Dave Hartwich '09 (Alumni President) - Alumni Profile
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David Hartwich - 2009
Big Brother: Stu Ringleheim
Little Brother(s): Geoff Rolstone, Paul Chiarulli
Offices Held: Undergrad Treasurer, House Manager, Homecoming Chair; Alumni President
Why did you join Theta Chi?: This is actually a funny story. My friend Jason Chottiner joined Theta Chi in the Fall of 2005 and absolutely loved it. Everyday he would try to convince me to join but I was pretty against the idea. I just never imagined that I'd go Greek. However there were different forces that year that nudged me in that direction. I don't know if you remember but in 2005 Michael Robinson was QB and he led the football team through an amazing season. This threw off the office of admissions calculation about how many high school seniors chose Penn State prompting for a larger than expected freshman class. I was originally planning to stay in the dorms but there was no space for upper class men because freshmen are guaranteed housing. So I could live out on the edge of no-where or I could give Theta Chi a try. And so I did. and it was the best decision I ever made.
What Influences did Theta Chi have on you?: Theta Chi really opened me up and also gave me some real life experiences since we were essentially running the house (while National owned it). Not to mention I had a hell of a lot of fun and met some great friends.
What was your nickname? Is there a story behind it?: I had a few nicknames but one of the most noteable was "Byron" I forget who gave it to me, I think it was Daniel Tsyetlin, but I think we were watching football and at the time Byron Leftwich played for The Carolina Panthers. His back up was David Gerrard. Well my full name is David Gerard Hartwich so... put it all together and that's where Byron comes from.
Another not so fun nickname was Bitchwich and this one got used out a recruitment event a Champs for Nacho night. I was treasurer getting ready to pay the bill and Casey Leman said something like "Hey Bitchwich!" Well the server heard this and though that he was talking to her. She took our credit card to swipe it and never came back with the receipt. So we sat there for a good while till I had to ask someone else to help track it down so we could get it and get out.
What do you do for a living?: I now work for ANH Refractories as a research engineer in Pittsburgh. I research and support ceramic bricks that go into the linings of steel ladles, glass melting tanks, aluminum melting furnaces, pretty much anything that gets hot I make a brick for it.