The North Dakota chapter has been well known by the International Fraternity for the many contributions made by our alumni over our history. Thirteen of our brothers have served either on the International Fraternity Board of Directors, or the International Headquarters (IHQ) staff. The first ND DU to work for the IHQ staff was Larry Mangin ‘68. The latest, although not by graduation year, is Kody Rother ‘09.
Kody joined the IHQ staff as Director of Educational Programs in February, 2022. When asked about his experience so far, Kody said, “I see alumni from other chapters who are decades older than me, who see each other at experiences such as the Regional Leadership Academy or the annual Leadership Institute, and they instantly pick up where they left off.”
A strong legacy of North Dakota chapter members have graduated and gone on after graduation to work as IHQ Leadership Consultants.
Derek Dunham joined IHQ Staff in this role after his graduation in 1989. This is a position that requires a lot of travel. He remembers some of the more memorable sleeping accommodations that other chapters put him up in, including a room in the attic, and a sleeper sofa in a garage. Regardless of the accommodations, the experience helped him see how the Fraternity was a greater movement to “build better men.” Through his tenure, Derek visited 70 campuses in 22 states. Russ Grundhauser was one of four Leadership Consultants who joined IHQ in the summer of 1983, and remembered that “we all represented different chapters (Florida, Syracuse, Miami of Ohio, and North Dakota), each with different experiences in life, college and fraternity.”
The executive director of Delta Upsilon at the time, Wilford Butler, “had an incredible ability to bring us all together to develop a culture of respect, trust, and brotherhood. We were always there for each other when traveling to different parts of the US and Canada.”
Russ’s experiences included travel to 60 chapters, where he learned how to quickly establish a sense of trust among the membership. One chapter visit required Russ to reset expectations regarding new members and drugs.
Rod Kirsch’s two years on the IHQ staff saw him visit 80 chapters, including chapters in Canada. Rod talked about the great deal of responsibility and independence he had in the position. “It was hard, it was fun, and it was transformative,” said Rod. “I have nothing but gratitude for the experience and would have done it for free!! And almost did, as my annual salary was $6,000.”
Other key experiences for Rod were attending two chapter installations – one being a new chapter at UMass Amherst and the second being a re-installation at Michigan State, and working with a recolonization of the DePauw chapter. Rod spoke on how instrumental it was learning about the Leadership Consultant experience from Craig Campbell ‘76.
A highlight of Craig’s experience was a visit to an East Coast chapter. The chapter requested a IHQ staff visit to learn why they should remain a part of Delta Upsilon. Craig said he entered the chapter house as an enemy and left it as a brother, after a “several hours long discussion about the benefits and disadvantages of membership in a larger organization as well as the benefits and disadvantages of becoming a local fraternity with no affiliation.”
Another chapter Craig visited needed a new lawn. “Their solution: drink lots of liquid courage, rent a sod cutter and go to the football stadium.”
Perhaps if the chapter were #1 in grades on campus they wouldn’t have gotten caught. How did they get caught? They “forgot to remove the stripes from the field before laying the sod on their front lawn.”
All of our brothers interviewed expressed the benefit of working with the Fraternity, and strongly encouraged our active brothers to consider it.
Craig found “the lessons learned in leadership, working with people, communication and basic financial management skills developed a skill set I used my entire working career.” A similar sentiment was also shared by Russ, “Learning how to deal with individuals from different backgrounds, cultures, lifestyles, and fraternity experiences was a very valuable experience that has benefited me throughout my career.”
Headquarters Staff
Larry Mangin ‘68
Craig Campbell ‘76
Rod Kirsch ‘78
Russ Grundhauser ‘83
Matthew McGauley ‘84
Derek Dunham ‘89
Eric Lybeck ‘97
Corey Mock ‘08
Kody Rother ‘09
John Kappel ‘12
Zachery Vetter ‘14
Board of Directors
Lynn Luckow ‘71
Rod Kirsch ‘78
Russ Grundhauser ‘83
Rob Gusaas ‘84
