40 under 40 — Chris Bond

Beta Tau, 2005 — Recognized in: 2018

Chris Bond is a man who has served Zeta Psi tremendously throughout the years, and has gone on to accomplish additionally impressive things outside of the Zete-sphere. Chris currently serves as the Communications Director for the office of U.S. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (LA-01). He’s also served as a Communications Director for multiple Republican Senate and House campaigns since his graduation from Tulane in 2005. Prior to his work in politics, Chris served as Zeta Psi’s Director of Operations.

While working in the world of politics, Chris’ humbling experiences remain some of his proudest professional moments.

“It’s an enormous privilege to come to work each day in the U.S. Capitol, and to not only bear witness to the history that’s made here, but to play a small role in it.

You hear a lot about how politically divided our nation is, and obviously there’s truth to that. But the people who work here, regardless of which side of the aisle they happen to be on, nearly all do so with a great deal of respect for one another, for the institution of Congress and for the American people. Division and negativity may make for splashy headlines, but they’re far outweighed by the collegiality we experience every day—and whether it’s lawmakers or staff, there are real friendships across party lines.

The world got a good glimpse of that in the days and weeks after my boss, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, was shot and nearly killed at a Congressional baseball game practice in June. We saw Congress and people throughout the country and the world unite in friendship and prayer in the face of an attack on our institution. That same unity was on display again when he made a dramatic surprise return to Congress just over fifteen weeks later, walking on crutches into the House chamber to thunderous applause, delivering a speech that was full of gratitude and humility, and reminding members of Congress that the people of our nation and the whole world are counting on them to do the right thing.

The day of the shooting was the toughest day our team could have imagined, but in the midst of chaos it was so important for us to do our jobs perfectly. The day the Whip returned to Congress was as inspiring a day of work as anyone could ever hope for—and to have been part of that journey from such a bad day to such a good one, was a life-changing experience.”

In his own words, Zeta Psi had a great impact on his university experience (and indeed beyond):

“When I got to Tulane, I didn’t expect to pledge a fraternity. I just didn’t think it was for me. But I kept an open mind, I visited most of the houses with friends from my dorm, and Zeta Psi stuck out. While a lot of the houses felt homogeneous, the guys at Zete were different from one another and they enjoyed that fact. There was a lot of variety within the chapter, and there was no effort being made to get everyone to think or act the same way. I think that ‘come as you are’ attitude really appealed to me, because the main reason I went to a school far from home, and one that attracts students from all over the country and world, was to get to know people who brought different experiences to the table, and to learn from that.

From the start, Zeta Psi helped broaden my horizons. As soon as I pledged, I found that our upperclassmen were big on making sure the younger guys got away from campus and enjoyed what our city had to offer—the culture, live music, great food—and we had so many fun times with Zetes and friends in New Orleans over the years. And as an elder, I’ve gotten to know so many great Zetes from chapters all over the U.S., Canada and beyond, who have become great friends.

And if that weren’t enough, my wife and I were introduced by a fellow Zete and his wife—so how do you top that for a lifelong experience that all started with keeping an open mind as a freshman?”