Emerald_Summer_2008

www.sigmapi.org • Summer 2008

from the Grand Sage

As I sit in my recliner today to reflect on my message in this first letter to you as Grand Sage, I can’t help but be reminded about our recent Convocation in Long Beach, California. I brought home with me so many memories, but certainly one that will stick with me forever defines “brotherhood” for me in its truest sense. It involves four Sigma Pi brothers who have been very near and dear to me for 30 years now. Those brothers, Bob Gutman, Mike Roehrig, John Santeramo and Geno Zayid were initiated into Gamma-Alpha Chapter at the University of Detroit (today know as Detroit Mercy) during the year I was chapter Sage.

The five of us have remained very close over the years following our days at our alma mater. We’ve spent a considerable amount of time together socially. I recall our first alumni weekend together when we decided that we could survive on a menu of nothing but White Castle burgers. So, we transported many cases of those “fragrant” burgers across the international border to Ontario where we did nothing that weekend but hang out together, play cards, play pranks on each other, and punish our stomachs. Of course, we were young and foolish and can laugh today about the great times such as that was.

We have been there for nearly every major event in each others’ lives since our college days. That includes weddings, loss of loved ones, and birth of children. Even knowing how much our relationship has meant over the decades, my hoped-for election to Grand Sage would be occurring nearly as far away from the Detroit area as a

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person can be without leaving the continental United States. But that didn’t stop those four men from making the trip to Long Beach to be there for me in my most special moment as a Sigma Pi. The four of them had no idea that each would play an active role in my installation during the formal ceremony, but they did. Immediately after I was installed as Grand Sage on Convocation Saturday, the five of us gathered for a quick photograph, me still in the robe of my office and the four of them in business suits.

Today, I have a copy of that photo beautifully framed and displayed prominently in my office at work.

When my employees or other visitors to my office ask about the significance of that photo, I’m proud to explain that the photo isn’t only a reminder of a special moment in my life but that it will forever signify brotherhood in its richest sense as it has impacted my life.

Before I go any further, I must acknowledge and thank Sigma Pi for showing your faith and confidence in me by electing me to be your Grand Sage. It is true that my 14 year path leading me here is longer than that of any of the 41 Grand Sages who have served before me. I was first elected to the Grand Council in 1994 at the 42nd Biennial Convocation in Baltimore, MD. By no means, though, does my “tenure” on this Board cause me to view my election as Grand Sage as an entitlement in any way. To the contrary, because of the long road I’ve traveled, I feel a great appreciation for the role you’ve allowed me the privilege to hold.

I vow to work hard every day to serve in the best interests of our Fraternity in that role.

This edition of the Emerald does an excellent job of covering our Convocation in Long Beach.

I can only add that, from a personal standpoint, the entire experience was incredibly moving for me and my family. My wife Nancy and children, Douglas and Sabrina, have been to a number of Convocations over the years.

In fact, to our amazement, Nancy and I determined that this has been her 11th trip to our Biennial Convocation! Each one has offered its own special memories. However, this Convocation has blown the others away. We’ll never forget the camaraderie and support shown to us by the many members of our

“fraternal family,” extending from the undergraduate and alumni brothers of the Michigan Province to the many alumni volunteers to the Grand Council members and their families, and so many others. The experiences of this Convocation will forever be etched in our minds.

I expect the next two years to be fruitful for our Fraternity. All of the pieces are in place. Our Executive Office is firmly anchored in the Nashville area. The Grand Council, Executive Office staff and Educational Foundation are committed to working in lockstep at our highest levels to the benefit of our brotherhood. As a result, I anticipate progress in terms of routine operations and strategic development of our organization.

I am genuinely excited about the prospects for our Fraternity over the next two years.

While on the subject of the Grand Council, I’m looking forward to working with the men of this Board. Each of them brings high levels of talent, experience and dedication. I’ve worked with many of them for a number of years now and am proud to call them my brothers. I’m confident that the results of our collective efforts will speak for themselves.

Looking ahead, one particular area of attention over this biennium will be the alumni volunteer program, due especially to the addition of a new Executive Office position, Director of Alumni Volunteer Services.

Experience tells us that strong alumni volunteers at the chapter level (chapter directors, alumni advisory boards) and province level (province archons) makes for stronger and more stable chapters.

Alumni clubs, associations, and corporations, among their many roles in our Fraternity, perpetuate Sigma Pi for brothers well beyond their undergraduate years. One of our Fraternity’s strategic directives has been to significantly increase the number of alumni engaged and serving Sigma Pi in some volunteer capacity. With the addition of this new full time position, I anticipate stronger alumni volunteers, fewer open volunteer positions and an overall growth in the development of our alumni programs.

Another important area of emphasis over these next two years

will certainly be high performance at the chapter level. Of course, focus on chapters is a given at any time. However, our experiences of the last few years in expansion have allowed us to see chapter development in a different light.

For me, our rapid growth from an intense expansion program was exciting. New chapters being added to our roles are an indicator of overall health of our Fraternity.

On the other hand, our existing chapters in the aggregate have not necessarily equaled that success.

Although there were a number of high-performing chapters, many groups unfortunately treaded water and some performed below expectations. One step has already been taken to shore up chapter performance by making the Gold Standard a requirement for every chapter every year. This measure, although a seemingly small step, is expected to improve chapter accountability and allow for better tracking of that performance by our Headquarters staff.

As I wrap up this first letter to you as Grand Sage, I can’t help but be reminded of the breadth and depth of Sigma Pi in my own daily life. The Dallas Cowboys are on television and Tony Romo (ΒΓ, Eastern Illinois) is in the game at the quarterback position. Earlier today, with our kitchen radio tuned in to the local country station, I heard Tracy Lawrence (ΕΚ, Southern Arkansas) singing “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.” Just a couple weeks ago, as the news spread around my office that I was elected Grand Sage, one of my employees and I discovered that we’re brothers. He is a Sigma Pi brother from Central Michigan (Delta-Alpha). Talk about a pleasant surprise! And, I continue to be reminded of that photo in my office.

Tracy had it right when he sang about “your friends.” Now, find out who your brothers are. I have, and it’s something that I’ll never forget.

Fraternally,

George Hakim Grand Sage

In this issue VOLUME XCIII, NUMBER 3 SPRING 2008 EDITORIAL STAFF John Kitch (Η, Purdue ’73) Editor Todd Shelton Managing Editor/Creative Director Mark S. Briscoe (ΑΠ, Arkansas State ’82) Business Manager COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE John Kitch (Η, Purdue ’73) Joseph V. Palazzolo (ΔΒ, Monmouth ’00) Bryce Carder (ΗΥ, UC - Irvine ’99) Clifford A. Wilke (ΔΖ, Missouri - St. Louis ’81) Jonathan Drnjevic (ΒΤ, Valparaiso ’81) Jeffery Seay (ΗΕ, Florida State ’91) John Michelich (ΕΓ, Illinois Wesleyan ’75)

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.

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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

4 | Chapter Awards 10 | News from Chapters 18 | Campus Expansion 26 | News from Alumni

Member, North-American Interfraternity Conference Member, Fraternity Communications Association

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Executive Office News Sigma Pi gives back

by Jill Gorin, American Red Cross Nashville Area Chapter Hurricane Gustav brought 2,000 New Orleans evacuees to middle Tennessee and 6,300 to the entire state during a mandatory evacuation. The American Red Cross was in charge of feeding and sheltering each evacuee and they asked Sigma Pi Fraternity for their help.

Assistant Executive Director Jonathan Frost, Director of Chapter Services Justin Steele and Director of Volunteer Support and Alumni Services A. J. Carroll volunteered delivering supplies, food, and other materials to some of the 12 Red Cross shelters in middle Tennessee. From unloading supplies at College Hill Church of Christ in Lebanon, Tenn., to picking up 30,000 snacks to distribute to all shelters, Sigma Pi brought a huge amount of

resources to the Red Cross.

“This was the largest Red Cross mass care operation in the history of our chapter and the history of Tennessee,” says Mary Jo Wiggins, Interim CEO. “We want to thank Sigma Pi for all of their hard work. They really stepped up when we really needed it.”

Frost helped Red Cross volunteers load and unload 70 boxes of in-kind donated clothing from Wal-mart for the evacuees. The Executive Office says they were proud to help their community and the American Red Cross.

“We have seen firsthand how the Red Cross goes above and beyond to help our neighbors, from house fires, providing assistance, to helping these evacuees who live

New consultants joined the staff this summer: Carlos Colon – West ELC, Florida State (ΗΕ); Will Wojcik – Expansion Consultant, Minnesota (ΙΖ); Hays Whitlatch – Northeast ELC, Iowa (Ξ); Neil Thorsbakken – Midwest ELC, Middle Tennessee (ΘΩ)

Assistant Executive Director Jon Frost (right) unloading supplies for evacuees

600 miles away,” says Jonathan Frost, Sigma Pi Assistant Executive Director. “We feel honored to be a small part of the

amazing mission of the Red Cross and we salute all of their hard work.”

Tanner Marcantel, assistant director of Greek Life at Vanderbilt University, receiving a certificate of appreciation for assisting with in training new staff members. He is a member of Theta-Xi fraternity from LSU.

Thank you to those who have served on the Fraternity staff The Executive Office would like to thank the following brothers for dedicating their time and efforts to Sigma Pi by serving on staff.

Travis Tobin (Α, Vincennes ’07): Travis worked as an Educational Leadership Consultant and traveled the east coast for his tenure on staff. He is now residing in Indiana and pursuing a career in law enforcement.

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Jeff Lavery (ΘΨ, University of Southern Indiana ’07): Jeff worked as a Colony Development Consultant and prepared our colonies for chartering. Brother Lavery traveled all areas of the United States during his time on staff.

of 2006. Adam was editor of the Emerald and during his tenure Sigma Pi won numerous awards from the College Fraternity Editors Association for feature articles and design and layout of the magazine.

Adam Dibble (ΘΘ, Ferris State ’06): Adam joined staff as an Expansion consultant in July of 2006 and then became Director of Communications in November

Jim DiVita (ΖΜ, Michigan State, 05): Jim joined staff in December of 2005 as an Expansion Consultant and later became Director of Expansion in

April of 2006 where he served in that capacity for two years.

During Jim’s tenure we made tremendous strides in expansion and had one of our most prolific years in 2007/08.

We thank these men for their unselfish dedication to Sigma Pi and wish them all the best in their future endeavors.

Executive Office News

Sigma Pi brothers honored for academic achievements “Gamma Sigma Alpha is committed to the leadership, academic achievement and excellence of Greek members everywhere.”

Gamma Sigma Alpha, National Greek Academic Honor Society, was founded to promote intellectual interaction between Greek students and the academic community. The organization exists to recognize and advance academic excellence as a core value of fraternities and sororities. They do this through their recognition of Greek communities with GPAs over the campus average, scholarships for members pursuing graduate work, presenting academic programming at regional conferences, and our research initiative.

The following Sigma Pi members were initiated into Gamma Sigma Alpha during the past academic year: Nick Brennan (Grand Valley State), Brad Kluchurosky (Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania), James C. Kyriakedes (Miami Univ.), Meky Leung (San Diego State), Brian Opalacz (Elon Univ.).

To learn more, visit gammasigmaalpha.org.

Leadership skills workshop conducted Belmont University Greek Advisor J. J. Rowe brought some young, future leaders (pictured above) to our Executive Office for a tour and a workshop on leadership skills. The tour was facilitated by Executive Director Mark Briscoe and the workshop was conducted by former Director of Expansion James DiVita and Assistant Executive Director Jonathan Frost. It is a great opportunity for our organization

to be able to collaborate with universities in the Nashville, Tenn., area to build those relationships and strengthen the spirit of Greek life. We hope to continue these efforts and thank the students of Belmont and Rowe for their time and participation.

On another note Rowe has also assisted in the training program for our new staff members.

How to submit info to the Emerald How to submit photos: 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.

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”).

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.

Send your story ideas, pictures, and suggestions to: Sigma Pi Fraternity Attn: Emerald Post Office Box 1897 Brentwood, TN 37024 emerald@sigmapi.org

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Executive Office News Awards presented during Convocation Byron R. Lewis University of California-Berkeley, Iota Chapter Louis Foley Alumni Newsletter Pennsylvania State University, Theta Chapter Louis Foley Undergrad Newsletter University of Missouri-St. Louis, Delta-Zeta Chapter Michael P. Carey Michael Murphy, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Harold Jacobsen Michael Eyre, Old Dominion University Cletus A. Broecker Tyrese Graham, Loyola University of Chicago Lyle H. Smith (Top Chapter Director) Don Cox, PGS, TCNJ Chapter Director Curtis G. Shake (Top Province Archon) Joe Palazzolo, New Jersey Province Most Improved Chapter Zeta-Chi Chapter, Rowan University Fitzpatrick/Retson Award Mark Reed, University of Georgia, Alpha-Phi Chapter

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Grand Chapter (Top 25) Phi Chapter Alpha-Phi Chapter Beta-Pi Chapter Iota-Alpha Chapter Alpha-Iota Chapter Alpha-Nu Chapter Eta-Nu Chapter Theta-Theta Chapter Alpha-Pi Chapter Beta-Gamma Chapter Beta-Omicron Chapter Delta-Beta Chapter Zeta-Omicron Chapter Beta-Eta Chapter Theta-Eta Chapter Theta-Rho Chapter Theta-Tau Chapter Alpha Chapter Delta-Zeta Chapter Delta-Omega Chapter Epsilon-Rho Chapter Zeta-Eta Chapter Theta-Beta Chapter Theta-Delta Chapter Eta-Mu Chapter

University of Illinois University of Georgia University of Virginia Kansas State University Missouri University of Science and Technology Wake Forest University Towson University Ferris State University Arkansas State University Eastern Illinois University California State University-Long Beach Monmouth University Lawrence Technological Institute San Jose State University Old Dominion University Grand Valley State University William Paterson University Vincennes University University of Missouri-St. Louis University of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Drury University Santa Clara University Saginaw Valley State University The College of New Jersey Missouri Southern State University

Grand Council (Top 12) Phi Chapter Alpha-Phi Chapter Beta-Pi Chapter Alpha-Nu Chapter Eta-Nu Chapter

University of Illinois University of Georgia University of Virginia Wake Forest University Towson University

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Theta-Theta Chapter Beta-Gamma Chapter Beta-Omicron Chapter Delta-Beta Chapter Epsilon-Rho Chapter Zeta-Eta Chapter Theta-Delta Chapter

Ferris State University Eastern Illinois University California State University-Long Beach Monmouth University Drury University Santa Clara University The College of New Jersey

Grand Sage (Top 4) Beta-Pi Chapter Alpha-Nu Chapter Beta-Omicron Chapter Theta-Delta Chapter

University of Virginia Wake Forest University California State University-Long Beach The College of New Jersey

ACE Project (Top 4) Phi Chapter Eta-Nu Chapter Eta-Alpha Chapter Theta-Xi Chapter

University of Illinois Towson University California State University-Sacramento Salisbury University

Beyer-Fryburg EfďŹ ciency Award Alpha-Iota Chapter, Missouri University of Science & Technology Chapter EfďŹ ciency 900 Club Theta-Theta Chapter Ferris State University Alpha-Nu Chapter Wake Forest University Delta-Omega Chapter Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Eta-Nu Chapter Towson University Epsilon-Rho Chapter Drury University Beta-Omicron Chapter California State University-Long Beach Xi Chapter University of Iowa Zeta-Omicron Chapter Lawrence Technological University Membership Recruitment Award 2006-07 Beta-Omicron Chapter, California State University-Long Beach 2007-08 Beta-Omicron Chapter, California State University-Long Beach Membership Increase Award 2006-07 Eta-Pi Chapter, Kutztown University of PA 2007-08 Alpha-Nu Chapter, Wake Forest University Outstanding Greek Advisor Award Caitlin Roberts, California State University-Long Beach Dr. Bob Burns Outstanding Faculty Member Dr. Joseph B. Mosca, Monmouth University Merino/Tash 100 Man Chapter Awards Beta Chapter Indiana University Upsilon Chapter University of California-Los Angeles Beta-Omicron Chapter California State University-Long Beach Epsilon-Beta Chapter University of Kentucky Zeta-Delta Chapter University of Colorado

Two Years At the 2008 Convocation in Long Beach, California, George Hakim was elected Grand Sage.

While he will devote the next two years to the leadership of Sigma Pi, his service began more than twenty-five years ago. We were fortunate to have a conversation with him about the emotions of being elected to the highest position in the Fraternity, his life as a Sigma Pi, his family and professional life.

The following is George Hakim in his own words. . .

It’s been a long road for me. I had been an alumni volunteer in an official capacity since 1980. I had been in front of the nominating committee at every Convocation from 1986 to 1994. So, for me, it was living a dream to be elected to the Grand Council in 1994 in Baltimore. It was an incredible honor to be on the Council.

When I was first elected, I certainly aspired to be Grand Sage when it was my time. However, I still felt it was too far out in front of me to be convinced that I could reach that pinnacle. The years that followed were a bit of a roller coaster in terms of my ascension on the Council. It wasn’t until 2002, when I was elected Grand Fourth Counselor, that I believed that Grand Sage was within my reach. Even then, I had seen enough dreams go awry to realize that nothing was certain until the Grand Chapter had their say on election day. I

suppose, for that reason, this Convocation was a bit surreal, and even today a bit of the reality hasn’t yet sunk in.

I’ve been receiving notes of congratulations from brothers around the country, many of whom were from Michigan chapters. I’m taken aback by how many of them have reached out to let me know that I had a positive impact on them and their fraternal experience. Although I knew we had great relationships, I honestly didn’t realize that I had affected them in that way.

One more thought has to be for my family. I know that my wife and kids are very proud of what I’ve accomplished.

More than that, they know how hard I’ve worked and that it has been a sacrifice for all of us for me to reach this point. I want them to enjoy this experience. 4

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“George has served the fraternity with dedication, passion, and honor for nearly three decades.

He is respected by our alumni, and his leadership will be an example to our undergraduate leaders.”

— Christopher Brown, Grand Second Counselor

The beginnings My story began in 1973 when I was a 17-year-old freshman at the University of Detroit. I didn’t know much about fraternities but really had no interest in seeking any of them out. I’ve never had problems making friends and didn’t need to be part of a clique.

On top of that, the last thing on my mind was thinking about joining an organization with that kind of commitment only a month into my college years.

Well, it didn’t take long for things to change. I was approached about three weeks into my freshman year by a sophomore who introduced himself as an “east sider” (which meant he lived near my home in Detroit). He wanted me to know that he was a Sigma Pi and that one of his brothers (not available that particular day) knew me because we went to the same high school. They were hoping that I would come to one of their parties. Well, I did. Before the night was over, I was laughing and singing songs with the brothers. I felt right at home. I attended a second party because I really enjoyed the first. They didn’t waste any time giving me a bid. I was honored. They gave me 48 hours to decide. I used about 47 of those hours (what can I say...I was an engineering major...everything was methodical for me), accepted the bid and the rest became history.

Well, if I was going to join, I was going to find friends that would go with me. I recruited a high school buddy, Bob Van Hese, and a friend of a friend Mike Della

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Lucia to pledge with me. My first full semester as an intitiated brother, I personally recruited fellow engineering majors Joe Trombka and Dan Postler to join the Brotherhood. Later in life, I stood up in both Joe and Dan’s weddings, being best man in Dan’s.

Strong influences There are a couple of brothers who had an influence on me during my undergrad years. The first was Sam Licata. Sam was an older undergrad compared to other senior classmen. He was already married as an undergrad and was a mature voice of reason in the chapter. I met Sam as a rushee and thought the world of him.

He was an engineering major, like myself, and someone I looked up to. He graduated after my freshman year and I felt the void of mature leadership after he left.

The other brother who influenced me was an alumnus named Jim Clemens. Jim was the chapter director the year I was chapter Sage. I was elected Sage late in my preceding year.

Over that summer, Jim made it a point to meet with me regularly.

He instructed me to take a stand with the brothers who were failing to pay their dues, helped me to become organized in preparation for the year, and supported me throughout my senior year. It turned out that our chapter had a very successful year, nearly tripling our membership, dramatically improving attitudes, and making our image the best of all Greek organizations on campus. Jim has always downplayed his impact but he was an inspiration to both me and the chapter.

As an alumnus, I’ve had the rare opportunity to work with so many outstanding Sigma Pi brothers in recent years. Two men stand out.

Tom Moore is a special person in my life. He and I have had the opportunity to work together for a number of years now, starting with our work with the Michigan Province. Tom has become a close friend and confidante and I have great appreciation for the support he’s shown me over the years.

Another person who stands out among many is John Kitch. I’ve come to admire his leadership skills and style. He and I have developed a great relationship through our years on the Council and our families have become close as well. There are many others who I look up to, including John Williams, Ed Panconi and the many other esteemed Past Grand Sages.

Family life My immediate family consists of wife of 25 years, Nancy, and children Douglas (20) and Sabrina

(16). I met Nancy about three years prior to when we first began dating. Her older sister was dating my closest friend at that time.

Doug is our biological child and Sabrina was adopted from South Korea. There was a bit of a Sigma Pi tie-in with Sabrina. The day before Nancy, Doug and I were to fly to southern California for the 1992 Convocation, we received the referral for our new daughter.

We met with the adoption agency that evening and saw our first photo of Sabrina, who was only about four weeks old at the time. We eventually picked her up at the international terminal at Detroit Metro on October 30 of that year. Convocations will always be a special reminder of our daughter for that reason.

Professionally speaking I’m a licensed professional engineer. After graduation from the University of Detroit, I began working for an architectural engineering firm. After almost eight years, I transitioned into facilities management, working in an automotive firm for ten years. I left the company (Modern Engineering) in 1995, having been their executive facilities manager with comprehensive facilities responsibilities for 35 buildings. I landed with Westin Hotels at the Renaissance Center Detroit, where I was building superintendent for the hotel which, at that time, was the third tallest hotel in the world. In 1998, I was recruited to become vice president of operations for the University of Detroit High School & Academy. In 2004, I became operations director with Cranbrook Educational

“Being newly elected to the Grand Council, I can think of no man who I would rather serve under than George Hakim.

He is a man of the highest integrity and has a passion for the success of the Fraternity which is second to none.”

— Craig E. Donnelly, Grand Herald Currently, I feel we’re in good shape as an organization. Our operating budget is a bit leaner than I would like, but the undergraduates realized that we can’t survive without operating capital and stepped up to the plate at Convocation to approve fee increases. I was proud of them for that. I would also like to see our chapters stronger overall.

We’ve grown the number of chapters but our existing chapters haven’t been successful at the same level. We’re taking some positive steps in this regard and I believe that we’ll improve.

Two years and beyond

Sabrina, Doug, Nancy and George at the 2008 Convocation

Community, a prestigious community with schools (pre-K through upper boarding school), a science institute and art academy. In 2006, I learned about a position with the State of Michigan as Director of Facilities Administration. I knew I met the requirements for the position but honestly didn’t think I had a legitimate shot at it. Well, I was wrong. I got the job and have been there for two years. My responsibilities include operations/maintenance of 37 state office buildings, design/ construction of all facilities projects statewide (excluding road work), statewide real estate leasing and security/emergency management for state office buildings.

The state of the Fraternity I would have to say that in spite of various setbacks Sigma Pi has experienced over the years, we’ve managed overall to move in the right direction. Our Fraternity has seen significant growth a couple times during the years I’ve been a member. The 80’s were a decade of strong growth and we’ve seen great expansion in recent years as well. Overall, though, it’s been the last ten or so years that have been the most progressive. I say this based on more than just growth. We’ve made a major move of our operations to Nashville, made incredible strides in terms of our programs, solidified our reputation in interfraternal and campus circles, and seen a complete restructuring of our Educational Foundation.

I would like to see continued expansion. However, I feel that we have to be careful not to put too many eggs in the basket of rapid growth. We have a limited amount of financial and organizational resources to handle new chapters.

If we exceed our limits, other areas of operations may suffer. Also, as I’ve mentioned, we need to put more emphasis on strengthening our existing chapters.

Also, in the next two years, I want to see our financial management continue to strengthen. We have made strides in the past two years.

With a director of finance at the headquarters, a solid Finance and Investment Committee led by Ed Panconi, and the diligence of Ed Levesque as Grand Third Counselor, I expect continued progress.

I’m also looking forward to our Board working more closely with the Educational Foundation. I’ve begun discussing with Tom Moore and Cliff Wilke plans for our two Boards to

meet and share strategic plans with the intention of updating both in a coordinated fashion.

Finally, I look to a greater emphasis on our alumni volunteers and supporting programs. I think that A. J. Carroll has the opportunity to make a real difference in this area.

As for further in the future, I continue to see the total number of chapters growing. I would love nothing more than for Sigma Pi to be the strongest chapter on every campus where we have a presence. I also see the Executive Office operations continuing to strengthen.

Certainly, the Educational Foundation will be the first to say that they will need to be a major contributor to Grand Chapter programs further into the future. There is no question that the Foundation needs to play a more significant role in our overall financial health down the road. We can’t keep going back to the undergraduates for higher fees. We need much higher levels of support from the Foundation team if we’re going to be able to truly push closer to the top.

Knowing these men, I know we’ll get that support.

Finally, I do believe that we will need to begin dreaming of what our next headquarters facility will look like. I feel we’re talking about a “campus” rather than a building. For the record, I’m very happy with our current building.

However, we always need to be looking to the future, even if we’re talking about a campus that will be a decade out or longer.

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by Christopher R. Brown. Grand Second Counselor I have always wanted to travel across America by car. With Convocation in Long Beach, Calif., and my sister-in-law’s wedding in Corvallis, Ore., this summer such a trip became a reality. We had no definite plan, other than to be in Long Beach by July 29, Corvallis by August 8, and home

by August 17, and the only hotel reservations were in those cities and Las Vegas. Diane, Katie, Adam and I were joined by our German “exchange daughter,” Petra, for the west-bound leg of the trip.

Here’s how it went.

Day 1. Left New Jersey on Tuesday, July 22. Later than anticipated, but at least on the right day. Traveled into Pennsylvania, through Maryland, and made it to Morgantown, W. Va., for the night. We quickly learn that we have left all-night diners behind in New Jersey.

We resolve to stop sooner to eat dinner the rest of the trip.

We start Day 2 driving through scenic mountains and learn that the guy from Verizon has never asked “Can you hear me now?” in western West Virginia. We enter Kentucky and discover “The Bourbon Trail.” Stop for an educational opportunity for the kids at the Buffalo Trace Distillery. After tour and samples, no longer upset by spotty cell phone service. We continue across southern Indiana and most of southern Illinois.

Day 3 begins with a tour of the St. Louis Gateway Arch and museum, followed by lunch in Laclede’s Landing. We continue on across Missouri, explore bat caves near Springfield, followed by a quick visit with brothers at Gamma-Sigma Chapter. We reach Kansas City for a barbecue dinner, then continue west before calling it a night in Topeka, Kan. Day 4. We continue across the prairie and through the wind farms, then veer southwest to Fort Larner, a restored Indian Wars fort (really cool), find wagon wheel ruts from the Santa Fe Trail (really amazing), and Dodge City.

Stumble on a little restaurant, called “The Rowdy Roundup Diner”, serving an incredible

chicken fried steak and homemade sticky buns. We end the day on eastern prairie of Colorado.

Day 5 takes us into Pueblo and up through the incredibly beautiful Rocky Mountains—snow on the highest peaks, roaring rivers, waterfalls, and quaint and scenic small towns in the valleys. [Note to self: if we get an expansion hit for Western State University in Gunnison, plan on a five-day chartering visit to get there. It will be worth the trip, though.] We ended the day with great Mexican food in Durango.

Day 6. The high desert of Utah, where I have my Clark Griswold moment. Lock my keys in the Family Truckster near Natural Bridges National Monument, resulting in a two and a half mile, uphill, in 98-degree-blazing-sun, past “Warning, Rattlesnakes” signs, hike back to the Visitor’s Center for help, followed by 90 minutes back out in the sun to break into the car, with the help of an arthritic park ranger and a French tourist. [Note to self: Switch back to calling them “French fries” instead of “Freedom fries.”] South on Utah Highway 261, which changes into a threemile long, unpaved, no guard rail, one-and-a-half lane-wide set of switchbacks, descending 1,000 feet to the floor of the Valley of the Gods, with senior citizens driving bus-sized Winnebagos coming up. Survived. We experience the awesome beauty of Monument Valley, where you expect to see John Wayne and the U. S. Cavalry around every turn.

Drive in the dark into Nevada and on to the lights of Las Vegas.

Day 7 is really the end of Day 6. At 1:30 a.m. after arguing with the front desk staff at the hotel about what a “guaranteed” reservation really means, we have connecting suites and get some much needed sleep. Late in the morning we explore the strip

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– jugglers at Circus Circus, riding the Big Shot 1,500 feet above the strip, on top of, and outside of, the Stratosphere, gondola rides in The Venetian, and eating enough for three days at the buffet in Wynn. We head to Long Beach as the neon hits high gear.

Day 8 to Day 12. Convo in Long Beach. First morning there a California thrill ride – a 5.6 earthquake. Other highlights were brothers giving armloads of prize tickets to my kids at Gameworks arcade, and watching the passion our undergraduate brothers have for bettering Sigma Pi. I see men I respect and admire re-elected to Grand Council, and another move to his place of honor at the back of the room. I also see a friend have his dream realized by joining us on the dais. The next Biennium begins.

Day 13 starts with brunch to celebrate the anniversary of Grand Sage George Hakim and his wife Nancy, and trying to convince the kids that just because the Queen Mary looks like the Titanic we aren’t all really going to die. We drive north to the San Joaquin Valley at the foot of the Sierras, and get to bed on time for the first time in nearly two weeks.

An early start on Day 14: Awed

by Sequoia National Park, where we see soaring 3000 year-old trees, a mother bear and two cubs, and mule deer. We brave the hairpinturn drive into Kings Canyon National Park to a waterfall, then continue north and west.

Day 15 saw us in San Francisco – Coit Tower, cable car rides, Fisherman’s Wharf – and I complete a dream I’ve had since I got my license: driving down twisty Lombard Street. I am unable to convince the family to go along with another dream: recreating Steve McQueen’s car chase scene from Bullitt.

Spoilsports. Of course, the rest of the family reaches their goal: Ghiradelli chocolate. Mark

Twain was right, though. The temperature never gets above 60 degrees all day. We cross the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset and continue north.

Day 16 to Day 18 are through the Cascade Mountains and into Oregon, then on to Corvallis for Diane’s sister’s wedding. I get to visit Omega Chapter.

On Day 19 we turn east, driving through the Columbia River Gorge, turning through the high desert of eastern Washington, then up into the Bitterroot Mountains of the Idaho panhandle. Stayed in Wallace, which has a bordello museum and was the movie set location for “Dante’s Peak.”

Beautiful and remote.

Day 20: Montana and Glacier National Park. On the way, we visit the National Bison Range.

There are a few bison, but not the herds we hoped for. Glacier National Park is spectacular.

Breath-taking mountains, topped by snow, turquoise clear rivers fed by snow-melt waterfalls. There are deer, and we see two black bears in a tree. After climbing yet another unpaved switchback to the Continental Divide, we see a herd of mountain goats.

Then down the other side, and off into the windswept prairie.

The nearest town with a hotel is 125 miles away, but the roads are straight as an airport runway, and there are no discernible speed limits. I do feel a little out of place, though, as we are the only vehicle on the road that isn’t a pick-up truck.

We woke on Day 21 in the prairie hub of Shelby. We have a cowboy breakfast, then head off through the prairie and smaller mountains – all virtually devoid of development or even signs of civilization (thankfully). I seem to be using the word “prairie” a lot, but it’s because there’s a lot of it out here, between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. We see pronghorn antelope, more forest covered mountains, and finally come to Livingston, much more civilized than the town Jimmy Buffett painted in “Livingston Saturday Night.” Fantastic steaks, “Moose Drool” beer, and football-sized

baked potatoes at the Montana Steak House. We end the day in Billings.

Day 22 starts with a visit to the Little Big Horn Battle Memorial.

You can easily imagine how Custer’s Seventh Cavalry felt looking down from a tall, rounded hill, surrounded by hundreds of really annoyed Sioux, Cheyenne, and Crow. Appropriately, the Native American losses are now also memorialized. They dug Custer up and re-buried him at West Point, probably as a warning to generations of future officers as to the perils of hubris. We move into Wyoming, leaving the Rockies behind. We take a chance on Deadwood, S. D., for dinner, but end up loving it. There are shoot-outs in the street, and a re-enactment of the trial of Jack McCall for shooting “Wild Bill” Hickok. The town probably has more gambling halls now than it did in Wild Bill’s time. Dinner is buffalo steaks at the Deadwood Social Club, over Saloon No. 10, where Wild Bill was shot. We stay at the Franklin Hotel, built in 1903, and still decorated to period, with rooms named after past guests, from Babe Ruth and Franklin Roosevelt to Kevin Costner.

Day 23: Mount Rushmore. I felt like a kid seeing the monuments in Washington, D.C., for the first time. We go on to the Crazy Horse Monument, which, after sixty years of dynamite and carving, is basically a face. Maybe my greatgrandkids will see the finished product. Later we see where Wall Drugs is, then watch the sun set over Badlands National Park. We cover most of the rest of South Dakota in absolute darkness.

There is practically nothing from Rapid City to Sioux Falls.

Day 24 begins with a tour of the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S. D., We cross Minnesota, stopping only for the Jolly Green Giant in Blue Earth, and head into Wisconsin, ahead of tornado warnings. We cross Wisconsin to a little town called Manitowoc. At midnight, we catch a ferry, the S.S. Badger, that crosses Lake Michigan to Luddington, Michigan. The Badger is a coal-stoked steamer that used to carry railroad cars. We reserve what is generously titled

a “stateroom”, which is the size of a walk-in closet. There are two single bunks less than a foot apart, a sink, and a toilet. The boys take one bunk, the girls the other. Not exactly the QE II, but we are able to sleep and travel.

Day 25. Whoever passes for Gopher on the Badger rouses us at 4:45 a.m. by pounding on the door and shouting to get up.

By time we brush our teeth and dress, the boat is docked and cars are being unloaded. We are on the road before dawn. Most of the day is spent driving across Michigan to Ontario, then on to Niagara Falls. We catch a nap to make up for the previous night on the ferry, then watch fireworks over the Niagara River from our balcony. We go to see the Falls at night under a full moon.

Day 26 is our last on the road.

We tour the Falls again, eat lunch in the revolving restaurant in the Skylon Tower, and cross the Rainbow Bridge back to the U.S.A. New York, Pennsylvania and, finally, New Jersey. We get back to Eatontown, and our own beds, on August 17.

26 days, through 24 states (plus one province), including seven that I had never been in before, two countries, and only ate McDonald’s once!

What I learned: We live in an amazingly beautiful – and large – part of the world, an incredible amount of which is either vacant or devoted to some form of agriculture. The next time I’m stuck in traffic in New Jersey, I’ll remember going 90 m.p.h. on a ruler-straight prairie highway in Montana with no chance of gas or food for over a hundred miles.

Real pizza does not exist west of Philly, but friendly and polite people do. The state I call home has almost everything, but the Rockies, Sierras, and Cascades make Northern New Jersey seem like a speed bump. It is strange having someone else pump my gas for a change. Four weeks is the longest I’ve ever been away from work, but I didn’t think about the office once. I enjoy my career, but I’d quit in a minute if I could travel more.

And there are still four states I haven’t been to yet.

The final totals: 8,704 miles in

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9

Chapter News

Chapter reports are those submitted by deadlines listed on page 1.

Zeta-Omicron, Lawrence Tech, brothers bringing home the Greek Day Trophy

Alabama Theta-Omicron Chapter The Theta Omicron chapter has been booming with its recent successes in different fields. After an incredibly successful rush, the chapter has nearly doubled its number of brothers with gentlemen of high quality befitting Sigma Pi. The intramural teams have been excelling as well while showing excellent sportsmanship.

With the large increase in brothers, the chapter is currently looking to move into a larger house to ensure stability as well as continue to improve on rush. Chivalry continues to play a large role in the chapter’s everyday activities and works well on campus to continually

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increase sorority attendance at chapter sponsored events. The chapter hopes to continue living up to the ideals of Sigma Pi and continue making positive improvements on the University of Alabama campus in the years to come.

Arizona State Beta-Kappa Chapter The spring semester has proven to be a productive and successful kick off for 2008. The brothers of Beta Kappa have had another prospective spring rush obtaining 26 new pledges and initiating 32 from the previous fall. Beta Kappa’s spring philanthropy was successful and raised money for the Sam Spady Foundation spreading alcohol awareness to many

students at ASU. The brothers participated in a handful of sorority held philanthropies and finished strong in all aspects. Beta Kappa is looking forward to improving its strength exponentially and reamping for the fall ‘08.

Arkansas Alpha-Sigma Colony Alpha Sigma Colony is extremely excited to bring Sigma Pi back to the University of Arkansas, which has been missing since 1977. We are currently in the process of recruiting members, forming committees and raising funds. We colonized with 34 members on February 13th and expect to be pinning several new members in the coming weeks. Everyone is very anxious to begin

making progress, and things are really starting to go in the right direction. We visited our brothers at Arkansas State University, Alpha-Pi Chapter, and were able to take part in many of their Founder’s Day celebrations. The visit was an excellent experience. We formed new contacts, made new friends, gained new ideas, but most of all had a great time. We will continue to work hard in the coming weeks and appreciate all of the support we have been receiving.

Auburn Alpha-Delta Chapter This semester, during rush, we were able to get three new members. Our rush chair Allen Stroud has planned several rush events for the summer.

These include a Braves Baseball game as well as a rafting trip at Lake Martin.

Sage Kevin Marcilliat was recently appointed to a position on IFC Court. VicePresident Steven Boriack was appointed IFC Cabinet director. This year we were able to celebrate our annual Orchid Ball in Destin, Florida on February 16. This year there were over 100 people in attendance. We are also planning our annual Luau which is scheduled for April 17-19. We would like to congratulate brothers Adris Ludlum and Patton Pennington, who were recently graduated in the fall.

Bridgewater State Eta-Eta Chapter Eta-Eta Chapter at BSC is starting out another

Chapter News great year with huge expectations. After initiating a new member, we planned a great rush that garnered nine new pledges for the Alpha-Rho Pledge Class. In philanthropy news, Eta-Eta has collected and donated money to the Rhode Island Foundation, which gives money to smaller philanthropy causes.

We’re planning a Red Cross Blood Drive, a weeklong Ace Project, and the return of the popular Ms. Sigma Pi. Eta-Eta’s Sweetheart Dance was successful as always and plans for 20th Anniversary Orchid Ball are coming along nicely. As always, expect great things from Eta-Eta Chapter.

Cal Poly

Eta-Delta Colony

Eta Delta Colony installed new officers at the beginning of the quarter and soon after had one of its most successful rushes to date. The colony had several exciting firsts including its first family weekend and first semi-formal.

Later in the quarter Eta Delta renewed its winter quarter tradition of thrift store suit gambling at the local Indian Casino. The following weekend, the colony participated in an all-Greek cleanup put on by Cal Poly’s Inter-Fraternity Council where it was one of the most well represented fraternities. Then it had one last week of recruitment to get ready to charter at the end of May. Spring quarter will be a lot of work for Eta Delta but even more fun to finally become a real chapter.

Cal State - Long Beach Beta-Omicron Chapter The Beta Omicron Chapter is having one of their best semesters yet. We are currently in 1st place for IFC Sports and have won 2 sorority philanthropic sporting events. We are the biggest house on campus, with over 100 members, and are continuing to grow with new members this spring.

Of the 9 fraternities at Cal State Long Beach, we have

the highest house GPA. Our philanthropy event, Sigma Pi Sorority Soccer, took place on March 16th, raising over $1000 for the Sam Spady Foundation. We have held social events with 5 of our 7 sororities and our brother fraternity and have 2 more socials planned as well as a ‘grab-a-date’ and Orchid Ball in Laughlin, NV. We are very excited for Greek Week, beginning April 21st. We are also looking forward to welcoming our brothers from across the country to Long Beach, CA for convocation this year.

Cal State - Sacramento Eta-Alpha Chapter After another successful rush, Sigma Pi Eta Alpha chapter is in the midst of its 19th annual sorority Super Bowl. Attracting large numbers of the student body to watch the games.

Eta-Alpha chapter was also successful in raising a handsome donation towards the Sam Spady Foundation.

Our prayers go out to our fallen brother Vu Nguyen (Spring 93) who left us while serving and protecting as a Sacramento sheriff.

California - Irvine Eta-Upsilon Chapter Things are looking great.

Our winter pledge class is coming together nicely, and they are almost ready to initiate. We are trying to do what we can with the rest of this quarter, but we have high hopes for the upcoming quarter. We plan to amaze everyone; starting spring our fraternity will be the top house on campus.

A new fraternity house is making us all anxious for what is to come. We are looking forward to having our annual “Black Out” party and of course our infamous Emerald Ball in Las Vegas. Not to mention the countless other events like exchanges with the top Sororities, Pledge/Active party, and pledge auctions.

Last, but not least, we have been dominating in virtually all aspects of sports. The future is looking vibrant for the Eta Upsilon

chapter at University of California, Irvine.

Central Missouri Gamma-Gamma Chapter

California - Santa Barbara Alpha-Omicron Chapter

The spring semester is well underway for the men of Gamma Gamma. We are very excited about our spring pledge class and are continuing to recruit and meet many new guys.

The men of Gamma Gamma recently put on their Sam Spady project that consisted of the Warrensburg Chief of Police giving a presentation and the Samantha Spady video presentation. As the spring semester continues, we also are planning our ACE project and will continue to work with the campus greenhouses. We have an eventful semester ahead of us and are working very hard to become the best chapter at University of Central Missouri.

Things here at Alpha Omicron at UCSB have been going particularly well since the re-chartering we had on January 26th earlier this year. This past quarter, we have had countless social events with a number of different sororities on campus-and they all immediately fell in love with our gentlemanly splendor and charming personalities.

Also, we have been steadily building and solidifying a positive relationship with our campus community by participating in various philanthropy and community service events. All in all, we are very excited in our new found organization and the brotherhood that has since brought forward; and, we look forward to expanding, and becoming one of the best Sigma Pi chapters in all of California. And of course, all brothers are welcome to come visit and check out our wonderful beaches, weather, and ladies.

Clemson

Eta-Psi Chapter

The Eta-Psi chapter has contributed a lot to the campus and to the Greek community. The Sam Spady card will be put into over 2000 freshman orientation bags next fall. The story of Sam Spady will touch every freshman on Clemson’s

Campus. We have also participated and won many philanthropy events. Our ACE Project has grown and more people are aware of the Solid Green campaign we have helped promote and the benefits of keeping our campus clean. We have already had our annual Cabin Weekend, which is held every spring. It was a very successful and relaxing weekend that every one enjoyed. Still to come this semester, our Annual Golf Tournament, which is being held on April 19th. Over 100 alumni and present brothers will come out to play. After the tournament, we are hosting a Low Country Boil and award ceremony.

Colorado

Zeta-Delta Chapter

Recently our chapter all participated in our yearly “March Madness” philanthropy that is a basketball tournament set up, organized, and run by our chapter for kids with special needs.

It was composed of about 10 teams from local high schools. The event overall was a huge success, we had a great showing and

To increase student involvement on campus, Theta Psi chapter, University of Southern Indiana, cooked out for students and distributed flyers that featured various student organizations

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11

Chapter News

Fitchburg State brothers cleaning the neighborhood

all the kids were awarded ribbons and each team was awarded a trophy at the end of the tournament. The philanthropy took place on March 1st and was an eighthour event.

Drury

Epsilon-Rho Chapter

The Chapter of Epsilon Rho at Drury University commenced the new year by persisting in its efforts to stand as a model of brotherhood and productive citizens. During the month of March, the addition of a promising spring pledge class has contributed to the progress of the Fraternity.

For instance, the pledges joined the already existing chapter in two recent events. These include participating in local outreach programs such as a street cleanup, and also a successful spring formal.

The recent formal consisted of social interaction between fellow brothers and neighboring sorority sisters. In the near future, our agenda calls for an exchange with the Zeta girls and preparing to compete in Greek Week.

Eastern Illinois Beta-Gamma Chapter With Greek Week rapidly approaching, we would like to wish good luck to the big and little men’s tugs teams and to the entire chapter during this year’s Greek Week events. Additionally, good luck to Alpha Phi, Alpha Gamma Delta, and Kappa Delta as our men have been coaching their tugs teams again this

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year. Congratulations to the basketball and indoor soccer teams and the Tofte brothers for their intramural victories and tireless efforts on the courts. The Beta Gamma chapter is in first place for the intramural race. Can anyone smell Three Peat? This cup will never leave our house.

Thank you very much Miss Brittany Gundlach for being a delightful and elegant sweetheart, wish you well after graduation.

Embry-Riddle (AZ) Epsilon-Phi Chapter Overall, this month has been good. We are making progress with the pledges.

We have hosted a few events that have turned out well.

Our chapter is doing better financially than it has in a long time. We are working together to have our Sam Spady event at the schools casino night to help remind the students to have a safe spring break. Greek week is also coming up. We plan to show people what being a Sigma Pi is all about. We hope everyone has a safe and fun spring break.

Fairleigh Dickinson Epsilon-Xi Chapter The spring semester has begun with promising campus events that will continue to make our chapter have a solid reputation here ate Fairleigh Dickinson. In February we co-sponsored a successful ski trip with another organization on campus. Currently we are participating in a women’s history month event with a Latin sorority about domestic

violence. Our chapter has incorporated weekly touch football games as a recruitment tool. Epsilon Xi is also in the process of organizing a basketball tournament fundraiser with the university provost.

We have also begun our preparations for our chapter’s first Orchid Ball. So far, Epsilon Xi is looking towards a bright and lucrative semester!

Ferris State Theta-Theta Chapter Charisma is at an all time high at Ferris State Sigma Pi Theta Theta chapter.

Theta Theta has held a number of philanthropy events including walk for warmth and at our Sam Spady alcohol awareness project. The new initiates are showing great potential by taking on new responsibilities and positions in the chapter.

Theta Theta is embarking on its fifth year anniversary from being chartered.

Our third annual orchid ball at the Double JJ Ranch will celebrate this accomplishment. Theta Theta has successfully won our first Greek intramural Basketball trophy and has also picked up countless bunker points from broom ball and volleyball. Theta Theta is looking forward to Greek Week where we will be defending our championship trophy with the help of the sisters of Alpha Sigma Tau. The end of semester is shaping up to be one for the records books with many social events planned.

Fitchburg State Eta-Tau Chapter As the Eta- Tau Chapter nears Spring Break, we eagerly await the warm weather and the events that come with it such as Greek Week and Our Orchid Ball. Pledging has been going well as we near the fifth week of the process.

Recently, the pledges and a group of actives got together at a BBQ Restaurant in a neighboring city for a get together with a large group of our Alumni.

The Alumni in attendance ranged from those who just graduated to some members that can be found on our charter. This was a great opportunity, especially for the pledges, for people to make new contacts and become acquainted with a very important piece of chapter history. Just this past weekend, a part of our chapter attended a fund raiser at a local sports complex held to benefit the National Heart Association and the family of a fellow Greek, and Sigma Sigma Sigma member, who lost her father to heart disease.

Georgia

Alpha-Phi Chapter

This has been a very eventful and successful semester at Alpha- Phi. We had a wonderful Founder’s Day event at which many alumni from as far back as the mid 1960’s attended. We have also just completed our annual Sam Spady philanthropy in which we partner with the Safe Campus Now

organization here at UGA. Safe Campus Now seeks to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol on college campuses. Sigma Pi’s partnership with the Sam Spady Foundation provided us with the perfect opportunity to help with this worthy cause. In other news, Alpha-Phi currently has the second largest spring pledge class on the UGA campus - as well as the largest in our chapter’s history. An active alumni base, a strong philanthropy and large pledge class are all signs that Alpha-Phi’s past, present and future are both vibrant and bright.

Georgia Tech

Colony

The Georgia Tech colony of Sigma Pi is having a great spring semester.

We are heavily focused on recruiting and are determined to gain IFC recognition by the end of the semester. We recently worked at the Cheersport nationals in Atlanta for fundraising, and we are looking forward to social events such as a Sigma Pi band party, Atlanta Braves date night, and a semiformal at the end of the semester. We also represent Sigma Pi on the athletic fields by participating in four intramural sports this semester, and additionally our Wallyball team made playoffs. We thoroughly look forward to chartering and cannot wait to become initiated brothers.

Chapter News Grand Valley State Theta-Rho Chapter Theta Rho’s performance once again exceeded expectations at Grand Valley. We recruited twelve new gentlemen into our ranks, Theta Rho’s largest winter class. Our Community Service Chair has done a fantastic job getting Sigma Pi’s name across western Michigan by getting our chapter involved with the Special Olympics basketball tournament as well as creating a Pi mile run with Alpha Omicron Pi. Our formal, despite severe set backs, was the largest one yet. Cassandra Badhorn was named our newest sweetheart to kick off the New Year.

Illinois

Phi Chapter

Phi chapter has had a very rewarding spring semester thus far. We had a nine-man spring pledge class, which is our largest in years. This was due in large part to the hard work of our Rush Chairman Marshall Wells

and Sage Mike Murphy. Phi Chapter’s success cannot be measured in growth alone. We have given a tremendous amount back to the community. On March 2nd Phi Chapter traveled to Bloomington to participate in Polar Plunge. At this event Phi Chapter teamed up with local policeman to raise money for the Special Olympics. Additionally, Phi Chapter is teaming up with Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority to put on a luncheon for the university’s married student couples and their children.

Towards the semester’s end we also plan on passing out Sam Spady cards on the quad to inform students about the warning signs of alcohol poisoning.

Illinois Wesleyan Epsilon-Gamma Chapter The Epsilon-Gamma chapter has had an eventful semester thus far. We are proud to have activated nine excellent young men, Frank Alonso, Andy Bauer, Chris Brackett, Angelo Christophell, Matt James, Alec Nyce, Lukasz

Sewera, Bobby Tazioli, and Zez Ready. We also have four new pledges this spring. Last month Epsilon-Gamma chapter hosted a province workshop featuring representatives from all the chapters in our province. We also finished our fall ‘07 semester with the highest GPA on campus among fraternities and even surpassed the overall men’s average at Illinois Wesleyan University. Our ACE project this year will be a full campus cleanup as well as planting a tree and securing a memorial bench dedicated to the late Jack C. Fields, a Past Grand Sage and Epsilon-Gamma chapter alumnus, in front of the newly built Illinois Wesleyan University Welcome Center.

Indiana of Pennsylvania Theta-Epsilon Chapter So far the spring 2008 semester has started off really well. We have scheduled some community service events including adopt-a-highway and a clothing drive to help out the less fortunate people in

the area. Our ACE project is planned out and we are beginning to take action to start it up. The plan involves the construction workers who are helping to make our school a better place. We plan to take some time, and hopefully all of the Greek community can assist, to provide these hard workers with some food, beverages, and time to relax throughout their busy day, creating a much more happy and together feeling all over campus.

Indiana Tech Gamma-Kappa Chapter Well, it is the week of midterms for us here at Indiana Tech, but a lot of the brothers are looking forward to finishing out the week and having a good time with Spring Break next week. However, there will be a few that stay in town in hopes of getting some work done to the house, including myself. With Alumni Banquet quickly approaching, there are a lot of tasks that need to be completed to not only

make the weekend go better, but also present the house to the best it can.

Pledging this semester has been going great thus far.

We started off with 3 and now are at 4 with hopes of keeping it that way. They’re a good group and we look forward to having them join our little ‘family.’

Iowa

Xi Chapter

As the second semester begins we are proud to have four accepted bid cards and look to have two more accepted in the next week. Our newly elected officers have started out the year effectively setting multiple goals for not only our executive board but also our chapter as a whole. We spent Valentine’s Day with the women of Alpha Phi in handing out Valentine’s cards at a local nursing home and spending some time with the elderly. We have worked hard building a stronger brotherhood and celebrated together for Founders’ Day at a local restaurant called Quintons.

During the chapter’s 75th Anniversary, Alpha-Iota chapter, Missouri - Rolla, with the “Giant Sigma” tradition, where they place this wooden sigma next to the campus’ “Millennium Arch” during the St. Pat’s Celebrations

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13

Chapter News We were recently invited to Minnesota by our brothers on April 11 to help with the ceremony and celebrate their chartering that weekend.

Orchid Ball is planned for the following weekend, April 18, for a weekend at Grand Bear Lodge. We look forward to a successful semester filled with great moments and memories.

Iowa State

Sigma Chapter

At Sigma chapter we recently had our annual Orchid Ball, a fun filled evening for all involved.

We awarded members with recognitions including Scholar of the Year, Brother of the Year and others. The house is currently abuzz with preparations for Greek Week on campus. We are practicing three times a week for Lip Sync as well as volunteering, collecting cans, and participating in the food drive. Also upcoming is our Dad’s weekend, where we hope to complete a few home improvement projects as well as have a great father/son experience.

Another current issue is our new scholarship plan, with which we hope to continue and expand upon our academic success.

an exciting time for us at KState as we are completing our first full year as a Chapter. We have made great strides in our first year, and we are looking forward to a bright and promising future.

Kentucky Epsilon-Beta Chapter Our chapter is heading into the spring with a full head of steam. After going undefeated in our intramural basketball season we look forward to doing well in the playoffs. Our own brother, David Ritchie, was the Overall Chairhead for the third annual DanceBlue Marathon that benefits the UK Pediatric Oncology Center. DanceBlue raised the most ever with total donations reaching over $424,000 dollars. We also had our highest number of dancers at the marathon ever at 14. Our house is also going to be renovated over the summer just in time before our fall rush. We are looking forward to capturing many awards at Convocation this summer.

Kutztown

Eta-Pi Chapter

The brothers of the Eta Pi Chapter here at Kutztown University have had a

busy semester that will undoubtedly strengthen and embolden our chapter.

We are proud to say that we have initiated the Alpha Zeta pledge class of five great men and have a newly elected Executive Board; we also bid farewell to Brother Jon Warren who graduated this past semester. The fall semester showed tremendous success with our annual Haunted House and Car Wash that benefit Friends Inc., our local philanthropy.

Homecoming was also a success with our ACE project and having several alumni join us for the events. The year is looking great thus far and all of us here at the Eta Pi chapter are looking forward to a strong pledge class and great success in the upcoming events this semester.

Lawrence Tech Zeta-Omicron Chapter Zeta Omicron has had a very busy year already. We painted the locker room at the gym as our first Ace project of the year and have at least two more lined up for the near future. The chapter has also been in training for Greek Day so we can bring the trophy home

Kansas State Iota-Alpha Chapter This spring has been exciting for the Iota-Alpha Chapter. After attending the Mid-Year Leadership Conference, our Executive Board came back to Manhattan with a lot of great ideas for Chapter improvement. In February, we formally pledged our Beta Pledge Class, and now our new member education program is in full swing.

We have participated in several philanthropies, including the Booyah Benefit for Cancer research.

In February, we completed our ACE Project by cleaning up and improving the KState Leadership Challenge Course. In March, we will be doing our Sam Spady Project as well as several other philanthropies. It is

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where it belongs. Our floor in housing has been very successful and we are now even more motivated to find some sort of chapter house for ourselves in the next few years.

Loyola - Chicago Beta-Chi Chapter The Beta-Chi Chapter at Loyola is midway through our spring 2008 semester. We would like to congratulate our newest pledge class of Fall 2007, with a total of 18 initiates.

We recently held an alumni event/Founder’s day event that was very successful, with many actives and alumni in attendance, all of which the proceeds went to our new Addison Zellner foundation. The Addison Zellner foundation goes to support one of our alumni, Adam Zellner, and his family who recently had a daughter with Spina Bifida.

We would like to extend the invitation to all brothers to donate to this foundation in support of Addison Zellner.

Maryland

Alpha-Chi Colony

The Brothers of Alpha Chi colony have been spending their semester hard at work. It is midterms time and everyone

is cramming in an effort to raise our gpa. It is our hope to become one of the most competitive fraternities on campus. Our education is continuing and we are getting closer and closer to chartering in the fall. Spring break is around the corner and a few of the brothers will be heading to Cancun for some fun in the sun. We are all excited about our growing fraternity at University of Maryland and cannot wait to be chartered by nationals.

Miami (OH)

Eta-Phi Chapter

The Eta Phi Chapter is extremely excited to initiate our Psi pledge class this March. In order to exemplify Chivalry within our new pledges, all pledge brothers participated in our annual Chivalry dinner with Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. In addition, we just held a great mom’s weekend and look forward to our dad’s weekend coming in April.

In addition to Sam Spady foundation fund raising, our chapter is also working hard on our ACE project, which we are collaborating, with the Miami University Men’s Baseball team to raise money for the Oxford Women’s Center.

As the winner of the 2007 leadership award on Miami’s campus we are excited to extend our service with the appointment of brother Anderson Chang as the Chief Justice of the MU student court. We are also excited to follow our sports teams as they participate in the fraternity league playoffs.

Michigan State Zeta-Mu Chapter

Rho, North Carolina State, cleaning up the adopted highway

Zeta Mu is currently anticipating Greek Week, which will be held in the beginning of April. We are partnered with the ladies of Alpha Chi Omega, and hope to take 1st. We will hold our second annual Sam Spady volleyball tournament, and hope to raise $1,000 for the foundation. We have a spring pledge class of 10 guys, and look forward to a big class next fall.

Chapter News Middle Tennessee State Theta-Omega Chapter The Theta-Omega Chapter has continued to grow over the last few months and become one of the most formidable chapters on the MTSU campus. Thanks to a dedicated fundraising effort over the holiday break we were able to greatly improve our financial standing and make several upgrades to our house. We have also brought back our Adopt-aHighway project, and have had successful social events with almost every sorority on campus. The spring semester should prove to be incredibly rewarding, as we have already made plans for a Sigma Pi “Ace of Spades” week on campus, as well as our first Orchid Ball formal in April. We continue to be a force in intramural sports, advancing to the finals of nearly every sport. With the addition of our nowinitiated Alpha pledge class and a terrific Beta class, the future looks bright for Theta-Omega.

Minnesota Iota-Zeta Chapter Nearing the end of a vigorous journey and beginning of new one, the Sigma Pi Colony of Minnesota has a stable foundation in place to carry out the ideals of the Fraternity. The final count for this year’s recruitment class is eighteen, making it our biggest class on record and brining our total membership to 38. With our New Member education test a week away and the chartering ceremony coming up fast, all our brothers are focusing whole-heartedly on the final requirements to becoming full pledged members. Currently we are also working on obtaining local restaurant sponsorships for our 2nd annual “Unsung Heroes Dinner” ACE Project. This year’s Project, which will be held on April 25th, now incorporates all custodial shifts by supplying breakfast, mid-day snacks, and dinner. We are proud

and honored to wear the letters of Sigma Pi Fraternity.

Missouri Gamma-Sigma Chapter Gamma Sigma just recently celebrated our Founder’s Day event two weeks ago with one of the better alumni turnouts in years.

All of us here would like to extend a great deal of thanks to Ken Cercelius for donating the terrific Sigma Pi banner to our house. Two weeks from now, we will begin renovations on our kitchen, replacing the floor, ceiling, serving tables and shelves to go along with other numerous changes.

We would like to thank the alumni for their generous donations to this task as well as our new chapter director, Adam Tipton, who has been responsible for organizing the kitchen project.

Missouri - Rolla Alpha-Iota Chapter Alpha Iota is putting a majority of its efforts into rushing new members, since we recently graduated quite a few older Sigma Pi members. We are currently promoting a Russell House Kids charity. Every time someone uses the search engine www.goodsearch. com, money will be donated to the Russell House kids so we encourage you to participate. We are also still actively supporting the Sam Spady alcohol awareness project as well. On top of that, we have just initiated our 1000th member. This is our 75th anniversary and Rolla’s 100th St. Patrick’s Day celebration that we are all looking forward too. We expect plenty of alumni and friends to join us in celebrating this momentous occasion!

Missouri - St. Louis Delta-Zeta Chapter Delta-Zeta is strongly moving forward with one of the largest chapters we have seen in a long time.

With 36 brothers currently, we already have new guys pinned for the spring and

are looking to set up a summer pledge class to build our numbers up even more before the fall. We have a number of events and philanthropies planned this semester and are also preparing for the always competitive Greek Week in an attempt to solidify our position on campus.

The Mid-Year Leadership Conference was once again a blast and we would like to thank everyone that came out to the party afterwards!

Missouri Southern State Eta-Mu Chapter The Eta Mu Chapter of Sigma Pi has had a really good year; we have 4 new pledges this semester hence having the most amounts of new members through all the Greeks on campus.

We have participated in the Community Blood Center blood drive here at MSSU. Also we have helped the Stones Throw Community Theater with yard work such as picking up branches from our recent ice storm and also raking leaves. In doing this they are hosting an all-Greek dinner social free of charge. Our ACE project is soon to be an excellent one. We are hosting a Jog-A-Thon for the Student Learning Center here on campus because they do not have the finances to buy up to date software. We plan to raise $3,000 for their software.

Missouri State Alpha-Rho Chapter Alpha Rho has big plans for the spring semester.

In Greek sports, Alpha Rho placed second place in Volleyball and third place in weightlifting. We are proud to have pinned 10 new members for this spring’s pledge class and have already begun planning for rush over summer. Academically, we placed 5th out of 13 fraternities for highest GPA and plan on improving even more during the rest of spring. In sponsorship with Highland Springs Country Club, we have planned an Alumni golf tournament

scheduled for August 13th in which we are extremely eager to participate in.

Our philanthropy, Search for Athena, is nearing along with this semester’s Ace project in team with Missouri State University in which we hope to both raise awareness and benefit Children’s Miracle Network and our campus community.

Monmouth Delta-Beta Chapter The Delta Beta Chapter out of West Long Branch, New Jersey held their annual e-board elections recently, and the results are in. The position of Sage went to Junior Sal Fiore; Sean Pallone, Junior, was elected to the position of Second Counselor; Andrew Beuschel, Sophomore, was elected to the position of treasurer; Vincent Falcicchio, Sophomore, was elected as Secretary; Chris Greed, Sophomore, was elected as 1st Counselor; and John Driscoll ,Junior, is the Herald. Excellent academic performance has paid off; the Delta Beta Chapter was awarded with the highest GPA of any Greek Organization of any Greek Group at Monmouth.

The Delta Beta Chapter also successfully recruited 9 new members for its spring education process, and plans to finish up the year strong with another Greek week victory and a few more successful philanthropy events.

Morehead State Delta-Rho Chapter The Delta-Rho Chapter of Sigma Pi has had a phenomenal spring thus far; we currently have two of our four intramural basketball teams in the semifinals for the basketball tournament. We feel this is a huge accomplishment as there is a lot of competition the teams have worked very hard. We Had a very successful ACE week that comprised of our now infamous campus clean-up, Sam Spady presentations (we travel to local high schools to speak for

Sam), and our huge hit which is our ACE party or Sober for Sam: Which is an opportunity for us to engage with other Greeks and the student body without drinking. The event was a huge success and well accepted by the university.

North Carolina State Rho Chapter The brothers of Rho Chapter are proud to announce this springs seven man pledge class. Initiation for the pledges is scheduled for mid-April. As a chapter, we have been volunteering at the Wilmington St. Men’s Shelter every Friday for the past two semesters.

Adopt-A-Highway, our semi-annual philanthropy event, is scheduled for early April. For our annual Orchid Ball we plan to go to Wilmington in April. Our Founder’s Day dinner on February 26, which marked our 87th year in continuous existence, was a success. On March 15th we will be going on our biannual brother’s retreat in Virginia. Skate for Sam, our Sam Spady fundraiser, is hoping to raise $4,000 that will be donated to the Sam Spady Foundation. Congratulations to Brandon McPherson on receiving North Carolina State’s Fraternity President of the Year.

Northern Illinois Beta-Sigma Chapter Despite the recent tragedy at our school, the brothers of Beta Sigma are moving forward as a chapter. We completed a successful ACE project, have worked a lot on new rush ideas, and have made many house improvements thanks to our generous alumni. We now have new washers and dryers, a new stove and oven, a hardwood floor in our chapter room, and we also re-floored and reorganized our office complete with a new computer and laser printer. We have had a few brotherhood events and hope to incorporate new ideas every time. The state of our University is

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Chapter News somber, but there has been an outpouring of support from people all across the nation. We will move past this together and continue to be exemplary Sigma Pi members and citizens.

Oakland

Zeta-Pi Chapter

The Zeta Pi chapter is looking forward to a fun winter semester. Although we lost some of our beloved seniors, the newer members are looking forward to taking on bigger roles. We had a great fall rush by initiating a large pledge class; we are hoping to do the same in the winter. Our Pig Roast was as usual a great turn out. Although we have had some difficulties, our chapter is still as strong as ever. We are also anticipating winning our Annual Sigma Cup after a close game last year. There are some philanthropies and socials planned for the next couple months, including the Cancer Walk and our Risk Management workshop.

We are excited to give back to the community and have some fun. Expect Zeta Pi to be making lots of positive changes in the next year to turn things around so that it can be the great chapter it is expected to be.

Old Dominion Theta-Eta Chapter The Theta-Eta chapter of Old Dominion University started off on the right foot for 2008. Their fifth annual Orchid Ball was a success with alumni making a generous donation of 1000 dollars towards the chapter. On top of an exciting formal, Theta-Eta had a successful spring rush consists of 6 pledges who have just received their big brothers. Their “Safe Spring Break” campaign for ACE is right around the corner consisting of having a seminar with a guest speaker as well as information packets available to students.

Oregon

Iota-Epsilon Chapter

Sigma Pi Iota Epsilon

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chapter has made great strides enhancing our presence on our campus.

In the past two weeks we won Kappa Delta’s Shamrock philanthropy.

The past 5 years have been won by Sigma Chi. We also won the Zeta Phi Beta Bowling tournament as well as placing third in the Sigma Phi Epsilon’s film festival and Kappa Kappa Gamma’s annual dodge ball philanthropy. Since chartering in November, our chapter has developed a great reputation on campus through our participation in as many activities as possible. We were ranked number 4 in GPA. We completed our first “Pigskin Classic”, a flag football tournament as a fundraiser for Iota Epsilon’s philanthropic contribution to Willamette Valley Pop Warner Football. Our chapter also has more than 300 hours of community service for the three-month term.

Pennsylvania

Delta Colony

The Delta Chapter of Sigma Pi has continued to make exciting progress in the past few months. We held open rush for the first time at the beginning of Spring Term, and were very successful; we now have 26 men in our chapter, more than doubling our size at the beginning of the term. 10 of the men in the chapter are living together in a house next year, which will serve as a precursor to getting an official Chapter House.

And we have established weekly dinners before each chapter meeting. We are continuing to take the steps necessary to charter.

We have established a committee system, and have started to reach out to local alumni, as well as begun to plan fund raising and philanthropy events. With a hardworking and dedicated group of men, the Delta chapter is looking forward to a promising future at the University of Pennsylvania.

Penn State

Theta Chapter

The 2007-2008 school year has been a very productive one at the Theta Chapter.

For starters, along-side Delta Gamma Sorority, we raised $113,494.58 for kids with cancer. Altogether with other IFC/Pan-Hellenic partners, Penn State raised over $6.6 million in the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, THON. Within the Greek Community, our pairing finished ninth among all others. Brothers Adam Nye, Matt Hoffman, Greg Parker, and Derrick Vaclavik represented our chapter and endured the 46-hour dance marathon. In addition to this extraordinary event, our house has received some eye-catching improvements.

We have added brand new velvet curtains to the first floor windows and new carpets to the second and third floors. We can also currently boast the best gourmet chef on-campus.

With warm weather on the way, who knows what else is in-store for Sigma Pi, Theta Chapter.

Rowan

Zeta-Chi Chapter

Zeta Chi has enjoyed a great start to the spring semester thus far. We are planning a Sam Spady alcohol awareness seminar for the student body, and are excited for Greek Week, where we are paired with Alpha Epsilon Phi. We are hoping to improve on our second place finish last year and cap the semester off on a high note with a first place finish.

Saginaw Valley State Theta-Beta Chapter The Theta Beta chapter has been busy in 2008.

With help from our newly initiated Tau Pledge class, we have run two fundraisers for the Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund and a Sam Spady event.

Fun has been had by all, with our brotherhood events, such as attending Detroit Pistons basketball

games, and a brother Spring Break. Additionally, we are currently gunning for two intramural championships in floor hockey and dodge ball.

We recently had an Alumni Workshop, including newly graduated Matt Wingblad.

We discussed many joyous topics. Our founding father, Jason Swackhamer, has welcomed his first-born child, and Eli Adams has just recently become engaged. Furthermore, the Saginaw Valley Sigma Pi Alumni Association is planning on Chartering at Convocation. We also discussed our new risk management system. The new system has been our highlight, being the highest recognized, at both Saginaw Valley and the local Saginaw Police station.

San Jose State Beta-Eta Chapter Beta-Eta is off to a great 2008! Founders’ day started the year off very prominently, our 17th Consecutive Founders’ day since we re-colonized at SJSU in 1991. We have started to plan our spring 08’ basketball fundraiser that is set to be near the start of May and have also started planning our Ace Project for later this spring. This semester we are also participating in Kappa Delta’s philanthropy Shamrock Showcase and we are currently on a hot streak in basketball in which we look forward to winning the IFC championship on campus.

We hope to ride the momentum of the spring semester into the fall and have a 15-man pledge class.

Check out sigmapisjsu.com.

Seton Hall Delta-Epsilon Chapter The brothers at Delta Epsilon have started out 2008 in a great way. We had another successful recruitment and are looking forward to call our 4 new members brothers. We will be celebrating our Founders’ Day on March 15 and are looking forward to seeing many of the alumni who

have come and gone before us. We are currently in the process of planning our annual formal and several philanthropy events, as well. On April 12, we will partake in the Relay for Life event that is happening on campus and it is sure to be a huge success. Also, we have a martial arts workshop set up. It should be a very busy end of the year.

S. Illinois - Edwardsville Delta-Omega Chapter Two letters, one decision, no regrets. We reflect this at the Delta Omega Chapter - SIUE campus’ largest and fastest growing fraternity.

We inducted nine pledges this semester bringing us to a forty eight-man chapter.

We are currently forming a Housing committee, in order to establish the first fraternity house owned by the Delta Omega Chapter.

We defeated Sigma Phi Epsilon 21-12 in the Toilet Bowl for the seventh consecutive year in a row.

Last semester we had the largest pledge class for our chapter on record. We won First Place in the Alpha Phi, Phi-esta Bowl against Alpha Kappa Lambda, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Phi Kappa Psi for the eighth consecutive year. In completing our annual run/walk for breast cancer awareness, and ACE projects: Pig roast and Valentine’s Day for the early childhood center, we donated over $600 and are the most active fraternity on campus.

St. Joseph’s Theta-Chi Chapter Much has been happening during our first year as the Theta Chi Chapter of Saint Joseph’s University.

We have 10 newly initiated brothers, which was the most initiates out of any Fraternity at St. Joseph’s, who have already taken leadership roles among the Chapter. We had a great Ace Project in the fall semester, which had 5 programs.

Each of our Ace Project’s programs reflected a specific Ideal from the Sigma Pi creed. Such programs

Chapter News included a women’s defense class, a presentation on “Truth and Justice” by a Jesuit Priest, and cultural potluck with many organizations on campus. As well as working to establish our Chapter we are also heading a movement to unite all fraternities and sororities to work together on campus, and support each other’s events. This is something that has not been, and needs to be, done on our campus.

TCNJ

Theta-Delta Chapter

Our chapter has been consistently on top of brotherhood, scholarship, and doing work for the beginning of the spring semester. Our brotherhood is stronger than ever and we had a successful brotherhood week and Montreal trip this past winter. At our yearly Founders’ Day dinner almost the whole chapter, plus alumni, came to Mama Floras to celebrate. Brother Shane Mullin is abroad in Ireland and has recently sent us a postcard. He is missed, but will be back in April. Brother Trevor Zompa was also abroad during the winter months in Italy, and just returned to continue student teaching for his senior year. Some events planned for the end of the semester are our Formal, Luau, and Family Picnic.

Theta Delta has is looking to the future to stay strong at the TCNJ campus and keep improving our fraternity as a whole.

Texas

Gamma-Theta Chapter

We have just finished putting on our ACE Project.

In our ACE Project we simulated a mock drunk driving wreck to promote awareness about drunk driving. During the project we also passed out fliers for Sam Spady. We are also working a fundraiser for Sam Spady. And all of the brothers are now working towards doing at least 5 philanthropy hours each.

Every week we have at least

Brothers from the Alpha-Iota chapter, Missouri - Rolla, wearing ACE Project shirts. On the back they state “Let me help you on your PRO day!”

5 brothers participate in a program called SURE walk were we walk girls home so that they will be safe and not have to worry about being molested. We are also putting together an Alumni event in May. Towson

Eta-Nu Chapter

Eta-Nu Chapter kicked off its 2008 ACE Project on March 4, handing out over 500 SAM Spady Cards to TU students, faculty, and professional staff members. The next day the brothers hosted a Chivalry Dinner for members of the eight NPC sororities on campus. On March 6, Eta-Nu sponsored two educational programs. Dr. Brad Lerner, an urologist, and Marc R. Krivitz, a cancer survivor, spoke to fraternity men on campus about testicular cancer awareness.

Concurrently, Joyce Franklin, a representative of HADDASA, addressed sorority women about the dangers of breast cancer.

On March 7, the chapter wrapped up ACE Project with its Fifth Annual Towson University Greek Unity Campus Clean-up.

We are pleased to report that this year’s ACE Project reached out to nearly 750 members of the university community.

UCLA

Upsilon Chapter

Nine of our brothers just finished the Los Angeles

Marathon. Our chapter raised over 5000 dollars for the LA Rape Treatment Center. Our Founders’ Day went very well, some of our alumni had not been to the house in 50 years.

Our chapter is doing well and we are pleased to report that our 3.3 GPA is higher than the campus average, all-men’s average, and all-fraternity average. Additionally, we have achieved our goal of obtaining a 100-man chapter.

Valparaiso

Beta-Tau Chapter

Here in Beta Tau, we take pride in the close relationships that our members share with one another. To further build these relationships, we have been hosting numerous brotherhood events, such as cooking dinners and watching sporting events.

Our spring pledge class is in charge of our ACE project this semester and has decided to host a carwash free of charge to all faculty and staff at Valparaiso University. Also, we have arranged for a speaker to come for a Sam Spady Foundation event later in the semester.

West Virginia Tech Gamma-Xi Chapter Orchid ball went over very well. We had a great turnout with expected attendance.

We had three people go to

Mid-Year. The experience was one not to be forgotten in the near future. Last semester’s ACE project had great success with a fresh coat of paint on the first floor of the Baisi Center on the campus of West Virginia University Institute of Technology. Whitewater weekend was a blast. As the semester comes to a close, we look forward to the arrival of new pledges for the upcoming semester.

Western Michigan Gamma-Rho Chapter We have had a busy time recently here at Gamma Rho. We initiated 16 new members last semester and they are stepping up and ready to contribute to our success. We had two teams participate in intramural football this past season ending in late November.

Despite tumultuous times as of late, we have come together stronger than ever to make a positive impact in the community. We are gearing up for our annual Teeter Totter philanthropy as well as our ACE project, both being held the first week of April. This year we will be raising funds for the American Cancer Society.

We have nine new members and are looking forward to adding to our numbers.

our chapter. We are proud to announce that we have pledged in 6 new members into our chapter. We took first place overall for our Homecoming in the fall, nearly winning every event.

For the start of the new year we took a respectable third place in our winter carnival festivities. We are looking forward to get our spring rush off to a good start and to recruit some more valued members to our chapter.

Worcester Polytechnic Gamma-Iota Chapter This past fall, the Gamma Iota Chapter at Worcester Polytechnic Institute gained 17 new brothers, the most in the past several years.

We will also be welcoming our first ever spring class with 5 pledges. Our house is currently going through some minor reconstruction with some water damage, and our fall pledge class re-modeling the main floor bathroom.

We are currently working on plans for more philanthropy events including the Scleroderma Walk.

Wisconsin - Oshkosh Gamma-Mu Chapter This past semester has been a very busy one for

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Campus Expansion

Sigma Pi Colonizes at Bentley College

by Jeremy Boylan, New England Province Archon WALTHAM, MA – On the evening of May 4th, 2008, Sigma Pi Fraternity colonized on the campus of Bentley College, one of the top business schools in the United States. The ceremony was conducted by Grand Fourth Counselor Ed Levesque (ΗΗ, Bridgewater State ’89) New England Province Archon Jeremy Boylan (ΗΤ, Fitchburg State ’98) and Jacob Hart (ΗΤ, Fitchburg State ’10).

During the fall of 2006, the Sigma Pi Executive Office was contacted by a group of students wishing to start Sigma Pi at Bentley College. The colonization ceremony was long-anticipated for almost two years, since our interest group had been working with Bentley to gain official recognition as the college framed their expansion policy.

Throughout the entire period, the interest group remained strong and committed and 34 members in total were colonized.

The colony is already setting

the tone as an academic powerhouse, with a cumulative GPA of 3.3. They have a long list of extracurricular activities and honors, which include President’s list, Dean’s list, Rugby Team, Golf Team, Tennis Team, Skydiving Club, Wrestling Club, Student Government, Bentley Entrepreneurial Society, and several active participants in the local Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs.

“We are very lucky and honored to have a group at one of the country’s most prestigious schools,” said Grand Fourth

Counselor Ed Levesque. “We view this as a huge step forward in our expansion in the Northeast and more specifically, the Province of New England.”

With the time that the group has had to develop, they are well on their way to completing the steps towards chartering and hope to become a chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity in the very near future.

Congratulations can be sent to the Colony President, Michael Londergan, via e-mail at: londerg_ mich@bentley.edu.

If you are a Sigma Pi who has served or currently is serving in the armed forces of Canada or the United States — We Want You! Under the leadership of Major Nick Zeisler, U.S. Air Force, Sigma Pi Fraternity is forming an alumni club to be comprised of members of the armed forces of our countries.

The mission of the alumni club will be three-fold: 1) To encourage the profession of arms for our undergraduate brothers, 2) To provide networking opportunities and foster relations between Sigma Pi men who are serving or have served in the armed forces, and 3) To develop scholarships and grants for undergraduate brothers who have affiliations with the Armed Forces.

If you are interested in being a charter member of this new group, please e-mail Nick at vets@sigmapi.org for more information.

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From July 29 through August 2 Sigma Pi Fraternity International celebrated its 49th Biennial Convocation at the Hilton in Long Beach, California, a few short blocks from the legendary Queen Mary and one of the busiest ports in the United States. Nearly five hundred alumni and undergraduates congregated in beautiful southern California, enjoying the weather and the fellowship of kindred minds —some of those arriving early also “enjoyed” an earthquake which registered 5.4 on the Richter Scale, but that geological event did nothing to dampen the fraternal spirit they brought to Convocation. 4

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Most of our Brothers know that our Biennial Convocation provides brotherhood, entertainment, awards and excitement, but its principal purpose is to conduct the business of our Fraternity.

Delegates from our undergraduate chapters, representatives of alumni clubs, and Grand Officers, both past and present, meet in formal business sessions to chart Sigma Pi’s course for the coming two years. This forum provides the Brotherhood with the knowledge to enable its members to review the past biennium’s activities and to consider the next biennium’s challenges so that thoughtful consideration can lead to an action plan for future success. The committees at Convocation labored long and hard to ensure that the Grand Chapter used the limited time it had to make well-conceived, thoughtful and appropriate decisions for the long-term benefit of Sigma Pi. Tuesday, July 29,

Top left: Then Grand Sage Larry Rovira during the Opening Procession Top: Members of Beta-Omicron Chapter receiving the Grand Sage Award Right: Members of Theta-Delta Chapter receiving the Grand Sage Award Bottom: Members of Beta-Pi Chapter and Alpha-Nu Chapter after both winning the Grand Sage Award

began registration and the first formal activity. The Grand Council gathered in its last meeting of the Biennium to approve the chartering of two brand-new alumni clubs, the Greater Detroit Alumni Club and the 1897 Alumni Club, and to conduct other necessary business. The Nominating Committee, chaired

by Past Grand Sage Gary Tash, began to organize that evening.

Delegates also started to trickle in, arriving at the several airports or finishing a grueling drive across country to reach the hotel.

Educational Foundation Trustees also began to arrive, ready to present scholarships and awards to deserving undergraduate Brothers, to discuss the important task of raising funds and, as importantly, to decide how those funds were to be distributed for the benefit of the Grand Chapter.

By Wednesday most of the delegates and alumni had settled in, and after an alumni volunteer organizational meeting the evening kicked off with a great reception for the delegates.

“Big Daddy,” otherwise known as Randall Webster (ΒΝ, SIUCarbondale), a dedicated and

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evening at GameWorks for fun and fellowship.

Right: Alumnus Nicholas Zeisler (ΗΣ, Colorado State ’93) and Grand Fourth Counselor John A. Michelich styling before the evening awards banquet Below: Past Grand Sage Larry Rovira congratulates Grand Sage George Hakim Bottom: Catlin Roberts, Cal State - Long Beach, receives the Outstanding Greek Advisor Award

talented Brother, entertained the Brothers and guests with his unique musical style. The Grand Sage reception followed, and those aspiring to a position on the Grand Council began the interview process with the Nominating Committee.

On Thursday the first business session began with the procession of Honorary Grand Sages, Past Grand Sages, Founders’ Award recipients and the Grand Council, followed by a rousing video. The 49th Biennial Convocation was officially begun with the ritual opening of the Grand Chapter meeting. New Province Archons and Chapter Directors were recognized and members of the Grand Council delivered their Convocation reports, updating the assembly on their activities during the Biennium.

After lunch the Grand Council performed a model Golden Quest, initiating seven members into the Brotherhood. The Grand Council then performed the new Memorial Service, honoring all Sigma Pi members who had passed to the Adytum on High during the Biennium.

After this deeply meaningful ceremony the members of the Budget and Finance, Constitution and Bylaws, Convocation, Credentials and Registration, Codifications, Scholarship, and Parliamentarian Committees met to prepare for the execution of their responsibilities during the Convocation. The official business of the day was concluded, and the Brothers enjoyed the rest of the

On Friday morning Grand Sage Larry Rovira (ΕΝ, CSU Fullerton) hosted a breakfast for the top twelve Chapters.

The business session then began with the report of the Nominating Committee and then continued with the business of the Grand Chapter.

The Educational Foundation hosted its Awards Luncheon and presented many scholarships to deserving undergraduate Brothers, after which the next business session continued. Also during the afternoon the Educational Foundation conducted its corporate meeting, at which elections were held. Past Grand Sage John Merino (ΒΟ, Long Beach State), James Jennings (ΓΥ, Murray State), John McCann (ΑΜ, NJIT) and Joseph Palazzolo (ΔΒ, Monmouth) were elected as Trustees, and Tom Moore (ΓΡ, Western Michigan) and Cliff Wilke (ΔΖ, UMSL) were elected Chairmen of the Foundation.

Saturday’s business session began with the election of the Grand Council for the 2008-2010 Biennium. The following men were elected: Grand Sage: George N. Hakim, Gamma-Alpha Chapter, University of Detroit Mercy. Brother Hakim is the Director of Facilities Administration for the State of Michigan in the Department of Management and Budget.

Grand Second Counselor: Christopher R. Brown, GammaEta Chapter, Rutgers University.

Brother Brown is a senior trial attorney with Drazin and Warshaw with offices in Hazlet and Red Bank, New Jersey.

Grand Third Counselor: Edward R. Levesque, Eta-Eta Chapter, Bridgewater State University.

Brother Levesque is Senior Environmental Health and Safety Manager with Millenium, The Takeda Oncology Company.

Grand Fourth Counselor: John A. Michelich, Epsilon-Gamma Chapter, Illinois Wesleyan University. Brother Michelich is a Senior Trial Attorney in the Criminal Division of the United Sates Department of Justice in

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Washington, D.C. Grand First Counselor: E. Andrew Morris, Gamma-Upsilon Chapter, Murray State University.

Brother Morris is the owner of Collegiate Regalia, Inc., in Wakefield, Rhode Island.

Grand Herald: Craig E. Donnelly, Beta-Chi Chapter, Loyola University of Chicago, Brother Donnelly is a senior associate with the law firm of Connelly Roberts & McGivney in Chicago, and is the 100th man in the history of Sigma Pi to be elected to the Grand Council.

Past Grand Sage: Larry P. Rovira, Epsilon-Nu Chapter, California State University, Fullerton.

Brother Rovira is Managing Partner of Sigma Property Investments, LLC. Next came the approval of the Budget and Finance Committee report, as well as several other reports. The last business session concluded with the installation of the new Grand Council in a ceremony conducted by Past Grand Sage Frank Fryburg, followed by the formal closing of the meeting of the Grand Chapter.

The Grand Chapter Banquet was the finale of the week.

Founders’ Awards, the highest individual honor the Fraternity bestows, were presented to former California state senator Tim Leslie, Beta-Omicron, Long Beach State University; Nelson Farris, the number two tenured employee of the Nike Corporation, also of Beta-Omicron, Long Beach State University; and Past Grand Sage Edward J. Panconi, Epsilon-Sigma, Loyola Marymount University.

Sherdrick Bonner, Arena Football League quarterback, EpsilonIota, California State University Northridge, was unable to attend.

These men epitomize the ideals of Sigma Pi and all are deserving of the honor.

1

2

4

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Other awards presented were as follows: Convocation Attendance Award: Beta-Omicron Chapter, Long Beach State Man Miles Award: Alpha-Nu Chapter, Wake Forest

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3

7

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Lyle H. Smith Award for Outstanding Chapter Director: Don Cox, Chapter Director for The College of New Jersey Curtis G. Shake Award for Outstanding Province Archon: Joe Palazzolo, New Jersey Province Archon

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Byron R. Lewis Academic Award: Iota Chapter, University of California - Berkeley Dr. Bob Burns Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award: Dr. Joseph B. Mosca, Monmouth University Outstanding Greek Advisor Award: Caitlin Roberts, Long Beach State Finally, the four Grand Sage’s Awards were presented: George Martin Patterson Award (1-5 fraternities on campus): Theta-Delta Chapter, The College of New Jersey James Thompson Kingsbury Award (6-9 fraternities on campus): Beta-Omicron Chapter, Long Beach State William Raper Kennedy Award (10-19 fraternities on campus): Alpha-Nu Chapter, Wake Forest University Rolin Roscoe James Award (20+ fraternities on campus): Beta-Pi Chapter, University of Virginia

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After these recognitions Past Grand Sage Rovira spoke, expressing his feelings for the Fraternity at his farewell address, and Grand Sage Hakim followed, acknowledging the humbling but thrilling challenge of leading the Fraternity for the next two years.

The banquet ended with the assembled Brothers singing the Fireside Song. Grand Sage Hakim then hosted a gala Grand Sage reception.

10 1.) The Nominating Committee chaired by PGS Gary Tash; 2.) Frank Fryburg; 3.) staff members Nadine Mills and Jenn Wyatt; 4.)

Colony members and staff; 5.) undergraduate members voting during Convocation business; 6.) Brothers enjoying the weekend; 7.)

Alp 10.) members of the national staff take a moment to pose

Until a Sigma Pi Brother has attended a Biennial Convocation he cannot imagine the energy and excitement of interacting with five hundred other kindred minds in the spirit of fellowship. It is an experience that simply cannot be duplicated. Please plan to attend the 2010 Convocation in Boston — you will not regret it.

Additional chapter awards are listed on page 4

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| Summer 2008

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25

News from Alumni

Gamma-Upsilon Alumni at their summer reunion

Gamma-Upsilon Alumni Summer Reunion 2008 was the largest reunion in the history of the Gamma-Upsilon, Murray State, Chapter. As mentioned in previous editions of the Emerald, we celebrated our 40th anniversary and honored our Alpha pledge class.

Highlights of the weekend include Larry Granquist winner of the Brotherhood Memorial Golf Tournament, the alumni softball team defeated the active softball team (again), Alumni of the Year awarded to James Jennings, Distinguished Alumni of the Year awarded to Dr. Jay Morgan, elections for the housing corp. and alumni club were completed, an auction (including autographed guitar from Tracey Lawrence) raised more than $5,000 for the newly created Chapter Endowment Fund, and a DVD presentation honoring the Alpha pledge class sharing memories of 1968 – 1972 was presented to all Alpha pledge class members in attendance.

The weekend was a huge success and many thanks to everyone that donated the many auction items. Thank you to the active chapter for all their efforts in preparation. They were great hosts for the weekend. If you need information about more

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| Summer 2008

alumni activities, please contact us at sigmapialumni@hotmail. com and don’t forget about our March Madness Online Basketball Tournament coming soon. Start making plans for Summer Reunion 2009 – July 18, 2009.

Alumnus Updates Thomas J Hall - is a new social studies and physical education teacher at St. Mark School in Richmond, Ky. He also serves as the school’s athletics director.

Alfred Kalahati - took a position with Primerica Financial Services as a Financial Advisor. In this capacity he plans to help families

by protecting their income, investing for retirement and eliminating debt.

John Kitch - was named one of the “Best of the Bar” in the August 22nd issue of the Nashville Business Journal. The publication honored only 107 lawyers out of over 3,500 in the Nashville area. John was one of only two picked in the specialty of appellate practice.

Brad Krupinski - after receiving his master’s degree in curriculum, instruction and assessment, was married in Hawaii (July 29, 2006) to wife, Jessica. Brad moved to Palatine, lll., a suburb of Chicago, and continued his teaching career.

In the last year, he received three teaching awards for his use of technology in the classroom.

He looks to continue teaching students math in his new school.

Jared Larson – received the Outstanding Recent Graduate Award from Emporia State University, which recognizes an outstanding recent graduate from each of the undergraduate colleges and schools. Jared is studying for his Ph.D. in global governance at the University of Delaware while performing research in the United States and in Spain. He is a commentator on Spanish radio regarding U.S. foreign policy, speaking Spanish fluently and French and Portuguese very well, with proficiency in five other languages. His publications appear in Spanish journals and conference proceedings. He has taught at Lebanon Valley College, the University of Delaware, and ESU, and has taught English in Madrid.

Joe LeFevre - a former police officer, was approached to play to role of a police officer in the movie “Public Enemies,” which is the story of John Dillinger. Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Michael Mann are starring in the film.

John Kitch and wife, Jaci

Joe LeFevre in 1930s era uniform on the set of “Public Enemies”

Jonathan P. Lindberg - was recently selected to join the Raleigh, N. C., team of Robert Half International Inc. in the capacity

News from Alumni

Michael Tullier

Alumni Justin White, Embry-Riddle (AZ), and Robb Williams, Florida State, happened to meet during training for Air Midwest in Wichita, Kansas. They were simulator partners and currently Justin is based in Kansas City and Robb is based in Athens, Ga.

Alumni chosen to lead Congratulations to our Brothers Fred Ehler and Andrew Vasconi.

Fred, Class of 1970 Omega Chapter, Oregon State University, recently exited as President and Andrew, Class of 1988 Zeta Eta Chapter, Santa Clara University, has been elected President Pro Tem of the Engineering and Utility Contractors Association (EUCA). EUCA is one of the most powerful and influential construction organizations in the Western United States. These two brothers were recruited by the EUCA for their qualities of leadership and vision.

After Graduating from Oregon, Fred entered the US Army and served as an Infantry Drill Sergeant for 8 years. Departing from the military with honors, Fred quickly moved up the corporate ladder in the Insurance industry. While working and raising a family Fred earned a MBA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. In 1993 Fred returned to the family construction company to aid his father, eventually buying out the business. This proven leader took the family business HF Ehler

in building skate parks. Most recently his firm AJ Vasconi General Engineering was featured in Concrete Decor Magazine for his accomplishments in the industry and has received an invitation to build a skate park in Israel.

Fred Ehler and Andrew Vasconi

Company to the premiere level it enjoys today.

With a degree in Civil Engineering from Santa Clara University Andrew delivered dozens of successful bridge projects for a large heavy civil contractor in Northern California before founding his own firm in 1997. Andrew has received numerous accolades for construction of various concrete structures throughout the region including his firm’s specialty

Fred and Andrew were united in 2006 during a leadership building seminar at EUCA where they both shared leadership experiences they had while serving in roles with their respective Sigma Pi chapters.

Both Fred and Andrew agree that they were chosen by their peers to lead the EUCA because of the leadership skills they first experienced with Sigma Pi. The EUCA is a professional organization of Union Contractors from Northern California. The organization fosters business relationships through events and services focused on growth in the construction market place, government advocacy, fair contract practices, and they provide safety/management training to members.

of recruitment manager. His team specializes in the placement of permanent employees in the finance and accounting fields, with a territory from Burlington to Wilmington, N. C. Adam Shores - and his wife Kathryn (Zeta Tau Alpha, Stetson, ‘04) welcomed the birth of their son (and future Sigma Pi) McKinley Everett on February 19, 2008. The Shores family will be relocating to the Chicago area where Brother Shores has accepted a promotion to the national media team for Allstate Insurance Company.

Donald Simmons - has been named Dean of the College of Leadership, Service and Graduate Studies at Dakota Wesleyan University.

Michael J. Tullier - has been appointed chair of the 2008 Universal Accreditation Board (UAB). The UAB is the leading certification body for the public relations profession. Tullier is director of External Relations for the Auburn University College of Education, and is an active volunteer in two UAB participating organizations: the Public Relations Society of America and the Southern Public Relations Federation.

Greg Wheeler - and his wife Janelle welcomed their son Colton James Wheeler, born on 8-14-08.

He weighed 6 lbs, 6oz and was 18” long. Rumor has it that Greg is already quizzing young Colton on the four founding fathers.

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When young men join together in brotherhood during their college days, they naturally enjoy a very special relationship and share many activities, but most probably don’t anticipate the camaraderie that can last a lifetime. Occasionally, these long-term friendships stimulate partnerships in exciting endeavors. This type of collaboration materialized for three Auburn University Alpha Delta chapter alumni, who parlayed 50-plus years of brotherhood into a joint venture to provide a unique collection of sweetheart song versions to be treasured by all members of Sigma Pi. Brothers Carl Myatt, Tom King, and Joe Ed Voss initially attempted to find a recording of the sweetheart song for a reunion with several other brothers from the 1950’s era. Since no such recording was immediately found, the three decided to produce a current adaptation of the beautiful song for their own use as well as for other Sigma Pi functions. Brother Myatt contacted Sigma Pi International and encountered enthusiastic

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| Summer 2008

Alpha Delta Brothers gathered in Williamsburg, Va., for the 2007 East Coast Frolic. Left to right standing-Joe Ed Voss, Carl Myatt; Left to Right seated-Jim Bullington, Stewart McKnight, Paul Hall, Tom King, Dave Caraway, Chuck Norris, and Dick Barnwell

support. In fact, Sigma Pi volunteered to help market such a recording via fraternity publications.

Carl Myatt is an architect in Greensboro, N.C., originally from Mississippi and has held many leadership positions with The American Institute of Architects; Tom King is a retired aerospace engineer living near Huntsville,

Ala., and takes pride in his long career with the nation’s space program, beginning as a co-op in 1956 prior to the launch of the first space satellite; and Joe Ed Voss is a retired U.S. government employee, living in Pell City, Ala., and was a cheerleader for Auburn University’s 1957 national championship football team.

The idea for recording the

sweetheart song was formed during several gatherings of fraternity brothers. There have been many spur-of-the-moment gatherings of 1950’s-era AlphaDeltas through the years with various participants, depending on location and availability of brothers. On one occasion, Myatt and Voss were visiting King’s home in Madison, Ala., along with other brothers: retired career

by Carl Myatt

”What a wonderful CD! Every version of the Sweetheart Song was beautifully done and, as I absorbed the music, I was taken back to a time in our Fraternity’s past when the men of Sigma Pi would passionately serenade the chapter sweetheart routinely at Fraternity functions.

I loved this music and believe you will, too.”

— George Hakim, Grand Sage foreign service officer and U.S. ambassador Jim Bullington and former USAF fighter pilot and United Airlines Captain Paul Hall.

As usual, the party gravitated to a group-singing reminiscent of college days, when the Alpha Deltas frequently sang traditional fraternity songs at events and around the dinner table. Some of the songs were a little rowdy, but on special occasions, especially when dates were involved, the sweetheart song was crooned.

During the gathering at Madison, the group decided to visit Brother Jim Williams at Bellingham, Wash., who was struggling with Parkinson Disease.

This gathering, which also included Brother Charles Norris of LaConner, Wash., ended up with music at the home of Hall in Des Moines, Wash. Again, the awareness that music is one of the predominant interests shared by this group was compelling.

The success of the gatherings precipitated a follow-up reunion in the east, called the East Coast Frolic, hosted by Carl Myatt in Greensboro and Jim Bullington in Williamsburg, Va. Additional Alpha Delta alumni participants

a barbershop quartet named Quadzilla in the Triad North Carolina area and an arrangement of the music was written for the barbershop style. The resulting CD was excellent and would have been sufficient; however, ideas for other music styles began to crop up, and the rest is history.

Paul Hall

for this gathering were Stewart McKnight of Alexandria, Va., Dick Barnwell of Newport News, Va., and Dave Caraway of Columbus, Ga. Traditionally, the party culminated with music at Bullington’s home. Again, the need for a current recording of the sweetheart song was emphasized.

At this point, Myatt suggested to King and Voss that they form a partnership and produce a CD of the sweetheart song. With the permission from Sigma Pi International as well as marketing support, this venture was initiated. Myatt contracted

About this time, Myatt heard the voice of Robert Trail, a young baritone singer and recent graduate of University of North Carolina in Greensboro, and suggested that the team solicit his recording for the CD; a piano solo version also was added.

Then during the music session at the Williamsburg gathering, the country-music style singing of Brother Paul Hall suggested another version to add. Paul along with his band, Saltwater Saints, agreed to provide a recording of the song. Along the way, the national chapter found a 1938 band version with a solo by Brother Robert Meyer while an Alpha Theta at Beloit College, and it was added. Finally, King’s brother, Chuck King, who is a professional trumpet player in Birmingham, Ala., and leader of the Dixieland band Pineapple

Skinners, agreed to provide two additional styles.

Thus a small project to produce a recording of the Sigma Pi sweetheart song for personal use has mushroomed into a CD including seven diverse styles to be marketed to Sigma Pi alumni and active brothers to regenerate the beautiful Sigma Pi Sweetheart Song. The three entrepreneurs have no illusions of becoming rich from this venture, but they are hopeful that Sigma Pi members will enjoy the beautiful presentations of the sweetheart song.

The CD will be released in midOctober and orders may be made by contacting Brother Carl Myatt, 1111 West Friendly Avenue, Greensboro, NC, 27401, phone (336) 274-3554 or via e-mail at cmyatt3363@aol.com. Cost is $16, check or cash which includes shipping. A bonus pack is offered to active fraternity chapters which includes 10 CD’s for $150.

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29

Adytum on High

Gifts 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

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Arkansas State - Alpha-Pi Joseph T. Rauls ’59

Emory - Psi Julian A. Turrentine ’50, Feb 2004

Beloit - Alpha-Theta Harry A. Kriz ’51, 4/18/03

Indiana - Beta Thomas C. Fowler ’42, 2/9/07

California - Iota Christopher J. Wootton ’08, 5/3/08

Iowa State - Sigma Keith Irvin Frost ’41, 3/7/08

California, LA - Upsilon Willard H. Reed ’40

Kutztown - Eta-Pi Frank Redington ’95, 3/18/08

Cal State-Long Beach - BO Richard L. Solomon ’68, 2/26/08

Lock Haven -Beta-Omega Charles Q. Simcox ’62, 1990

California State Univ - Alpha-Xi John A. Bedford ’49, 4/18/08

Missouri-Rolla - Alpha-Iota Robert M. Harrison ’50, 5/5/07

Cornell - Mu Kenneth H. Barker Cudmore ’41, 5/5/2008 Allyn W. Hoffman ’50, 1/12/08

Missouri St. Louis - Delta-Zeta Donald G. Gerner ’79 Dennis J Rohde ’69, June 2008

East Carolina - Eta-Kappa Richard S. Spears ’98, 6/11/08

North Carolina State - Rho Reece Folb ’51, 12/21/07

Eastern Illinois - Beta-Gamma Stewart A. Coleman ’85 Alan N. Huffer ’58, 3/4/1993

Northern Illinois - Beta-Sigma Lance L. Lindstorm ‘64

| Summer 2008

Ohio - Epsilon Frederic V. Wagner ’43, 5/2/08

Ohio Northern - Zeta George E. Woods ’42, Oct. 2007 Richard V. Pryce ’51, 6/1/08 Ohio State - Gamma Donald K. Martin Harold W. Neely ’17 William L Mullen ’17 Ralph G. Lockett ’16 Lawrence W. Hutt ’21 David P. Singleton Edwin T. Cauffield ’20 Harry D. Goldy ’21 John A. Ziegler ’21 Dane L. Williams ’22 Harold L. Priest ’22 Robert M Campbell ’22 Stanley E. Gaiser ’21 Wallace D. Hooper ’22 Albert B Chamberlin ’43 John T. Burnham ’51 John T. Richards ’53 George E. Lavance ’58 Nicholas P. Coady ’59

Penn State - Theta Mark E. Singley ’42 Purdue - Eta Fred M. Pugh ’44, 3/3/08 Irvin W. Carpenter ’44, 12/11/07 Rhode Island - Alpha-Upsilon Stephen B. Murray ’63 Ronald D. Laime ‘66 Rochester Tech - Beta-Phi Robert T. Pazda ’59 SIU-Carbondale - Beta-Nu Robert W. Carmody ’50, 1/19/08 Temple - Kappa John D. Pringle ’54, 2/1/08 George Trautwein ’51, 5/1/08 Nevada-Reno - Zeta-Omega Walter T. Johnson ’49 Wake Forest - Alpha-Nu Billy G. Anderson ’73, 2002 Western Illinois - Epsilon-Zeta James C. Goldthorpe ’74, 5/5/08

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The Foundation

profile of a Educational Foundation donor: Jim Espy (ΑΘ, Beloit College ’70) I graduated from Beloit College with a BS in chemistry ‘in 1970.

1 went on to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.

After earning an MS in Chemistry in 1973, I went to work for Dow Chemical in Midland, Mich. At Dow, I worked on everything from epoxy resins to gas chromatography to brake fluids and hydraulic fluids.

While living in Midland, I met my wife, Margie, and we were married on August 9, 1975. In 1978, we moved to North St. Paul, Minn., and I started working for 3M on fluoroelastomers.

I got an itch to go overseas and in March 1978, we moved to Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, one of the towns established by the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco). I started out supervising a laboratory at the Qurayyah Seawater Treatment Plant. The plant took water from the Arabian Gulf (known in this country as the Persian Gulf and prepared the water for water flood in the oil field.

On one field assignment, we stopped at a shanty town in the middle of the desert and an Arab gentleman invited us in to his home for tea. Luckily, we had a man with us who could interpret Arabic. Our host rolled out a carpet for us on the sand and we took off our shoes and sat on the carpet. Now you have to understand that it was very hot that day, and the flies were out in force. Our host passed around a big bowl of dates. I am not a fan of dates and these dates were covered with flies. I did not want to offend our host by not taking any dates; so I reached into the bowl and tried to take just one very small date. However, a whole handful came out. And they were covered with flies. I ended up eating the dates, flies and all.

At one point, I thought that the emergency showers in the laboratory should be tested. The technicians tried to talk me out of it, but I couldn’t be swayed.

I got a 5-gallon pale and turned on the water. This reddish brown crud came out of the shower and quickly filled my pale and I couldn’t shut the water off.

When all was said and done, I had flooded the lab and the superintendent’s office on the first floor below the lab. To my surprise, the Arab was very good natured about the whole thing and he saw to it that the shower system was repaired and worked correctly.

After supervising the laboratory, I was moved into field operations and assisted with the commissioning of a number of gas oil separation plants. Following the field work, we were moved to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (Aramco’s headquarters) where I helped set up a quality assurance program.

On February 19, 1983, our [soon to be adopted] son, Paul, was born in St. Paul, Minn. We came home on vacation, finalized the adoption and returned to Arabia with Paul.

I was able to take classes while in Arabia. They had a program where professors from U.S. universities would teach classes in Dhahran. In May 1985, I received another MS degree from the University of Missouri at Rolla in engineering management.

In August 1985, we all returned to the U.S. as I had decided to embark on a new career as the owner of my own print shop.

I bought an American Speedy Printing franchise and set up shop in Boulder, Colo. Unfortunately, things did not work out as we had hoped, but I had not burned my bridges ‘n Arabia and ‘in October 1986, we returned to Aramco in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

On going to Arabia for the

second time, I thought I would be continuing my career as a laboratory grunt, but my Arab manager had other plans. I will never forget him telling me that he wanted me to be his business manager for a 300 man laboratory with an annual budget of approximately $20,000,000. I remember telling him, “You know that I just came from a business that failed?” He replied, “Yes, and I know you won’t make that mistake again.”

It turned out for us that Saudi Arabia was a good place to raise a family. Paul grew up there and went to American schools there.

For the first 15 years of his life, Saudi Arabia was home. Still, I remember on a vacation in the U.S., Paul asked me when we were going home. When I replied that we were home, he told me that we were not home.

Things change over time and things in Saudi Arabia were changing. I was fast approaching eligibility, for early retirement. My dad was making offers that were difficult to turn down; so in July 1998, we returned to Golden, Colo.

Why did you join Sigma Pi? I joined Sigma Pi largely because I liked the brothers that I met in the fraternity. They were a group of young men that appeared to me to have their feet on the ground. At the time I joined, I was trying to make my way onto the freshman wrestling team.

I was not a good wrestler, but one of the Sigma Pi brothers, Tom Spudic, took time to try to help me. Even though Tom and I long since lost contact with each other, I have never forgotten his efforts.

How did Sigma Pi change your life?

I think Sigma Pi gave me a sense of confidence in my self and in my own leadership that I

never would have had any other way. I spent almost eighteen years working overseas in various management and supervisory positions. My success in those positions was due, in a large part, to the experiences I had as a member of Sigma Pi. Why do you personally give to the Educational Foundation?

I give to a number of organizations and I give because I think I should. In most instances, I give money because I don’t have much else to give. I don’t have the time or the expertise to give to these organizations. Education is expensive these days and I feel that anything I can do to make that just a little bit easier for somebody is money well spent.

What does the Educational Foundation mean in the lives of our younger brothers?

I hope that the Educational Foundation means the opportunity for a larger number of our younger brothers to grow into accountable and responsible members of our society.

How and why would you encourage others to give to the Educational Foundation?

One way is to set an example for others to follow such as I am doing here by writing and answering these questions.

Another way is to talk to our fellow brothers with whom we feel a closer tie and just talk to them about supporting the Educational Foundation.

| Summer 2008

The Foundation

Thirteen scholarships awarded to deserving brothers The Sigma Pi Educational Foundation awarded thirteen scholarships on Friday, August 1, 2008, during Sigma Pi Fraternity, International’s 49th Biennial Convocation. Scholarships were awarded to undergraduate and graduate students for a variety of areas including academic achievement and leadership on campus.

James Kyriakedes from the EtaPhi Chapter – Miami University was awarded the prestigious Jacobsen Scholarship for academic excellence. Mike Antonelli from the Beta Chapter – University of Indiana was awarded the Cutbirth Scholarship for being an outstanding undergraduate. Tyler Dato from the Alpha-Nu Chapter – Wake Forest University was awarded the Dimmick Scholarship for his outstanding involvement within his chapter and his local community. Donavan Hylarides from the Theta-Theta Chapter

– Ferris State University was awarded the Falkenau Scholarship for his outstanding leadership within his chapter. Scott Mullins from the Theta Chapter – Pennsylvania State University was awarded the Fields Scholarship for his extraordinary leadership on Penn State’s campus.

Jason Biggs from the AlphaSigma Colony – University of Arkansas was awarded the Gary Scholarship for his contributions to the growth and development of the new colony in Sigma Pi Fraternity. Christian Miele from the Eta-Nu Chapter – Towson University was awarded the Hauser Scholarship to help him pursue an advanced degree.

Dennis Kalinin from the BetaOmicron Chapter – California State University, Long Beach was awarded the Hungerford Scholarship for his outstanding performance and dedication to the fraternity.

Alfredo Cruz from the Delta-Psi Chapter – Troy University was awarded the Iverson Scholarship to help further his graduate studies while being an on-site advisor for the Florida State University colony. Bobby Hunt from the Epsilon-Alpha Chapter – Southern Polytechnic State University was awarded the Lemmond Scholarship for his exemplary work in Sigma Pi while attending a school in Georgia.

Mike McKenna from the BetaGamma Chapter – Eastern Illinois University was awarded the Murdock Scholarship, an award for those who reside in Illinois, for his efforts to make Sigma Pi better on his campus. Thomas Bricker from the Beta-Tau Chapter – Valparaiso University was awarded the Shake Scholarship for his work while in Law School.

Stephen Giordano from the BetaPi Chapter – University of Virginia was awarded the Tash Scholarship

for his outstanding achievement within his chapter and his local community.

All thirteen of these scholarships are endowed through the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation. Donors may choose for their gifts to directly benefit any of the scholarships above or they may create their own award.

Those interested in endowing a scholarship should contact the Educational Foundation.

The Sigma Pi Educational Foundation was established in 1952 to further the educational objectives of Sigma Pi Fraternity.

Since June 2004 the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation has awarded more than $135,000 in scholarships to more than 100 recipients. For more information, please call 1-800-332-1897 or visit online at www.sigmapi. org/edfund.

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1

The Foundation Volume V, Number 3 • Summer 2008

FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES Thomas A. Moore, Jr., Chairman (ΓΡ, Western Michigan ’69) Clifford A. Wilke, Chairman (ΔΖ, Missouri at St. Louis ’81) R. Todd Miller Vice-Chairman of Administration (ΕΤ, Tennessee - Martin ’87)

Moore

Wilke

Marc S. Saffren Vice-Chairman of Development (ΗΛ, New York - Albany ’92) Gary D. Dvorchak Vice-Chairman of Finance & Investments (Ξ, Iowa ’86)

Dear Brothers, This is an exciting time. . . as we start the new Biennium, I am proud to join Tom Moore as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. For those of you that were not at Convocation, “how” we both were elected to lead this organization is historical for the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation.

The Co-Chairmen arrangement provides our organization with more flexibility to focus attention on developing a new strategic plan that will collaborate closely with the Grand Chapter and lead the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation into the next decade.

One of the most important things in the years ahead is communication. Communicating what we are accomplishing to serve our fraternity and our brotherhood.

We have found that approximately 50 percent of our members have new e-mail addresses in the past two years. In today’s world with people changing e-mail addresses constantly, for your foundation to be successful communicating begins with each of you, and we ask for your help in this area. We have established the e-mail address email@sigmapi.org to allow you to send us your updated e-mail address.

We understand that to support your foundation, you need to fully understand our mission, what we support, and how the money you donate will be spent. To those of you that have supported us in the past, we send our deepest thanks, and look forward to more brothers supporting our initiatives in the years ahead. In our next message, we will be sharing more about our Strategic Plan, and look forward to your help and support to achieve the goals we will set.

Our President and Chief Development Officer Richard Robinson has been doing a great job working with many of you over the past few years. He will be more than glad to show you how you can support your foundation to take the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation to the next level in the years ahead. He can be reached at (800) 332-1897.

We look forward to the years ahead!

Allen Yee Vice-Chairman of Legal (ΑΦ, Georgia ’99) G. Mason Cozart, Treasurer (ΕΚ, Southern Arkansas ’83) James T. Jennings, Secretary (ΓΥ, Murray State ’93) TRUSTEES Kevin D. Farmer (ΒΝ, S. Illinois - Carbondale ’95) John J. McCann (ΑΝ, NJIT ’83) John J. Merino (ΒΟ, Calif. State - Long Beach ’58) Joseph V. Palazzolo (ΔΒ, Monmouth ’03) Michael J. Simmons (ΕΝ, Calif. State - Fullerton ’87) George N. Hakim (ΓΑ, Detroit Mercy ’78) Larry P. Rovira (ΕΝ, Calif. State - Fullerton ’85) Paul W. Hansen, Advisor Trustee (ΒΤ, Valparaiso ’80)

FOUNDATION STAFF President/Chief Development Officer Richard Robinson (ΕΤ, Tennessee – Martin ’87) Development Officer Josh J. Singleton (ΘΡ, Grand Valley State ’07) Administrative Assistant Jennifer R. Wyatt ADMINSTRATIVE OFFICES Sigma Pi Educational Foundation Post Office Box 1897 Brentwood, TN 37024

Sincerely and Fraternally,

Tel: (615) 373-5728 Fax: (615) 373-8949 Email: edfound@sigmapi.org Website: www.sigmapi.org

Tomas A. Moore, Jr. Chairman

Clifford A. Wilke Chairman

Helping Our Fraternity Build “A New Generation of Leaders”

Copyright © 2008 Sigma Pi Educational Foundation

| Summer 2008

www.sigmapi.org • Summer 2008

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