INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – The Delta Chi Fraternity, along with all Greek organizations across North America, continues to face difficult decisions in the wake of the growing impact of COVID-19. Having already seen campus operations suspended at all of our chapters and colonies, Delta Chi continues to prioritize the health and safety of our members, staff, and friends of the Fraternity.
After careful consideration and recognition of expert forecasts for prolonged difficulties of mass gatherings for the foreseeable future around many parts of North America , the Board of Regents made the difficult decision to postpone and reschedule the 62nd International Convention in St. Louis, Missouri to summer 2022, with exact dates to be announced later. Many other fraternities and sororities have also postponed or cancelled their convention this summer.
Contributing factors for this difficult decision stemmed from multiple points of consideration:
1) Health and safety – As mentioned, Delta Chi prioritizes the health and safety of our members, staff, facilitators, guests, and friends of the Fraternity. We continue to advocate adhering to state and federal guidelines as they relate to social distancing and guidance on mass gatherings as well as ‘shelter-in-place’ ordinances. While we remain hopeful that conditions will improve over the coming months, the spread of COVID-19 is expected to be pervasive throughout the summer and travel advisories will likely remain in place for individuals traveling into and out of certain areas.
2) Planning and operations – When planning and executing a large-scale event such as the International Convention, hundreds of hours are spent by the International Headquarters staff and volunteers to implement the schedule of events. Many Convention partners are currently closed or have furloughed a majority of their staff. Combined with the complexity of the current situation and incomplete information, we are faced with a severely diminished window of opportunity to adequately prepare for Convention. Additionally, the number of travel options into the St. Louis area have been greatly reduced.
3) Demonstrating leadership – The leadership of Delta Chi will continue to make decisions that are not only in the best interest of our members but establish an example of doing the right thing for our collegiate brothers. This was exemplified in our decision to be one of the first Greek organizations to offer a credit back to chapters and colonies for member dues. Leadership often requires difficult decision-making, but we remain committed to our priorities despite the amount of uncertainty the future holds.
4) Finances – Our fraternity is not impervious to the current health crisis; the capacity of our members and chapters was thoughtfully considered. By renegotiating with the hotel, the Fraternity has been able to mitigate substantial loss due to added travel expense, contractually obligated food and beverage spending, room booking guarantees, and diminished sponsorship revenue.
5) Historic precedence – History has paved the way during times of crisis for the Fraternity to take measures protecting the health and safety of our brothers. We are obligated to demonstrate our individual and collective commitment to the Basic Expectations. This obligation was never more apparent than during WWI when Convention was canceled between 1915-1919 (19th and 20th) and WWII between 1940-1952 (28th and 29th). Delta Chi is not alone in taking guidance from our past: many peer organizations have already taken action or are contemplating it.
Therefore, the International Headquarters will immediately begin preparations for the rescheduled International Convention in St. Louis in 2022. Our commitment remains to provide a safe, entertaining, and productive fraternal event for the betterment of our beloved Delta Chi.
We are automatically refunding all Convention registrations. Refunds are processed in bulk by our credit card processing partner and may take up to two weeks to return to your original form of payment. If you have not received a refund by May 31, 2020, please contact Paul Bierman, Director of Meetings and Events, at pbierman@deltachi.org.
We appreciate your support and share your disappointment in not being able to convene as scheduled. Delta Chi will continue to focus on maintaining the Fraternity’s excellence as we all work toward a return to normal activities in the future. If you have questions related to other steps taken by the Fraternity during the current pandemic, please see our COVID-19 page for updates and information.
We look forward to seeing you in St. Louis in 2022 and hope all our brothers and friends of the Fraternity remain safe and healthy.
