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The new brotherhood Miami is strong as a hurricane

Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity is proud to announce the return of the Alpha Omega Chapter at the University of Miami! This is the largest chapter re-establishment project in more than 30 years. The 62 Founding Fathers truly represent the ideals of our Fraternity and will make you proud to call them brother.

Before Initiation, these students shared the priority of academic success and involvement on the University campus and in the surrounding Miami area. Now, as Zeta Beta Tau brothers, they also share in their commitment to the tenets of the Credo and a passion for our Fraternity’s traditions and heritage. ZBT International is proud to offer a non-pledging, equality-based fraternity experience to the fraternal community at the University of Miami.

Here are some fun facts and information on just a few of the new brothers. Welcome, Alpha Omega!

Meet the brothers

Kyle Sygall   

Chapter President Sygall is from Greenwich, Connecticut. His major is exercise physiology on the pre-med track with a minor in psychology. His hobby is martial arts. He likes to work out a lot.  He also is a certified service-dog trainer, part of a health professions mentor program and a member of the American Medical Students Association. He has pending clinical research in orthopedics.

“I wanted to join ZBT to start a new fraternity, pushing myself outside my own comfort zones, and wanted the opportunity to be a leader in my community,” he said.

Max Baumann  

Brother Baumann is a sophomore currently majoring in sociology with minors in ecosystems science and policy as well as entrepreneurship. He is originally from Miami Beach, Florida, and likes to spend his time wakeboarding, skateboarding, playing golf, working out and practicing his photography skills. Fun facts about Max include his work at the brewbike coffee stand on campus and his self-imposed independent research into the world of cryptocurrency and NFTs.

Max’s connection to ZBT originates from his grandfather, David Kenin, 1955, of the University of Florida’s Alpha Zeta Chapter. His grandfather’s peer connection network from ZBT as well as the many memories he has shared with Max led to him becoming a brother at the Alpha Omega Chapter today.

Alex Carrieri

Brother Carrieri is a sophomore studying electrical engineering and entrepreneurship from San Diego, California. His hobbies include working out, watching movies, snowboarding and traveling. He also has an uncanny tendency to run into celebrities, with a list of encounters including French Montana, Kahwi Leonard and Stan Lee, which are “just a few off the top of my head,” he said. He joined ZBT because he loves the ZBT brand and values nationally, has connections to other chapters of ZBT and wanted to be involved in the process of starting the new chapter at UM.

William H. Fleck

Brother Fleck says he is achievement-oriented, courageous, determined, principled, understanding, ambitious, hard-working, committed, sociable and we > me.

“I want to make an impact on the world in the biggest way possible to as many people as possible with the single reward being that I made at least one person’s life better,” he said.

He is a native of Hull, Massachusetts, has been part-owner of a moving and storage business, co-founder of a waste removal company, assistant to chief of sales of HUB International and special aide to the Florida 27th Congressional District. His hobbies include spending time with family, running, working out, intramural sports, community service, reading, meditating, intellectual debates, hanging out with friends and watching sports.

Jackson Harris  

Brother Harris is a first-year student majoring in sports administration. He was born and raised in Beverly Hills, California. His love of sports came from years of playing baseball, eventually leading him to the University of Miami for their great sports administration program. His hobbies include sports, video games and working out. Fun fact: Brother Harris used to be a news anchor on Spectrum Channel 6, also known as KBEV 6, a local news channel in Beverly Hills. He has also competed in broadcast journalism and has won multiple awards in regional and state Skills USA competitions.

Brother Harris decided to join ZBT because of the brotherhood and values of the Fraternity.

Spencer Henry 

Brother Henry is a sophomore from Princeton Junction, New Jersey, majoring in business analytics with an accounting minor. He is the president and captain of the club soccer team at the university and is technically a D1 women’s soccer player – he plays for the women’s practice team.

Jason Hicks        

Brother Hicks is a sports administration major from Boston who enjoys watching and playing sports along with going to the beach and hanging with friends. He currently serves as a manager for the UM men’s basketball team.

“I decided to join ZBT because I wanted to find a brotherhood to make my college experience better,” he said.

Noah Kaplowitch            

Brother Kaplowitch is a freshman from Marblehead, Massachusetts, double-majoring in finance and real estate. In his free time, he runs the largest boat detailing business in Boston. He joined ZBT because he wanted to find a group of brothers to build a strong community with.

Miles T. Miller 

Brother Miller is from Roslyn, Long Island, New York. His father, David S. Miller, is a brother from the Gamma Chi Chapter at University of South Florida in 1986. Miles enjoys watching sports such as hockey, soccer and MMA. His love for the sport of MMA has turned into a career, and at this point in his life he is working two jobs in the industry. He is majoring in sports administration and is minoring in the music industry.

His love for ZBT comes from his father and the bond that his brothers have shared throughout their lifetimes. This love turned into his passion for becoming a Founding Father of the Alpha Omega Chapter.

Sthefano Orellana          

Brother Orellana is a sophomore majoring in marine biology and ecology. His passion for animals and the ocean came from being born and raised all around Ecuador, including the Galapagos and Amazon areas. He came to the University of Miami because it was the best school for his major and he felt like it fit exactly what his future goals entailed. Living in New York  prior to college also motivated him to come to Miami to get away from the cold. He also wanted to be around wildlife and the ocean.

Additionally, he played soccer and track in high school and was part of a few clubs all of which he held leadership positions. Brother Orellana’s hobbies include working out and playing PlayStation 4. A fun fact about Brother Orellana is that he can speak three languages fluently. He decided to join ZBT because he wanted to be part of something bigger, especially a fraternity where building brothers for life was a goal.

Hunter Williams             

Brother Williams wanted to join the ZBT Brotherhood for the opportunity to meet guys who he can have a lifelong connection with. He is from Naples, Florida, and studies political science and public administration. His hobby is going to car shows as he is a car enthusiast overall. He is planning on working for the House of Representatives this summer.

Ian Silver

Brother Silver is from Potomac, Maryland. He is a business technology and health management major. He loves soccer, his favorite team is Arsenal F.C. He is in Army ROTC and is in another (business) fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi. He joined ZBT for the brotherhood as well as reconnecting with his Jewish roots.

Learn more

Follow along with the Alpha Omega Prospective Chapter on Instagram at @miamizbt.

We thank the ZBT International Headquarters Growth Team for their hard work and congratulate the team on this significant success, particularly project lead Director of Organizational Growth Cody J. Taylor, Gamma Xi (University of California – Santa Barbara) 2019.