Emerald_Fall_2007

EMERALD www.sigmapi.org • The official publication of Sigma Pi Fraternity • Fall 2007

the loneliest guy in town

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

FROM THE

GRAND SAGE

EMERALD

PUBLISHED SINCE 1911

Dear Brothers: “Passionate, motivating, and far surpassing our expectations!” Those are some of the responses we received from undergraduates and alumni that best described our recent summer leadership training at Vanderbilt University. Brothers from all across North America spent three incredible days with each other at our Fraternity’s newly renamed Sigma Pi University – The Tony Siress Career and Leadership Institute.

This biennium’s summer program continues to grow and improve, enhancing our undergraduate and alumni leadership. Thanks to the financial support of Santa Clara University alumnus Tony Siress, the vision of Past Grand Sages Edward Grand Sage Rovira Panconi and Donald Cox, and the programming leadership of Assistant Executive Director Jon Frost, Sigma Pi Fraternity continues to better our membership, educate our chapters’ leader, and create value that allows our members to measure themselves favorably against our campus competition.

I want to say that I am deeply privileged to serve our great Fraternity and anxiously wait and watch how our future continues to unveil itself after all the time and energy our leaders continue to exert in the name of Sigma Pi. Sigma Pi means so much to so many of us, and to paraphrase the old saying, “The more you put in to Sigma Pi, the more you get out of the Fraternity.” This never has had more meaning or impact than it does today.

These are exciting times for Sigma Pi Fraternity for many reasons. Most important, for everyone who works so hard to make this a great organization, it’s the recognition we’ve received as the New Generation of Leaders. Our leadership position among social fraternities reflects the incredible creativity, brotherhood and achievement that characterize our entire Fraternity. It is the responsibility of every member, and something we can all be proud of. But beyond top rankings and campus awards, I’m most proud when I see our leadership being used for good at our many college and universities: to improve the images and activities of our campuses, to provide opportunities for our own members, and to support our local communities.

Your Grand Council understands that leadership comes with responsibility. That’s what our recently announced position in support of environmental sustainability is all about. As publicized recently, through our initiative to partner with our campuses on issues of sustainability, as well as our commitment to reducing our own carbon footprint, we can make a tangible impact on the environment. It’s no coincidence that we are leaders within the fraternal organizations in announcing a carbon-neutral goal.

Our leadership in environmental sustainability is just one part—albeit an important one—of our broader “Community Values Initiative”. Community Values Initiative comprises many other disciplines, including; ethics, philanthropy and diversity. You have already seen and heard of our successful ACE programs and Spady projects. We’ve already made great strides with these leading initiatives, and you’ll be hearing more about our continued commitment to these areas in the months ahead.

You are all part of this ongoing effort. When you bring your best to our campuses and your thoughtful action to our citizenship initiatives, you contribute to everyone’s success. And you make Sigma Pi Fraternity a better place.

The definitive test of our leadership is in being the fraternity where the best students in North America want to learn and grow, both educationally and personally. Looking around at everyone we have in Sigma Pi, I’m proud to say we’re definitely the leader. And we are striving to do even better.

VOLUME XCII, NUMBER 4 • FALL 2007 EDITORIAL STAFF Adam L. Dibble (ΘΘ, Ferris State ’06) Managing Editor Mark S. Briscoe (ΑΠ, Arkansas State ’82) Business Manager VOLUNTEER STAFF John Kitch (Η, Purdue ’73) Jeffery Seay (ΗΕ, Florida State ’91) CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jim DiVita (ΖΜ, Michigan State ’04) Nicholas Frees (ΘΒ, Saginaw Valley State ’07) Paul Wydra (ΔΖ, Missouri - St. Louis ’01)

Sigma Pi Fraternity was founded at Vincennes University, Vincennes, Indiana, on February 26, 1897. Sigma Pi has chartered more than 215 chapters in North America and has initiated almost 90,000 members since 1897. The founding fathers of the Fraternity are: Rolin Rosco James (1879 - 1953) William Raper Kennedy (1877 - 1944) James Thompson Kingsbury (1877 - 1950) George Martin Patterson (1877 - 1960) Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity (ISSN 1074-5289, USPS 011-013) has been published since 1911. Emerald is published quarterly

by Sigma Pi Fraternity, P. O. Box 1897, Brentwood, Tennessee, and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SIGMA PI FRATERNITY, P. O. Box 1897, Brentwood, TN 37024.

MEMBERS: When making an address change, please send your full name and chapter with both the old and new address to the Executive Office address below.

Submission Deadlines: Spring December 10 Summer March 10 Fall May 10 Winter September 10 Submit Emerald news to: Sigma Pi Fraternity, Attention: Emerald P. O. Box 1897, Brentwood, TN 37204 Telephone: (615) 373-5728 Fax: (615) 373-8949 Email: emerald@sigmapi.org

Thank you for being part of our brotherhood and for making Sigma Pi Fraternity the New Generation of Leaders.

IST,

Larry Rovira Grand Sage

Member, North-American Interfraternity Conference

Member, College Fraternity Editors Association Copyright © 2007 Sigma Pi Fraternity Sigma Pi, ACE Project and the crest are trademarks of Sigma Pi, all rights reserved

features 16 22 24 26 32

[ FAL L 2 0 0 7 ]

Clay Jackson: the loneliest guy in town Foundations for the Future Taking Sports-Medicine to a New Level Charles S. Bicksler Scholarship A Lifetime of Service to Sigma Pi

departments 2

EXECUTIVE

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NEWS FROM

OFFICE NEWS

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CAMPUS

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NEWS FROM

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ADYTUM

CHAPTERS

EXPANSION ALUMNI

ON HIGH

3Page 5

2008 Convocation July 30 - August 2, 2008 Hilton Long Beach • Long Beach, California

Thursday July 31 2008 All Inclusive Night at Game Works 7pm to 11pm

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

Friday August 1 2008 Sigma Pi Educational Foundation Scholarship Award Luncheon 12:45 to 2:15pm Saturday August 2nd 2008 Awards Banquet and Founders Dinner 7:30pm to 11pm

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To learn more, visit WWW.SIGMAPI.ORG

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Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

2 EXECUTIVE

OFFICE NEWS

SPU named The Tony Siress Career and Educational Institute Sigma Pi University is a three day educational program that provides undergraduates and alumni volunteers the skills needed to be successful in their professional and fraternal careers. The program alternates years with Convocation and is held on odd numbered years.

This year included programs facilitated by Sigma Pi alumni from a variety of professions and we saw a 7% increase in attendance in only our second year of hosting the event at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. Other presentations included Vanderbilt Director of Greek Life Kristin Torrey and representatives from the men’s apparel chain Brooks Brothers as well as members of the Executive Office professional staff. At the same time we had the unique privilege of a visit by Vanderbilt Chancellor Gee. Dr. Gee recently started a new position at The Ohio State University and wanted an opportunity to meet

in the United States. The SAM Spady Foundation also provided all chapters and colonies with materials and work books to assist them as they educate the communities they live in.

Vanderbilt Chancellor Gee

our new colony members from that university.

In coordination with the SAM Spady Foundation, a heart felt presentation from Samantha’s mother Patty and executive director Lori Balke was well received by nearly 300 undergraduate and alumni members. Sigma Pi continues to support our International philanthropy, the SAM Spady Foundation, whose purpose is to support an effective alcohol awareness program with emphasis on alcohol poisoning and high-risk consumption that can be implemented at colleges and universities

The highlight of the weekend was the announcement of the creation of the endowment fund for Sigma Pi University, by Brother Tony Siress (ΖΗ, Santa Clara ’87) with the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation. Brother Siress’ donation to the Educational Foundation will help secure future funding for this program and will allow us the opportunity to keep the registration costs low for our members. With the establishment of this endowment fund, the Grand Council and the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation decided to rename the program: “Sigma Pi University, The Tony Siress Career and Educational Institute.”

THANK YOU The Executive Office would like to thank “Tex” Keith Shellhart (ΓΥ, Murray State, ’93) for his contributions of supplies for our consultants.

His donations were included in the consultants travel packs, and were used during presentations throughout the United States and Canada.

Mid-Year Conference Feb 1-2, 2008 St. Louis, Missouri

DYK? Last year 2,579 men pledged Sigma Pi, which was the most pledged since the 1990-91 school year.

DYK? Last year 1,773 men were initiated which is the most men initiated since the 1991-92 school year. 45 of those initiated were alumni initiates.

D I B B L E’S

DYK?

DYK? On display at the new Executive Office Headquarters in Brentwood, Tenn., is George Martin Patterson’s original diploma received on June 15, 1897, from Vincennes University where he majored in modern language.

DID YOU KNOW

DYK? In the 06-07 school year, Theta-Pi, University of Arizona, had 61 pledges which leads all other chapters.

DYK? In the 06-07 school year, Theta, Penn State University initiated 49 members which leads all other chapters.

If you have any historical questions, or some historical material you would like to share with the Emerald readers, please direct that information to Managing Editor Adam Dibble, with the subject “Did you know,” to adibble@sigmapi.org.

News from the Communications Department Corrections: The Emerald would like to apologize to Gamma-Iota, Worcester Polytechnic Institute for the misspelling on page 14 of the summer 2007 issue. Specifically our apology goes to Brother Peter J. Billington (Gamma Iota ’70) who has informed us of this mistake.

4We can accept high-resolution digital images (above 300dpi) by email. These must be a .tif or .jpg files in PC (IBM) format. For best results, use a camera with at least 4.0 mega pixels set on its highest resolution setting (usually “for enlargements”).

The summer ’07 issue was marked as Volume XCII, Number 2, however it was issue number 3.

4We can always use great photos of members wearing the Sigma Pi badge and letters. Keep your background as uncluttered as possible. Remember, we do not print any photographs that show members holding alcoholic beverages or making inappropriate gestures.

How to submit photos:

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4Traditional film photos or digital images printed on professional photo paper work best. We cannot use digital pictures printed on your home printer or color copier.

Send your story ideas, pictures, and suggestions to:

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

The Emerald editors appreciate your feedback and corrections, and are always looking for members to join the publications committee. If you are interested in volunteering please contact Emerald Managing Editor, Adam Dibble, at 800.332.1897.

Sigma Pi Fraternity Attn: Emerald Post Office Box 1897 Brentwood, TN 37024 emerald@sigmapi.org

To learn more, visit WWW.SIGMAPI.ORG

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4 Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

NEWS FROM

CHAPTERS

Brothers from Epsilon-Rho Chapter, Drury, during a campus beautification day

Arizona State Beta-Kappa Chapter The Beta-Kappa Chapter is having another successful semester here at ASU. Brothers competed in Delta Sigma Pi’s 1st annual charity softball tournament and took the 1st place trophy. We would like to congratulate Dominique Gandy for his hard work in putting together our ACE project, in which we assisted the University in putting on a mud volleyball tournament. BetaKappa would also like to congratulate its new members and welcome them to our brotherhood. We anticipate a large fall rush and would like to thank our seniors who are graduating for their hard work and devotion to our chapter throughout their time here at Arizona State.

Arkansas State Alpha-Pi Chapter Alpha-Pi had a very good year-end closing. We had the privilege of initiating 2 new members into our brotherhood, for which we are very grateful.

Also at the annual Greek Awards Ceremony from the University, Alpha-

Pi received 7 of the 10 awards. They were Brotherhood, Service, Financial Management, Risk Management, Leadership, Scholarship, and Overall Chapter Achievement for being the best fraternity on campus. Alpha-Pi had great success with our ACE project for this year and is looking forward to next year. We are also very excited for next year in general, and especially about rush with a new house being in the horizon. Alpha-Pi had just recently had Orchid Ball which turned out to be a lot of fun with all brothers enjoying it. We are excited about our situation, and love our position for forwarding our chapter, and to initiating more brothers into Sigma Pi. Auburn Alpha-Delta Chapter We are at the end of a great semester at the Alpha-Delta Chapter. We initiated some great new brothers who will become an asset to the chapter. The summer looks very promising for the brothers. We have planned a summer rush weekend which will include river rafting, skeet shooting, and a camping

trip which should be very rewarding. We are also looking forward to a favorable fall which will include a great football season, numerous band parties, and a great rush turnout.

Cal Poly Eta-Delta Colony Eta-Delta Colony is enjoying a beautiful spring quarter out here in gorgeous San Luis Obispo. We recently completed our ACE project and now we are looking to gain a couple more members before the end of the year.

That should give us the numbers we need to charter in the fall.

Cal State - Dominguez Hills Eta-Iota Chapter Our chapter is in great standing and is improving on alumnus relations.

Our active members recently played a basketball game against the alumni and won. With 21 members, we are the biggest fraternity on campus and arguably the best. We are glad to announce that this semester we were the top active fraternity on campus. We are looking forward to next semester

Chapter News Editorial Policy Submitted news should be 100-150 words long and contain information about positive chapter events, community service efforts, ACE Projects, gatherings and other notable happenings. Other news items are accepted but will be judged on their level of interest to the entire brotherhood.

Electronic submissions are given the highest priority and should be filled out online or email directly to emerald@sigmapi.org. Digital photos should be at least 300dpi in resolution. Hard copies can be sent to The Emerald, Post Office Box 1897, Brentwood, TN 37024.

High-quality 4” x 6” or larger photos are preferred. Photos should not contain alcohol or other unsuitable content, and not all photos will be printed. Hard-copy photos will not be returned, but will be placed in the chapter archives at the Executive Office.

Chapter reports are those submitted by the May 10th deadline

because students are already showing an interest in pledging the Eta-Iota chapter. We are currently working on a Build-a-Bear philanthropy project. We are working together to donate bears to Millers Children’s Hospital of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Our goal is to get every child in the center at least one bear, which is the magic number of 110. It has been uplifting to see our members and fraternity mature as a group this past semester and the future looks as bright as ever.

Cal State - Long Beach Beta-Omicron Chapter The Beta-Omicron Chapter has been preparing and remodeling for convocation in 2008. For Greek week we were paired with the lovely ladies of Delta Delta Delta. We had a lot of fun with them and placed in the top three in Greek sing. Sigma Pi just won the basketball championship and we anticipate sweeping all spring sports. We have participated in 6 philanthropies including 2 first place victories. Our sorority relations have also been going well with the men of Sigma Pi becoming Gamma Phi Beta’s “Crescent Man” and Delta Zeta’s “Bud Man”. With the end of the school year coming we are studying hard for finals and getting ready for Orchid Ball in Laughlin, Nevada. This year we are anticipating over 50 brothers and their dates.

Cal State - Sacramento Eta-Alpha Chapter Eta-Alpha has had a very successful semester. Our annual Sorority Superbowl was one of the best yet.

We have added several new members to the ranks of our brotherhood.

During this year’s Greek Week, our chapter performed very well, placing in numerous events. We look forward to closing this semester with our ACE project, helping campus to survive finals week, by distributing free test materials. Some of the newer members are also stepping up in a huge way, and we would like to congratulate our new 4th Counselor (Dennis McGary), 1st Counselor (Blake Guinn), and Herald (Gabe Castillo). We’d also like to honor our 6 graduates, and our alum, Dan Castanho, for becoming the new Province Archon.

California Iota Chapter Our chapter is the best it’s been in years and continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Since spring 2006 we have tripled our numbers! Our newest pledge class (Omicron) has shown a lot of initiative in running for positions, and we are very proud of them. Our social calendar has been filled with dozens of events including our annual date party, sorority exchanges, and our SIGMA PI-rates party. Brotherhood has been excellent as well, with trips to Las Vegas, Tahoe, and weekly

barbecues. We are glad to have held a successful clothing drive for Hurricane Katrina victims for philanthropy and a BBQ for our hard-working local police and firefighters for ACE. We recently held our Alumni Banquet and thank our recent alumni for their support. We would really like to meet more alumni from before the re-chartering and ask them to contact us when they read this.

California - Irvine Eta-Upsilon Chapter The brothers of Eta-Upsilon started spring rush off strong. We conducted our First Annual Alumni Career Night, in which over 20 Alumni returned to campus to interact and talk with the actives, pledges, and potential pledges. It was a resounding success with much positive feedback.

Due to its success the chapter was able to bid 4 members that same night. Our chapter is beginning a big and innovated new philanthropy this year. We are partnering up with the Newport Beach Police Department as well as many sponsors and putting on several alcohol awareness events.

In addition to raising awareness, we plan on raising a lot of money that will go towards the cause. Our spring pledge class is looking good – we look forward to initiating some great new members to our chapter.

California - Santa Barbara Alpha-Omicron Colony First and foremost, Sigma Pi is back at UCSB! After a 30 year absence, the

Alpha-Omicron Colony of Sigma Pi has been reestablished and is poised and ready to climb to the top of the Greek System. We began our reinstatement with 25 qualified members, and quickly grew to 39 within a few months. So far, everyone is ecstatic and highly motivated to colonize by January of 2008. Also, we would like to extend our sincerest wishes to two graduating brothers, Ian Bryzek and Alex Zeesman, both of whom have contributed immensely to Alpha Omicron. All of the brothers would also like to thank Gary Grubacich, our colony director, for all of his support and determination in making the colonization process a much easier one.

With an ACE project in the works, we are getting closer and closer to becoming a legitimate Sigma Pi chapter.

California - Santa Cruz Colony The fraternity has inducted several new quality gentlemen into UCSC Sigma Pi Colony. We have sparked a new interest with the younger males on campus (freshman and sophomore class level). Several successful events include the elegant White Party 3-1607, Brotherhood Barbeque 5-3-07, Socials with Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority and Gamma Phi Beta Sororities, as well as community service projects to be announced.

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

Epsilon-Phi Chapter brothers flying to San Diego

Two Sigma Pi Brothers from Eta-Phi Chapter at Miami (OH) while visiting the Parthenon in Greece

California of Pennsylvania Colony We got off to a slow start due to previcontinued on next page

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Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

6 C H A PTER NEWS ous events we have encountered, but now we are starting to turn things around.

When meeting with the Greek office on campus, they are really impressed with how we have turned around and have told us that all they have seen with us have been improvements. Right now we are one of the biggest fraternities on this campus and we hope to keep it this way. We recently have been voted onto the campus IFC Greek committee because we were the first to get our dues in and have our roster in. Now we are working on getting new brothers.

Central Michigan Delta-Alpha Chapter Throughout the last three months we initiated six new members, our former president Matt Morales won the best fraternity president at the Greek awards this year, and we won the all sports trophy and also three championships in indoor soccer, hockey, and volleyball. We also initiated a large percentage of our members that were not yet initiated.

Central Missouri State Gamma-Gamma Chapter It has been a busy time of the year for the men of Gamma-Gamma chapter.

Greek Week was an exciting and successful time with us placing in several events.

The Executive Council has also started something never done before on this campus. We are having a formal dinner with every sorority Executive Council. This was done to help us figure out what sororities are looking for in a fraternity. We have also been involved in Intramurals taking 3rd place in Volleyball. Also some members of our chapter got the pleasure to help initiate the men from the newest chapter of Sigma Pi, Kansas State. We congratulate them and wish them the best of luck. We would also like to congratulate Seniors Mike Carey and Brandon Beuchter. You will be greatly missed.

Delaware Colony Over the past several months the Sigma Pi Colony at the University of Delaware

has continued to expand in both numbers influence on campus. We held our first ever date party, and also participated in our first Greek Week.

During this week we competed in a certain event each day against all the other fraternities on campus. After excelling in every event we participated in, we ended the week in second place overall out of all eleven fraternities!

This was a great accomplishment for us considering we have yet to even charter. Over the next several weeks we will begin to make many exciting plans for the following year, including out chartering event in October.

Detroit Mercy Gamma-Alpha Chapter Once again Gamma-Alpha has ended another year with a dominating presence on the campus of the University Of Detroit Mercy. We conquered the competition to reclaim our title as Greek Week Champs (Or Pi Week as we like to call it)!! The second annual Easter egg hunt was also another success with an even bigger attendance than last year. The house was given a face lift with new landscaping and a repainted porch and during the summer there are plans for even more

changes to our house including completely renovating the basement.

Drury Epsilon-Rho Chapter This year wrapped up with many projects being completed for the brothers of Epsilon-Rho. In the last week of April the brothers of Epsilon-Rho went handballing for a brotherhood event which was extremely fun. We also held a golf tournament at a par three course at night. The golf tournament was our Sam Spady event and also helped us raise money for Relay for Life, because faculty came and made donations to our team when they golfed. We also kept up our service projects by wrapping up our ACE project by presenting a donation to the school for new trees and flowers and helping plant trees on our campus during Campus Beautification Day on May 5th.

East Carolina Eta-Kappa Chapter Eta-Kappa had a prosperous 2007.

With the completion of the first Ace Project in our chapter’s history and victory over all other fraternities during Greek Week, we are definitely on the up and up and gaining momentum. Congrats to Austin Ramsey, Thomas Parker, and Eric Hymen on graduating East Carolina University Class of 2007. Make us proud, boys!

The spirit of Eta-Kappa is stronger than ever with the initiation of our newest members who have a drive and will like none before.

Eastern Illinois

Sigma Pi volunteering time for a Easter egg hunt

Beta-Gamma Chapter As this spring semester has come to an end the Beta-Gamma chapter is for the second year in a row Eastern Illinois University Intramural Champions! A special thank you is directed to Brothers Oswaldo Serrato and Chris Tredennick for their great performance as co-intramural chairs.

Greek Week was also a great chance for the chapter to band together and compete against other fraternities on campus. We would like to give special congratulations to our tugs ropes and air band competitors who trained hard for several months and placed in their

events during Greek Week. The chapter would also like to thank Brother Justin Seno for his dedication and determination as Greek Week chair.

Beta-Gamma would like to report that as the weather got nicer outside, we decided to do a second ACE Project cleaning up the EIU campus and surrounding Charleston area.

Eastern Kentucky Epsilon-Lambda Chapter We wrapped up Greek week and took home an award. All of our hard work that we put into Greek Sing for dances and props paid off by winning 3rd place. Pig roast was a huge hit this year. We had many teams come out and a lot of brothers who showed up just for support. We were able to update our alumni relations through pig roast by having a sign in sheet with updated e-mails and address. We also set up an events board for our Alumni and other chapters to observe what we have accomplished recently.

Following pig roast we hosted a Sigma Pi Philanthropy Week. During this week of community service we cleaned debris and garbage from the campus.

We washed faculty cars for free to show our appreciation, and hosted an alcohol seminar for the student body.

In addition to this our President Eric Shrimpton took the liberty of organizing and hosting a Hokie Memorial Concert in honor of the victims at Virginia Tech. We passed out T-shirts advertising the event and so the event will be remembered as the years pass by. This will ensure the victims of Virginia Tech are not forgotten. In honor of our seniors and others that will be parting with us and becoming alumni after this semester, we rented out a section at the Lexington Legends, a local minor league baseball team, stadium as a going away brotherhood event.

our founding day which was April 12, with a BBQ. In April we also hosted a campus wide capture the flag game.

Elon Epsilon-Theta Chapter The men of Epsilon-Theta have enjoyed an extremely promising 20062007 school year. We have welcomed in 16 new brothers, and have already started recruiting for next school year.

Our ACE project was extremely successful, and each brother participated in the Jimmy V Foundation Walk For Cancer to support two recent brothers who had been diagnosed. After much of the spring was spent establishing a strong relationship with our alumni, we turned our attention to our recent financial woes and have made significant strides. We have developed an extremely detailed budget for next year, including a fundraising event involving a mechanical bull - we are all looking forward to that. Lastly, we ended the year on a strong note, winning the Most Improved GPA Award on campus.

Embry-Riddle (FL) Zeta-Beta Chapter The brothers would like to thank our ELC Mike Courville, who will be leaving us, and would like to welcome our new ELC who will be joining us this fall. We also like to thank all the brothers who came down to visit us during their spring break. The rest of the semester was a blast. The brothers

of Zeta-Beta chapter would like to congratulate four new members from the spring semester for completing their pledge program. We would like to honor nine brothers who will be graduating this spring and we wish them the best of luck. We performed our semi-annual highway clean up, picking up trash and junk on our highway. We had a successful Orchid Ball, at the Courtyard Marriott in Cocoa Beach, Florida. We ended the semester on a high note, having a good old game of mini golf with Alpha Xi Delta sorority.

Emporia State Epsilon-Epsilon Chapter This spring has been great for the chapter in GPA, new members, and campus image. Our ACE project went well and the school really appreciated it. Our summer is filled with fundraisers working for the Royals, and recruitment for next semester. Congrats to our new brothers in Kansas, the Iota-Alpha Chapter at Kansas State University.

Ferris State Theta-Theta Chapter The New Generation of Leaders at the Theta-Theta chapter has once again proven to be the best at Ferris State University. Our Brotherhood is at an all time high. For the third year in a row the Brothers of Theta-Theta have taken home The Greek Week Championship. New achievements have been made with the addition of Brian Kneibel’s Greek Man of The Year award, as well as Brian Kurisky Chapter Advisor of the year award. Theta-Theta has continued to show their charisma on campus with their second annual chapter excellence award, and most spirited Greek organization. With the graduation of 14 brothers, Theta-Theta’s next semester’s focus is on a flawless rush. Next semester is already shaping up to be a busy one with our 6th annual Teeter-Totter-a-thon, rush, and our Cedar Point Fundraiser. The chapter is looking forward to another great year at 409 Michigan Ave. Keep looking for Theta-Theta at the TOP! Fitchburg State

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

Eastern Michigan Gamma-Beta Colony The ACE Project Capture The Flag was a success, and lots of EMU students showed up to the event. We hope to do it many more years. We recently won the student government election for President and Vice President of student government. We also just celebrated the anniversary of

UCLA Sigma Pi brothers after the 26-mile Los Angeles marathon

Eta-Tau Chapter The Eta-Tau chapter has wrapped up the school year in full swing. We initiated 3 great guys this spring who will be huge assets to our chapter. For our ACE project we donated a bench to the college. A bunch of our brothers traveled to Cape Cod to participate in the Walk for Dimes. We held our 2nd annual Car Smash fundraiser on May 7th, and currently plans are in the making for our summer retreat. We have set high goals for our chapter for next year. continued on next page

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8 Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

C H APTER NEWS no intent of slowing down; we plan to stay active throughout the summer, and continue to focus on our goal of building our numbers, and building a stronger brotherhood. We all believe we can become one of the most respectable fraternities on campus.

Georgia

Delta-Beta, Monmoth, brothers with their campus-based awards — #1 Chapter, Greek Week Champions, #1 New Member, #1 Service Project, and #1 Faculty Advisor

Alpha-Phi Chapter This semester proved to be a great one for the Alpha-Phi Chapter. The semester had a packed social calendar, saw our finances in line, and saw the chapter participating in many philanthropic events. The chapter was also able to strengthen relationships with the Inter-Fraternity Council at UGA, and was able to get an AlphaPhi brother on the IFC Rush Board.

This will greatly help the chapter with the upcoming fall rush. The chapter was also able to strengthen relationships with neighboring fraternities and sororities, and is planning to coordinate a large philanthropy event between our sections of Greek Row for the fall. The brothers of Alpha-Phi are planning for and looking forward to a strong fall rush, and another great semester.

Georgia Tech

Eta-Epsilon Florida State Colony Founders’ Day Bar-B-Que

Florida Zeta-Zeta Chapter The 2007 spring semester has been a great one. It was jam packed with events, from socials, to brotherhoods, to philanthropies, even a road trip. We completed our bi-annual ACE project working with Physical Plant, the university’s maintenance department, through which we beautified the area outside of our law school. We are very encouraged about our seven initiates who are on their way to becoming outstanding brothers. We finished the semester with our Orchid Ball formal where we said farewell to six of our brothers but look forward to seeing them again. We have a couple of events planned for the summer and are excited and ready for a strong fall semester.

Florida State Eta-Epsilon Colony Eta-Epsilon was officially reinstated back at Florida State this spring and since has become recognized amongst the Greek community. After we established our executive board and organized our committees, we hit the ground running, by participating in a number of sorority sponsored philanthropies, taking part in the annual Greek Week festivities, successfully courting Phi Mu for homecoming partners, building alumni relations with a founder’s day barbecue, and held our first rush. On top of this we even got the Sam Spady project to be the focus of the risk management presentation for all of Greek life this fall. From here we have

Colony On Thursday, September 27th, 2007, seventeen men colonized Sigma Pi at Georgia Tech with alumnus, Andy Richard (Alpha-Phi, Georgia ’91) presiding as the master of ceremonies.

The new brotherhood celebrated their achievement the following weekend at Six Flags theme park and at the Georgia Tech vs. Clemson game where Tech won 13 to 3. The following two weeks the colony website was launched as www.gtsigmapi.com and all of the brothers began to take part in the planning of athletic, brotherhood, fundraising, and sorority mixer events.

Grand Valley State Theta-Rho Chapter Theta-Rho has finished the tail end of the winter semester with a bang. We claimed several victories that proved that we are a force to be reckoned with. The first victory under our belt was reclaiming Greek Week, which is

our second victory in our four year existence. We also held on to our status as IFC Softball Champions (two years running). The Luau (our ACE Project) was, once again, a smashing success at the end of the academic school year.

Grand Second Counselor George Hakim came out to support us yet again. Grand Valley also recognized Theta-Rho’s school spirit and gave us the Most Spirited Organization Award as well as the Lighthouse Award. We hope to keep this momentum going through the summer with events such as attending a Detroit Tigers game so that when fall semester starts up we can truly demonstrate that Sigma Pi is awesome.

Illinois Phi Chapter Phi Chapter has worked hard this past year in order to celebrate its 99th year of continuous activity. In preparation for next year’s 100th anniversary Phi Chapter has collected many items of historical significance to Phi Chapter such as a portrait and autobiography of Phi founder, Byron R. Lewis.

We have also received a copy of our charter which had been missing for decades. In summer 2007, Phi is planning to start practicing a more holistic recruiting process to ensure that Sigma Pi’s longest continuous running chapter will be around for another hundred years.

Illinois Wesleyan Epsilon-Gamma Chapter Epsilon-Gamma had a nice break for the beginning of spring, working towards many of its future projects and taking a breather between midterms and finals. At the end of March, we attended our annual Formal Dance at Rend Lake Resorts in southern Illinois where over two thirds of the chapter attended. We continue to make great progress towards our ACE project, which you will surely hear about in the future.

Indiana Beta Chapter Beta Chapter is riding high on the heels of an outstanding spring semester. First and foremost, the Little 500 bike race and weeklong celebration

was a great success. Riders Chris Holland ’07, Nick Brewer ’08, Jeff Dziegielewski ’09, and Mark Zycinski ’09 cashed in on their hard work by riding a nearly flawless race and finished several spots higher than their starting position. We cannot thank them enough for their dedication and sacrifice. Spring recruitment has given us 13 outstanding new members. All of the new members will be living in the house next year along with nearly all of the fall pledge class. Additionally, there will be an unusually high number of seniors living in, along with a strong contingent of about 30 juniors. The chapter house will

Iowa State Sigma Chapter Sigma Chapter is nearing the end of the spring semester with high hopes for summer recruitment. We have a full house for this coming summer.

The weather has been warm and the volleyball court has gotten a lot of use over the past few weeks. The summer rush chairmen are looking forward to a busy summer of travel and fun in hopes of pulling in new pledges for the fall. Greek Week has come and gone with much fun had and now they look forward to the same from Homecoming in the fall being paired with Alpha Chi Omega for sorority pairing.

With the closing of another school year, things finally settle down for the brothers of Zeta-Omicron. We are initiating three great guys from this springs pledge class and have already started planning for a great fall semester rush. We had our 10th annual pig roast and although we fell just short of our second Greek Day championship, we had a great time and will make sure that the trophy comes back to Sigma Pi next spring. Another thing that we have been doing with our time is hosting a St. Patty’s Day Party with the sisters of Delta Tau Sigma. Attendance was outstanding and everybody that was there had a great time. To all our brothers, have a great summer and see you all next year.

Maryland Alpha-Chi Colony The Alpha Chi Colony was installed in April at the University of Maryland, College Park. Currently we have 32 members and are working towards our goal of 50 members before we charter next spring. John Peter Kokkinos, social chair, arranged our first social event this weekend, which was a great success. Chris Anthony and Mark Nelson, as recruitment chairs, have been working hard to

Brothers showing off Sigma Pi pride

be packed with a record 86 live-in members. With such a strong live-in presence, we look to improve on our intramural standing next school year.

This year, Beta Chapter finished 3rd overall among fraternities, led by a championship effort in football and a deep playoff run in softball. There is no denying that this coming school year we expect a championship. We cannot wait to start the fall semester and create an even bigger splash in the Greek community than we did this year.

Iowa

Eta-Omega Chapter This year our chapter really focused on recruitment. In the winter trimester we initiated eight new members.

They have all contributed so much to us already. As for the last trimester we won Greek Week for the third year in a row, we hope to keep it a tradition. Orchid Ball led twenty brothers to Montreal, Canada for a weekend. It was an amazing time and everyone left with memories that will last a lifetime. Our ACE project will take place on May 11, 2007. We are teaming up with the Johnson & Wales Maintenance crew to help better the University’s appearance inside and out.

recruit honorable future Sigma Pi brothers, and plan to initiate many members in the fall. Alpha-Chi is making great strides in its first month, and will be a leader in the Greek community next school year. Also, Brother Luke Marshall proposed to Julia Cutch this semester; the wedding will be next summer. Congratulations Luke.

Middle Tennessee State Theta-Omega Chapter This summer we have been hard at work preparing and planning for a great first semester as chapter. After chartering in April, we have started restructuring committees, planning recruitment, developing a pledge education program for our Alpha Class, and preparing events for the upcoming fall semester. Now that we have chartered, we aim our focus on becoming the biggest and best fraternity at MTSU. We have already created a strong presence on our campus and are committed and motivated to increasing it. We also enjoyed meeting hundreds of brothers this summer by sending 4 brothers to Sigma Pi University and having 16 at the Sounds game. We hope to use the knowledge and ideas learned through the classes and from our other brothers to improve our chapter and ensure its growth.

Kansas State Iota-Alpha Chapter The Iota-Alpha Chapter recently chartered May 5th 2007 and became the first Iota Series to join the Land of Sigma Pi! Iota-Alpha also won the Unity Award at the University’s Greek Awards banquet through a unanimous vote. This is something that is very exciting because we are the newest group on campus and that says a lot about the character of our organization. IotaAlpha would also like to announce the acquisition of a new chapter house, and look forward to a great semester as a chapter.

Lawrence Tech Zeta-Omicron Chapter

Minnesota Colony On April 13th the Sigma Pi colony at the University of Minnesota held an “Unsung Heroes Dinner,” for our ACE project. Being that most students and faculty don’t think of the people behind the scenes, our colony organized and hosted a grill-out for 320 University custodial staff. The University collaborated with us by agreeing to pay the custodial staff their time, while at our event. It was such a success that most staff, initially bewildered by our generosity, couldn’t stop saying thank you for appreciating them. Since most fraternities on campus don’t hold similar events, the Minnesota Daily came to write an article that landed on the front page. The event was such a hit that all our members want to not only make it an annual event, but possibly organize one every semester.

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

Xi Chapter As the year winds down, Xi is proud to look back at its many accomplishments, including our inaugural Orchid Ball, held at a local winery, with a great mix of fun and brotherhood! Thanks to our Social Chair, Louis Ebert, we successfully had at least one exchange with every sorority on campus. After completing a week long “Greekalicious” Greek Week, Xi has been awarded Gold Chapter status among the Greek Community. Our philanthropic attendance has been greater than ever placing second in Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash, and second again in Tri-Delta’s Softball tournament. Xi continues hard at work at our first major philanthropy, Sigma Pi Soccer, which will be coming up early next fall. We say goodbye, but not for long, to six graduating seniors and founding fathers.

Johnson & Wales

Missouri - St. Louis Delta-Zeta Chapter Hello from the Delta-Zeta chapter! Everything is going well for our chapter right now, including recently adding a couple of new guys from the spring semester.

Right now we are focusing on the upcoming Greek Week and fall rush, which continued on next page

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Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

10 C H APTER NEWS we hope are both a huge success! We have also made significant progress on campus by taking over numerous positions, including SGA president, now held by brother Bryan Goers. We also have had 3 brothers elected to Student Senate. Things have done nothing but improve as of late and we hope to continue to make significant strides in showing our dominance on campus Missouri State Alpha-Rho Chapter The Alpha-Rho chapter has been busy over the last semester. With the conclusion of Greek Sports here at Missouri State University, the brothers of Alpha-Rho are proud to have finished in 3rd place overall. We are also excited about our upcoming Ace Project in which we have worked with Missouri State University in handing out free refreshments and snacks at Myer Library during finals week.

Recently, we initiated three more men into our chapter and have planned arrangements for a spectacular Orchid Ball at the lake this summer. We have had one of the best years yet with our philanthropy Search for Athena, raising over $1,100 benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network. We would like to thank graduating seniors Ryan Velicer, Brent Hustson, and Steve Taylor for all the hard work and dedication they have provided us with over the years and wish them the best of luck.

Monmouth Delta-Beta Chapter We had a very accomplishing and exciting spring semester here at Monmouth. Our semester blood drive was a big success. In mid-April, our chapter participated in Greek Week.

It is our second year in a row after a real nail-biter last year and brings our record to winning 5 out of the last 7 years. Our ACE Project/Substance Awareness Week received much attention on campus from students and faculty alike. During the awards ceremony, our faculty advisor, Dr. Joseph Mosca, won Best Faculty Advisor for the second year in a row, Sean Pallone won best new member, and our chapter won best organization on campus.

Brothers Joe Mullan, Robert Wankel,

and Brett Stevens made an appearance in an Asbury Park Press article. We wish all brothers and alumnus a great summer and hope to see you at SPU. Northern Colorado Zeta-Tau Chapter The brothers here at Zeta-Tau chapter are finishing off the spring semester in a strong and positive light. In addition to our annual ACE project, we also completed a Sam Spady project and more philanthropies than we have ever done in the past. Some of these include a campus wide clean-up, a canned food drive, the Taste of Weld County, and we have continued to work with the C.A.R.E. foundation.

As usual, we have been dominating in intramural sports and are the proud winners of Greek Week. Over the summer, we will be renovating the entire interior of our chapter house.

Last but not least, our house would like to congratulate graduating seniors Matthew Draper, and Daniel Mack.

Best of luck in the future!

Brothers after a recent paint ball outing

Ohio Northern Zeta Chapter Zeta chapter has been very active with summer events and planning for the coming school year. We recently held our annual Zeta Chapter Alumni Golf outing. The event was a great success with 50 actives and alumni participating. We would like to thank our alumni who donated over $1,700 to the chapter. We are also planning to go to Cedar Point to work for our annual fundraiser which helps pay for the Orchid Ball in the spring. Rush events planned for the fall so far include a campus wide pig roast and helping with move in day. Zeta Chapter wishes all other chapters good luck with this coming school year.

Brothers from Phi, Illinois, after cleaning up their campus pathway

Oregon Colony Recently the men of Oregon colony have been fairly busy with various events. On April 28th the men of Sigma Pi contributed their support and some players to a philanthropic softball tournament called Diamond Days put on by Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Those who didn’t participate in the softball tournament made their way to

Theta-Chi Chapter at Saint Joseph’s University

Portland for an alumni meeting, where the president Sam Kratz and sergeant at arms Roy Hillman presented the alumni with a brief slideshow chronicling the colony from conception to present day. From April 9th to the 13th we held various recruitmentcentered events, such as capture the flag, poker, played dodge ball, had a bbq and even raffled off prizes on a dorm on campus. The upcoming week brings another philanthropic event with Alpha Chi Omega, benefiting local Pop Warner football teams.

Penn College Theta-Phi Chapter The year has come to a close and our first semester as a chapter has ended.

All of our hard work has paid off and we’re excited for the coming year. We finished our ACE which was a huge success.

Penn State Theta Chapter This has been an amazing couple months at Theta chapter. With an initiated pledge class of 35 quality men and another group of 17 on the way we have more than doubled the size of our brotherhood in one year.

The new brothers are already proving themselves by taking over the head chairs of THON (Adam Nye, ‘10) and IM Sports (Brandon Trautman, ‘10) and many are integral parts of Rush and Social committees.

More than a few are chomping at the bit to get onto executive board next fall and it should be a good campaign. THON this year was a blast and together with the sisters of Delta Gamma we raised over $97,000! This in no small part thanks to the huge efforts of the freshman class, Matt Hoffman (’08), and Brady Danyluk (’07). Our Goal next year is to break $150,000.

Zeta-Chi Chapter The brothers of Zeta-Chi finished off a successful spring semester with a second place finish in Greek Week.

Zeta-Chi Chapter is looking forward to a strong fall rush and a brotherhood camping event in the summer.

Salisbury Theta-Xi Chapter The last month of school is headed for Theta-Xi Chapter. Theta-Xi Chapter was recognized in The Daily Times in an article and a picture on April 15, 2007. We participated in the Rose Street Blossoms project to help build up the community. We also raised close to $1,000 with our fund-raising committee. We are working on putting together a picnic for the last day of classes for Salisbury University. Free food, non-alcoholic drinks and Sam Spady Foundation cards will be passed out as our A.C.E. project for all students. Hopefully this will encourage students to stay sober for the week of final exams. After classes are done we will hopefully be participating in the Dover Nascar Race on June 3rd as a philanthropy event. Overall the Spring semester has been a good and exciting time for Theta-Xi Chapter.

Santa Clara Zeta-Eta Chapter Zeta-Eta is in the process of closing out another great year for Sigma Pi. We initiated 19 new members, all of whom look to be future leaders of our organization. With 78 current actives, brotherhood has never been better, with weekly events such as bowling or Tortellini Tuesdays. Our chapter has logged over 100 community service hours, with events such as volunteering at Sacred Heart Nativity School and Habitat for Humanity. Also, 7 Sigma Pi men went down to Tijuana, Mexico on an immersion trip to build houses with the group Amor Ministries. The California weather was beautiful in Santa Cruz on May 5th, the day of our 21st annual Volleyball Tournament for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, for which we raised over $6,000 dollars. Summertime is right around the corner, and we are all eager to start planning and preparing for next year.

Seton Hall Delta-Epsilon Chapter Delta Epsilon is proud to announce

the induction of our Gamma-Alpha Pledge class. These 15 young men we are proud to call our brothers for life. The 2006-2007 school year was a success for Delta-Epsilon, having completed 2 ACE projects, 3 Alumni Events and memories that will last a lifetime for our chapter. Our annual Orchid Ball was held at the Crown Plaza in Union and was a success yet again. Even though we have had a great year, we enter the upcoming year with a great loss. Congratulations and thank you to Past Sage Kyle Sarausky and the rest of the Class of 2007, who will leave our campus ready to take on the world. The Delta Epsilon Chapter is looking forward to the fall with excitement in our endeavor to spread and multiply Sigma Pi on our campus and town of South Orange.

Southern Arkansas Epsilon-Kappa Chapter The brothers of the Epsilon-Kappa chapter of Sigma Pi have had a very exciting semester. We have participated in a plethora of different philanthropy events consisting of everything from a blood drive to assisting in sponsoring in an event to raise money for medical expenses for a good friend of ours who was paralyzed from the neck down for quite some time. Also, we have conducted events to raise awareness of our fraternity and let people know that we’re still number one on our campus! Our most exciting achievement of the semester, however, was placing first in SAU’s Greek Week program. After many events including volleyball, can collecting, extreme Frisbee and the step show, we were able to place well over 100 points higher than any other fraternity on campus.

Overall, this has been a great semester full of brotherhood and unity.

St. Joseph’s Theta-Chi Chapter Sigma Pi Theta-Chi of Saint Joseph’s University just participated in our very first Greek Week. We showed extreme pride in our newly formed chapter and were leading throughout most of the Greek Week events. We barely missed out on the first place finish but did gain a lot of respect from all other Greek organizations on our campus.

Our secretary won the Greek God competition and was dubbed Zeus by our chapter. We also won our banner competition and decorating our table along with placing high in a lot of other events.

TCNJ Theta-Delta Chapter The brothers of Theta-Delta welcomed twelve new members this spring. Not only is our Kappa class a bunch of studs, they are involved in a variety of activities ranging from varsity sports to our campus’s ambassador program. Our annual family picnic in April went very well. Mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers all came to the house for a mid-day Bar-B-Q. We played our annual senior video for our parents, which they thoroughly enjoyed. At the annual TCNJ Greek awards, Brother Christopher Snel won ‘Greek New Member of the Year’. This fall, Theta-Delta paired up with sororities Kappa Delta and Alpha Kappa Alpha, and participated in every Homecoming event during Homecoming week. We placed first in both lip-sync and dance competitions.

We are proud to say that Theta-Delta is continuing to keep a positive and involved image on campus.

Texas State Theta-Upsilon Chapter At the Texas State Greek Awards Ceremony, the Theta-Upsilon Chapter at Texas State received the Inter-fraternity Council’s Chapter GPA Award for having the highest GPA on campus.

Sage Charlie Perryman was honored with the award for Greek Man of the Year at Texas State. This award is a true honor since Sigma Pi is the newest fraternity on the Texas State Campus.

Towson Eta-Nu Chapter Spring 2007 has been kind to the brothers at Towson. On April 21st, the Eta-Nu Chapter won its second consecutive IFC Greek Week Championship. This marks Sigma Pi Fraternity’s unprecedented 11th title in the last 14 years at TU! In other news, Eta-Nu Chapter completed a very successful continued on next page

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

Rowan

We would like to congratulate all the graduating brothers and we wish you all good luck.

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Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

12 C H APTER NEWS ACE Project this semester. The weeklong program featured the passing out of Sam Spady alcohol awareness cards, a Chivalry Dinner for the eight NPC sororities on campus, an educational speaker (alcohol awareness), and the fourth annual TU Greek Unity Campus Clean-up. Eta-Nu is proud to report that Past First Counselor Brendan Bannon was recently elected IFC President. He becomes the second Sigma Pi in four years to hold this high office! Finally, the chapter would like to bid farewell to its graduating seniors Jory Frankle, Christian Galanti, Kevin Biasi, and Past Fourth Counselor Jason Elan.

UCLA Upsilon Chapter The UCLA chapter of Sigma Pi has had a tremendous past few weeks.

Our midterms just passed and it seems to be the general consensus that we all did very well. We have recruited some very high quality pledges for spring and they appear to be meshing well with our brothers living in and out of the house. We are wishing the best of luck to everyone we know on upcoming finals, and summer is something to look forward to as well. We are pleased to report that our alumni are very involved with our actives. We also look forward to Senior Night and Parent’s Day. Valparaiso Beta-Tau Chapter The fall semester was very successful for the Beta-Tau chapter. We held several philanthropy events, including our annual campus-wide volleyball tournament. In addition to charity work the chapter had an excellent alumni turnout for our homecoming activities and a successful winter formal on Dec. 2nd. We also had a strong pledge class this fall that will only further strengthen our chapter as we look forward to a productive spring semester.

Vincennes Alpha Chapter Spring at Alpha has been exciting with 10 new neophytes who plan to go active sometime soon. House progress with the fire is going well

with the house soon to be completed.

Congratulations to brothers Travis Tobin, Ruben Lozano, Brad Ferguson, and Kyle Swank for graduating. The chapter participated in city clean up April 21st earning over 130 dollars.

We also helped Vincennes University students move out of their dorms for the summer. Summer Clean up is June 22, 23, 24. We are still accepting donations for the house fire, if you would like to donate please send to Alpha Chapter Fire Fund at Old National Bank, in Vincennes. The sky is the limit at Alpha in fall 2007.

Virginia Beta-Pi Chapter Over the course of the past semester, the Beta-Pi Chapter has continued the current trend of steady improvements to our fraternity. In early April, the brothers, guided by some dedicated alumni, organized an alumni weekend to join past and present brothers. We had a great turnout: alumni from every decade of Beta-Pi’s history came out to represent their respective generations. This meeting marked the introductory phase of our Capital Campaign to raise funds for chapter improvements. To top this, Beta-Pi was awarded Chapter of the Year by the University of Virginia. This award gave the brothers some well-deserved praise for the continued efforts to make contributions to our community. On the horizon, our newly elected Philanthropy Chairman has begun planning for Comfort Zone next year and we are hopeful that we can expand the success of this important event.

Wake Forest Alpha-Nu Chapter Alpha-Nu had another terrific spring as we participated in numerous on campus and community philanthropy events, welcomed back Alpha-Nu alumni at our Alumni Club, and threw many successful social events to make sure we gave our 26 graduating seniors a proper send-off. The brothers of Alpha-Nu ran and participated in our ACE Week where we engaged in various activities, including hosting a breakfast for the cleaning staff of the Alpha-Nu Chapter Halls and completing a mulching project which

included the entire entrance to Wake Forest University. Additionally, for our Sam Spady project (a separate event), the brotherhood assisted setting up the Brenner Children’s Hospital Charity Auction in which $500 was raised for the Foundation. Alpha-Nu initiated 16 new members this spring and we look forward to exciting events we have planned for the fall season. Most importantly, we wish the best of luck to those brothers graduating. Thanks for the memories.

Wayne State Gamma-Omega Chapter The winter semester at GammaOmega has been one of the most eventful in years. There has been much progress and other exciting happenings going on. For starters, the brothers of Gamma-Omega have completed 4 philanthropies in the in February which include, clothing for COTS Detroit, week long bone marrow drive, raising money for Prevent Child Abuse America, and a penny drive for troops in Iraq. On a campus side of things, the Gamma-Omega brothers won the first annual Warrior Games, which is a week long event that is open to all student organizations and is used in place of Greek Week at our University. It is indeed a very exciting time for our chapter and we are looking forward to a successful summer pledge class.

West Chester Zeta-Alpha Chapter The Brothers at the Zeta-Alpha Chapter are once again coming to the end of a very successful semester. We recently welcomed 12 new men to our great brotherhood which places us as the largest fraternity on West Chester University’s campus. Not only are we the number one fraternity as far as recruitment is concerned, but we once again made a very strong showing in Greek Athletics and Greek Week. This past semester also saw the active Brothers and the Alumni pitted against each other in the 1st Annual Alumni Softball Game, in which the Alumni walked away with the trophy.

This summer we look forward to our annual Brotherhood trip to the Outer Banks, North Carolina with two of

the sororities on campus for a week of surfing and relaxing on the beach, the addition of a new chapter house, and holding our 24th Annual Alumni Weekend on July 21st.

West Virginia Tech Gamma-Xi Chapter Here at WVUIT, the Gamma Xi Chapter has had a successful term.

We have managed to maintain our bearing with school policies. We have also been named the most helpful Fraternity on campus. We’ve done numerous events to raise money for other organizations as well as for ourselves. We have currently been doing house renovations and working on our property to improve how we look.

William Paterson Theta-Tau Chapter It’s been a very successful school year for us here at William Paterson. This past November, we hosted the First Annual Sigma Pi Thanksgiving Dinner, which attracted members from every Greek Organization on campus and over a hundred hungry non-Greek students and faculty. It was a great success, and we are looking forward to our second dinner next Thanksgiving.

We recently handed out hot chocolate across campus on a chilly day in March, and it was a huge hit amongst students and staff. On April 10th, we hosted our First Annual Sigma “Pie” sale, during which we auctioned off the services of our brothers to fund raise for the Sam Spady Foundation.

The night also included a presentation done by brothers about the Sam Spady Foundation, in which Sam Spady cards were handed out to all of those in attendance. Overall, we raised over $500 on the night.

CAMPUS

EXPANSION

Sigma Pi Colonizes at Georgia Tech

by Nicholas Frees

On the evening of Thursday, September 27, 2007, Sigma Pi colonized its first group for this academic year at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Conducing the colonization ceremony was alumnus and Founding Father himself Andy Richard (ΑΦ, Georgia ’92) who is serving on the alumni advisory board. The origins of the colony can be traced to the cold start expansion effort conducted at the beginning of September,

by Director of Expansion Jim DiVita (ΖΜ, Michigan State ‘04) and his team Duane Cunningham Jr. (ΘΡ, Grand Valley State ’06) and Nicholas Frees (ΘΒ, Saginaw Valley State ’07) who were on the Tech campus for three weeks recruiting leaders from several student organizations to become part of Sigma Pi Fraternity. The expansion staff had been talking to the school for several years about the opportunity of coming on campus, but it was not until last spring that the school opened its doors for expansion and Sigma Pi was invited to campus. DiVita presented to the Inter-fraternity Council to gain university permission for expansion with the IFC vote.

The colony contains a very diverse group of gentlemen which is a key ideal of Sigma Pi, with members coming from countries such as Belgium, Kenya, Nicaragua and China. Much of the current colony is composed of gentlemen who were involved in multiple clubs and organizations during their high school careers and who are involved in numerous other organizations on campus. The colony is working on receiving associate membership with the IFC and planning numerous campus events such as the ACE project. Sigma Pi is joining a large Greek community at Georgia Tech with over 30 fraternities and 6 sororities that are rich with tradition.

Sigma Pi has never had a chapter or colony at Georgia Tech. This noteworthy colonization marks the fourth active group in the state of Georgia for Sigma Pi. There are still a few positions on the alumni advisory board to be filled and if you are interested in helping the group and live or work near the Atlanta area, please contact Director of Expansion/Recruitment Jim DiVita at: jdivita@sigmapi.org or call the Sigma Pi Executive Office at: (800) 332-1897.

Delta Re-Colonizes at Pennsylvania

by Nicholas Frees

On November 1, 2007, Expansion Consultants Duane Cunningham, Jr. (ΘΡ, Grand Valley State ’06) and Nicholas Frees (ΘΒ, Saginaw Valley State ’07) colonized a group of men at the University of Pennsylvania.

Originally established June 5th, 1909 as the Delta Chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity the colonization marks the establishment of the 13th group for Sigma Pi in the state of Pennsylvania.

Originally founded as the fourth group of Sigma Pi Fraternity, Delta Chapter was inactive from 1913-1914 during WWI and from 1938-2002. The chapter re-chartered in 2002 only to be closed by the Sigma Pi Executive Office three years later due to low membership.

The group is comprised of a wide array of campus leaders in other organizations such as Phi Nu Gamma business fraternity which several men are members, writers for the Daily Pennsylvanian newspaper, the Finance Club, the Investment Club and the Debate Team to name few. A number of area alumni are becoming involved with the group such as PGS Frank Fryburg (Θ, Penn State ’49) and PGS John Williams (ΕΨ, Widener ’71) who is currently serving as the interim Colony Director.

The colony is currently in the process of putting together an alumni advisory board. If you live in the area and wish to become involved with assisting this group, please contact Director of Expansion/Recruitment Jim DiVita at: jdivita@sigmapi.org or call the Sigma Pi Executive Office at: (800) 332-1897.

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

The new Delta colony at UPenn is already off to a great start holding their first meeting only three days after colonization. The group established four ‘Pillars’ for what they want Sigma Pi Fraternity to be known on campus for; diversity, professionalism, philanthropy and brotherhood. They also determined a few essential committees

needed to help the group become successful. The number one goal for the group at this time is to add to their numbers. The University is unique in that it is closed to recruitment of first semester freshman.

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Sigma Pi Charters at the University of Delaware

by Jim DiVita

On Saturday, October 20, 2007 in Newark, DE, the 213th chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity was installed with 63 men initiated; Iota-Beta Chapter at the University of Delaware. The Iota-Beta installation marks the first chartering for Sigma Pi this year!

Sigma Pi got its initial start at the University of Delaware via past Sigma Pi Expansion Consultant Kyle Jackson (ΔΕ, Seton Hall ’06) and Director of Expansion/Recruitment Jim DiVita (ZM, Michigan State ’04). On October 14, 2006 Kyle and Jim colonized a group of twenty men that would mark the beginning of Sigma Pi at UD. The colonization took place after the Greek community’s formal recruitment and was a result of the Sigma Pi Fraternity being accepted onto campus as part the University’s formal expansion plan one year prior. Supporting the colony immediately from the beginning was Past Grand Sage John Williams (EY, Widener ’71).

John, a Delaware resident and former professor at the University of Delaware was eager to bring Sigma Pi to campus and establish a strong presence from day one.

From the point of colonization to chartering, the colony completed various projects and was very active on campus with members involved on the University of Delaware football team, soccer team and track teams. The colony

accomplished a great deal during their short all of North America entering a community of time as a colony, placing second in Chi Omega’s over 35 fraternities and sororities on campus.

Mr. Fraternity (2006), first place in IntramuSpecial thanks to all faculty, parents, dates, ral Flag Football (2006), first place in Sigma area alumni and the brothers from Theta-Chi Kappa’s Beauty and the Greek (2007), second Chapter at Saint Joseph’s University for helping place in Greek Week (2007) and first place in out in the initiation ceremony: Joe Tubolino ’10, Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash (2007). Colony Vache Astourian ’10, Erich Altherr ’09 and Mike members also served the community as coaches Venafra ’10. in the Boys and Girls Basketball & Baseball Letters of congratulations can be sent to: Clubs of Newark, sponsored a “Breakfast with C/O Sage Tommy Luginbill, Sigma Pi FraterSanta” at the Boys and Girls Club, completed nity, 216 Trabant University Center, Newark, volunteer work for the Newark Boys and Girls DE 19716. If you are interested in joining the Club Carnival and hosted a Golf tournament alumni advisory board, please contact Tommy raising over $2,000 for charity. The men also at: tommylug@udel.edu or at: (240) 426-3244 donated $1,000 to the Alzheimer’s Foundafor more information on joining. tion and completed even more charity work with Kyle Wheeler, a young man injured in car accident with no health insurance. In addition, the colony co-sponsored Erin Weeds (A “Fight Back” speaker) for the Greek & campus community. For their ACE Project, the colony co-sponsored train safety awareness with CSX and eight colony members became CHARTERING TEAM: certified in train safety, and are now able Grand Sage: Chris Brown (ΓΗ, Rutgers ’81) to go into elementary schools around the Grand Second Counselor: John Michelich (ΕΓ, Illinois Wesleyan ’74) Newark area to help educate children Grand Third Counselor: PGS Frank Fryburg (Θ, Penn State ’49) about the importance of train safety.

Grand Fourth Counselor: Louie Junkerman, Jr. (ΓΥ, Murray State ’70) Iota-Beta Chapter becomes the first chapter in the state of Delaware and joins one of the preeminent Greek systems in

Grand First Counselor: PGS John Williams (ΕΨ, Widener ’71) Grand Herald: Andy Morris (ΓΥ,’70) / Christian Miele (ΕΝ, ’04)

Iota-Gamma established at Texas A&M University

by Jim DiVita

On the morning of Saturday, November 3rd 2007 inside the Memorial Student Center, the 214th chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity was installed as Iota-Gamma Chapter at Texas A&M University. Famed “home of the 12th man,” 39 men take great pride in becoming the one of the most successful expansion efforts at Texas A&M University in recent time.

sent to: C/O Sage Milton Chaves, Sigma Pi Fraternity, 2410 Quail Hollow Dr., Bryan, TX 77802. If you are interested in joining the alumni advisory board, please contact Milton at: mchaves@tamu.edu or at: (832) 640-2087 for more information on joining.

The installation of Iota-Gamma Chapter becomes the 7th chapter for Sigma Pi in the Big 12 Conference. The men of Iota-Gamma join a fraternity community of 21 other IFC fraternities. Special thanks to all faculty, parents, dates, area alumni and the brothers from Gamma-Theta Chapter at the University of Texas at Austin and Theta-Upsilon Chapter at Texas State University in San Marcos for helping out CHARTERING TEAM: in the initiation ceremony. Also special Grand Sage: John Michelich (ΕΓ, Illinois Wesleyan ’74) for Sage Milton Chaves was having his Grand Second Counselor: Jay Vaden (ΘΚ, Texas Tech ’03) chapter brothers from Beta-Chi Chapter Grand Third Counselor: Chris Chesney (ΘΚ, Texas Tech ’04) at Loyola University in Chicago attend: Grand Fourth Counselor: Kevin Michaels (ΒΙ, Northern Arizona ’82) Derek Varona ’07 (current Beta-Chi Sage) Grand First Counselor: Charles Perryman (ΘΥ, Texas State ’07) and Scott Lange ’07.

Letters of congratulations can be

Grand Herald: Mark Briscoe (ΑΠ, Arkansas State ’82)

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

Sigma Pi colonized at Texas A&M University in December of 2006. Working as an interest group for a period of time prior to colonization, the men wasted no time in working to gain their charter. Sigma Pi’s presence on campus was initially started by transfer brother Milton Chaves (ΒΧ, Loyola-Chicago ’08). A native of Houston, TX, Milton worked with the Sigma Pi Executive Office to establish a chapter that would stand above the rest, exemplifying the Creed of the Fraternity. Also from Houston, TX transfer brother Kyle Mays (ΕΦ, Embry-Riddle (AZ) ’08) would enroll at Texas A&M and help bring Iota-Gamma Chapter to fruition. Having never had a chapter at Texas A&M before, Sigma Pi alumni from other chapters played an important role. Morgan Farnell, Assistant Professor in the Poultry Science Department and alumnus from Epsilon-Kappa Chapter at Southern Arkansas University at A&M became the colony’s faculty advisor. In addition to Morgan, Kevin Michaels

(ΒΙ, Northern Arizona ’82) whose daughter is a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority at A&M began serving as Colony Director. Once up and running as a colony, the men became very involved by participating in the local police athletic league and getting to know the sororities on campus. The colony even had one of the largest spring recruitment classes prior to chartering this fall. The success of the colony and how quickly the men took to charter is unprecedented due to the large influence of the University Corps of Cadets over the fraternities.

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Sigma Pi charters at the University of Texas – San Antonio

by Douglas Finnnan

On November 10th 2007, Sigma Pi Fraternity chartered its 215th chapter at the University of Texas in San Antonio. The installation of Iota-Delta Chapter becomes the sixth active chapter in the state of Texas for Sigma Pi. IotaDelta was established when 35 undergraduate men were initiated along with five of the men’s fathers. Becoming increasingly popular, the undergraduates were proud to share the bond of brotherhood as several fathers became alumni initiates of the fraternity; something special that a father and son can share together for the rest of their lives.

The colony at UTSA was established in September of 2006 by Expansion Consultants Peter Bolac (ΑΝ, Wake Forest ’06) and Kyle Jackson (ΔΕ, Seton Hall ’06). As part of the UT system with over 29,000 students, the expansion department targeted UTSA as a campus ripe for starting a new chapter. Once established, the colony began crafting their identity on campus right away. The men did so by placing 2nd in Greek Week their first semester and establishing a partnership with the university through campus participation. This partnership grew even stronger during the colony’s journey to becoming a chapter.

The chapter enjoyed the help of some excel-

lent alumni volunteers along the way. Zac Selden (ΘΥ, Texas State ’07) coming in as Colony Director made a huge impact. Zac, a founding father himself from Texas State University and familiar with the chartering process, provided guidance and expertise that was crucial in getting the colony chartered. The involvement of another alumni volunteer that really made a huge impact was when David Murphy (ΑΠ, Arkansas State ’99) came onto serve on the alumni advisory board as the New member Education Advisor. While David’s title on the AAB was somewhat limited, his knowledge and passion about Sigma Pi was not. David’s respect of the fraternity’s history and ideals were infectious. These two alumni volunteers made all the difference in helping the men become one of the top fraternities on campus.

The chartering banquet took place on the famous San Antonio River Walk in the heart of downtown. Most of the members had their families present for the event as well as several members of the university administration including Barry McKinney and Misty Kelley both from the Office of Student Activities and Kristal Statler from the Greek Life Office. Special thanks to all faculty and parents, in addition to the brothers from the University of Texas at

Austin and Texas Tech University for helping out in the chartering ceremony. We look forward to seeing this chapter continue to grow and set the standard at UTSA for years to come.

Letters of congratulations can be sent to: C/O Sage Ian Latimer, Sigma Pi Fraternity, Office of Greek Life, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249. If you are interested in joining the alumni advisory board, please contact Ian at: ilatimer@mail.utexas.edu or: (409) 489-8380 for more information on joining.

CHARTERING TEAM: Grand Sage: George Hakim (ΓΑ, Detroit Mercy ’78) Grand Second Counselor: Jay Vaden (ΘΚ, Texas Tech ’03) Grand Third Counselor: Jerry Orantes (ΘΝ, Houston ’07) Grand Fourth Counselor: Zac Selden (ΘΥ, Texas State ’07) Grand First Counselor: David Murphy (ΑΠ, Arkansas State ’99) Grand Herald: Jon Frost (ΔΖ, Missouri – St. Louis ’02)

Iota-Epsilon chartered at the University of Oregon

by Jim DiVita

Marking the fourth chartering this fall for Sigma Pi, on Saturday, November 17th 2007, the 216th chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity was installed with 51 men initiated at the University of Oregon. Becoming the sixth chapter for Sigma Pi in the Pac-10 Conference, the University of Oregon is home to 13 fraternities and 11 sororities.

For over 80 years, Omega Chapter at Oregon State University was the only chapter in Oregon. Due to the hard work of both the undergraduates and local alumni brothers can now take part in a competitive intrastate rivalry! Special thanks to Amy Long and the Greek Leadership Resource Office, all parents and area alumni attending the ritual: Scott Bulloch (Ω, Oregon

State ’03), Bryan Rott (ΔΝ, Ball State ‘96) and the brothers from Omega Chapter at Oregon State University: Paul Cochran ’10, Dan Stone ’10, Jonathan Carpenter ’10, Mike Johnson ’10, Dan Fitzpatrick ’08 and Ricky Sasser ’10 all for helping out in the initiation ceremony. Special to the chartering weekend was the honoring of Mrs. Bronk (mother of one of brothers: Kevin Bronk) as an honorary sweetheart at the chartering banquet! Expect big things from Iota-Epsilon!

Letters of congratulations can be sent to: C/O Sage Roy Hillman, Sigma Pi Fraternity, 791 E. 15th St., Eugene, OR 97403. If you are interested in joining the alumni advisory board, please contact Roy at: rhillman@uoregon.edu or at: (541) 306-0169 for more information on joining.

CHARTERING TEAM: Grand Sage: Larry Rovira (ΕΝ, Cal State – Fullerton ‘85) Grand Second Counselor: Brent Cole (Ω, Oregon State ‘00) Grand Third Counselor: Trey Winthrop (Ω, Oregon State ‘94) Grand Fourth Counselor: Joe Kurth (Ω, Oregon State ‘00) Grand First Counselor: Steve Delgado (Ω, Oregon State ‘94) Grand Herald: Ian Itschner (Ω, Oregon State ’93)

continued on next page

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

Expansion to the University of Oregon was a result of a “cold start” through the efforts of Director of Expansion/Recruitment Jim DiVita (ΖΜ, Michigan State ’04), Past Expansion Consultant Jeremy Boyd (ΘΛ, Radford ’04) and Past Director of Expansion/Recruitment Paul Wydra (ΔΖ, Missouri – Saint Louis ’01). DiVita and Boyd worked to start the group after Wydra gained campus approval via an IFC presentation.

Originally an interest group was established headed up by 9 men, then within a month became 18 when they colonized in June of 2006.

Within a year and a half, the colony would charter and set the bar for future expansion efforts at the University of Oregon. The Oregon colony became very effective in their recruitment efforts as they targeted the “maybe joiners,” students who never looked at Greek life before.

Because of Sigma Pi’s appeal and success, other national fraternities are now planning to expand to U of O. The colony has been known all along

for their values based events and dedication to becoming an asset to the University of Oregon campus and Eugene community. The colony conducted their first ACE Project with the ladies of Alpha Chi Omega by cleaning up a historic graveyard which stretches through campus and they also distributed Spady cards for their Sam Spady Project. Colony members even gave back by working with Eugene area elementary school children. Over the summer, the colony acquired a house located on the fraternity row, a house once lived in by Oregon alumnus and founder of Nike, Phil Knight. Helping guide the colony and develop it into a chapter were alumni: Nelson Farris (ΒΟ, Cal State – Long Beach) and Ian Itschner (Ω, Oregon State ’93).

Most importantly, Brent Cole (Ω, Oregon State ’00) worked with the men from the beginning as Colony Director and made an impact that the colony would benefit greatly from.

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Clay the loneliest guy in town

by Adam Dibble

The Emerald would like to thank Paul Wydra for his assistance with this article.

Jackson I am sure that while you were growing up you remember ads and

jingles from watching hours upon hours of television. If you were like me, you got yelled at many times for sitting too close to the television while watching your favorite shows.

(Does it get any better then the A-Team?) Everyone remembers their favorite commercials, if it was the “Where’s the Beef” lady, the “Got to Make the Donuts” guy, the early Mean Joe Greene Coke commercials or Smokey the Bear telling us “only you can prevent forest fires.” We all have our favorites.

Now Sigma Pi Alumnus Clay Jackson will leave a legacy on the television and print ad world by becoming the fourth Maytag Repairman. Dating back to the character’s inception in 1967, we have seen the Maytag repairman, well, never having to repair anything.

That of course is in reference to how great the quality is of the Maytag product. The Maytag Repairman is the longest running real-life advertising character on network television. The commercials allude to such a reliable product, which is often used to describe

jor role in Whirlpool Corporation’s commitment to revitalizing the 100-year-old Maytag brand and will help bring its unequaled tradition of quality and dependability to life. 4

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

Brother Jackson’s character. As the new Maytag Repairman, Jackson will play a ma-

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Jackson is the fourth person to play the revitalized character. Created in 1967, the Maytag Repairman has become an iconic advertising and marketing figure and is the longest running real-life advertising character on network television. The Maytag Repairman was first portrayed by Jesse White for 21 years; then by Gordon Jump from 1988 to 2003; and most recently by Hardy Rawls, who took Jump’s place in 2003.

Clay Jackson was selected to play the role of the new Maytag Repairman in March 2007 from more than 1,500 auditioners and a group of six finalists. An extensive, two-month nationwide search that was open to the public consisted of mail-in submissions, union casting calls and open auditions in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Maytag® brand conducted the nationwide search as part of the appliance brand’s revitalization since being acquired by Whirlpool Corporation in 2006.

“On a whim,” Clay decided to try out for the role of the new Maytag Repairman and attended the open audition in New York, focusing on bringing “something humorous and unexpected” to the character. Before accepting the position, Clay had been a real estate agent in Richmond, Va., working for his family-run business that started in 1939.

Clay’s path to acting began in college where he auditioned for a musical as part of a course requirement. He booked the role, and his passion for acting was born.

After graduating in 1997, he acted professionally through 2000.

Clay was born and raised in Richmond, Va. He graduated from North Carolina Wesleyan College where he majored in theater. He

currently resides in Richmond with his wife Janna and children.

Emerald Editor, Adam Dibble had an opportunity to find out what kind of “character” plays the real life Maytag Repairman and is very appreciative of Brother Jackson’s commitment to Sigma Pi. Why did you choose to be a member of Sigma Pi when you were in college?

North Carolina Wesleyan College was not your large college or university. It was one of those schools people sometimes call a “suitcase college”. Many times people would head out on the weekends or even transfer schools in one or two years. I did not want to do that. I loved the school. The size was perfect for me. I also loved the professors and their individualized attention. During my first semester at Wesleyan I remember meeting Peter Widell, and Howie Miles “Odie” at a campus activities meeting. As freshmen we were not allowed to rush until the spring semester but they did not talk about rushing or joining the fraternity. They just talked. Over the coming weeks they and many of their brothers became friends and I could not wait to join Sigma Pi. What advice would you give potential members that were thinking about joining Sigma Pi?

I’m sure each local chapter is unique in its own way as each of its members is across the country.

I chose Sigma Pi for the people.

I liked the type of guy that was a Sigma Pi Brother at NC Wesleyan.

That would be my advice. Sigma Pi develops strong individuals with purpose and meaning. That is important to me.

What was the transition from college to your professional career like?

Being the Maytag Repairman has a lot to do with everyone I have ever met, especially my brothers at Wesleyan. We were all very well rounded guys. We played sports, did well in school, participated in the college community and were very close with our professors. Developing that kind of community awareness and communication skills early in a college career was invaluable. Many of us that were at Wesleyan have become extremely successful in our chosen field and I give Sigma Pi a great deal of credit for that.

In the creed of Sigma Pi, we have

all pledged to develop character in our own daily lives, how do you do that in your life?

My job is to promote that Maytag Brand and expand its awareness though a positive representation in my daily life. Maytag is known for being dependable and reliable. I personify that in the way I live my life. One of the coolest things in the audition process was the third call back. We had finished the acting portion of the search and we were down to the final 6. We had a simple job interview. Jeff Davidoff, VP Marketing, Whirlpool Corporation (my boss), opened the questions with this simple statement. “We have seen you can play a character, now we want to see if you have character.”

So I was not only chosen for the way I look in the suit, but for the guy I am everyday. It is a great compliment.

Can you explain what entailed in the process of going from auditions to finally being announced as the Maytag Repairman?

Wow! It took about 8 weeks.

Maytag searched across the country for the next Maytag Repairman. They traveled to LA, Chicago and NYC to hold auditions and offered video mail in for those who could not attend. They saw nearly 2,000 people.

The first two rounds of auditions were improv auditions. I did mine in NYC. I attended the Open Call and auditioned at Caroline’s Comedy Club in Times Square.

It was a cold early morning (6 a.m. and 22 degrees). I had no idea what to expect. No scripts, no information was given to us. I was able to relax somehow. Once in the room and on camera they had us “be the Maytag Repairman.”

We had to answer their questions in character. We had to pretend to interact with an appliance, answer questions on what we do with our spare time. I just tried to be genuine and not move too far outside the scope of possibility; nothing too extreme.

The next round of auditions had narrowed the search down to about 80 in New York. Similar format for this one, but the questions were more off the wall. If you ran for president, what would be your message; tell me about the new reality show you created; tell me about your other icon friends.

This one I tried to be much more “funny” but still speaking from the “real”. I did not want him to be a caricature at all.

One of my strengths is getting up in front of people and speaking relaxed and holding their attention. That is all I did.

Two days later I had the offer.

Then it moved at a wild pace. I was back and forth to Chicago, NY and Benton Harbor Michigan (Home Office) daily it seemed.

Uniform Fittings, product training, photo shoots, and media interviews. It was a whirlwind.

We all worked our tails off for about three weeks getting ready.

The hard part was I could not tell anyone I got the job.

It was a tough secret. On April 1st we flew to NYC to be on the CBS Early Show the next morning for the announcement. My wife was there and it was one of the most fun days I have ever had. It was very strange becoming famous overnight and knowing how many people were counting on me to do well. I loved it.

Your current career has you playing a character with a long tradition and is known world-wide, how do you get into character for commercials and media events?

The character is me. I am very similar in the suit as I am out of the suit. I don’t think you could fake this job if you did not have the character traits inside of you. I travel all over Canada and the US meeting new people everyday. One would be exhausted if they were not being themselves.

As a Sigma Pi what helped you prepare the most for that transition?

Sigma Pi kept me focused and taught me to be myself and hon-

est. I carry those same qualities today.

Will you walk me through a typical day in your life?

That is a tough question. Everyday is so different. I may be doing a trade show appearance, shooting commercials, being interviewed on national television. It varies. I do have the airport routine down to a science. My favorite routines are at home with my family. Two children keep us grounded. They could care less about the job… they just want to play with Dad. Being the Maytag Repairman surely has to have some great perks, what are some of the perks of this position?

A home full of Maytag appliances is a great perk. I have also attend MLB games and thrown out the first pitches. I have appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Fox’s Best Damn Sports Show where I got to hang out all day with John Salley and Rodney Peete…wow.

There are many community service projects in your community, are there any projects specifically that you think stand out? Are you or Maytag involved with any?

My family is involved with Theater IV. It is a Children’s Theater here in Richmond, VA. They gave me my first acting job out of college. My wife is also involved with the Richmond Junior League.

Maytag brand’s parent company, Whirlpool Corporation, and its affiliates support many charities at the local and national level.

I recently was part of a product donation to a women’s shelter in Baltimore. We anticipate being able to share some exciting news next year about a comprehensive community service outreach program for the Maytag Repairman, but I have to be tight-lipped about that for now.

What’s some interesting fact, or history that most people might not know about Maytag, or the Maytag Repairman?

The Maytag Repairman is the longest running “real life” advertising icon in the history of American Advertising. This is the 40 year anniversary of the character and also the 100 year birthday of Maytag’s first washing machine.

What are your hobbies, what do you do in your free time?

My family is my number one hobby. We have a blast together. I also play tennis whenever I get the chance.

What is your favorite, Sigma Pi experience/memory?

I lived with one of my brothers, Ryan Harris, throughout the last two years of college. I had two other brothers, Lars Messerschmidt and Drew Davis that were my best friends as well. We must have been together everyday in school. I miss spending time with the four of us. We had some amazing times together.

What things would you like to share with the Emerald readers about your lifelong Sigma Pi experience?

I love being a brother. As I get older I find I am running into more and more brothers. It is becoming more important to me as time moves on. In college it was a group of guys that worked together. Now it is a network of friendships and relationships across the county. The creed somehow means more to me as I gain life experience.

What do you look for when you get the Emerald in the mail?

I look for the updates section to see if anyone has sent in a posting.

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

The last round was the in person formal job interview. It was in Chicago (6 of us left). We met in a board room and it was a huge table. There must have been 25 people around the table and me at the point with a camera right in

my face. They asked me the normal interview question, what are your strengths/weaknesses, what is the last book you read and why, why do you want the job, how bad do you want it, etc. This was my favorite part because they were taking the time to get to know me and gave me the chance to get to know them

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Foundations

by Adam Dibble

for the

Future Foun • da • tion [foun-dey-shuh n] 1. the act of founding 2. a basis upon which something stands or is supported, supporting structure : BASE 3. an institution that has been formally set up with an endowment fund, e.g. a school, research establishment, charitable trust, or hospital 4. funds given for the permanent support of an institution: ENDOWMENT; also: an institution so endowed 5. a part of a building, usually below the ground, that transfers and distributes the weight of the building onto the ground

Isn’t it interesting how these definitions can represent one aspect, yet also represent something completely undefined? I found this to be the same correlation when writing about the activities of the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation (SPEF). Although it’s the mission of the SPEF to “build and support chapters and alumni organizations for the purpose of maintaining a Fellowship of kindred minds united in brotherhood” that is merely the surface of its vision. In recent months this could be no more of a reality then the new beginnings being enabled with the support, direction, and collaboration with Charlotte and Buddy Beck, and the Beck Foundation.

Top: Richard Robinson presents Brother Mike Beebe with the first Walter M. Shirra Leadership Award; Below: Guests enjoying this year’s benefit dinner at the Governor’s Mansion.

Through contributions and support of both Foundations, Arkansas State University is implementing a new center for the Personal Rehabilitation, Individual Development and Education (PRIDE) of injured military personnel who have served in defense of the United States and who would benefit from rehabilitation and training in a university environment. The program will be called the Beck PRIDE Center for America’s Wounded Veterans in honor of the concept founders Charlotte and Buddy Beck. The Becks attended ASU and are strong supporters of the university.

This center is designed to “supplement but not supplant other federal and state programs benefiting veterans” said ASU-Jonesboro Chancellor Robert L. Potts. “It is being established not only to offer rehabilitation and prepare these wounded warriors for post-service careers, but also to

To further fund this initiative the SPEF will be seeking sponsorship and donations, both public and private, as well as hosting various fundraising events including next year’s benefit dinner at the Governor’s Mansion. If you are interested in contributing to this cause please contact Richard Robinson at 800-332-1897.

Buddy and Charlotte Beck receiving a plaque of appreciation from SPEF members Richard Robinson and Tom Moore for their vision and support of the Governor Mike Beebe Veterans Fund.

provide peer and family support during this critical period of these veterans’ lives.”

First, student members and national representatives of Sigma Pi will coordinate with Arkansas State University and other groups to organize activities to promote social networking.

In honor of Governor Beebe, “The Governor Mike Beebe Veterans Fund” was established in his name. This scholarship fund was established to provide educational opportunities for veterans and the

Potts believes the new program at ASU could be replicated at other colleges and universities across the nation.

“For this project to reach its full potential, it will require additional state and federal support,” he added. “With that support we believe this will become a national model.”

children of servicemen and women killed in action, regardless of affiliation with Sigma Pi. Proceeds from the benefit dinner will promote the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation Endowment and the Governor Mike Beebe Veterans Fund. Attendees were treated to an open reception at the Governor’s residence, a dinner with Governor Mike Beebe prepared by the Governor’s chefs and the ceremony honoring the Governor. Sponsors of the event were also invited to take part in a private reception with the Governor prior to the event. This year’s event hosted 160 attendees, and raised $158,000 for the program.

Next years benefit will be held at the Governor’s Mansion and you surely won’t want to miss it!!!

The scholarship fund will support those eligible for the ASU

PRIDE program. SPEF President and Chief Development Officer, Richard Robinson also explained, “This scholarship fund is the first of its kind in the Greek world.

We are excited to award the first scholarships at ASU-Jonesboro in 2008.”

Brother Beebe also expressed his support for the program.

“Arkansans care deeply for those who have sacrificed and suffered while serving their country,” he said. “To have the Beck PRIDE Center developed at ASU and placed in Jonesboro to provide additional care for our veterans should be a source of pride for all of Arkansas.”

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

Two unique pieces of programming have been developed and will be supported through the efforts of the SPEF.

Second, the Foundations (Sigma Pi Educational Foundation and the Beck Foundation) have worked to establish the Governor Mike Beebe Veterans Fund. Collaboratively the Veterans Scholarship Fund was kicked off with a benefit dinner hosted at the Governors Mansion, and also honored Governor Mike Beebe with the first Walter M. Schirra Leadership Award. Brother Beebe received the Walter M. Schirra Leadership Award, for his personal accomplishments, his dedication to public service, and leadership, while exemplifying the ideals found in the Creed of Sigma Pi.

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Taking Spo Brother Koutures between two colleagues

Taking Sports-Medic

Brother Chris Koutures MD,

FAAP (Upsilon, UCLA ’90) is board-certified in both general pediatrics and sports medicine and practices at Gladstien and Koutures in Anaheim Hills, California; however he’s not your typical doctor. Brother Koutures, experiences and expertise has landed him a gig with the USA National Volleyball team!

After graduating from Irvine High School, he obtained a BS in Kinesiology at UCLA before completing both his medical education and pediatric residency at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

He returned to California to finish a sports medicine fellowship affiliated with UC San Diego.

Currently he is the medical team physician for California State University Fullerton, Orange Lutheran and Northwood High Schools, and USA Men’s Volleyball team. He was recently elected to the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness. This summer, he was selected to represent USA Volleyball as the team physician at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, which is where I caught up with him for our interview.

Brother koutures is an avid

mountain biker when not “trying” yoga with his wife Niki or keeping up with his three young children (Mary- age 3, Luke and Greg- age 15 months). Koutures specific interests include injury prevention, head injuries, fatigue and overuse in athletes, and educating fellow health professionals, parents, athletes and coaches.

While in Rio de Janiero, at the Pan American Games brother Koutures found time to share some of his experiences and memories of Sigma Pi with Emerald Managing Editor Adam Dibble.

For what reasons did you choose Sigma Pi when you were in college?

Immediate comfort level with the actives. They were a group of men “who weren’t all the same” came from different backgrounds, had different looks and interests, but shared a passion for their fraternity. Also was very impressed with the history of Upsilon Chapter at UCLA (first fraternity on campus, same house for over 60 years {at the time of my pledging}) What positions did you have while an undergraduate member of Sigma Pi?

I was pledge father for Spring Quarter of my junior year- and really enjoyed educating pledges on the responsibilities, traditions, and honor of becoming a Sigma Pi Active. I also helped plan several

events for the chapter.

to your professional career like?

How did you deal with the responsibilities and time commitment involved with those?

Between college and professional life was medical school, residency in pediatrics, and specialized fellowship training in pediatrics. I was fortunate to get a strong education at UCLA that prepared me well for medical school, and Sigma Pi helped with the time management and also developed social skills that allowed me to actually enjoy medical school and maximize learning opportunities and build bonds with fellow students. While the training years were demanding mentally and physically- sleep deprivation is never fun- I can honesty say that I enjoyed that time due to friendships that I made.

Learning how to allocate time and plan was one of the greatest skills I learned in the fraternityplanning ahead, having a written plan, and sharing the load were all key elements. I also learned from those older and more experienced than me- something I do frequently in my current profession and community events. There was also an important lesson about exercise and “blow off time” the 3 on 3 basketball games in the backyard of the Sigma Pi house were important reminders of needing to blow off steam and keeping in good physical shape not just to avoid embarrassment on the court, but also to be at your best in the classroom and in service to others.

What advice would you give potential members that were thinking about joining Sigma Pi?

You will be joining a fraternity rich in tradition, service and ideals- but you have to be an “active” active- just joining is one thing, but reaching out, learning from your elders, and even making mistakes are all part of the process of gaining as much as possible from the fraternity.

What was the transition from college

As a Sigma Pi what helped you prepare the most for that transition?

Sigma Pi made me learn to work as a team- depend on others, define roles, and share talents. It also made me more confident in “uncomfortable” social situations and reminded me that we should never hesitate to learn from elders and never stop leaning in general.

What is your actual employment title, and how do you balance your personal and professional careers into your daily life?

I am a pediatrician and sports medicine specialist at Gladstien and Koutures, a private practice

orts-Medic

cine to a New Level

by Adam Dibble

in Anaheim Hills, CA. I also am the medical team physician at Cal State Fullerton, Orange Lutheran and Northwood High Schools, and with USA Volleyball. I try to balance these roles by having a wonderful and supportive wife and family, and trying constantly to communicate upcoming events, plan ahead, and anticipating both my needs, my family’s needs, and the needs of my patients and practice.

Will you explain your role with the US Volleyball Team?

I am one of the medical team physicians working usually with the Men’s National Team since they practice near me in Anaheim, CA. However, while your interviewing I am in Rio de Janiero at the 2007 Pan American Games where I have had the pleasure of working with the Men and Women’s Indoor teams along with Men’s/Women’s Beach Volleyball teams.

What’s the worst injury you have seen?

Dibble: I’m sorry to hear that, I certainly didn’t expect an answer like that. We can completely understand why your specific interests include injury prevention,

Will you walk me through an average day in your life?

Typically awaken not to an alarm, but to my three kids (Mary age 3 1/2, sons Luke and Greg age 15 months). Wife Niki probably already out on a run or doing yoga. Ideally bike to work (prefer mountain bike). See patients from around 8:30-12, then 1 or 2-5.

See patients for illnesses, physicals, injuries- virtually all concerns. I might have evening events especially during high school football season. Lunch time spent catching up on charts, making phone calls, checking e-mail.

What does “progress” mean to you, and how does that apply to today’s undergraduate members?

Progress is continually learning, continually re-evaluating how to do something, and trying not to become complacent. Doing something “just because that’s how we do it” or “just because it feels right” isn’t always sufficient.

Develop mentors, find several mediums for learning, and don’t ever forget to say thank you to those who helped guide you.

There are many community service projects in your community, are there any projects specifically that you think stands out? Are you involved with any?

I volunteer my time with the high school sporting event and training room coverage responsibilities, and have served my Greek Orthodox Church as a board member and chairman of the capital campaign to build a new education center (boy, did my Sigma Pi skills pay off then!).

I also try to give community talks on sport safety, injury prevention, and proper nutrition.

stories about Ducky, realizing the love had for UCLA and Sigma Pi, and helping select items for a permanent memorial at the Upsilon house. That experience combined my affinity for my fraternity, my alma mater, and my future sports medicine profession in a way that will always motivate me.

What are your hobbies, what do you do in your free time?

You will meet brothers in all walks of your life and will immediately have a common bond of ideals and service. You will continually use the skills developed in the fraternity in your professional and family lives. You will never forget the social events, the brotherhood, and the stupid phone greeting you had to use when answering the phone as a pledge.

Free time with three young kids? Seriously, I enjoy biking, learning more about my religion, cultivating friendships, and trying yoga with my wife.

What is your favorite Sigma Pi experience/memory?

I have many fond memories, but one stands out and is particularly relevant to this article. Elvin “Ducky” Drake was a founding father of the Athletic Training Profession, a UCLA track coach (coached Olympic decathlete medalists Rafer Johnson and CK Yang) and an Upsilon alumnus.

An icon of many of the Sigma Pi ideals, the track stadium at UCLA was named after him. When he passed away, on behalf of the active chapter, I was honored to meet with his widow Rose and spend a glorious 3 hours hearing

What things would you like to share with the Emerald readers about your lifelong Sigma Pi experience?

What do you look for when you get the Emerald in the mail?

Obviously, I look to catch up with my Upsilon brethren, but then I look to see what Sigma Pi does around the countrybrings back great memories and makes me proud to be affiliated with such a fine fraternity.

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

I wish I didn’t have to report this, but I have seen someone die after completing a race.

fatigue and overuse in athletes.

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26

Charles S. Bicksler Memorial Scholarship

On Saturday, April 21,2007 the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation awarded the initial Charles S. Bicksler Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $1,000.00 to Derek Bauer, a fourth-year student at Penn State University, majoring in Architectural Engineering. The scholarship was presented by Mrs. Barbara Harvey, the daughter of brother Bicksler, and PGS Frank Fryburg. Derek’s proud parents made the trip to State College in order to attend the presentation.

In November, 2001 Brother Bicksler passed on to the Adytum on High. At the time of his death he was suffering from both Alzheimer’s and cancer. In recognition of his outstanding service to Theta Chapter and the Grand Chapter, where he served for many years as the resident architect on the Board of the Sigma Pi Foundation, a scholarship was established in his memory. It is restricted to Penn State students, majoring in

architecture, with Sigma Pi brothers having top priority.

Today said scholarship fund totals $6,900. The goal is to raise it to at least $10,000 so that a $1,000 scholarship can be given biennially. Checks should be made payable to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation, and mailed to P.O. Box 1897 Nashville, TN. 37027.

Derek Bauer, whose home is in Lancaster, PA. is a survivor of childhood leukemia. Recently he participated, along with 700 students, in the 48-hour dance marathon at Penn State which raised $5.2 million for the Four Diamonds Fund. This fund provides money for families dealing with cancer. When Derek was two, the fund helped his family.

Incidentally Theta Chapter, in cooperation with a sorority, raised over $90,000.

Mr. Charles Bicksler was born in Lancaster in 1919 and gradu-

ated from Boys High School in 1937. He graduated from Penn State with a degree in architecture.

His final 37 working years were spent with Sanders & Thomas ( now STV ) in Pottstown, PA. During his career he was responsible for the design of Eisenhouer Auditorium and the Intramural Building at Penn State as well as many buildings in the suburban Philadelphia area.

NEWS FROM

ALUMNI

Attention: Gamma Upsilon Alumni Lordy, Lordy, look who’s 40!

That’s right, fellow alumnus, the year 2008 marks our 40th Anniversary on the campus of Murray State University. We will be celebrating all year long. We hope to have activities honoring the first elected officers: Dean Rodgers (President), Mike Lawler (VP), John Carson (Treasurer), Denny Cook (Sgt at Arms), Dean Despin (Secretary), Tom Harwood (Historian). An Anniversary Committee has already been started and you should hear more in the very near future.

By now, our annual (free) Fantasy Football League is going strong, but remember, we also have a (free) March Madness Basketball Tournament in the spring. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact us at Sigmapialumni@hotmail.com Summer Reunion 2007 was a huge success. Part of the activities included our 4th Annual Brotherhood Memorial Golf Scramble and our annual Softball Game (Alumni versus Actives) in which the Alumni always win. Please be reminded that our Summer Reunion is always the third weekend in July and we look forward to seeing you in 2008. Pictures will be sent out in the electronic newsletter.

If the Alumni Chapter of Gamma Upsilon has lost contact with you, please contact Tex

Shellhart – Alumni Relations – Sigmapialumni@hotmail.com – we apologize for the lost contact information and encourage you to please contact us.

Respectfully Submitted by Tex Shellhart – ’93

New Jersey Alumni Club A lot has been happening with the North Jersey Alumni Club since we last reported, both socially and with some more serious business.

On September 7th we supported our actives by running our 5th Annual Alumni Club GetTogether at Bears Stadium where the Newark Bears of the Independent League hosted the York (PA) Revolution. It was minor league baseball at its best! It was a beautiful evening and a great way to end the summer and kick off the new school year. Several of the alumni

who attended were initiated over 30 years ago! They were joined by a good turnout of Active brothers and pledges. Special thanks to Mike Morehouse (a.k.a. Norton), Russ Furnari, Steve Fronapfel, Pat Shea and Howard Beyer who sponsored Active and pledges costs for the event. It is always great fun to gather together as a brotherhood. After the game some of the alumni joined the actives back at the House. We were pleased to see that the Actives are making significant progress on the interior of the House. Our Alumni Club just raised over $11,000 for necessary repairs to our old slate roof.

Special thanks to all of you who contributed to that effort!

On August 28, 2007 the Sigma Pi Corporation of Newark (our housing corporation) met with quorum. The by-laws were updated, a new slate of officers elected and old and new business

discussed. After many, many years (more than 50 in some cases!!), of distinguished service to our brotherhood Fred Stober, Art Lewis, Howard Beyer and Gail Clarke passed the gavel on to a new Board of Directors. We owe these gentlemen our gratitude and appreciation for their dedication, tireless efforts and contributions far too numerous to mention adequately in this space. Thankfully, they will continue to provide advice for our newly elected board members who are: Sam Givas ( ’77) - President, Chris Theodos (’78) - Vice President, Pat Shea (’98) - Secretary-Treasurer, and four new members of the Board of Directors - Lino D’Almeida ( ’70), Steve Fronapfel ( ’70), Russ Furnari (’79) and Doug Hambor (’81).

Our new officers face some serious challenges that continued on next page

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

The Alumni Chapter would also like to congratulate the Active Chapter on all their hard work and dedication to the fraternity. Over the past 12 months, they have been working very hard, both on campus and in the classroom, to exemplify the true spirit of Sigma Pi men. Keep up the Great Work!

Bill “Scar” Scarola and Lenny “the Shark” Jezik winners of the Brotherhood Memorial Golf Scramble 2007.

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28 A L UMNI NEWS would potentially impact our active Alpha Mu chapter. The University administration is considering development along MLK Blvd (High St.) that would likely eliminate Greek Housing as we have known it. Our new officers have already been working diligently to protect the interests of our chapter and to help the actives navigate through these challenging times. If you would like more detail about these events and are interested in supporting our efforts, please e-mail Sam Givas at sgivas@wea-inc.com or Pat Shea at pjshea@gmail.com. We are issuing regular communications via e-mail and US Mail. We’d like to be sure that all Alpha Mu’s are aware of these significant activities concerning our chapter.

There are plenty of opportunities for our Alumni to stay (or get) involved. We plan to have some more social events like the Bears game. By the time this article is published we should already have had an Alumni – Active Basketball Game (in October) and our Annual Thanksgiving Dinner (the third Thursday in November. We are looking for a motivated Alpha Mu to run a golf event in the spring of 2008. Remember - at Alpha Mu, we celebrate Founder’s Day every year on the last Friday of February. The next Founder’s Day will be held Friday, February 29th at the Iberia Peninsula Restaurant in Newark. Please plan to attend!

Details will be forthcoming but if you haven’t been hearing from us, it means that we do not know how to contact you. Please contact us so that we can re-connect.

Alumni Updates Scott Cuviello (Zeta-Sigma, North Carolina Wesleyan ’97) rode his bike 545 miles from San

OCAA Continues Its Alumni Leadership The Orange County Alumni Association (OCAA) had a successful first half of the 2006-2008 biennial with four major events taking place. Under the leadership of OCAA President David DeFilippo (CSU Fullerton ‘92), Vice President Ed Gogin (CSU Fullerton, ‘82), Treasurer Larry Rovira (CSU Fullerton, ‘85), and Secretary Cameron Wood (CSU Fullerton, ’93), the annual softball tournament and golf classic were coordinated, along with the annual fishing derby and our OCAA membership drive.

On Friday, May 5th, the 16th Annual Sigma Pi Scholarship Golf Classic teed off at Sierra Country Club in Fontana. The Donovan family (Epsilon-Sigma, Loyola Marymount) again hosted our alumni club at their course for another outstanding day of golf, cocktails, prizes, dinner, networking, and brotherhood. Just over 50 golfers were on hand to raise over $5,000 in scholarship funds.

The OCAA would like to thank our sponsors: Ed Gogin, CPA- Irvine; Mike Simmons- Texas; Diversified Investments- Anaheim (Joe Conway); Budweiser (Justin Beck -Santa Clara ’94); SIGMA Property Investments (Larry Rovira, Robert Moore & Hysum Kraishi); Nike Golf (Nelson Farris, Long Beach State ‘66); Carlos Leija; Cal State Fullerton Alumni Association; Alta Vista Country Club (David DeFilippo); Western Hills Country Club (Donovan Family); Ocean Potion (Tom Dawson); Chino Ice (Dan Ades); Creative Outdoor Advertising (Eric Glaub); and Surf Design T-shirts (Ted Flati).

Next year’s golf classic will take place during the week of Convocation in Long Beach, so keep your schedule open between Monday, July 28 and Friday, August 1, 2008.

The day after the golf outing, on Saturday, May 6th, the 30th Annual Western World Series played out at The Plex in Fullerton, where 16 teams and over 200 people participated. Alumni teams from UC Irvine, UCLA, Long Beach State, USC and Fullerton battled undergraduate teams from UCLA, UC Irvine, San Diego State, Long Beach State and the University of Arizona. Congratulations to Andy Hinkle and his #6 Fullerton Alumni Team for defeating Charlie Pankenier’s UC Irvine Alumni Team in the championship game. This is the first time since Long Beach State won the championship in 1992 that another school has played in the championship game other than a Fullerton team.

DeFilippo’s #3 CSF alumni took third, while the

Long Beach State alumni finished in fourth place. The University of Arizona chapter won the Man Miles Award and Sportsmanship Award. The brothers from Tucson traveled to Orange County and represented Sigma Pi in a first class manner. Their class act on the field exemplified their class act off the field and we should be proud to have such a fine group of men in Arizona!

We are looking at trying to coordinate the 31st annual softball tournament around the Long Beach Convocation as well in order to incorporate other chapters, and welcome them to a Southern California classic.

If you are interested in playing or sponsoring, please email Larry Rovira at GrandSage@SigmaPi.org. Thanks for our corporate sponsors from Fullerton: Sun Valley Farms- Imperial Valley (Chris Strahm), and Ambrose Pizzeria- La Mirada (Alonzo Lepa).

The next event hosted by the OCAA was its 25th annual fishing derby at Lake Dixon in North San Diego.

Sponsored and coordinated by Fullerton’s own Tom Tellez and David Meis, this annual fishing tournament generated $800 to our scholarship fund, while entertaining over 30 brothers and guests to a day of fishing, frying and fraternizing.

Finally, the annual alumni chapter membership drive increased our dues paying membership with 23 new members. New members benefit from receiving special incentives from Cal State Fullerton. Such incentives include free parking, discount on collegiate ware, game tickets, and use of the University library, career center and alumni house.

To get more information on what the OCAA is doing throughout the year, go to the follow website hosted by the Cal State Fullerton Alumni Association. New memberships are always welcomed and appreciated. . http://www.fullerton.edu/alumni/chapters.htm The OCAA alumni board would like to thank Cal State Fullerton and the Cal State Fullerton Alumni for their partnership and support, especially Executive Director of Alumni Relations Carlos Leija (Epsilon-Nu, Cal State Fullerton’88) for his undivided attention and dedication. It was with Brother Leija’s encouragement that the OCAA was the first Greek alumni association at Fullerton. Thank you, Carlos!

Scott Cuviello

zations. Scott and his fellow riders spent 7 days, six nights on the road, spending time and bringing awareness to farming towns and coastal communities in California.

He has already signed up for next year’s ride which happens in June 2008. (photo is in photos folder) Jon Elick (Zeta, Ohio Northern University ’95) was married June

14, 2007. The ceremony was performed on the beach in Myrtle Beach, SC and had a reception the following weekend. Jon has competed in bench-press meets since 1995, and recently hit a long-time goal of 645 at 214 bodyweight to give him a triple-bodyweight lift.

He is nationally ranked at #15 and world ranked at #40 for his weight class. Elick also holds national

and world rankings in two other weight classes. Jon and his wife Renee bought a house in April just outside of Circleville, OH. David A. Brenningmeyer (Phi, University of Illinois. ’86) and his wife Caryn announce the birth of their son William Timothy on May 3, 2007. William joins older brothers Matthew and Luke at the continued on next page

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

Francisco to Los Angeles with 2300 other riders in the AIDS/ Lifecycle 6. ALC is co-produced by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and is designed to advance their shared interests to end the pandemic and human suffering caused by AIDS. The total group raised a gross of $11 million to be split between the two organi-

Jon Elick bench-pressing 645 pounds; Jon Elick with wife Renee

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30 A L UMNI NEWS family’s home in Fairfax, Virginia.

Brenningmeyer is an attorney with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, DC. Mark E. Byrne (Beta-Mu, Mississippi ’8) was awarded the BASS Federation Nation of Washington, Inc. “2007 Man of the Year” Award. The “Man of the Year” Award is the highest honor awarded by the BASS Federation Nation of Washington and it is Mark’s third time to receive this award.

Just a few of Mark’s accomplishments are, he raised $44,000.00 for a habitat project at Potholes Reservoir, doubled the membership in one year and built a strong bond with sponsors who help support our Federations Conservation and Youth programs. Mark’s love of bass fishing started as a

student at Ole Miss, fishing Sardis Reservoir and the ponds and rivers in the City of Oxford and Lafayette County. Beta-Mu Chapter’s tradition of Outdoors Recreation which included hunting and fishing served as the building blocks of Mark’s career. Mark’s has served the Federation as a Political Activist, Conservation Director and Vice President; he was appointed President April 2006.

Hon. James J. Brown (GammaTheta, Texas ’68) announce the release of his most recent book Will the Laughter Stop? BABY BOOMER CHRONICLES, http:// babyboomerchronicles.com

New Neighbors — New Found Brothers

by Steven Karnes Over the summer of 2007 my family and I were invited to a neighbor’s home for a July summer Kick-off Party. Upon entering, my wife Carrie instantly noticed our newest neighbor’s college ring bearing the letters Sigma Pi. I immediately rose to the occasion and welcomed John and Grace Caldwell to our street and community.

How amazing to discover two Sigma Pi Brothers living in the same community – Kingsmill, on the same street – Bray Wood Road, and both having graduated from a Virginia College. John Ward is a 1962 Graduate of William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia and I am a 1986 Graduate of Christopher Newport College in Newport News, Virginia. I am a proud member of Sigma Pi Fraternity and proud to have my new neighbor/fraternity brother living just four doors away.

www.lowermyphonebill.com/nadrc

At 25 Epsilon-Rho, Drury Celebrates Past Present and Future

In 1982 Ronald Reagan was president, Michael Jackson released his hit song “Thriller,” stamps were only 20 cents, and a small group of Drury students with a vision of a “different kind of campus fraternity,” founded the chapter of Sigma Pi. “At the time, we really wanted a fraternity that focused on community service and scholarship,” said Russ Detten (’83), Springfield physician and charter member.

Founded on April 17, 1982, Epsilon-Rho exists today as the youngest of four fraternities on Drury’s campus, and has enjoyed top positions

“Coming back 25 years later and knowing the chapter’s still trying to maintain what we went for gives you a great sense of pride,” said Detten.

“It makes you feel good.”

The weekend’s festivities included a golf scramble, informal happy hour at the local Springfield Brewing Company, an open house of the current house and tour of the former house (now inhabited by a Drury administration). The weekend was highlighted with a celebration banquet. In attendance at the event were 115 active and alumni members and speakers Brad Ziegler (the first chapter sage), current active sage, Ben Pruett, Grand Sage Larry Rovira and Past Grand Sage Dennis Day. A number of alumni and current chapter members worked for the past year in collaboration with Drury’s alumni and development office to locate alumni members, plan and execute a successful reunion event.

Past Grand Sage Dennis Day was

instrumental in bringing Sigma Pi to the Drury campus. When several freshmen men approached Day, Drury’s associate dean at the time, about starting a new fraternity, he set up appointments with several national fraternities. But the men ultimately chose Sigma Pi as the right fraternity to build their chapter around. Province Archon Nathan Carlson and others involved with the Eta-Mu and national chapters also contributed a great deal to EpsilonRho’s start-up and future success.

us and we actually got to meet these people.

Chapter alumni were glad to see the chapter has remained close to their roots and active members were happy to finally meet some of the names they see around their current fraternity house, which opened in the fall of 2003.

The chapter has also been recognized on Drury’s campus as the winner of the 2007 Standards of Excellence (Drury’s Greek chapter evaluation program), and has been named Greek Week champions for every year it’s existed. In addition, chapter members have been named “outstanding Greek member” and outstanding “new Greek members” for the past two years. Sigma Pi was also named the “outstanding fraternity chapter” last year (decided by the campus sorority members).

“I think it was just a really good opportunity to get in touch with our roots and find out what we were actually founded on,” said Ben Pruett, current Sage. “We see a lot of names on the outside of our house who have donated time and money.

These names are almost famous for

Epsilon Rho has taken great strides over the years to achieve the high standards the founders set.

They chapter has been awarded the Grand Sage award four times, and are known within the college and Sigma Pi community as a chapter with one of the highest G.P.A.s around. They were recognized most recently at July’s Sigma Pi University for developing the best ACE Project in their tier.

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

Twenty-five years later, that same group of students -- joined with men who would later share that same vision -- for a celebration of the past, present and future. Charter members, current active members, and numerous in between traveled back to Springfield, Missouri on Sept.

21-23 to participate in a number of weekend activities celebrating the chapter’s achievements and the friendships that existed then and still today.

on campus and in the nation for their efforts and accomplishments.

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32 A L UMNI NEWS

A Lifetime of Service to

Joe Marsalek, Upsilon Chapter’s long-time Chapter Advisor, was honored with the Fraternity’s very first award for a lifetime of service to Sigma Pi. Grand Sage Larry Rovira presented the “Joseph F. Marsalek Award” on Sept. 8 at the chapter’s alumni tailgater reunion before UCLA-Brigham Young football game at the Rose Bowl stadium.

Marsalek was joined by his daughter, Julie Wage, who was visiting from Washington, long-time

Upsilon housing board president Tom Miller, and Golden Crossera brothers Ralph Rea and Joe Henriksen.

The award is named for Marsalek, and Rovira considered him the ideal honoree, regardless of the name of the award. The idea for the award, which honors an alumnus who has devoted nearly 30 years of service to the fraternity and attended five convocations, did not come from Rovira, but from the Grand Council of the

International Fraternity. Rovira does admit he is one of Marsalek’s biggest fans, who provided plenty of sage advice to Rovira over the years as a Grand Council officers.

“I don’t run the fraternity on the west coast,” Rovira said. “When I need to know something, or something needs to get done, I call up John Merino at Long Beach State or Joe. Brothers like that, who have been doing it for years make Sigma Pi such a great Fraternity.”

Marsalek retired in June after

serving as Upsilon’s chapter advisor since 1983, and prior to that, he served on the Upsilon Chapter Housing Association, which managed the fraternity house, and as the president of the chapter’s alumni association.

Marsalek was a 6-foot-5 prep football standout end at the renowned Polytechnical High School in Long Beach, and he was recruited to play for UCLA in the Fall of 1949. John Goodlad, a pledge brother, remembers that

Sigma Pi Marsalek’s thighs were “as big as my waist.” The Bruins were ascending to national prominence under Coach Red Sanders, whose team shared a national title in 1954. Marsalek played on the freshman football team and pledged the fraternity. Brothers like John Goodlad and Fred Thornley, the 1951 UCLA student body president, helped Marsalek with his studies and make grades, and Marsalek was initiated in the spring of 1950. One lesson was from his big brother, Doug Bergen, who castigated Marsalek when he stayed in the car and did not walk his date to the door upon return to sorority row.

“The Fraternity did so much to help me, a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who didn’t know much about anything,” Marsalek said. “It taught me some manners and how to act around people.

It gave me so much more than I could give it.”

“I didn’t like the way things were being run,” Marsalek remem-

bers. “There was so much more that could be done.”

That began a three-decade term during which more than 500 actives came under the Marsalek’s tutelage. Brothers remember him fondly during his three decades as chapter advisor, and 30 alumni returned to the fraternity house last June for his retirement banquet, including Bob Jones, Ralph Scott, Dick Peters, Dean Cameron and Bob Baker from the 1950s. Some of Marsalek’s advice is to ask sorority women on dates on Sunday nights, when their house kitchens are usually closed, and around the fraternity house, his wise words of safety – stay off the roof and don’t mess with the fire extinguishers – keep the actives in line.

The torch burned brightly under an unexpected leader.

Nowadays, the house has nearly 90 active members; its GPA is among the top-5 on the row and higher than the UCLA men’s average; the intramural teams regularly win inter-fraternity championships; and the social calendar features events with every sorority on campus. Much of the credit goes to Marsalek, who was a guiding light through the re-colonization and re-establishment as one of the top chapters on campus and on the West Coast.

“I was never an officer in the Fraternity and never a leader in the house,” Marsalek said. “But we all can help out in different ways. I just did what needed to be done.”

At 11:30 AM today, November 21, 2007, Joseph Marsalek, UCLA’s advisor for nearly 30 years, passed away peaceful at his estate in Arcadia, California at the age of 76. Joe is survived by his daughter, Julie Wage, who was at his side, along with her husband Tom, and their two young children.

Born in 1931 and graduating from Long Beach Poly High, Joe attended UCLA and played offensive and defensive end for the Bruins football team.

UCLA’s famous athletic trainer Ducky Drake (Sigma Pi alumnus) recruited Joe to live at the Sigma Pi mansion, along with Rudy Feldman, UCLA’s future football captain and NFL coach. Joe later enlisted and served in the Korean War, and soon returned to UCLA. After graduating, he worked in the pharmaceutical field and married his college sweetheart, Barbara, a former teacher who preceded Joe in passing ten years earlier.

Sigma Pi Fraternity and UCLA athletics where highlights of Joe’s everyday activity. He was a mentor, a friend and a brother to hundreds of men who walked through the front door of our Southern California chapter houses. He unselfishly trained our chapter officers, usually facilitating the training at the family’s bunkhouse on their ranch in the Central Coast.

I asked his daughter on Monday to playfully tell Joe that UCLA beat USC in football, figuring he was not too coherent on the date or time, but he laughed, knowing I was trying to make things better. Finally, I also asked Julie to tell Joe I loved him, which she did. And Joe just laughed, and had that big Joe Marsalek smile on his face. Last night, 8 UCLA alumni and members visited Joe and spent an hour by his bedside, reminiscing on the “good ‘ole days”. They said how important that time was to spend with him last night.

Joe personally made an impact on my life and touched my heart. As a brother, I can honestly say I will miss him, and as a friend, I can honestly say I loved him. Joe’s legacy will live on in many a Sigma Pi’s heart.

Sigma Pi has another brother in heaven watching over us. A man of fortitude, character, honesty, class, and responsibility. We are all lucky to have Joseph Marsalek touch our lives. We are even luckier to call Joe our brother.

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

Marsalek helped brothers like Joe Henriksen, Bill Altman and Bob Baker re-establish a strong fraternity on campus after it had been shut down in the mid-1970s.

Joe was a member of the Upsilon Chapter Housing Association, which managed the building. After Milt Freeman, the chapter advisor, died in the early 1980s and a worthy successor could not be found, Marsalek was persuaded to become chapter advisor in 1983. Like many a Sigma Pi, he picked up a torch that needed to be carried.

Grand Sage Rovira reflects as Brother Marsalek passes to the Adytum On High

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34 ADYTUM

ON HIGH

G

ifts in memory of a brother of Sigma Pi are accepted by the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation. Once a gift is received, a card of acknowledgement is sent to the donor and, if possible, a card announcing the memorial contribution is sent to the immediate family of the one remembered or person honored. Please contact the SPEF office (800) 332-1897, email: edfound@sigmapi.org

Arkansas - Alpha-Sigma Earl Houk 9/1968 George E. Hunxberger 7/25/97 Arkansas State - Alpha-Pi Roy M McClintock ’48 2005 William Brown Jr ’98 9/10/07 Auburn - Alpha-Delta James L Lovvorn ’47 3/4/94 Robert Mann ’32 1/26/94 Jack L Capell ’31 7/26/2000 Boadman Ivey ’36 Barton - Beta-Rho James Hicks ’67 3/16/07 Beloit - Alpha-Theta Clarence L Schloemer ’33 2/11/07 Joseph Kobylka ’51 11/1/06 California - Iota Kendal L. B. Towne ’32 8/1/92 California-Santa Barbara - AlphaOmicron Richard I. Church ’51 12/15/05 Clyde Keener 7/2/1995

Theron R Howser ’08 10/1969 Edwin P Henderson ’25 1/9/1990 Martin L Green ’30 10/4/1990 Charles Blaine ’1905 8/1974 Robert Bramlet ’26 4/1981 Elmer J Buss ’24 2/11/1998 Edward P Byrnes Jr.’24 8/14/97 Trevor Sainsbury ’40 10/18/92 Alfred F Aldous ’28 2/12/97 Leslie Thompson ’19 1/1963 Hubert Smith ’18 11/1972 James McLaughlin ’22 6/1973 Clarence McAdoo ’26 1/1970 Indiana - Beta Phillip B. Jackson ’57 Harold Caniff Jr ’50 9/4/07 Iowa - Xi Ronald Sirowy ’66 1977 Iowa State University - Sigma Elton Whitmore ’36 4/28/07 Wilbur B Ratterree 4/26/2000 Kenyon - Lambda Henry F Strohecker 11/14/88 Salvatore Capozzi ’56 5/9/06

Cal State-Long Beach - Beta-Omicron Kyle Ferraro ’07 8/07

Louisiana Tech - Delta-Lambda Steven P Epstein ’02 2005

Drexel - Beta-Theta Robert G. Emilsson ’56 2/1998 Gilbert M. Scofield ’62 8/17/2007

Manmouth - Delta-Beta Robert E Boerum 10/19/1999

Eastern Illinois - Beta-Gamma John Manwaring ’63 7/24/07 Eastern Kentucky - Epsilon- Lambda Phillip Roberts ’80 9/15/03 Emory - Psi James E Reeves ’29 2/2/94 Franklin & Marshall - Nu Henry Hambleton ’48 8/9/07 Robert Banta ’ 49 2007 Jack Hatz ’46 7/28/07 Georgia - Alpha-Phi James W Baker ’30 11/15/93 Illinois - Phi Frederick D Pausch ’44 07/2007 Andrew Darnall ’23 4/1982 Dwight M. Emrich ’16 8/24/75 Emmett Kerr ’20 12/1980 James McCloud ’17 12/1977 Donald F Wunderlich ’23 7/74 Carl L Wunderlich ’23 3/1966 Elwyn F Wightman ’24 6/30/1997 Allen W Waldo ’27 3/14/2007 Fulton D Thornton ’29 12/1981 Emil G Schultz ’26 2/27/1993 Herbert E Ryerson ’28 1/15/95 David J Nightingale ’56 4/11/07 Charles B Langenstein’20 12/1968 Harry A Kirby ’52 2/1986 Stuart W Keith ’22 11/8/1990 Louis Kachiroubas ’53 6/4/1999 Trevor L Jones Sr. ’15 10/10/92 Phillip L Johnson ’22 11/1978 James L Johnson Jr ’25 1/9/96 William H Jacob ’27 10/1979

Maryland - Alpha-Chi John Ryngwelski ’76 2006 Miami Univ - Eta-Phi Jason J. Madachy ’07 6/2007 Mississippi - Beta-Mu Mark Hoffman 7/1975 Mississippi State - Alpha-Lambda Newton W. Carver `45 Quinton Dabbs ’36 1/1971 John Presley 11/1984 Missouri - Rolla - Alpha-Iota Rodney A. Schaefer ’47 2/25/02 Lee A. Flanigan ’60 5/31/07 Missouri State - Alpha-Rho Johnny L Yager ’78 William Tillotson ’52 Murray State - Gamma-Upsilon Linus A Kodman ’80 6/20/07 Robert Ligon ’72 10/8/07 NJIT - Alpha-Mu John K. Redmon ’42 10/6/06 Paul L Cambreleng ’35 12/10/97 Nevada - Reno - Zeta-Omega Gordon Pflug ’52 1986 North Carolina State - Rho William Swain ’29 3/1963 James G Exum ’31 1/27/2000 Ohio - Epsilon William R Fifner ’41 Arthur Rhoades ’29 5/1993 John Reese ’27 1/19/89

John Redfern ’27 1/3/91 Charles Minister ’33 2/1976 Carroll Maynard ’25 5/1964 Peter Martin Jr ’17 4/1982 Joe McCullough ’31 12/17/94 Clarence Kelch ’28 4/1973 Robert King ’27 2/1983 Theron Hulburt ’34 7/17/89 William Hudson ’27 2/1984 Charles Herron ’23 11/1980 James Agnew ’33 3/24/99 George Banks ’23 2/18/90 Roy Baunach ’33 6/6/89 Marshall Belden ’33 3/27/95 LeRoy Boyd ’21 8/1974 William Brown ’25 7/1986 Paul Caldwell ’15 1/9/89 Donald Chadwell ’22 12/1970 William Deedrick ’26 3/1980 Harry Dougherty ’21 1/1964 Roy Drury ’15 Benjamin Endsley ’15 4/16/58 Lou Evans ’26 1/1978 Lawrence Flinn ’32 2/13/06 Lloyd Gray ’33 8/14/97 Warren Gray ’32 5/7/95 George Haney ’22 1/1969 Edgar Galyon Jr ’45 Ohio Northern - Zeta Robert B. Mertz ’31 1998 Mac H Cunningham ’27 1/25/2003 Eric Emtman ’16 12/1975 Ohio State - Gamma John L. Hill ’47 9/30/06 Robert R Schetter ’64 Leonard P Laundergan ’48 2006 Howard R Claypoole ’58 7/14/07 Stanley W Henceroth ’37 2/12/95 Robert E Rulon ’66 11/19/98 Morton Y Reeves ’30 2/1981 John D Reeves ’32 1/17/2002 Warren F Porter ’29 11/1968 John C Pixley ’31 10/10/1994 Robert C Parmenter ’24 11/1978 Joseph W Mithcell ’26 2/17/1990 John E Miller ’50 2/1976 Albert J Mattern ’33 8/4/1996 Philip J Malarney ’31 5/1958 John B McCoy ’40 7/1973 Ray H Long ’34 10/23/2005 Daniel B Krumm ’32 7/7/1992 John R Klimek ’61 8/3/2006 Linn V Hall ’1925 10/22/1996 Earl C Guisinger ’30 5/20/1992 Russell T Burrell ’31 11/1978 Dale D Brannon ’38 4/27/2003 Norman F Booth ’21 3/15/1993 Harold P Braman ’25 8/20/1990 Georg P Bohlender ’29 1/4/1997 Herbert H Beck ’27 10/21/2000 Lawrence E Ashba ’62 8/1976 Norman M Anderson ’48 6/27/04 Charles R Allison Jr. ’33 6/16/93 Charles Zahn ’19 6/1987 William Tallevast ’39 8/30/00 George Swinnerton ’27 3/6/93 Raymond Strong ’24 7/1971 Hartley Snyder ’25 10/25/99 Glenn Shorts ’40 4/6/05 Pennsylvania - Delta Frank R Praege ’49 12/1967

Frank J Strassner ’29 1/12/2000 Edward Aston ’21 Harold Anderson ’20 Charles Allen ’17 5/1975 Percey Ace ’21 8/1969 LeRoy Wolf ’24 8/1967 Robert Williams ’31 12/21/94 Frank Weiler ’26 12/1980 Arthur Weidner ’25 1/1967 Malcom Wandling ’26 10/3/93 Harold Tarleton ’23 1/1982 Samuel Sullivan ’21 12/1974 Albert Slater ’26 8/30/90 Robert Sherman ’12 5/1973 Donald Schroeder ’27 10/8/91 Charles Rush ’25 11/1986 Russell Plass ’26 10/1979 David Perasall ’21 8/1987 William Pflug ’23 10/1981 Charles Standish ’19 1/1986 William Oldham ’31 9/1985 Frederick Mentzer ’27 11/1967 John Mack Jr. ’29 3/1983 Charles McIntyre ’13 5/1981 Donald MacDougall ’23 4/1980 Joseph Long ’18 11/1986 Paul Koch ’25 6/1985 Richard King ’23 11/1968 John K. Johnson ’19 2/1981 Russell Hunsberger ’23 2/19/96 James Heckel ’18 3/1985 George Heckel Jr ’19 6/1985 Chester Hebb ’28 4/19/99 William Harris ’20 6/1968 Samuel Gray ’19 8/1979 John Gilbert ’23 6/14/94 Elton Gilbert ’21 9/23/94 Philip Fry ’27 6/6/1992 Edgar Frownfelter ’26 11/1968 Harold Fenner ’20 Kendall Ewer ’30 11/23/91 Lloyd Elliott ’29 10/1981 Harry Domhoff Jr ’30 7/30/92 George Connell Jr ’20 9/1976 Robert Clayton ’19 8/1978 Harold Bright ’23 4/9/92 Christian Brandt ’27 2/1973 Benjamin Bourne ’26 7/24/91 William Beaseley ’26 William Baxter ’21 9/1965 Donald Barthelme ’30 7/16/96 Robert Barney ’31 2/1987 Robert Z. Smith III ’33 1979 Francis Lanard ’37 10/1/07 Penn State - Theta Charles S. Gilbert ’48 5/9/07 Robert k. O`Connor ’59 5/25/07 G Henninger 12/1979 Charles G Overberger ’41 3/17/97 Purdue - Eta Russell G Madison ’31 12/30/89 Robert P Lawrence ’55 3/25/2002 Radford University - Theta-Lambda Nathan B. Marti ’05 6/4/07 Rhode Island - Alpha-Upsilon Rod Crafts `85 Brant W Day ’85 William C Goodale ’63

San Diego State - Alpha-Omega D.L. Chapman ’50 Edward W Randall 1/6/2000 SIU - Carbondale - Beta-Nu John R. Winthrop ’70 Philip A Eigenmann ’55 5/25/07 SUNY Postdam - Epsilon-Omega Laurence D Rust Temple - Kappa Frederick W Kraekel ’52 6/7/07 Walter Ritter ’17 6/1968 Dale Barton ’25 6/1967 Jack Breunig ’52 8/12/07 John Birbeck ’47 4/15/07 Tulane - Omicron Gregory J Shinglman ’70 5/22/07 UCLA - Upsilon Harold D. Bergen ’50 6/2/07 Albert K. Gifford ’35 12/6/05 Oscar Heselius ’55 9/5/07 George Barlow ’51 7/14/07 University of Illinois - Phi Rex J Cunningham Jr. ’36 5/15/05 University of Iowa - Xi David C Sherwood ’77 Univ. of Maryland - Alpha-Chi Howard W Bates ’69 University of Miami - Beta-Zeta Henry F. Sawicki ’51 11/25/06 Utah - Pi Richard Nichols ’23 1/1971 Utah State - Alpha-Psi Chad E Iwertz ’52 2/22/98 Peirce Bowthorpe ’52 1978 Valparaiso University - Beta-Tau Wilbur H. Hutchins ’51 6/4/07 Vincennes - Alpha Frank M Hammitt ’1901 Wake Forest - Alpha-Nu Charles W Morris Jr. ’44 3/7/07 Robert L. Davis `57 5/19/06 F. Elwood (“Woody”) Mendenhall, Jr. ’78 7/8/07Ted G Stone ’56 7/16/06 Hugh Humphrey Jr ’48 2003 Washington - Alpha-Gamma Raynor Jonason ’25 10/23/91 Western Michigan - Gamma-Rho Stanley R Kapica ’64 William and Mary - Alpha-Eta Howard J Doughtie 1/20/2000 James Barham Jr ’54 8/24/07 Wisconsin Milwaukee - Delta-Omicron Thomas G Mulvanny ’69 2007

Salem - Teikyo - Delta-Mu Dennis W Combs ’82 10/26/01

Editor’s Note: The majority of these names were obtained through the Social Security Administration online search. If a mistake has been made, please contact the Executive Office so that we may correct the problem. Thank you.

2 Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

Those Year-End Appeals With roughly one million charities operating in the United States – and most of them seeking year-end contributions – it’s no wonder your mailbox bulges with appeal letters as the calendar winds down. Seems like everybody wants your money!

Sorting through the mail, you find familiar organizations and some you don’t recognize. You wonder, How did these people get my name?

And to add to the onslaught of mail, your telephone rings more often.

“Please help us meet our financial crisis!” “We’ll have to close the doors if we don’t pay our bills.” “Children will starve unless you give.” “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!”

It’s downright confusing . . . and irritating.

As you consider the variety and intensity of the financial appeals you receive, we hope you will remember at least five things about us here at the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation: 1. We count you as part of our family.

Whether you are a recent friend of the Sigma Pi Educational Foun-

dation or a longtime supporter, we value your interest and involvement.

We consider you a partner with us in this great enterprise. You are part of our family. And together, we share a common commitment, a common mission.

2. We remain true to our mission.

As you know, our Fraternity mission is to raise and hold monies for the. We want you to know that we have not veered from this, nor do we intend to. We lay our plans, build our budgets purpose of providing scholarships and to support worthy educational programming, and monitor our results to better achieve this mission. You can have confidence that we are “staying the course.”

3. We depend on your faithful giving.

Whether a modest annual gift or a larger estate gift, we rely on your financial support to help us accomplish our important mission.

The more you give, the more we can do. It’s that simple. On the other hand, without you and our other supporters, we could not exist.

4. We pledge financial fidelity.

We wince when we hear of scandals involving nonprofit organizations because this casts a shadow over all charities. And so we want to affirm to you that financial integrity is extremely important to us. We maintain strict accounting and reporting rules. Our books are open, and we invite any donor to scrutinize us to the limit.

As the year-end appeals come and your thoughts turn more toward charitable giving, remember the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation.

And please call Brother Robinson at 800-332-1897 to learn more about giving at year-end. You can also contact him by email at rrobinson@sigmapi.org.

Please know that your contribution to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation is treated carefully and with a keen sense of stewardship.

5. We offer personalized service.

Do you have appreciated stock or real estate that would make a tax-wise gift? Do you need to receive lifetime income as part of your gift to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation? For these and similar questions, our President and Chief Development Officer, Richard Robinson will be happy to assist you.

Brother Robinson will meet with you personally to talk about your giving goals and to show you various options. He will guard your confidences and respect your freedom.

He is also available to consult with your professional advisors.

The Governor Mike Beebe Veteran’s Fund Supporting Veterans and their Families

Sigma Pi . . .

United in Brotherhood . . .

Giving back to those who serve . . .

For more information on how you contribute to the Governor Mike Beebe Veteran’s Fund, please contact Richard Robinson, President & Chief Development Officer at 800-332-1897 or by email at rrobinson@sigmapi.org.

For the rest of your life For the rest of your life, if you create a charitable gift annuity with us, the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation will send you a check every quarter, or annually if you wish. The amount will be the same every time. While the economy may rise or recede, your check will remain the same.

The total amount you receive every year is determined in advance and depends on several things, including your age and the amount you give to establish the arrangement. For example, if you’re 75 years old, you’ll

receive more than someone 10 years younger who gives the same amount.

Furthermore, for the rest of your life, you will enjoy the satisfaction that your arrangement with the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation will someday provide Sigma Pi with needed financial resources. By letting us help you with lifetime support, you enable us to serve future generations of Brothers.

The IRS favors these arrangements and provides the donor with an income tax charitable

deduction. It is one way the government encourages the private sector to support the charitable community.

Year in and year out, it is the most popular life-income planned giving vehicle available.

Would you like to learn more about charitable gift annuities and how they can benefit you ... and the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation? To receive our free information, you can call Richard Robinson, our President & Chief Development Officer at 800-3321897. You can also contact him

by email at rrobinson@sigmapi. org. Be sure to include your age and gift amount you are considering so a sample illustration can be prepared. In a few days you will receive a call from Mr. Robinson and you’ll receive a tailor-made illustration for your consideration.

We hope to hear from you soon, and we trust that someday soon we will be able to send you an annuity check on a regular schedule . . . For the rest of your life.

Fall 2007 • www.sigmapi.org

1

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

FROM THE

FOUNDATION

Foundation Volume IV, Number 4 • Fall 2007

FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES Chairman Thomas A. Moore (ΓΡ, Western Michigan ’69) Vice-Chairmen Gary T. Dvorchak (Ξ, Iowa ’86) R. Todd Miller (ΕΤ, Tennessee – Martin ’87) Marc S. Saffren (ΗΛ, SUNY – Albany ’92) Allen W. Yee (ΑΦ, Georgia ’99)

Dear Brothers:

Moore

Each of us begins life with a blank sheet of paper. Well, it’s more like a book of blank pages. As we go through the days and years, we write our story through our thoughts and doings.

Some of us live long enough to have a book of many pages . . . and some live for only a few pages. Some have many chapters denoting a variety of interests and involvements; others have only a half dozen or so.

As you write your life’s story though your deliberations and deeds, will there be a chapter devoted to philanthropy? And will it include gifts to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation?

Our hope is that your book will include many wonderful thoughts and experiences regarding your association with Sigma Pi. We also hope that you will have a chapter on philanthropy and that it will include something like, “My Bequest to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation: What I Gave and Why.” Or perhaps a section on “My Sigma Pi Educational Foundation Gift Annuity: The Gift That Gave Back.”

Perhaps another subsection might be, “The Day I Discovered Endowments and Why I Established One in My Spouse’s Name.”

Treasurer Clifford A. Wilke (ΔΖ, Missouri – St. Louis ’80) Secretary John J. Merino (ΒΟ, Cal State – Long Beach ’58) Trustees Donald J. Cox (Κ, Temple ’55) G. Mason Cozart (ΕΚ, Southern Arkansas ’83) David L. DeFilippo (ΕΝ, Cal State – Fullerton ’92) Kevin D. Farmer (ΒΝ, Southern Illinois-Carbondale, ’95) Brenan C. German (ΕΝ, Cal State – Fullerton ’91) John D. Kitch (Η, Purdue ’73) John J. McCann (ΑΜ, NJIT ’83) Larry P. Rovira (ΕΝ, Cal State – Fullerton ’85) Michael J. Simmons (ΕΝ, Cal State – Fullerton ’87) Jay M. Vaden (ΘΚ, Texas Tech ’03) Advisory Trustees Paul W. Hansen (ΒΤ, Valparaiso ’80) FOUNDATION STAFF

There are lots of possibilities for filling a chapter on giving.

Our President & Chief Development Officer, Richard Robinson helps people write inspiring stories about planned giving. He will be happy to visit you and listen to your hopes and dreams for your chapter on philanthropy . . . and He will guide you, as a good “editor,” in finding just the right way to express your support for the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation. Your forward thinking will provide a lasting legacy that will help to secure the future of Sigma Pi, its educational programs and scholarships for all Brothers that follow.

President/Chief Development Officer Richard Robinson (ΕΤ, Tennessee – Martin ’87) Managing Editor Adam L. Dibble (ΘΘ, Ferris State ’06) Administrative Assistant Jennifer R. Wyatt

Sincerely and Fraternally, ADMINSTRATIVE OFFICES Sigma Pi Educational Foundation Post Office Box 1897 Brentwood, TN 37024 Tel: (615) 373-5728 Fax: (615) 373-8949 Email: edfound@sigmapi.org Website: www.sigmapi.org

Thomas A. Moore, Jr. Chairman Sigma Pi Educational Foundation

Helping Our Fraternity Build “A New Generation of Leaders”

Copyright © 2007 Sigma Pi Educational Foundation

Foundation www.sigmapi.org • The official publication of the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation • Fall 2007

We are only as strong

as the support of our Alumni

Become a member of the Brotherhood of the Gold Cross today. Your annual donation of $1,000 to the Educational Foundation will help insure the future of the Fraternity and its educational programs and scholarships for all Sigma Pi Brothers that follow.

For more information, contact the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation: (800) 322-1897 • sigmapi.org

To Parents/Guardians: Your son’s magazine is sent to his home address while he is an undergraduate in college. During this time we hope you enjoy reading about the true benefits of Sigma Pi Fraternity. But, if he is no longer living at home or attending college, please send his new permanent address to: Sigma Pi Fraternity, P.O. Box 1897, Brentwood, TN 37024, or via email at emerald@sigmapi.org. Thank you.

Prsrt Std Non-Profit U. S. Postage

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Sigma Pi Fraternity P. O. Box 1897 Brentwood, TN 37024

Lebanon Junction, KY Permit No. 441

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