National History of Theta Chi Fraternity:
To view the National history of Theta Chi, visit the International Headquarters Website.

History of the Theta Psi Chapter:
In the 1960’s Greek life in Oshkosh flourished with numerous fraternities and sororities. Many of them had their chapter house in Titan Court, an area towards the North side of campus. Most of the fraternities and sororities were locally affiliated until many of them joined national organizations in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Some national fraternities on campus were Tau Kappa Epsilon, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Delta Chi, Delta Sigma Phi, and Sigma Pi. A few of the national sororities were Phi Mu, Chi Omega, Alpha Phi, Delta Zeta, Alpha Xi Delta, and Gamma Phi Beta.

In 1977 the last fraternity at UW-Oshkosh closed down due to low interest in Greek membership, much to do with the lack of interest around the time of the Vietnam War. In the mid 1980's, fraternities and sororities started coming back to the UW-Oshkosh campus. A number of them also came back in the late 80's and early 90's.

In 1993 Robb Hendrickson transferred back to UW-Oshkosh from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota because he wanted to be closer to his family. He was a member of the Zeta Delta chapter of Theta Chi at St. Cloud State. Robb gathered a group of guys interested in starting a colony of Theta Chi at UW-Oshkosh. Some of the founding fathers of the interest group were: Ron Tabbert, Ryan McCue, Chris Fogle, Troy Marine, Chris Apriesing, Justin Feucht, Ross Laidlaw, Jeremy Stupar, and Ted Wisnefski.

In the spring of 1993, this group investigated becoming a colony of Theta Chi fraternity. Ron Tabbert and Robb Henrickson went to the Chapter Leadership Conference to find out more information.

The first social the interest group had was with Sigma Sigma Sigma, and the first song played at the social was "Hey Jealousy" by the Gin Blossoms. That year the interest group of Theta Chi went to it’s first homecoming with Alpha Xi Delta.

On October 2, 1993, the interest group at UW-Oshkosh became a colony and started to progress into a chapter. The charter was signed by all founding fathers. Ron Tabbert was the first president of Theta Chi at UW-Oshkosh.

In the spring of 1994 Troy Marine became the 2nd president. Ten members had to be expelled due to fighting with each other and other groups on campus that semester. Dave Westol from International Headquarters sent a LEC to fix the problem. Then in the fall of 1994 many members (about 15) dropped out because they were upset with the expulsion of the 10 members, and other reasons. The Gamma pledge class was big enough to help sustain membership. Chris Apriesning was the 3rd president that year. Theta Chi also got their first fraternity house, dubbed Old Yeller, located at 1137 Wisconsin Street.

In the school year of 1994-1995 many members joined Theta Chi. To become a chapter the colony needed at least 45 members, over 100 page petition, good grades and money to start the chapter. Chad Strelow became the 4th president of Theta Chi in the fall of 1995.

On April 13, 1996 the Theta Psi chapter of Theta Chi fraternity at UW-Oshkosh received its charter and the Delta Omega chapter from Ripon College initiated the members at the River Commons from 9pm until midnight. People from IHQ came to the installation banquet. The two pledge classes that year were the Zeta and Eta classes.

In the spring of 1996 the chapter house moved to 517 Algoma Blvd. The first formal was at the Fin and Feather in Winneconne, 187 people attended. In the fall of 1996 Dave Poteat became the 5th president. Theta and Iota classes were initiated.

During 1997-1998 Dave Bresiski became the 6th president. The chapter introduced substance-free housing voluntarily, the first chapter to do so out of all Theta Chi chapters. The Kappa and Lambda pledge classes were initiated into Theta Chi this year.

In the 1998-1999 school year Jason Hurley became the 7th president, but had to resign due to diabetes. Doug Ladd became the 8th president. The chapter house moved to 519 Wisconsin Street, but this was only a temporary house. This year the Mu and Nu pledge classes were initiated. The Altar award was won for the first time in the 1998-1999 school year.

During 1999-2000 Craig Strelow became the 8th president, and in 2000-2001 Tom Bruenig became the 9th president for the chapter. The Pi and Rho pledge classes were initiated. The Red Carnation Ball was cancelled this year because of a meningitis outbreak on campus. It was rescheduled for the week afterwards and was held at the Utica Golf Club. Over the summer of 2001 the chapter house moved back to 517 Algoma Blvd.

In the Fall of 2001, the chapter had it’s first St. Nicks Day dinner filling the house with guests and homemade food. The dean of students came as a guest. The dinner was decided to be an annual event.

In 2001-2002 Jay Evans became the 10th president and the Sigma and Tau pledge classes were initiated.

In 2002-2003 Greg Seidl became the 11th president, initiating Upsilon and Phi classes.

2004 Josh Dillenberg became the 12th president, initiating the Psi and Omega classes.

In 2005 Justin Rakow became the 13th president, with Don Calhoun serving as Vice President, and Bryant Nelson in the role of Secretary. In the spring, the Alpha Beta class was initiated and the following weekend; members of this class included Matt Chisholm Ben Fittante, Alonzo Jackson, and Douglas Kahl. Later in the spring semester, the Red Carnation Ball was held once again at the Fin and Feather in Winneconne, Wisconsin. In June of 2005, the Chapter house was relocated to 816 Prospect Avenue as a temporary location.

In 2006, Don Calhoun assumed the reigns of leadership when he was elected to be the 14th president of Theta Psi Chapter. Included on the executive staff included Douglas Kahl as Vice President and Matt Chisholm as Secretary. It was a special year for Theta Psi as the chapter celebrated its 10th Anniversary in April, in addition to celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the International Fraternity as a whole. The 10th Anniversary Ball was held at LaSure's Banquet Hall in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and was attended by numerous alumni members in addition to the undergraduate active members. The Alpha Gamma and Alpha Delta classes were also initiated in the spring; the Alpha Gamma class consisted of Ryan Goes and Tom Singer while the Alpha Delta class brought in Kevin Boehle, Tim Doty, Kyle Hipp, Ben Kruzick, and Mike Wilhelmsen. During the summer, Douglas Kahl, Chad and Craig Strelow, and Dave Poteat attended the 150th Convention of Theta Chi at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, the founding university for the fraternity. At the beginning of the Fall 2006 semester, the Chapter house was moved to 904 Elmwood Avenue. During the annual homecoming events on campus, Theta Chi won second place while teamed up with Alpha Xi Delta.

At the end of November, 2006, Ryan Goes was elected to the position of President for 2007. Ryan is the 15th president of Theta Psi Chapter. In the elections, Tom Singer was chosen as Vice President and Tim Hendricks was chosen as Secretary. Before stepping down as President though, Don Calhoun oversaw the initiation of three new members. On December 2nd, 2006, the Alpha Epsilon class was initiated into the chapter; the new initiates were Tyler Skrobis, Ben Ward, and Carter Wedl.

Some famous Theta Chi's:

Douglas Kahl

Theta Psi '06

University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh

Student, Army Staff Sergeant, and all around great guy

Stephen Spielberg
Zeta Epsilon ‘69
California State University-Long Beach
Movie Producer, Writer, Director

Brodie Greer
Gamma Xi ‘71
San Jose State University
Co Star of “CHIPS” TV Series

J. Williams Grimes
Delta Gamma ‘63
West Virginia Wesleyan College
President and CEO, ESPN. 1982.

William K. Howell
Omicron ‘53
University of Richmond
President, Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, 1978.

Lee Iacocca
Beta Sigma ‘45
Lehigh University
Chairman and CEO, Chrysler Corporation, 1979

Gen. John Shalikashvili
Gamma Upsilon
Bradley University
Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Bill Clinton