Page 4 - The Alpha Gam - Winter 2015-16
P. 4

Spence (Continued from Page 1)

Outside of work, what do you for fun?                  My most recent visit was a pass through
  Family has always been important to me. I owe a      just a few weeks ago. Having gotten a
                                                       first hand glimpse of the impressive
great deal to Deb, and my children Tyler and Tara for  broader GT campus landscape, it is
their contribution to our corporate family success.    pretty obvious why builiding a new
Deb and I have traveled a good bit. Our two favorite   Delta Sigma Phi chapter house is
places are both walled communes: Monteriggione         appropriate and necessary.
(near Siena) and the old city of Jerusalem. These
days, we’ve done enough international travel;          What prompted you to get involved
so, San Francisco, Chicago and Montreal are            with the new house project?
more to our liking. Although we made a trip to
New Zealand to meet our grandson and see Tara.         I was contacted by Moe Trebuchon
I made that trip too many times in the mid-1980s       via Graham McFarlane and Larry
so now she comes to see us during our winter           Boone about the plans to rebuild the     Doug, Deb & Zoë, Tyler & Stephanie with Addison & Eliot.
escape in Naples, Florida. I took up golf about
eight years ago and I try to play once per week        chapter house. With some reluctance,
since retiring in 2012. Calling my game golf is        I listened to the concept and then read the business axiom is if your skill is management, be sure that
generous, in that I consider it a good round when      plan, which convinced me of the justification for you have a leader as your number two. Of course,
I break 100 – that happens more often now that         the project. The Delta Sig house sits on a prime the corollary is if skilled as a leader, have a number
I am playing from the gold tees! Other than that,      piece of GT real estate at 165 4th Street, NW. two who can manage the business. On a personal
I work out three times per week, walk 12-16 miles      In my opinion, the current house has become basis, I firmly believe that one’s success must be
per week, and do yard work and home maintenance        a blight to the surrounding GT neighborhood. based on an abiding faith that one can access in
projects. Mostly, the greatest fun is not facing       Previously, I did nothing, but Moe convinced me the loneliest moments of critical decision making
conference calls, budget meetings and forecast         that the plan is serious. I concluded that I had no – whether business or personal. Everyone’s ethos
reviews on Monday mornings.                            right to criticize unless I was willing to help. That is individually set by their own behavioral traits;
                                                       chapter house is a part of my personal history and so that “abiding faith” can be in a higher power,
When was the last time you visited the                 success. I decided I did not want to be associated with can be spiritual, or can be religious. It can be
Alpha Gamma house?                                     a “failure” in legacy on the GT campus for a group egocentrically founded on faith in one’s self. For
                                                       of people who made that prime address a source success, it must be one’s “true north” and go-to
  I’ve visited several times in the late 1980s and     of pride for all of us over the better part of a century. source for those solo critical decisions, whether
1990’s when I was on campus as a guest speaker for                                                          you call it prayer, meditation or introspection.
a professor at the Ivan Allen School. Our company      What advice can you give the alumni and young        My favorite homily related to success is from
also donated process automation equipment to the       actives about management and leadership?             Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables: “Thought is
Institute of Paper Chemistry and the Textile School
on campus. I was able to visit on those occasions.     First, recognize that management and leadership the toil of intelligence; reverie its voluptuousness.
                                                       are two distinctly different skills/talents. It is rare To replace thought with reverie is to confound
                                                       to find an executive who excels at both. So, the a poison with a food.”

Campaign Update: The Century Campaign Takes Center Stage (ContinuedfromPage1)

have a solid, fact based plan addressing financing,    abundance. If you receive a call or e-mail from        Clearly, the snowball effect has begun and
fundraising, timelines and architecture, 2) we         one of our volunteers, please take the time to talk  the momentum is rapidly building. Thank you
have a rock star alumni volunteer team, which          with them and hear the story of what is happening    to all the alumni and actives who have been
has grown to 57 brothers spanning all eras from        with the chapter and the Campaign. You owe it to     contributing their time, talents, and money to
the late 1950’s through present day, that is driving   yourself to listen!                                  help get us to this point. I look forward to many
enhanced alumni engagement, and 3) we will                                                                  more of you joining in, as we all do our part to
eradicate any lingering skepticism through regular       In other exciting news, we officially kicked       make a new Delta Sig chapter house at Georgia
communication of a credible plan, demonstrated         off the Quiet Phase of the Century Campaign          Tech a reality!
fundraising results and one on one interactions.       on October 1. Working with Elevate we have           YITBOS,
                                                       begun to solicit anchor donors. In addition, we      Moe Trebuchon ’83
  In particular, there is no substitute for the        are obtaining pledges from all members of our        Century Campaign Chairman
power of one on one interactions. If you were at       Alumni Corporation Board and our volunteer           mstrebuchon@mindspring.com
Homecoming, as we discussed, please reach out          leadership team. To date, the response has been      (404) 245-4017
to two or three brothers not in attendance and         outstanding. The Quiet Phase campaign is slated
share the energy and optimism that was visible in      to run a total of eight months through May 2016.           Bond Eternal
                                                       Currently, our fundraising results to date are
                                                       tracking ahead of plan!                                     We are truly saddened to learn of the
                                                                                                                     passing of the following brothers:
                                                         Meanwhile, after thorough evaluation of three
                                                       candidate firms, we selected Hug & Associates as             Larry Patrick ’69
                                                       our architectural services provider. Led by Tech            Phil McLaughlin ’62
                                                       graduate Mike Hug, the firm specializes in Greek           Kevin Ziolkowski ’87
                                                       housing projects having designed more than 30
                                                       houses nationwide including Theta Chi, Kappa
                                                       Sigma and Beta Theta Pi on the GT campus. Our
                                                       team of six alumni and six actives have begun to
                                                       work with Hug on our new house design, and we
                                                       expect to have a conceptual rendering to share
                                                       broadly in spring 2016.

Alumni communication services provided by Elevate | www.elevateims.com | 770-903-3987 | @elevateims
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