As another year comes to an end at Thumpty, we reflect on the truly amazing semester our Brotherhood just experienced.  The last four months brought moments of great pride for the Beta Charge, especially the graduation of 25 seniors and the initiation of another promising pledge class.  Congratulations to those Brothers and good luck to the graduates in all of their future endeavors, Spectemur Agendo.

Thumpty’s tradition of hosting musical acts continued throughout the spring semester, including a momentous, first time collaboration with Cornell University.  In April, the University’s Rare Manuscript Division of the Library brought hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa to campus for a symposium on the origins of the genre. 

            Spring also brought another successful series of SAF events at Thumpty.  February 28^th was the night of what has come to be SAF’s annual cheese tasting at Thumpty, in conjunction with the Cornell Cheese Club.  On March 29^th, Cornell Prof. Trevor Pinch came to Thumpty for a lecture on the origins of analog and digital synthesizers, followed by a performance by his musical group, Electric Golem.  Pinch is a sociologist, a former chair of the University’s Science and Technology Studies Department, and a significant contributor in the field of sound study.   The semester’s final SAF event of the semester was the much anticipated Bollywood at Thumpty, which included an authentic Indian dinner prepared by Brother Yashvardhan Rathore, a screening of the epic film Devdas, and a performance by Cornell Sitara.  Many thanks go out to undergrad SAF Chair, Mike Lyons, for all of his efforts in that office. 

            The last few years have seen a significant and unprecedented increase in Thumpty’s contribution to the community.  Our Brotherhood values its role as a member of the Ithaca community and is constantly looking for new ways to give something back.  Our work was recognized by the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairts this past spring when we received its’ Most Outstanding Service to the Community Award.  This year’s efforts included participation in Friends of Farmworkers, Habitat for Humanity, and participating in Ithaca Youth Bureau fundraising events.  Thumpty’s Recycling for Haiti program, instituted by Philanthropy Chair Arthur Sams, was an especially successful philanthropic activity.  The program involves collecting cans for their deposits, and then donating those cans to the Help Haiti and Hope Missions.  The resulting donations are used to feed two different orphanages in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  According to the Missions, the redeemed five cents from each can is converted into 1.95 Haitian Goudes, enough money to feed a child for a day.  This year, Thumpty collected 13,000 cans for the Missions, which generated roughly 25,000 goudes. 

            Spring also saw improvements to the physical structure of the house itself, including new lighting fixtures for our dining room, two new bathrooms on the basement level, and a renovation of the grand staircase.  While we are very proud of our physical housing, fondly referred to as The Old Lady, it is the Brotherhood itself that makes us who we are.  The bonds between Thumpties run 140 years deep, only five years younger than the University itself.  We look forward to another successful 140 years, and hope to see you all at the Old Lady when classes start up again in Fall ’11.

                        - Rob M