January 2005 Newsletter
Delta Phi Alpha National German Honor Society
 

January 2005 Newsletter

 Dear Colleagues,

            The National Council—President John Jeep (Miami University); Interim National Secretary-Treasurer Geoff Orth (Longwood University); Ron Horwege (Sweet Briar College); and Jim Davidheiser (University of the South)—met over dinner at The Berghoff in Chicago on November 20^th.  Of interest to all our members are the following  items:

·        The Council approved chapter development grants for the spring semester.  The grants will be for up to $250.00 apiece and may be used for any project related to German Studies that brings your program visibility on campus and promotes the study of German language, literature, and culture.  Proposals should include a brief description of the project, a justification, and a proposed budget.  They are due by January 31^st, 2005 and may be e-mailed to the national office at orthgc@longwood.edu.

·        The Council decided to make a major effort to get some of the inactive chapters of the organization back on line.  Reactivation of a dormant chapter requires only that an initiation be held for at least two new members, and the initiation report be forwarded to the national office.  Over fifty of our chapters are currently considered dormant, in that the national office no longer has an adviser’s name on file and the chapter has not initiated new members in the last two years.  It often happens that an adviser retires or moves on and the remaining or new German faculty members are not left the necessary files to carry on, or, worse yet, are not aware that a chapter exists.  While we have  received positive response to our mailing from several chapters, the chapters at the following institutions are still considered dormant:

Cornell University                                       University of Southern California

SUNY Buffalo                                            University of Iowa

Capital University                                       The College of Wooster

Southern Methodist University                    UCLA

The Johns Hopkins University                     Manhattan College       

University of Virginia                                   Duquesne University

Trinity College (CT)                                    Mansfield University

Emporia State University                             University of Pittsburgh

Loyola University Chicago                          Western Washington University

University of Rochester                               Northeastern University

California State University Long Beach        C.W. Post College

Oregon State University                              Bates College

Dickinson College                                       Boston University

Kent State University                                  Northwestern University

Ohio State University (!)                             Colby College

University of Miami (FL)                             University of Florida

University of Kansas                                   Howard University

Georgetown University                               Rice University

SUNY Stony Brook                                   IUPUI (Indiana/Purdue Indianapolis)

University of Nevada, Reno                        The College of Charleston

Radford University                                      Austin College

Kansas State University                              Auburn University

Arizona State University                              Bucknell University

Birmingham Southern College                     Iowa State University

Eastern Illinois University                            University of St. Thomas

University of Maine at Orono                      Connecticut College

Slippery Rock University                            Ursinus College

Case Western Reserve University               Bemidji State University

Lehigh University                                       

The Council would like you—our active membership—to help in the reactivation campaign.  Almost all of us know someone at one of these institutions.  If no current faculty members there are members of Delta Phi Alpha, one of us could offer to conduct the reactivation initiation, at which the new adviser and his or her students would be initiated.  If each of us sent at least one note to such a contact person, it would be of immense help to the organization.  All of the above institutions have been contacted; in most cases, we wrote to the department chair or the program director for undergraduate German studies.  Since we received no initial response, we fear that we may have contacted the wrong person or the person we contacted needs some additional encouragement.  If you think that Delta Phi Alpha is an indispensable part of your German program, please write someone at one of these institutions and share your experience.

            On a personal note, one of our initiated members, Mrs. Joann Sokol, who was initiated into Delta Phi Alpha at the University of Rochester and whose late husband was Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia, would like very much to be kept informed of the activities of our various chapters.  If your chapter has a newsletter, please be so kind as to forward her a copy at the following address: Mrs. Joann Sokol, 185 Gatewood Place, Athens, Georgia, 30607-2012.

Last, but not least, it’s the start of a new year and that means it’s time to do your chapter’s tax return.  Attached as an enclosure is a simple form which you can fill out, and mail back to the national office.  This will enable the national to include your chapter in our annual return and keep you, one hopes, from receiving inquiries from the IRS.  Do note that the our fiscal year runs from December 1^st, 2004, to November 30^th, 2005. We ask that you make a good-faith estimate of the income your chapter expects during this time period.  Do make every effort to return the form by the end of your spring semester.

Alles Gute!

Geoffrey C. Orth

Interim National Secretary-Treasurer

ENCLOSURE

                                                                                                ________________________

                                                                                                                  (Date)

Professor Geoffrey Orth

Interim National Secretary-Treasurer

Delta Phi Alpha

Dear Professor Orth,

This letter, which I have completed, authorizes you to include our chapter of the National German Honorary Delta Phi Alpha in the materials to be submitted in August 2005 to the Internal Revenue Service in compliance with the revised Group Exemption Procedures.

This also authorizes you to include our chapter in any Group Tax Return.

We are still affiliated with the national organization by virtue of the fact that our chapter was founded with the approval of the national organization.  Further, as a chapter of the national organization, we are operating in accordance with the national instruments of governance (Constitution) and are thus subject to the national supervision and control as specified in the Constitution.  Finally, our main purpose and activity is as described in the Preamble of the Constitution. 

Our local chapter income for the year (December 2004-November 2005) is estimated to be $_____, consisting of one-time membership fees for new members and ___________________________________ (name other items: local fees, etc.).

Sincerely yours,

Name________________________________________ Faculty Advisor

Chapter:  ________________________   Institution :______________________

Date of Founding__________________   Location: _______________________

Employee Identification Number (the EIN, as issued to you by IRS):  ________________

(This is not your Social Security Number).  It should look similar to this: ## #######.  The first two numbers are often 23 or 94 or 52.  Even if you do not have this number, send in this form and we will send you an application for an EIN.