MDEF names first winner of Kitson Delt Pillar Award
The Marietta Delt Educational Foundation has established — and awarded — its first prize to an Undergraduate Marietta Delt at its Homecoming meeting on Oct. 14.
The MDEF approved the creation of the John Kitson Delt Pillar Award, which seeks to recognize Undergraduate Brothers who have made significant and invaluable contributions to the Epsilon Upsilon Chapter’s well-being, furthering its mission and increasing the quality of its brotherhood — particularly if they have never held one of the Chapter’s elected offices.
The award is monetary, consisting of an amount equal to one year’s dues, paid by the Marietta Delt Educational Foundation directly to the Chapter to be applied to the recipient student’s account. If the recipient is a senior, the money may be paid directly to him.
The John Kitson Delt Pillar Award will be given annually, commencing in 2016, during the Marietta Delt Alumni Spring Weekend.
This award is named after John Kitson ’08, who made significant and invaluable contributions to the Epsilon Upsilon Chapter during his undergraduate years, despite never occupying an elected position. During his time an undergraduate, Kitson played a major role in the Chapter increasing its size by 265 percent over a period of a year, heavily influenced the Chapter’s culture as it evolved and embraced the Fraternity’s mission of “Lives of Excellence,” and mentored dozens of other Undergraduate Delts, among other accomplishments.
The first winner is Aman Berhanemeskel ’16, a senior majoring in petroleum engineering. He is from Eritrea in East Africa.
Berhanemeskel’s service to the Chapter includes holding the position of website chairman and philanthropy chairman, serving on the Ritual team when one of the team members had a scheduling conflict. He is described as being “a shining example of what a Chapter member should be.”
This year’s Kitson Delt Pillar Award was sponsored by MDEF Board Member Ashley Wollam ’08.
Candidates for the Kitson Delt Pillar Award begin with nominations by the Undergraduate Delts in the early spring. The nominations will be vetted by Epsilon Upsilon’s Executive Board, which will forward the names of all the nominees (along with a recommendation), to the Review Board.
The Review Board consists of the Chapter’s president and vice president, the Chapter Advisor, the sponsor or sponsors of the current year’s award and MDEF board members.
The sponsor or sponsors will then make the final decision on who the recipient will be.
If you would like to sponsor the Kitson Delt Pillar Award for 2016, please contact MDEF Chairman Nick Aylward ’08 or MDEF Secretary Shawn Selby ’92.