibly being seated next to Bob Gingrich or Roby, you’re welcome to join us!
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Re-Colonization and Cured Meats: The Stephen Crane Interview |
Dick Lowery '82 and Bill Strickland '81
Dick Lowery '82 and Bill Strickland '81
Stephen Crane
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The Spring 1981 Pledge Educator Duo of Strickland & Lowery are back at it, interviewing SU DU Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage. Please read Bill and Dick’s excellent interview here. |
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The Brothers I'll Never Meet |Rick Holland '83
Three reasons why I’m supporting the Campaign to Return DU to SU. The most valuable part of my college education was membership in Delta Upsilon. Nothing else in which I was involved on campus came close to providing me with the friendships and experiences that DU furnished. Off the bat, I recognize that not everyone reading this feels the same way; I’m just telling you how I do. And yet, when I search my heart for the motivation to make a financial commitment to DU’s return to SU, my thoughts often center on the Brothers I know I’ll never meet – the ones from generations ago who founded the Chapter; the alumni who resuscitated it about 40 years ago, and those who will form its future. I feel indebted to those who came before, and at the same time, I genuinely cannot wait to re-open the doors of DU membership to today’s students and the thousands who will follow them. Indulge me then, please, as I share three reasons why I’m giving money to our Campaign to Return DU to SU: 1. To pass it on. A few years before I arrived as a Freshman at SU in the fall of 1979, there was no Delta Upsilon chapter to join. But a group of alumni back then (like us today), decided to invest their time, talent, and treasure to re-start the Brotherhood. They had plenty of competing priorities in their lives (family, career, other financial demands and causes), but they made a commitment to bring DU back to SU. I never met them; they never met me, but by creating a DU for me to join, they changed my life. I can’t repay these selfless alumni, but if I follow their example, I can pass it on.
2. To meet a need now. Are there too many opportunities at SU for students to gain valuable outside-the-classroom leadership experience? Is there a surfeit of peers and alumni that today’s undergrads can learn from and emulate as mentors? In an age rife with digital loners, does Syracuse even begin to offer enough places for young men to belong and build friendships for life? And how about the guy who is attracted to fraternities, but is turned off by the secrecy and hazing – does he have a viable and vibrant choice among non-secret brotherhoods on the hill? My emphatic answer to all of these questions is: "No!”
DU’s absence from campus has created a pressing, present need among today’s SU students for an experience in our Brotherhood. |
Rick Holland
3. To prepare a way. I am convinced that when we provide the solid foundation of endowed scholarships outlined in the fund raising campaign, Delta Upsilon at Syracuse will endure long after we’re all gone. But this requires more than a 2nd-class “good enough” effort from us. At this stage, we seek bedrock cornerstones upon which to build a Brotherhood that will prosper quickly and endure for generations to come. It demands the best efforts from each of us to prepare a way for those DUs who will follow. Well over 100 alumni and friends of DU have had their own reasons for making their tax-deductible contributions to the $325,000 campaign to Return DU to SU (list of contributors). If you have not already joined them, please do so now – you may make a tax-deductible donation here, or if you’d like to make a pledge of $500 or more between now and December 31, 2016 to the campaign, please email Rick Holland at rickholland@comcast.net.
Editor’s Note: In his first reason, Rick makes special mention of our 1976 recolonization. Bruce Laidlaw ’55 has kept a record of our history, which includes 1976 details. Read it here. Keep reading and you’ll see Bonus of the Week below goes to a Brother who led our 1976 revival.
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Five Questions with Pete Yorn '96 | Adam DeMichele '95
Adam DeMichele caught up with his mid-90s co-Social Chairman Pete Yorn for a 5 Questions Interview. Pete lives in Hollywood, CA. Pete majored in Communication and Rhetorical Studies. After graduating, Pete moved to Los Angeles, and signed with Columbia Records in 1999. Pete has released multiple albums and has shared bills with the Dave Matthews Band, R.E.M., Crowded House, Foo Fighters, Weezer, Coldplay, The Dixie Chicks, Semisonic, among others. Pete has twice played at Carnegie Hall as part of tributes to Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen. Pete gave the 2011 commencement address to Syracuse’s Visual and Performing Arts graduating class.
1. Why did you choose DU over other fraternities?
My Freshman year we couldn’t pledge until our second semester. They had just changed the rules regarding that. I had heard around campus DU was a cool house, but what really led me there was that my two older brothers (Kevin and Rick) who lived in L.A. at the time, and still do, met a guy named Erik Tokosky. They called him ET and thought he looked like me. They said he was in a house called DU and that I should go check it out. When I got there I was really into the fact that It was so diverse in a cool way. We had long haired stoner rocker dudes, finance guys, athletes, Black, White, Jewish and Catholic guys. You couldn’t profile us on just looks or one type of person. All the other houses seemed so cliché, where everyone was seemingly cut from the same mold. Our House was from all different walks of life but there was something intangible that tied everyone together. I was into that.
2. Reflecting back on your time as a Brother what was your finest memory? Favorite tradition?
The dirty work boot! Shoot the boot! Seriously, one thing I did like and I actually wrote a paper on this for my creative writing class. I think I got an A on that paper… There was a time in the day, usually around dinner where everyone would try and show up and we’d all eat together on those long tables and the comradery of that was so cool. Dude’s would joke around and tell stories from the day and we would always have a lot of laughs. Now in life you don’t get to do that anymore really on a daily basis. I can only imagine that if it was today that everyone would be on their phones. We didn’t even know what email was back then. It was our way of all connecting and it was great to share that time with my Brothers.
My Freshman year we couldn’t pledge until our second semester. They had just changed the rules regarding that. I had heard around campus DU was a cool house, but what really led me there was that my two older brothers (Kevin and Rick) who lived in L.A. at the time, and still do, met a guy named Erik Tokosky. They called him ET and thought he looked like me. They said he was in a house called DU and that I should go check it out. When I got there I was really into the fact that It was so diverse in a cool way. We had long haired stoner rocker dudes, finance guys, athletes, Black, White, Jewish and Catholic guys. You couldn’t profile us on just looks or one type of person. All the other houses seemed so cliché, where everyone was seemingly cut from the same mold. Our House was from all different walks of life but there was something intangible that tied everyone together. I was into that.
2. Reflecting back on your time as a Brother what was your finest memory? Favorite tradition?
The dirty work boot! Shoot the boot! Seriously, one thing I did like and I actually wrote a paper on this for my creative writing class. I think I got an A on that paper… There was a time in the day, usually around dinner where everyone would try and show up and we’d all eat together on those long tables and the comradery of that was so cool. Dude’s would joke around and tell stories from the day and we would always have a lot of laughs. Now in life you don’t get to do that anymore really on a daily basis. I can only imagine that if it was today that everyone would be on their phones. We didn’t even know what email was back then. It was our way of all connecting and it was great to share that time with my Brothers.
Pete Yorn
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3. When you travel around the globe touring do you get to see a lot of your former brothers at your shows? Has anyone ever surprised you?
For years, brothers have shown up at my shows. You (Adam) were one of the most consistent up in Boston. Dave Julian ‘95 and his wife showed up once out in San Francisco and I recently just saw Steve Arakalien ‘95 out in the middle of the crowd at my show in NYC. An older brother named Ken Hyman ’88 came to my last show in Boston and it was cool to meet an older brother like that. It really is Brotherhood for life with DU. I ran into George Needham ‘95 in Boston in a parking lot a few years back and he came to my show that night. The best was when brother Mark Halsey ‘95 came to one of my San Diego shows and took a dump on my tour bus and I kicked him off. You never crap on the tour bus! That’s just understood right?! 4. Who was your single biggest musical influence growing up and how has that shaped your musical style and choices? I’m going to go out on a limb and not say a band but my older brothers. They turned me on to all of the music that I always loved. Early they turned me on to metal like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Then my brother Rick introduced me to the Cure, Smiths and REM. That’s the stuff that made me want to write songs. Rick even played in my band as my drummer at the beginning of my career. |
5. You just became a Dad to a new baby girl. How has that changed your perspective on life and influenced your songwriting creativity?
It’s so different. It’s all good. She’s so cute and while it’s work and focus, I can’t take how adorable she is. I can’t stop hugging her and she imitates me a lot. It’s just awesome.
It makes me more aware and present in my life. It keeps my head focused on what’s right in front of me. She’s a great focus for all my nervous energy. I don’t think I’ve ever felt better since we had her. She’s forced me to become more “Zenned” out or something like that. As far as how it has influenced my songwriting and creativity? I come up with a bunch of silly baby songs all day long that I sing to her. I haven’t even gotten into writing anything serious now that we’ve had her. My last record was completed before she came. I’m as interested as anyone else to see where it takes me and if I focus more on some brighter subjects as well now.
Sometimes I put her to sleep and then I look on the monitor and have a moment to myself and I start looking through my iPhone and see a picture of her from the day and I want to go wake her up just to be with her.
It’s so different. It’s all good. She’s so cute and while it’s work and focus, I can’t take how adorable she is. I can’t stop hugging her and she imitates me a lot. It’s just awesome.
It makes me more aware and present in my life. It keeps my head focused on what’s right in front of me. She’s a great focus for all my nervous energy. I don’t think I’ve ever felt better since we had her. She’s forced me to become more “Zenned” out or something like that. As far as how it has influenced my songwriting and creativity? I come up with a bunch of silly baby songs all day long that I sing to her. I haven’t even gotten into writing anything serious now that we’ve had her. My last record was completed before she came. I’m as interested as anyone else to see where it takes me and if I focus more on some brighter subjects as well now.
Sometimes I put her to sleep and then I look on the monitor and have a moment to myself and I start looking through my iPhone and see a picture of her from the day and I want to go wake her up just to be with her.
Alumni News
Step one in big efforts like this is to identify all the guys, get contact information for the guys – in our case 900+ SU DU Alumni Brothers. We’ve done a good job with this. Now, we’re taking it up a step: promoting Brothers reconnecting in furtherance of our Founding Principle: The Promotion of Friendship. Answering the call for a paragraph or so on what Brothers have been up to in the intervening years, the Brothers below provided an update on their lives, signing off with their contact information, inviting Brothers to reach out and reconnect. Click on a decade to link to the write-ups. We plan on running Alumni News in each Bazoo so send your life blurb to Mike Whalen ’85 at redsoxx1975@aol.com for inclusion in a future Bazoo.
Save the Date
Brotherhood Fundraising Tailgate Party at MetLife Stadium
When? October 1, 2016
What? Tailgate Party at Syracuse-Notre Dame Football Game
Where? New York College Classic at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Brotherhood Fundraising Tailgate Party at MetLife Stadium
When? October 1, 2016
What? Tailgate Party at Syracuse-Notre Dame Football Game
Where? New York College Classic at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Have interest in being an advisor to our new brotherhood? Learn how.
Have a DU memory or story to share? Submit your story.
Do we have your latest contact information? Update it now.
Have a DU memory or story to share? Submit your story.
Do we have your latest contact information? Update it now.
Bob Portmess
Bonus and Boner Award
Bonuses to the special contributors to this Bazoo. Strickland & Lowery’s Crane piece is genius. Adam DeMichele’s interview with Brother Yorn should also run in Rolling Stone. Thank you Bill, Dick and Adam for doing a lot for the House.
But the biggest Bonus of all time goes posthumously to Bob Portmess ‘78. As you may know, Bob recently passed. The Bazoo learned from John McQuail ’78 that Bob and Rick McGinley ’78 were the driving forces in our 1976 recolonization. Bob was Chapter President the first semester we returned to campus at 744 Comstock. Under Bob’s historic and dynamic leadership, weekly Bonus and Boner awards were instituted. Thank you for everything, Bob.
Bonuses to the special contributors to this Bazoo. Strickland & Lowery’s Crane piece is genius. Adam DeMichele’s interview with Brother Yorn should also run in Rolling Stone. Thank you Bill, Dick and Adam for doing a lot for the House.
But the biggest Bonus of all time goes posthumously to Bob Portmess ‘78. As you may know, Bob recently passed. The Bazoo learned from John McQuail ’78 that Bob and Rick McGinley ’78 were the driving forces in our 1976 recolonization. Bob was Chapter President the first semester we returned to campus at 744 Comstock. Under Bob’s historic and dynamic leadership, weekly Bonus and Boner awards were instituted. Thank you for everything, Bob.
How You Can Help
There are many ways to get involved! Help organize and event, find missing Brothers, be an advisor to our new undergraduate brotherhood, make calls to raise funds, write a Bazoo article, etc. It's all up to you! This website has an extensive FAQ, a list of missing Brothers, dozens of Bazoos, DU's history at Syracuse University and more!
Contact any of the Task Force members directly or email us at dusyracuse@gmail.com.
Mark Linnan, '85, Chairman, Housing Committee
Rick Holland, '83, Chairman, Fundraising Committee
Ken Hyman, '88, Chairman, Undergraduate Advisory Committee
Al Stauderman, '58, Chairman, University Relations Committee
Kevin Stein, '83, Chairman, Communications Committee
Oz Street, '80, Chairman, Finance Committee
Dick Thorpe '60, Chairman, Task Force
Mike Whalen, '85, Chairman, Legal Committee
There are many ways to get involved! Help organize and event, find missing Brothers, be an advisor to our new undergraduate brotherhood, make calls to raise funds, write a Bazoo article, etc. It's all up to you! This website has an extensive FAQ, a list of missing Brothers, dozens of Bazoos, DU's history at Syracuse University and more!
Contact any of the Task Force members directly or email us at dusyracuse@gmail.com.
Mark Linnan, '85, Chairman, Housing Committee
Rick Holland, '83, Chairman, Fundraising Committee
Ken Hyman, '88, Chairman, Undergraduate Advisory Committee
Al Stauderman, '58, Chairman, University Relations Committee
Kevin Stein, '83, Chairman, Communications Committee
Oz Street, '80, Chairman, Finance Committee
Dick Thorpe '60, Chairman, Task Force
Mike Whalen, '85, Chairman, Legal Committee