Brad Chelton, ’98, Bond #1619

The Early Years
Brad was born July 10, 1976 in Ashland, KY. His family lived in Franklin Furnace, OH (near Portsmouth), and the nearest hospital was across the river in KY. Periodic family relocations coincided with his father’s career as a Lutheran minister, from Franklin Furnace, OH to Sidney, OH to Charlottesville, VA to Columbus, OH, which Brad called home since 1988. Along the way his younger siblings, Jessica and Andrew, were born. His mother was a teacher for many of these years, taking time off on occasion to raise her children (she recently retired in June 2011).

Childhood fun included sports, especially baseball. The Chelton’s backyard in Sidney, OH was the neighborhood baseball field, and there were large dirt patches in his yard for all of the bases and pitcher’s mound, which drove his mother crazy. He had a very rewarding high school experience at St. Charles Preparatory School in Columbus. After graduation in 1994 he headed 20 miles north to begin his college years at Ohio Wesleyan.

Ohio Wesleyan
Brad’s decision to come to OWU was based on a few things; including OWU’s good academic reputation, “small school” fit, and an opportunity to play collegiate baseball His father grew up in Baltimore, MD, so all of Brad’s life he made family trips there to visit family and friends. As Brad said, “it was pretty cool that my freshman year my roommate was Mike Dowgiewicz ’98, who also grew up in Baltimore. Our first night at OWU included a Donato’s pizza and a 12-pack of Budweiser.” Freshman year curriculum was indicative of a liberal arts school and he took classes in astronomy, philosophy and geology. His most interesting class was a sports psychology class which included an analysis of quarterback performance in the Super Bowl which “might have been my only A my freshman year”, reported Brad. His sophomore year saw him taking his first accounting class and decided that should be his major. Having focused curriculum for his last 3 years of college, Brad’s grades improved and he graduated in 1998 with an accounting major and management minor. He told Aldo Adachi ’99 many times while recruiting him to pledge Beta, that he could tell his parents Brad was proof that grades can improve when living in a fraternity house!

As an accounting major, nearly all of his classes were taught by either Professor Cliff Cook or JoAnn Harvey. Brad noted that they were both very helpful in his academic achievements as well as in his post-college successes.

Brad noted that “it was fun playing baseball with some of my Beta brothers (Dowgiewicz, Ramsy Mahjoub ’98, Matt Jakubowski ’99 and Wes Hall ’99, Scott Yanney), including a Spring Break trip to Fort Myers, FL my freshman year. However, I decided to retire after our fall semester of our sophomore year, and this decision helped my academics…and my social calendar.”

Pledging Beta
After arriving on campus his freshman year, it didn’t take long for a first Beta interaction. Paul Corto ’97 was Rush Chairman and went to high school with Mike Dowgiewicz, Brad’s freshman year roommate. Brad noted, “Paul was instrumental in recruiting our pledge class and made sure we were at the Beta house frequently for meals, parties, etc. For our Thomson Hall crew (Ramsy Mahjoub ’98, Dowgiewicz and me), the Beta house was literally steps away which made recruitment of us that much easier.”

Brad has great memories of his time as a Beta, and won’t be able to do them all justice in this article. “Looking back, one of my favorite things about our house was the diversity of interests in the house – the sports fanatics, the “Deads Heads”, and the philosophers to name a few (sometimes those interests were divided 2nd Floor vs. 3rd Floor).”

Brad notes, “I tried to be an active member of Theta Chapter in my years at OWU. I think I may have had the title as Co-Rush Chairman my sophomore year, but make no mistake, Ramsy Mahjoub led that charge and was very good at it. I was proud to serve as Vice President of the house during one of Dowgiewicz’s years as president, and I also served as Alumni Chairman, working with alumni such as Tom Tatham on publishing the Theta Data. As for the memories…”

• Hell Week capped off by the “Alumni Exam” and our initiation that included Tom Courtice, the OWU President at the time
• Rush Week – they were all good, but none topped sophomore year
• Intramurals, especially football and softball. One of my favorite memories was our scripted first play of every football game, an 8-yard out by me, QB Dowgiewicz hitting me on the numbers…it was unstoppable (and my only contribution to our football team) Heated discussions at the apex of the Orioles-Indians rivalry
• Heated discussions for the Sega College Football league and PlayStation NBA league
• Tough decisions to make such as whether to go to class or keep playing Mario Kart
• Spring Breaks junior and senior year on Captiva Island thanks to Lee Szambecki ’98
• The Backstretch, and my stint as “Frank Corto”
• College football Saturdays and the 3-TV setup in one of the corner 3rd floor rooms
• Daily foosball battles with Jakubowski, Matt Garrison ‘99 and Ken Bagstad ’99
• Kidnapping trips, both as pledge (sorry Levi Levingston ’97) and active (sorry Joe Palmer ’99)
• Our annual formal…Grand Host East – there’s no way you’re in business anymore, but thanks for the memories

After OWU…Marriage, Family and Career
Brad married his high school sweetheart, Charity, in August 1999. Their family has grown with the births of Alyssa (2004) and Brady (2009). They have finally adjusted their schedule as dictated by their children’s extracurricular activities. When reflecting on his college years of 15 years ago, he enjoys thinking about things he did but not contemplate as a 20-year old at OWU. One such memory moment occured in December 2011, as he “performed” as a volunteer Party Dad in the production of The Nutcracker (Alyssa also performed, but in a different scene).

Following graduation, Brad started work with Ernst & Young (public accounting) in September 1998. After a few tries at the CPA Exam, he finally passed and earned his CPA license. In 2007, he left public accounting for The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, where he has had responsibilies in the Corporate Finance department until early 2011 and then currently in the Brand Finance department. “I’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of great people along the way and have absorbed plenty of good advice. One quip I’ve always remembered is that your college years are 80% about soft skills (socializing, learning to live independently) and 20% about the stuff you actually learn in the classroom and from your textbooks. I couldn’t agree more given my experience at OWU and Beta, though I might change the ratio to 90/10!”,notes Brad.

He stays in touch with a number of Beta brothers, particularly the 1998 and 1999 classes. For a number of years a Columbus group met for the SU-Michigan football game (including Matt Garrison ’99, Matt Brown ’00, Trevor Warren ’00 and Joe Palmer ’00), Most gatherings were highlighted by heading outside for a football game with “old man Chelton” as the “all-time QB”. Some trips to Baltimore have allowed catching up with Dowgiewicz and Mahjoub, and included a couple of memorable Orioles’ Opening Days.

Brad and his family reside at 2969 Highwall Way, Columbus, OH 43221, 614.565.5280 (phone) Email is: brad.chelton1@gmail.com

Editor’s note: I first met Brad in about 1996 while serving on the House Corps. Brad was a big help to those of us on the Corps and could be counted on to help with anything we asked of him. In particular was his service with me in creating and editing articles for Theta Data. It was clear then Brad was an outstanding young man who would make Beta proud in years to come. To that end we all say to Brad, “Thank God you are a Beta”.