Alpha Scholarship Awards Dinner
April 18, 2026

Alpha Nu Omega Scholarship Awards Dinner on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Black Woods Grill & Bar in Duluth. It was a wonderful evening of tradition, brotherhood, and celebration.

It was especially meaningful to have our founder, Jerry Maeckelbergh, and his wife Margaret in attendance. Their presence brought a powerful sense of history and continuity to the night, and we are deeply grateful they could join us.

The event featured a fantastic multi-generational turnout, with brothers from across many decades coming together to reconnect, share stories, and support the next generation. Seeing so many alumni present reinforced how much we value our scholarship program—not only for the financial support it provides, but for the honor and importance it represents to our active members.

We are proud to share that our active chapter currently has 23 dedicated members, with one graduating this year. Their energy and commitment continue to strengthen our fraternity.

This year’s scholarship recipients were formally recognized during the dinner:

• Gavin Murphy – Daryl B. Knodt Memorial Scholarship ($4,650)
• Harrison Cha – John L. Banks III Memorial Scholarship ($4,650)
• Drew Hallson – Daryl B. Knodt Memorial Scholarship ($4,650)
• Evan Wilkens – Daryl B. Knodt Memorial Scholarship ($4,650)

Congratulations to these outstanding brothers! Their achievements in academics, fraternity involvement, and leadership reflect the very best of Alpha Nu Omega.

We also enjoyed the Alpha blazer ceremony for new members sponsored by John Erickson, chapter updates, and plenty of time for networking and fellowship.

A special highlight was the surprise presentation of Mike Maeckelbergh’s paddle to Greg Hinds. This touching moment was a wonderful tribute and brought a great deal of emotion and appreciation from everyone in attendance.

Events like this remind us why the Alpha Alumni Association exists: to support our actives and keep the bonds of brotherhood strong across generations. Thank you again to all who attended and helped make the night such a success.

 

Alpha Annual Meeting
September 27, 2025

• The annual meeting was held at UMD in Kirby’s Griggs Center on Saturday morning with a Zoom connection conducted by president Jeff Gaylord
• Tailgating was held in the UMD athletic parking lot with actives grilling before the game
• UMD vs. Mn Moorhead football game started at noon. 

• Active Chapter Report – President Noah Kevan
  • The Active currently have 17 member with 9 pledges which is the largest group for many years
  • They have a great diversity of members
  • The Actives are well represented on campus with involvement in campus activities, government, Greek Life, the community, fundraising and of course social activities
  • Feedback to the Alumni Assn is that our scholarships and wearing their Alpha blazers sets them above other organizations in recruiting.
  • They still maintain a focus on character and scholarship
     
• Alumni Report –  Jeff Gaylord
  • The Alumni had a successful 65th reunion last year
  • A scholarship banquet was held in April at which $16,000 was presented
  • This summer Jason Golde again opened his beautiful cabin on Gull Lake to the Alumni and active members
  • The Alumni thanked Jeff for his six great years of service
     
• Treasurer’s Report
  • We have $307,000 in our scholarship fund held by the University of Minnesota Foundation
  • We still have barriers in getting helpful information about who is donating to our Fund and updates on its total
     
• Scholarship – Isaac Winter
  • $16,000 in scholarships were presented to five well deserving active members
     
• The Alumni paid respects to recently departed Huck Andresen, a long supportive member of Alpha
  • A service will be held on October 11 at 11 AM at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Duluth 
     
• Tailgating
  • Chariot Race
    • The actives again participated in the campus chariot race but were unable to defend their previous title but still had fun
      
  • Actives and alumni shared some great conversation, grilling and beverages
     
• Football Game
  • Actives and alumni sat together at the football game
  • UMD beat a talented Moorhead State team 28-14.
  • UMD has not lost this year and is now highly ranked nationally in D2.

 

 

 

Alpha 65th Reunion
October 3-6, 2024 
Duluth, MN 

Alpha 65th Reunion Weekend Slideshow

A summary of events:

• Thursday
  • A meet and greet was held Thursday night at the Blacklist Brewing Co. with alumni, actives and pledges attending
• Friday
  • A morning cribbage tournament at the Sheraton Hotel
  • A golf tournament at Enger golf course in the afternoon. 
  • In the evening there were era parties held at various locations.
• Saturday
  • The annual meeting was held at UMD in the Griggs Center on Saturday morning.
  • A catered lunch with a “Seven Wonders of Ancient Duluth” presentation by Al Fahden
  • China Wall in the afternoon.
  • The Reunion Banquet at the Kitchi Gammi Club in the evening 
    • Cocktail hour
    • Dinner
    • Silent auction end
    • Program with Al Fahden emcee
      • Words by Alumni president Jeff Gaylord and Active president Dylan Elliott
      • Recognition of the Founders, Hall of Famers, Blue and White Forever Donors, Reunion sponsors and Alpha Scholarship recipients
      • In Memoriam produced by Greg Hinds and narrated by Les Nelson
      • Sweetheart and Fraternity songs
    • Group Photo
    • Music and dancing with Tim McEvoy and his band
      

Video of the Banquet Program

• Sunday
  • Farewell brunch at the Sheraton Hotel

 

The Annual Meeting –  Griggs Center at UMD

• Status of the active chapter and introduction of the pledges attending by president Dylan Elliot
  • 7 actives
  • 5 pledges
  • Plan to pledge again in the spring
  • No one is graduating this year
  • Focused on academics and service
  • The actives have resolved a Title IX issue to not allow anyone to join the organization by securing a 501c3 status
  • 4 fraternities on campus and 5 sororities
• Alumni Association status presented by president Jeff Gaylord
  • • Focus was on the 65th reunion with a review of the upcoming events
    • The Scholarship Fund sits at about $280k
    • Difficulty with getting information on our scholarship fund with a new Development Officer
      • Infrequent updates on Fund status
      • No information on donors
      • No plaque updates
      • A number of approaches will be made to correct the situation
    • Greg Hinds reviewed the vast amount of work he has done to coordinate the photos collected over the years
      • He has used facial recognition software to log a member’s name to photos in the collection (~4000)
      • Greg is looking for a different site to store our photos because Amazon has changed its structure
      • He has prepared an In Memoriam for the banquet to be conducted by Les Nelson
    • Jason Golde presented the treasurer’s report
      
      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• After the meeting and a catered Chinese lunch, Al Fahden presented a nostalgia program of the things we did in Duluth during our times at UMD.  Click to play the video below.
  
  

  Seven Wonders of Ancient Duluth

  
  
  
• Special thanks for the reunion events go to president Jeff Gaylord for arranging events and conducting our meeting, and to the Reunion Committee and Actives
  • Al Fahden – Creative Planning
  • Jeff Gaylord – Marketing and Leadership
  • Jason Golde – Financial Planning
  • Jordan Herzog – Event App Planning
  • Jim Klang – Promotions and Recruiting
  • Greg Hinds – Artifacts and Photos
  • Tim McEvoy – Golf and Music
  • Ben Staub – Merchandise and Recruitment
  • John Erickson – Recruiting
  • Bryan Kirkes – Recruiting
  • Scott Schnuckle – Recruiting
  • Dave McMillan – Recruiting
  • Isaac Winter – Recruiting
  • Huck Andresen – Banquet Dinner Planning
     
• And a special thank you goes to John Erickson who recruited so many people to come to the reunion and unfortunately could not make it himself 

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Alpha Scholarship Banquet – April 20, 2024 in Duluth

This is a special occasion each year when scholarship recipients selected for their special accomplishments are honored and awarded their scholarships in a formal ceremony and social event open to Alphas and significant others.  The following members were selected this year:

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Ben Churchill singing “God Bless America” at Twins Game

(Need to Unmute)

 

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Michael Dean Memorial Service

Video of Mike Dean’s Memorial Service

 

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