Alumnus Profile: Gary Scypta, Ashland ’77
Gary is the president of the Metro Detroit Alumni Club. During college, he came to Detroit during the summers to work. After graduating from Ashland, he began selling die castings to the automotive industry. In 1986, he founded a manufacturers’ representative agency that represented companies across North America and Europe, serving automotive OEMs and tier-one suppliers. As the industry evolved through mergers, acquisitions, and downsizing, Gary transitioned into recruiting. In 2017, he founded Scypta Associates, a retained executive search firm specializing in the automotive industry.
Tell me about your undergraduate fraternity experience. Why did you choose Phi Delta Theta?
My introduction to Phi Delta Theta came during my senior year of high school. My guidance counselor arranged for Jim Porterfield, ’72, a senior from my hometown attending Ashland University (then Ashland College), to give me a campus tour. Our final stop was his fraternity—the Ohio Mu Chapter House.
The house had been built just five years earlier and housed forty brothers. House mother Margaret (Mom Silk) prepared lunch and dinner five days a week, and there was even a free soda machine in the dining hall. I was sold—even before I learned about the monthly sorority mixers.
I pledged in the spring of 1973 and signed The Bond that fall. I lived in the house for three years, serving one term as recruitment chairman and one as Phikeia educator. Some of my favorite memories include my pledge class painting the Ashland City public pool, participating in a paper drive that nearly filled a semi-trailer, catching an early morning warm-up workout for future MLB pitcher Ken Kravec in exchange for him signing my leather, and coaching our annual Junior Olympics event for Ashland middle school students. Those experiences built friendships and leadership skills that have lasted a lifetime.
How have you stayed connected after graduation?
From 1996 to 1998, I served as chapter adviser for Michigan Alpha. In 2013, I began working to re-establish the Metro Detroit Alumni Club. On February 12, 2014, fifteen brothers from multiple chapters submitted an application to General Headquarters for an alumni club charter.
I’ve also returned to Ohio Mu several times to speak with undergraduates about the importance of summer internships, résumé preparation, and job applications.
What accomplishments are you most proud of?
At one of our first alumni club meetings, one of the brothers said that if the club wasn’t going to be involved in philanthropy, he wasn’t interested. Everyone agreed. In that moment, I knew we had the right group of men.
Since then, the Metro Detroit Alumni Club has supported nine ALS Warriors through the Live Like Lou Foundation’s spring and fall outdoor cleanups; volunteered at Forgotten Harvest; served at the Living and Learning Enrichment Center alongside spouses; and donated canned goods to the Lake Shore Food Pantry to support Brother and Pastor Adam Grosch and his congregation.
We have had 192 brothers attend at least one event over the past thirteen years, and another 605 brothers in the Metro Detroit area regularly receive our newsletters highlighting events such as First Thursday with the Phis, Founders Day, our Winter Holiday Social, and philanthropic activities.
Since 2015, our Winter Holiday Social has generated more than 1,000 toys that alumni club brothers donated to Toys for Tots, and our Silent Auction proceeds have allowed us to contribute $30,000 to the US Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots campaign.
I am especially proud of the alumni club leadership team we established and of how well we work together. It was meaningful to all of us when Phi Delta Theta recognized the Metro Detroit Alumni Club with the Robert W. Hoysgaard Alumni Club Achievement Award in 2021 and again in 2025.
Personally, I am most proud of my daughter, Lindsay, and the wonderful job my wife, Jill, did raising her. Lindsay earned a BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and an MFA in Ceramics from The Ohio State University. She is happily married and has given us three incredible grandchildren. She is my hero, and we couldn’t be prouder.
Do you feel Phi Delta Theta made a difference in your life?
Without question. Phi Delta Theta provided lifelong friendships, leadership development, and a foundation of shared values that shaped both my professional and personal life.
Any advice for current students?
Stay involved. I understand how challenging it can be when you are building a career and raising a family, but Phi Delta Theta truly is a Fraternity for Life. If there is an alumni club hosting a First Thursday with the Phis near where you live, stop in from time to time—if for no other reason than to network.
The relationships I have developed—especially through the Metro Detroit Alumni Club—are with men I would never have met otherwise. They are very dear to me, and I am proud to call them brothers.
Proud to be a Phi.
