Paragon

February 2024

A Message from the President

March 22, 23 and 24: Work Weekend and Boss Dog Brewing

Help the Actives With Career Planning

Replacing the 1965 and 1969 Composites

Alumni Assist With Spring Rush

Meet the Board - Christian Carson

Upcoming Events

March
Friday, March 22  - Alumni Happy Hour
Saturday, March 23 – Work Weekend
Sunday, March 24 – Work Weekend

April
Friday, April 12 - Initiation
Monday, April 29 – Founder’s Day

May
Saturday, May 11 – Alumni Association Elections

July
Saturday, July 13 – Work Weekend
Sunday, July 14 – Work Weekend

Brothers,

I would like to start a new tradition of electing new members of the association’s board of directors this year around the time of CWRU’s commencement. After examining the university’s calendar, I would like to begin this new tradition on Saturday, May 11th, which is the Saturday before commencement.

Any brother who has attained alumni status from the Ohio Alpha Beta chapter of Phi Kappa Theta may run or vote in the election. We will be electing 4 new members who will serve 3-year terms which will begin July 1, 2024. It is not necessary to live in Cleveland; members of our current board live in Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan/Florida and Washington, DC. We will have Zoom available for those who cannot attend in person.

We have had basically the same members of our Board of Directors since we started this iteration of the alumni association in 2021. As we approach the 3-year mark, our Board could use a dose of fresh blood, particularly from younger alumni. Please consider running if you care about the Ohio Alpha Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Theta and want to see it continue to succeed. Reach out to me at president@ohioalphabeta.org if you have questions about serving on the board.

Speaking of commitment to our success, I would like to thank the members of the Class of 1967 who have anonymously donated $10,000 to the alumni association. This money will allow us to accomplish more work on the chapter house and fund more programs to help grow the chapter. Thank you very much brothers!

I would also like to thank our additional donors since our last issue. Thanks are due to Ben Langhals, Brandon Palmer and David Hill for donating to our general fund. In addition, we’d like to thank Jim Miller, Bill Rolfes, Ron Krahe and Gregory Koesel for donating to our ongoing campaign to replace the 1965 and 1969 composites. Last but not least, thank you to the those brothers who have set up a monthly recurring donation via Paypal: Joe Reed, Aaron Mann, Brandon Palmer, Patrick Glynn and Tony Rossi.

I hope to see you for our first work weekend of 2024 on March 23-24! Read on for further details.

Yours in the Bonds,

Nicholas DeCenzo
President, Ohio Alpha Beta Alumni Association

Our first work weekend of 2024 will be on Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24. We have an extensive list of projects under consideration. Notably:

• As noted in the December Paragon, we recently had to replace one of our sewer lines to the street. This required digging a hole in the room to the right of the bar. New cement was laid over the hole, but we are going to take this opportunity to replace the old worn out flooring throughout the public areas of the basement.
• The staircase that runs from the first floor by the side entrance down to the bar is in rough shape. Commercial grade rubber flooring has been already been delivered to the house. Once installed, it will look a lot better and will also minimize the chance of someone tripping and falling on those stairs.
• At virtually every work weekend we’ve held over the last two years we have replaced some piece of drywall in the house. At this work weekend we hope to paint a lot of that drywall.

All brothers, whatever their home improvement skill level, are welcome to join us. We ask that you RSVP in advance for one or both days via our website so we can plan appropriately. Not sure if you can make it? No problem, drop in and say hello on either day! Can’t make it that weekend and want to support the cause? Your donation is greatly appreciated and will help defray the costs of materials for work weekend or pay contractors for those projects we cannot complete ourselves.

If you're planning to join us for the March Work Weekend, you're invited to dinner on Friday, March 22nd at Boss Dog Brewing! If you cannot make it to Work Weekend, that's OK, you're still invited to dinner on Friday March 22nd at Boss Dog Brewing!

What: Dinner and drinks! Everyone will pay their own way.
When: Friday, March 22, 2024 @7pm
Where: Boss Dog Brewing (https://bossdogbrewing.com/)
2179 Lee Rd, Cleveland Heights

Please RSVP for this event on our website. Please be aware that everyone will be responsible for paying for their own food and drink. If you have any questions, please email Ken (nagano@ohioalphabeta.org). We'll see you there!

We would like to thank everyone who has joined the Phi Kappa Theta OAB Network on LinkedIn, with a special thank you to Rob Stalder for his tireless posting of positions of interest for the membership. If your company is looking to fill a position, particularly an entry level one that might be suitable for a newly minted graduate of the Ohio Alpha Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Theta, we urge you to post it to the group.

As we all know, applying for a position is just one step in the hiring process. The active chapter is starting a brand new career planning round table this semester, and we could use your assistance. If you are an alumnus who:

• Has experience as a recruiter
• Has insights to share about how you started your career
• Has tips over applying for jobs, interview tactics, resume planning, or a related area

Please fill out this short form or contact James Jiang at mxj457@case.edu to discuss presenting at this panel.

The event will be held over zoom, date TBD. You just need to have 20 minutes within this time frame.

• Give a small presentation (under 10 minutes) about your career experience
• Providing insights to undergraduate students over career planning, background building and job applications.
• Good questions to consider:
  • How to leave a good impression during an interview
  • Red flags during the application process and how to avoid them
  • How to negotiate with HR (hours, paychecks…)
  • What are some good industry fields/ companies that recent graduates should apply to?
  • Any other tips and comments are welcomed as well.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Our campaign to replace the small personal copies of the 1965 and 1969 composites continues. Between scanning the small personal copies that are in our possession, printing them, and framing them to the same quality we used for the 13 composites we repaired last year, our vendor estimates that it will cost $500 to replace each of the 1965 and 1969 composites on the wall. We are currently about 20% of the way toward our goal of $1000. Thank you brothers!

You can help us return our brothers from 1965 and 1969 to the wall by donating today. Click on the pictures to donate!

1965 Composite Campaign

1969 Composite Campaign

On Friday, January 26, the Alumni Association sponsored a rush event in conjunction with the active chapter. The entirety of the active chapter joined several potential new members and alumni Gage Bunker ‘23, Will Woodfint ‘23 and Ken Nagano ‘01 for dinner at the Quaker Steak & Lube in Sheffield, Ohio.

The conclusion of rush is bid night. Many thanks to Brian Yu ‘21 for representing the Alumni Association as bids were handed out in early February.

There are currently eight members of the board of the Ohio Alpha Beta Alumni Association. Christian Carson ‘08 JD ‘11 is currently the second longest serving member of the board. Let’s let him introduce himself in his own words. Or more accurately, in the words of a lightly edited ChatGPT response!

Christian earned both his BS and MS in accounting from Case in 2008. His allegiance to his alma mater (not to mention a global financial crisis) led him to pursue a law degree from CWRU Law School in 2011. Throughout this journey, he stayed connected with the chapter and maintained a continuous relationship with the alumni association. In 2016, he played a role in restarting the association, beginning with the 75th Anniversary gala event. Christian has since served as treasurer for both the housing corporation and the alumni association.

After law school, Christian worked for a law firm specializing in real estate and the oil and gas industry. In 2014, he established his own real estate, probate, and estate planning law firm, followed by a title agency in 2015. Simultaneously, Christian ventured into rental property investment, starting with residential rentals and expanding to industrial properties by 2017. Alongside his partners, Christian now administers a growing portfolio of over 750,000 square feet of industrial warehouse properties in northeast Ohio.

When not working, Christian enjoys sailing his own boat out of Edgewater Yacht Club in Cleveland and also regular team sailboat racing on a J-105 class sailboat known as “Dark and Stormy.” The local J-105 community is working hard not to embarrass itself when the class’s national competition comes to Cleveland in 2024. When the lake is frozen over, he keeps busy with skiing until the summer warmth returns.

The Ohio Alpha Beta Alumni Association exists to connect the over 1000 alumni of the Phi Kappa Theta Ohio Alpha Beta chapter at Case Western Reserve University through events, newsletters, and other gatherings.

Our subsidiary organization, the Ohio Alpha Beta Housing Corporation, exists to own, maintain, and improve the Ohio Alpha Beta Chapter House located at 11016 Magnolia Drive, Cleveland, OH, 44106.

Please add @‌ohioalphabeta.org to your contact list to ensure delivery of the Paragon.

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