Congrats to our seniors as they go off to accomplish great things. And congrats Mama Elg on being named Ohio Acacia Parent of the Year…so well deserved!
On Saturday, February 15 the Ohio Acacia Alumni Association and the active chapter hosted two events to acknowledge and celebrate their 36th and 76th re-founding and founding anniversaries on the Ohio University campus.
Now more than 70 members strong, the active chapter participated with numerous alumni from across the Midwest in leadership and brotherhood activities.
The kick-off to Founder’s Day was the Ohio Acacia Active & Alumni Leadership Summit. The OAAALS was held in Bentley Hall with nearly 40 undergraduates and eight alumni in attendance, including Executive Director of the Acacia Fraternity Foundation Darold Larson, leadership consultant Johnny Logan, several directors from the Alumni Association, and Chapter Advisor Scott Cleland. The focus of the summit was to put into practice actives and alumni working together to build upon the success of Ohio Acacia for the past 36 and 76 years. Topics included chapter house operations and alumni association development, as well as breakout sessions with actives and alumni working together to brainstorm ideas and develop strategies for building stronger brotherhood, creating excellent service and philanthropy programs, encouraging deep campus and community involvement, committing to better budgeting and financial stewardship, recruiting and retaining members, and developing leadership skills through alumni relations and mentoring.
The leadership summit was just the beginning of seeing and experiencing the benefit of these two constituency groups working closely together for the common good of Ohio Acacia. When the Alumni Association was re-founded in 2023, one primary goal for the organization was to provide often and ongoing leadership opportunities for the active chapter that helps ensure that all entities are aligned regarding chapter expectations and goals in the areas of financial obligations, officer organization and transition, and membership recruitment. Mission accomplished!
Soon after the leadership summit, the entire chapter and even more alumni hit the red bricks of Athens for nearby Stephen’s On Court. Here the Alumni Association hosted the annual Founder’s Day celebration and awards ceremony. Eleven awards were given including Acacian of the Year, Alumni of the Year, and the newly established Founder’s Cupp. A list of winners for 2024-25 can be seen in this newsletter as well details on the first-ever alumni scholarships that were awarded on behalf of the Alumni Association. The leadership summit and awards programs were fully funded by the Alumni Association and the awarding of the undergraduate scholarships was another major goal of the association. Mission accomplished again!
Undergraduate and Alumni Award Winners 2025
The afternoon of leadership and celebratory activities was concluded with remarks by brothers Larson and Logan from international headquarters in Indianapolis. Brother Logan said it best when he described the weekend and how proud, fortunate, and forward-thinking the Ohio brotherhood has become over its many decades at Ohio University:
“In 1988 and 1989 you were re-founded with very little alumni support…your founders (as undergraduates) had to go out, build connections and relationships, as well as work with each other to create the foundation of a successful fraternity, one that has lasted these past 36 years consecutively at Ohio University, one of only two who’ve had a presence on campus that long. So live!
A special thanks to Josh Melms, alumni relations chair, for helping arrange all of the Athens-related details for both events.
View the 2025 Founder’s Day and Leadership Summit Photo Gallery here.
First Ever Alumni Scholarships Awarded At Founder’s Day
In less than two years after re-founding the Ohio Acacia Alumni Association, funding was secured by alumni to award not one, but two undergraduate scholarships during the 2025 Founder’s Day events.
Founders/Cupp Scholarship Awards 2025 (left to right – Evan Shaheen; Aaron Kellenberger ’89 Alumni Association President; Josh Melms)
One strategic initiative of the Ohio Acacia Alumni Association is to offer scholarships to deserving undergraduate members. Over the past two years, the association has been fundraising among many of our re-founding fathers from back in the late 1980’s for scholarship funding. In addition, funding from the Acacia Fraternity Foundation given on behalf of the Cupp brothers, Marshall #14 and Nelson #94, became available and was merged our local fundraising efforts. Thus, the “Founders/Cupp Alumni Scholarship”, or “Founders Cupp” for short, was born!
An application and selection process was created and made available to undergraduates with top academics who were asked to respond to a series of questions including “how do you expect to give back to Ohio Acacia after graduation?”.
Two recipients were chosen from the pool of submissions and awarded $500 scholarships as well as wooden Acacia “cupps.” The recipients for 2025 were Josh Melms, a junior Exercise Physiology from Maryville, OH with a 3.7 GPA and Evan Shaheen, a sophomore Entrepreneurship/Business Analytics major from Brecksville, OH with a 3.3. GPA.
The “Founders Cupp” will be awarded each year at Founder’s Day so long as funding remains available. If you would like to give to the Founders Cupp fund, please use the QR code, below and specify “scholarship award donation” in the “what’s this for?” section.
Congratulations Josh and Evan!