Section 83 History

Section 83's history formally started on August 1, 1996, when Section 82, consisting of the entire Commonwealth of Virginia, was split into two new Sections (81, consisting of the colleges and universities in the southwest corner of the state, and 83, consisting of the schools in northern, central and eastern Virginia).

At the time, there were 8 chapters at schools in the Section; Theta (University of Virginia), Nu Rho (College of William & Mary), Omicron Phi (University of Richmond), Chi Gamma (James Madison University), Alpha Beta Omega (Old Dominion University), Alpha Delta Delta (George Mason University), Alpha Delta Iota (Virginia Commonwealth University), and Alpha Delta Xi (Christopher Newport University). An Interest Group at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA, formed in 1997, and the chapter re-chartered there on December 2, 2000, bringing the total number of chapters in Section 83 to 9. The Section continues to grow, and in January of 2004, we welcomed a new Petitioning Group at Bridgewater College, which is expected to charter in the Fall of 2004.

The chapters in the Section have met, and continue to meet, once per year in the Spring, in a Section Conference, at one of the schools in the Section. The purpose of the Section Conference is to provide an outlet for promoting leadership and friendship activities with the students, share service projects and ideas, and conduct Sectional Business, such as the election of the Section Chair (an alumni volunteer that is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Section) and selection of the next conference site. Various awards, including a Section Distinguished Service Key, the Section's highest award, are also awarded at Section Conferences.

In addition to Section Conferences, several chapters as well as staff have organized an annual Sectional Service Project, in which brothers from all chapters around Section 83 are invited to come to one site/location for a day of service. In the Spring of 2001, this project was organized by Alpha Delta Iota Chapter (VCU), and was held at Camp Boisseau (Goochland County). In Fall of 2002, section staff organized a service project at the James River Parks in Richmond, Va., cleaning and clearing brush at a mountain bike trail there. The following Fall (2003), the Chi Gamma Chapter (JMU), organized a section service project at a camp in the Harrisonburg, Va., area. On April 24, 2004, the section staff is organizing another section service project at the Pumphouse Park in Richmond, Va., where brothers will assist in renovating an old, 19th century pumphouse station that will become somewhat of a visitor center, multi-use facility for the park.