UNH Fraternity Given Second Chance

Good comes from poor choice aboard Isles of Shoals vessel
By Shir Haberman

PORTSMOUTH — Robin Whittaker, owner of the Isles of Shoals Steamship Co., decided this summer to take a negative situation involving a UNH fraternity and turn it into a learning experience for those involved.

“Robin understands that everyone is human, and we all make mistakes and bad choices,” said the company’s marketing director, Hayley Holmes.

The bad choice Whittaker hoped to rectify occurred in September 2006, when the University of New Hampshire fraternity, Sigma Beta, took the Isles of Shoals Steamship Co. for an evening cruise.

Aboard the M/V Thomas Laighton, some fraternity members and their dates were involved in underage drinking and the boat was forced to return to port early. The incident was reported to police, Holmes said, but no charges were pressed and there was no damage to the Laighton.

“The incident negatively impacted Robin, the boat’s crew and the larger Portsmouth community the local cruise line serves,” Holmes said. “It was a black mark on both the fraternity as well as the larger Greek system and UNH community.

”Whittaker took the initiative to create a situation in which those involved in the 2006 incident learned the consequences of making poor decisions. With the help of the university’s interim Greek coordinator Paul Ramsay, arrangements were made between the fraternity and the steamship company to repair relations, with each side learning a valuable lesson.

During the winter months, there was correspondence between Sigma Beta member Sean Delahunt and Whittaker, and a date was set at the beginning of the 2007 season for fraternity members to spend some time fixing up the port area.

The students spent a few hours landscaping, scraping and painting the benches, and fixing parts of the dock.

“It was important for the fraternity to show that responsibility and accountability count for a lot, and that something positive could come from this incident,” states a press release issued by the steamship company.

Whittaker’s initiative opened the door of possibility for members of Sigma Beta to learn from their mistakes and to take something much greater away from the experience.Whittaker said she strongly believes in the importance of personal growth and learning through conflicts such as this one.

“After that night, we understand how our behavior only reflects poorly on fraternities as well as the UNH community,” Delahunt said.

“That night was a lapse in judgment and affected our reputation and shadowed all of the positive things our fraternity does in the community.

“We appreciate this opportunity from Robin and everyone at the Isles of Shoals Steamship Co. for the chance to make things right,” Delahunt said.

After their community service, the Sigma Beta members were given complimentary passes aboard the Thomas Laighton.“It affords them the opportunity to show they can have fun in a safe and legal manner,” Holmes said.

Judging from the response of the fraternity members, they plan to do just that.“We hope this will be the start of a great relationship between Sigma Beta and Isles of Shoals Steamship Co.,” Delahunt said.

“Both parties have walked away with a valuable learning experience and greater knowledge into how conflict can equal growth as well.”To learn more about the Isles of Shoals Steamship Co.’s community involvement, call (800) 441-4620, or visit www.islesofshoals.com.

News from Dartmouth - NH Alpha

Breaking Frat Boy Stereotype Earns Awards for Dartmouth’s SigEp

Fraternity honored for exceptional brotherhood, chapter advising, service, and faculty involvement.

Hanover, N.H., April 16, 2007: The New Hampshire Alpha Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon earned top honors at Dartmouth College’s annual Order of Omega Awards Tuesday afternoon. Competing with 26 other Greek organizations on campus, the chapter was honored for Outstanding Performance in Fostering the Principle of Brotherhood/Sisterhood, earned the 15 Webster Avenue Award for service, netted a runnerup spot for Outstanding Faculty Involvement, and its chapter counselor was named the 2007 Coed-Fraternity-Sorority Advisor of the Year.

“SigEp is pleased to receive these awards,” said SigEp president Sean Walsh ’08. “We have worked hard to improve our membership development program and we are proud of our progress.”

In presenting the award for Outstanding Performance in Fostering the Principle of
Brotherhood/Sisterhood, Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia praised New Hampshire Alpha’s initiatives at increasing the bonds of brotherhood, including its revamping of the Balanced Man Program to make the challenges more meaningful and conducive to intra-group bonding.

Chapter Counselor Carey Heckman ’76 was named Dartmouth’s Outstanding Chapter
Advisor. In presenting this award, chapter presidents past and present Jeff Wagner ’06, Dave Coen ’07, and Sean Walsh ’08 praised Heckman’s dedication to and involvement with the house.

Heckman, who teaches in Dartmouth’s philosophy and computer science departments, said
he felt honored by the award, but credited the brothers for their chapter’s successes.

View the full new release in PDF format (Adobe Reader Required).

www.sigepnha.org
For additional information, please contact Stuart Reid at sreid@dartmouth.edu.

Snowplow operator accidently kills his best friend

Jerry Vayda joined Sig Ep when he attended UNH. His death this week is one of those awful ironies that happen sometimes.

At age 25, Jerry Vayda was already acting like the head of his household.

He was the first college graduate in his family, with plans to go to medical school. When his father fractured his spinal cord in a motorcycle accident in August, Vayda ran the family construction business and oversaw his dad's recovery.
[...]
Jerry Vayda, who lived in Gilmanton, died early Sunday morning, after being hit by a plow truck driven by his best friend on Route 140 in Alton. The accident was a few dozen feet from his father's crash.

Family and friends said that Vayda would surely have achieved bigger things. He was confident he would become a doctor, his goal since childhood. He also made time for his loved ones. He had planned to marry his girlfriend after becoming a doctor, and he was living with his parents to help them after his father's accident.

The morning he died, Vayda was walking home from J.P. China, a restaurant in Alton. He and his girlfriend, Katie Bamberger, had been arguing over "stupid things," she said. [...]Instead of riding home with Katie, he decided to walk the seven miles back to Gilmanton.

Benson, driving the same truck he had used to plow the driveways for the Vaydas last week, struck his best friend, who was in the "travel portion" of the road, said Sgt. Ryan Heath of the Alton Police Department. The police haven't filed charges but are still investigating.

Vayda's mother, Dian, said she spoke to Benson at the crash site and told him that she understood it was an accident.
[...]
Though he played hockey and water-skied as a child, then pledged to Sigma Phi Epsilon at the University of New Hampshire, he always remained focus on his goal of becoming a doctor.

"Everyone said it was so easy for him, but what they didn't see was that when he would come home from school, he would be inside studying while everyone else was outside playing," his mother said.

Vayda graduated in 2005 with a degree in biology, making the chancellor's list. He planned to start medical school in August and become an orthopedic surgeon. His dream was to start a clinic with his girlfriend as the manager and a friend as a pharmacist.

Crash victim recalled as family's anchor