In response, the Executive Council accepted the resignation of PGM Plagianakos, and thanked him for his service over the last year and a half to the fraternity, especially in advancing the membership education goals of the Fraternity.  Under Plagianakos’s leadership, the Fraternity developed a new chapter development program for chartering, reformed the chartering requirements, hosted two leadership schools, and implemented amongst education committee members a more wide-spread outreach to our current chapters and colonies.

In the wake of the resignation, the Members of the Executive Council overwhelmingly elected Frater Joseph Rios, Member of the Board, of Tau Epsilon Chapter, to replace the outgoing Mr. Plagianakos.  Frater Rios has fifteen years of experience in Higher Education and Student Affairs.  He holds a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Southern California in Psychology, a Masters in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Ball State University, and is working on his Doctorate in Higher Education Administration at the University of Southern California.    Joseph has been instrumental in chapter development and in many different aspects of the Executive Council’s operations, most notably in the areas of chapter development, membership education, and leadership development (which is a specialty for Frater Rios).

“Frater Rios’s election to Grand Magister identifies the overwhelming value that this Executive Council places on membership education, and significantly demonstrates our appreciation for all that Joseph has done for the Executive Council” Tau Delta Phi Grand Consul (National President) Michael Reuter said.  Mr. Reuter then added that, “Frater Rios’s election also demonstrates our faith in his ability as a Student Affairs professional, our belief in his outstanding leadership qualities, and our hope for further educational programming.”

Frater Rios assumed his duties immediately and plans to start by reaching out to every Consul in the fraternity to discuss what they most need to help every one of the chapters be as successful as they can possibly be.

For More Information Contact:

Shawn M. Dowiak, Director of Public Relations

Tau Delta Phi Fraternity, Inc.

261 West 35^th Street, Suite 700

New York, NY 10001

877-828-3358 x1

sdowiak@taudelt.net

All chapters and colonies are challenged to DO THE MOST they can for Feeding America this month.  This
can be represented in many different ways (i.e. dollars raised, time donated at a sponsored food bank,
or the amount of food raised for a local food bank).  The chapter or colony that submits the most
impressive story and does the most impressive philanthropy work (as judged by the Executive Council)
at the end of this month (no later then December 1, 2011) to the Grand Councillor will win a gift card to
the store of your group’s choice, as well as a plaque commemorating your success.  All write‐up
submissions must include pictures of your chapter or colony engaged in your philanthropic efforts.

We Tau Delts have  a lot to be thankful for, and now it’s time for us to give back to the communities
which we are a part of!  You can find ways to get involved with our philanthropy at
http://www.feedingamerica.org. I look forward to seeing our chapters and colonies make Tau Delta Phi
proud.

The Polaris will be made available to be ordered online at Amazon.com, through any book store
or online book retailer, and will be available for order by libraries and academic institutions. The
Polaris is currently available for order at the Fraternity’s E-Store website:

https://www.createspace.com/3656912

When asked why the fraternity decided to release this reference manual to the general public,
Grand Consul, Michael Reuter responded that, “The Polaris is our most comprehensive manual,
and rather than keep the history and administration of our fraternity private, we wanted members
of other organizations, as well as Non-Fraternity members, to see clearly our values, understand
our history, and learn more about us.”

The Fraternity was able to accomplish this task of public wide-scale distribution through
CreateSpace, a self-publishing company. “We decided to go with CreateSpace for this
publication because of the freedom they gave us as the author of the material. We also felt they
were the best avenue for wide-scale distribution. We noticed that our Administrative Guide,
which was deemed esoteric at the times of its publication in 1933 and again in 1952, were still
placed by our Fraternity’s founders in the Library of Congress despite only private distribution to
our membership. So, with a non-esoteric manual like our Polaris we intended to go a step further,
and CreateSpace allowed us to do that” said Past Grand Consul, Shawn Dowiak. He added,
“Today more than ever, the fraternity world is taking the stance of a less esoteric rendering of its
history and values, and we intend to follow suit making our values and history known to anyone
who wants to learn about them.”

Finally, when asked if the Fraternity would be releasing anything else through createspace?
Grand Historian, David Porter replied enthusiastically, “Now that we have published our written
history, values, and administrative functioning, Tau Delta Phi will be taking a more creative
stance for our next release.”

Indeed they will! This December, in time for the Holiday Season, Tau Delta Phi will be
releasing The Songbook of Tau Delta Phi using CreateSpace. The book is expected to come
packaged with a CD and/or MP3 recording of all the songs of the Fraternity, sung by a choir of
Tau Delt Fraternity members.

“At that point,” quipped Porter, “our values won’t just speak, they will sing!”

Contact: Shawn Dowiak
Telephone: 877-828-3358
Email: sdowiak@taudelt.net
Website: http://www.taudelt.net

The Executive Council has been hard at work over the last year. Several fraternity policies have been updated, a few bylaw changes have been made, and a list is attached for your review. I have also attached the complete updated bylaws for your review.

Most importantly, the inception of our billhighway system has significantly aided our fraternity in the collection of national dues and initiation fees, while holding individual members accountable for their past due balances. To that end, the Fraternity passed a resolution that outlined penalties for past due balances. You should familiarize yourself with the resolution on past due balances so that you know how penalties will work using the billhighway system going forward. Individual members will be held accountable by the National Fraternity and can face forced inactive status if they do not comply. Further your ability to present for chartering (if you are a colony) or vote at convention will be impacted if your members don’t comply.

If you have any questions about anything here, please let me know and I will be happy to discuss your concerns with you.

http://taudelt.net/documents/2011/10/bylaw-updates.pdf ‎

Fraternally,

Shawn M. Dowiak, PGC, CK

Grand Councillor/Director of Public Relations

Tau Delta Phi Fraternity, Inc.