H. Keith Hellems, M.D. (’62 B.S) says that Delta Chi gave him an anchor in a very large university:
The fraternity gave me a home and continuity to build friendships and create an identity. Most of us, particularly me, came to the campus young, naive and inexperienced. The fraternity gave us a place to develop our intellectual and social skills. I established myself in the fraternity by winning ‘Dork of the Year’ two times and ‘Wedge of the Year’ 3 times (I believe still a record). I was C for a year and was elected president for 1961-62.
With these impressive credentials, I was accepted to the University of Virginia Medical School, graduating in 1966. This was followed by an internship at Boston City Hospital, 2 years in the Navy as a general medical officer; one year on a ship, and one year in a dependent’s clinic in Norfolk, Virginia. I returned to the University of Virginia where I took a radiology residency. In 1972, I joined a three man group (which has since grown to 24 radiologists) that provided services at several Virginia hospitals.
I have served on multiple committees, including President of the Fauquier Hospital Medical Staff and Fauquier County Medical Society and president of the PTA. I served 3 years on the school board and 8 years on hospital boards. I was President of my group, Virginia Radiology Associates, for the last 10 years before retiring in 2006. I married Joyce Reuter whom I met in high school. She also attended the University of Michigan. We were married August 1962 just as I started medical school. We have, as the saying goes, 4 lovely children of whom we are very proud.
Helping the alumni raise money to replace the old house is my pleasure. Remembering the sleeping dorm when everyone slept with windows open, winning floats at Michigras, setting up the drinking room in the basement for beer parties, serenading at sorority or residence houses for pinning a girl by a Delta Chi, wondering how fraternity brothers could play bridge all the time and still graduate, and, of course, the camaraderie of the fraternity brothers and continuing contact with brothers so many years later, gives me the incentive to help raise money so that those that follow can have the experience of a lifetime, just as I had.
