Page 2 - Cal Delta Spotlight - Winter 2016-17
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Chapter News


                                            we hope to have an
                                            even   more     successful
                                            recruitment  period.  We  are
                      President’s           always looking to make
                                            improvements  to  how  we
                      Message               run our chapter, and we have
                                            a new executive council full
                      Mark Miller           of bright and talented young
                                            men who are always looking
                          reetings brothers!  to do just that. New young
                      GIt  has been a  leaders, such as recruitment
                      wonderful fall semester  chairmen  Grant  Price  and
     for the men of Phi Delta Theta, California  Chris Cochran, are always
     Delta. With the close of 2016, there are a  trying to make sure that our
     couple things I would like to update you  chapter is performing to the
     on,  including  philanthropic  efforts,  to  highest standard.
     academic achievement, to electing our next   This semester, we hosted
     chapter president.                     a  brand  new  philanthropy
      Entering the fall semester, we hoped to  event to raise money for the
     recruit a quality pledge class that exhibited  ALS Association. Through
     the cardinal principles of the fraternity. We  hosting  a  volleyball
     are proud to say we were able to do so, and  tournament in our own
     we recently initiated 20 new men into the  backyard, we were able                       The 2016 men of Cal Delta.
     fraternity. I am personally very impressed  to raise a few thousand
     by the standards these men hold themselves  dollars, all of which went        and creative outlets for people to have
     to, and  I look forward to seeing how  to funding ALS research. Additionally, we  fun, and we see our influence when other
     they grow and develop over the coming  plan on holding our hallmark pre-finals  fraternities inevitably follow suit.
     years. Our total membership is nearing  philanthropy event, Phi Delt Puppies,   The level of academic achievement at
     130 people, making us  one of the  largest  in the spring. Our chapter continues to  California Delta has also been on the rise.
     fraternities on USC’s campus.          be innovators on the row at USC. We  Our chapter GPA saw a 2 percent increase
      Moving forward into the spring,  constantly try to come up with safe, new,  from the previous semester, and I expect that


     Chapter Spotlight: Jack O’Grady


      Editor’s Note: Representing the chapter as Spotlight is Sophomore Jack O’Grady. From
      the hometown of Brookfield, WI, Jack is working toward a B.S. in physics with a minor
      in technology commercialization at USC. Our former chapter design chair, Jack is an
      entrepreneur and creator of Packup, a mobile app startup, and his company residence is is
      at Science Inc. in Santa Monica. This past summer, he interned at Dornsife SURF (Summer
      Undergraduate Research Fund) and has worked as a research assistant in Professor
      Takahashi’s lab studying nitrogen vacancies in diamond. Outside of school, he enjoys skiing,
      graphic design, and hiking.


      What led you to join the chapter?                                            How did you come up with the concept for
      During rush, I met people who were                                           your start-up company?
     studying chemical engineering, mechanical                                       I have a brother who’s one year older
     engineering,   physics,   biomedical                                          than me, and he came back over his first
     engineering, business, accounting, real                                       Thanksgiving break with this idea to represent
     estate, international relations, and so many                                  availability using three different lights in an
     other majors. People were from Seattle,                                       app. I didn’t see the need initially in high
     the Bay, Southern California, New York,                                       school, but after coming to USC it made
     Chicago, Texas, and lots of other places.                                     complete sense. He never got past ideation, so
     This house is full of people from a ton of                                    I asked him if I could run with the idea, got
     cool, different backgrounds all studying                                      his permission, and started building out the
     different, interesting things, and I figured                                  concept right away. It’s come a long way from
     they would be the best group to surround   Getting interviewed by Huckletree (a London-  that one initial idea, and now has more of a
     myself with. This, combined with Phi Delt’s   based coworking space) about Packup at   focus on urban discovery and exploration.
     reputation for producing interesting people   Science Inc. in Santa Monica.   What are your goals during your leave from
     (from astronauts to founders to artists), and   an awesome chapter house sealed the deal.   school next spring?
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