Photo courtesy of Leila Osman

Members of Hofstra’s Phi Delta Theta chapter with the Clark Jackson Award for the top fundraising chapter.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hofstra University’s New York Kappa chapter of Phi Delta Theta decided to use the extra time on their hands to help others. Each member of the fraternity completed an athletic endeavor within a specific time frame to raise funds and awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), in honor of their brother, Lou Gehrig, who passed away from the disease. The New York Kappa chapter of Phi Delta Theta raised $21,345.81 for the LifeLikeLou Foundation, which is dedicated to ending the fight against Lou Gehrig’s Disease. During the spring 2021 semester, they ranked first in the United States and Canada for most funds raised out of all the Phi Delta Theta chapters. They also placed first in the Lou Olympics, against chapters from the northeastern province of the country.

“A lot of people felt as if they were kind of helpless. They didn’t have as much control over their destinies as much as they thought they did,” said senior finance major Michael DelBene, president of the New York Kappa chapter. “And I just felt this determination to do something big. [My friends and I] had all this extra free time to do something productive and make an impact in some way, and we figured what better way than to use our fraternity, which is our biggest platform, to raise money for LiveLikeLou, which is our national philanthropy.”

All the individual athletic endeavors were made public on the fraternity’s website, where each brother attempted to be an Iron Phi. To become an Iron Phi, members of the fraternity must have completed their chosen athletic endeavor and raised at least $1,000. Junior Gavin Gertsen is in the physician’s assistant program at Hofstra and is the fraternity’s Membership and Recruitment Chair. His athletic endeavor was to lift 504,000 pounds within two weeks. He alone raised $3,031.50, earning the Iron Phi title.

“The reason I chose 504,000 is because every year, I think it’s about 5,300 people who are diagnosed with ALS, so I picked a number pretty close and multiplied it for what would work.  I was the first one in a couple years to become an Iron Phi, in the chapter’s history, so last semester I was kind of the starter for inspiring the other guys of my chapter to want to pursue it,” Gertsen said. “The original reason I did it was because I wanted to prove something to myself, prove something to others [and] do something good during a time with COVID. We came together and we raised the most money nationwide out of Phi Del, so it was awesome.” 

Junior journalism major and New York Kappa Vice President Lewis Grosso learned about becoming an Iron Phi a few weeks into becoming a member of the fraternity.

“It was a COVID time. [Becoming an Iron Phi] wasn’t a popular thing to do because we were dealing with other things and it wasn’t the first thing on people’s minds,” Grosso said. “I think the reason that I wanted to do it was [because] it’s doing something good [and] that’s the point. I think that’s why I grew in my own character by wanting to do this through Phi Delt.”

During the middle of the spring 2021 semester, the fraternity noticed a leaderboard on the Iron Phi website ranked them fourth in the nation, and their funds had already surpassed their initial $10,000 goal. After seeing this, they set a new goal: to win first place in the U.S. and Canada.

“We had about 40 guys last year, compared to chapters who had hundreds of guys, so we saw we were close to being first,” Gertsen said. “That was the kind of motivation that pushed us. We could show everyone that just because we’re small doesn’t mean we’re not mighty.”

In addition to placing first in the northeastern province, and winning the Lou Olympics, the New York Kappa chapter also earned the Clark Jackson Award. This national award declared them the number one fundraising chapter.

“I was really happy, and I was really proud of my chapter because as much as I am the figure head, I by no means did this alone,” DelBene said. “This was a collaborative effort from everyone who was involved, and I would never take credit for what we achieved. I was very proud of my guys because I just felt as after a challenging year, I saw a lot of them grow.”

Out of all the fraternities at Hofstra, Phi Delta Theta is the largest one. Grosso said the fraternity has one of the highest-ranking GPAs on campus. According to Grosso, Phi Delta Theta New York Kappa is not just a social club. He said they are in contact with their alumni, who pass on internship opportunities to the brothers.

“What we like to do, and what we live by, is to leave the fraternity better than what it was left to us,” Grosso said. “I’m not above Phi Delt. I’m a brother in it. I do everything I can for it. We won awards last year to show that we were doing it on the top level so [when] I leave and graduate as a senior and look back on where I am, and where the chapter is, I’d be ridiculously proud to leave with that legacy.”

DelBene said the chapter’s current goal is getting back into the swing of holding on-campus fundraisers. One of them is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 6, when people will pay to throw a pie in a brother’s face, and the funds will go to the LiveLikeLou Foundation. Additionally, to honor their brother Pete “Too Tall” Teleha on Thursday, Nov. 11, they will hold a memorial concert in his name, with proceeds going to Rabinowitz Honors College scholarships.

After earning many distinguishable titles last year, the fraternity is currently making history. According to Gertsen, the purpose of the Phi Delta Theta chapter at Hofstra is to set an example for others.

“We did this with a small chapter size. We did it during a pandemic and kind of when people thought nothing should be going on, where you think the odds aren’t in your favor, so [people need to] really set your mind to it and do it,” Gertsen said. “I think the other Greek organizations will look back and see that Phi Delt, when times were bad, did this. I think this is how we leave our mark.”