News
UG President Colin Cowperthwaite ’18: the Man with a Plan
Why did you join Chi Chapter?
I joined Chi for the reason I think most people join fraternities. I liked meeting and hanging out with the younger guys and in the older guys I saw what I hoped to become: well-spoken, decent guys who gave good advice and had their heads screwed on straight
What has been your favorite memory from the chapter so far?
I always enjoy our winter formals, and I’m sad I’ll be missing it this year. It’s, without exception, our best event of the year in my opinion. The night gives us the opportunity for a more private celebration with our good friends and significant others. It’s a nice night to look forward to especially given all the work that we’ll be doing in the weeks afterward.
Where are you studying abroad?
I’m studying abroad in Prague.
Upon your return to Kenyon, what do you hope to accomplish as Chapter President?
My goals as President are to foster more brotherhood by creating more meaningful brotherhood events, to invigorate the recruitment process, and to make sure that Chi remains a fraternity that is open to every Kenyon student, regardless of finances.
Any specific plans for after graduation?
After graduation I hope to do some political work before getting a graduate degree. But besides this answer, you know I’m sure, the one every student must give to his or her relatives, I suppose I have two goals.
First, I really hope I don’t stop reading. It’d be easy to let go of the constant torrent of articles and books which are at the heart of my daily life at Kenyon. I know that I don’t have half the self-discipline of other brothers and so it seems all the more possible. But still I hope it doesn’t come to that. After college, books would be a wonderful tether to the world of ideas and history, if I only would allow them to be. But how many books have you read this year? I hope a few, and I hope they were good ones too.
Secondly, I hope I don’t stop being a friend and making friends. I often wonder if everyone really is afraid of being alone—why is it that so many of the adults in my life are? Now, sure, they have families, to which most are wholeheartedly devoted I might add, but how many of them have friends? Real ones? Good ones? These aren’t the catch-up-every-few-years-when-you-are-on-a-business-trip-and-talk-about-how-well-your-professional-lives-are-going friends, the oh-why-don’t-we-do-this-more-often-but-then-never-do friends. The friends I’m talking about are real, the substantive parts of your community friends. I know that wishing for such a thing is hopeful, I know that this is naïveté but screw it. I don’t want coworkers to grab a beer with, I want people who I can confide in and speak openly and honestly with.
Why other adults don’t seem to do something about this is a mystery to me. Perhaps it will become apparent in the next ten years, why community doesn’t matter as much as it used to, but for now it is utterly confounding. Being a part of a community seems so integral to maintaining one’s own humanity, to give up on the task is like some sort of suicide of the spirt. So, in spite of the dreary picture I’ve described, I really hope I can be a friend and make friends after college.
Delta Tau Delta has made me hopeful, and more confident that these goals are achievable. I see plenty of alumni who are still reading and making friends. Those I know well have even managed quite successfully to bridge the gap between collegiate life and the professional world without sacrificing their curiosity and love for learning or their friendships. Their examples give me hope and they strengthen my confidence that being a Delt will serve me well long after I leave Kenyon.