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EMERALD www.sigmapi.org • The ofﬁcial publication of Sigma Pi Fraternity • Summer 2006

Getting A LTRUISTIC C AMPUS E XPERIENCE

job done

the

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

FROM THE

GRAND SAGE

EMERALD

PUBLISHED SINCE 1911

Dear Brothers: In this, my last Emerald Grand Sage’s letter, I want to share with you the great achievements of Sigma Pi this biennium. Our 109-year history has seen many exciting times, but these past two years rank as high as any. The Fraternity has bought a new International Headquarters building. We have cooperated with the Educational Foundation to improve and expand Sigma Pi University and the Mid-Year Leadership Conference. We have instituted, AWARE, an alcohol awareness program, created and presented by members of Sigma Pi for our brothers, and we have performed 167 ACE projects on our host campuses. We have published the first hard-bound I Believe new member education manual. We have created Sigma Pi Ace of Grand Sage Kitch Spades cards for distribution; these cards alert all who receive one to the symptoms and dangers of alcohol poisoning. Our Executive Director, Mark Briscoe, has been elected a board member of the SAM Spady Foundation. We have created a new Manual of Ceremonies, updating our venerated rituals and adding new ones. We have increased our expansion staff from one to six. With that staff increase, we have been able to add 11 chapters to our number, increasing the number of undergraduate groups to more than 130. This year we have initiated more new brothers than in any time since the 1993-94 academic year. We have redesigned our website to make it more informative and accessible. We have strengthened our already solid financial stability. Finally, the Grand Council has created an updated strategic plan designed to make Sigma Pi the preeminent Greek organization in North America. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the greatest basketball players in the history of the game, said it best when he said “One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.” As the “point guard” for the Fraternity I know that without the tremendous skills and support of so many people, I could have done nothing. To paraphrase Sir Isaac Newton, if I have been able to make any contribution at all to the Fraternity, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants. I have been blessed with remarkable Grand Council brothers, each of whom has contributed greatly to our successes, and I have been privileged to work with the finest Executive Office staff in the Greek world. I also am grateful to all our alumni volunteers who have given generously of their time, treasure and talents. But most of all I must acknowledge our undergraduate brothers for making my time in office rewarding, fruitful and fun. In my travels as Grand Sage, I have met so many outstanding young men, all passionately dedicated to the Fraternity and to the ideals contained in the Creed of Sigma Pi. It is for you, the undergraduate Sigma Pi, and because of you, that we have accomplished so many marvelous things this biennium. Finally, I must recognize my greatest supporter, a person who is not a member of Sigma Pi Fraternity. Jaci, my bride of twenty-six years, has been an unbelievable anchor for me during the past two years. I could not have served as Grand Sage without her wholehearted support and sacrifice. She has spent countless weekends at home alone while I traveled on Fraternity business. She has soldiered on through a myriad of late-night conference calls and after-hours emergencies. She has comforted and encouraged me when the job seemed too much to handle. I cannot thank her enough. By the time you read these words my term as Grand Sage will be over. In Lewis Carroll’s classic book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the King said to the White Rabbit, “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end, then stop.” I started this journey at the beginning, I have gone on, and now I have come to the end of my term. However, I do not intend to stop, kings and white rabbits notwithstanding. We have accomplished so much in these two years that I look forward to remaining on the Grand Council this next biennium as Past Grand Sage to help Sigma Pi continue its remarkable progress. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of our Ancient Sage. I have been proud and honored to serve you.

Fraternally,

VOLUME XCI, NUMBER 3 • SUMMER 2006 EDITORIAL STAFF Brian C. Alley (Α, Vincennes ’03) Managing Editor Mark S. Briscoe (ΑΠ, Arkansas ’82) Business Manager VOLUNTEER STAFF Adam Shores (ΔΨ, Troy ’98), Chairman John Kitch (Η, Purdue ’73) Larry Rovira (ΕΝ, Cal State - Fullerton ’85) Jeffery Seay (ΗΕ, Florida State ’91) CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Carl Bayard (Θ, Penn State ’57) Jim DiVita (ΖΜ, Michigan State ’04) Alan Moore (ΕΠ, Christopher Newport ’05) Jeffery Seay (ΗΕ, Florida State ’91)

Sigma Pi Fraternity was founded at Vincennes University, Vincennes, Indiana, on February 26, 1897. Sigma Pi has chartered more than 200 chapters in North America and has initiated more than 85,000 members since 1897. The founding fathers of the Fraternity are: Rolin Rosco James (1879 - 1953) William Raper Kennedy (1877 - 1944) James Thompson Kingsbury (1877 - 1950) George Martin Patterson (1877 - 1960) Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity (ISSN 1074-5289, USPS 011-013) has been published since 1911. Emerald is published quarterly by Sigma Pi Fraternity, P. O. Box 1897, Brentwood, Tennessee, and additional mailing ofﬁces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SIGMA PI FRATERNITY, P. O. Box 1897, Brentwood, TN 37024. MEMBERS: When making an address change, please send your full name and chapter with both the old and new address to the Executive Ofﬁce address below. Submission Deadlines: Spring December 10 Summer March 10 Fall May 10 Winter September 10 Submit Emerald news to: Sigma Pi Fraternity, Attention: Emerald P. O. Box 1897, Brentwood, TN 37204 Telephone: (615) 373-5728 Fax: (615) 373-8949 Email: emerald@sigmapi.org

John D. Kitch Grand Sage Member, North-American Interfraternity Conference

Member, College Fraternity Editors Association THANKS: Sigma Pi would like to thank Stephen Benz and The Emory Wheel Newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia and Florida State University for the use of pictures and articles in this issue of the Emerald.

features 16 17 18 23 24 26 32

[ SUMME R 2 0 06 ]

Texas State Charters Fairleigh Dickinson Re-Charters ACE: Getting the job done Reeve on his way up FSU alumnus stood in post Katrina Eta-Mu undergrads on Capitol Hill Reflections of a career as a Diplomatic Courrier

departments 2

EXECUTIVE

NEWS FROM OUR

OFFICE NEWS

CAMPUS

NEWS FROM

ADYTUM

CHAPTERS

EXPANSION ALUMNI

ON HIGH

3Iowa State brothers enjoy some fun during the “Houston Bowl” against TCU last winter.

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

Newly initiated brothers from Theta-Delta Chapter at TCNJ.

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

2 EXECUTIVE

OFFICE NEWS

Six New Consultants Hit the Road Two new Educational Leadership Consultants have hit the road this fall providing assistance to chapters. Michael Courville grew up Whitinsville, Massachusetts. He graduated from Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in communication. As an undergraduate, Courville served the Eta-Eta Chapter as social chairman and sage for a two-year term. Courville will be traveling and assisting chapters in the southern region of the United States. Lucas Andert is from the St. Louis, Missouri area and graduated in 2006 from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. While in school, Andert served the Gamma-Gamma Chapter as second counselor and the university as IFC President and a member of Student Government. Andert will be traveling and assisting chapters in the Midwest region of the United States. Four new expansion staff members will be traveling as well to start new colonies and assist those that are already colonized working to become chapters. Peter Bolac grew up in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area. He graduated in 2006 from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in history. As an undergraduate, Bolac served the Alpha-Nu Chapter as second counselor and judicial chair. Bolac will be traveling the country as an Expansion Consultant where he will travel to new schools and recruit men to start colonies that will one day become chapters of Sigma Pi.

L to R: Peter Bolac, Nick Hoffman, Michael Courville, Adam Dibble, Lucas Andert and Kyle Jackson.

Adam Dibble is from Ludington, Michigan. He attended Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan where he was a founding father of the Theta-Theta Chapter. As an undergraduate, he served his chapter as ﬁrst counselor, fourth counselor, second counselor and sage. Dibble graduated in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in international marketing with a minor in corporate communication. Dibble will also be traveling to start new colonies. Kyle Jackson is from Portland, Maine and graduated in 2006 from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey with a bachelor’s degree in economics. While in school, Jackson was a member of the Delta-Epsilon Chapter where he held the

positions of fourth counselor and sage. Jackson, along with Bolac and Dibble, will be an Expansion Consultant. Nick Hoffman grew up in Franklin, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Pennsylvania in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. As an undergraduate, Hoffman served the Theta-Epsilon Chapter as homecoming chair, social chair, ﬁrst counselor, and sage. Holding the position of Colony Development Consultant, Hoffman will visit and work with Sigma Pi Colonies as they work toward becoming chapters of Sigma Pi. These six men are salaried employees of the Fraternity and

enjoying great beneﬁts. Imagine that. Being a professional Sigma Pi! How were these men selected for this position? For starters, they applied. If you’re a collegiate member in good standing who is graduating in 2007, and if you’re interested in being a consultant, visit sigmapi.org and check out the application materials. The Fraternity is looking for men with strong communication and presentation skills, an ability to work well with others, and an ability to inspire others to realize their potential. Contact the Executive Ofﬁce today to learn more about the position and to discuss any questions you may have.

News from the Communications Department

Thank you, Brother Wydra

The College Fraternity Editors Association (CFEA) recognized Sigma Pi in May with a second place award for Innovative Handling of Routine Material for the Table of Contents page in the Emerald.

Sigma Pi thanks Paul Wydra (ΔΖ, Missouri – St. Louis ’01) for his work and time as a member of the Executive Ofﬁce staff.

This is the fourth issue of The Emerald produced by our new Communications staff. We hope you enjoy the changes we are initiating to make your magazine more enjoyable and easier to read. We plan to use this same space in every issue to let you know the stories we are working on and how you can help us. We welcome your suggestions. Stories we are working on include: 4Diversity within Sigma Pi 4Brothers in military service 4Brothers in politics/government 4Brothers in sports 4Brothers in entertainment Help wanted:

How to submit photos: 4Traditional ﬁlm photos or digital images printed on professional photo paper work best. We cannot

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.

As Director of Alumni Services, Wydra was able to build relationships with alumni, hold alumni events throughout North America, and oversee the Chapter Directors and Province Archons of Sigma Pi. During his time, Wydra held alumni events in Chicago, Nashville, Tampa, Washington D.C., Milwaukee, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Atlanta, and Detroit, spreading news of the many programs that Sigma Pi offers, allowing alumni to reconnect with lost members and providing a networking opportunity to re-establish those fraternal bonds. Wydra left the Executive Ofﬁce staff in August, when he moved to the St. Louis area to pursue his career. We thank Brother Wydra for his years of service and dedication to Sigma Pi by serving on the Executive Ofﬁce staff and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors. Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

The Communications Staff is looking for someone with a Journalism or English background that would give their expertise and time to help proofread and edit different Sigma Pi publications including The Emerald and serve on the Publications Committee. If you are interested, please contact Director of Communications, Brian Alley at (800) 332-1897 or via email at balley@sigmapi.org

use digital pictures printed on your home printer or color copier.

Wydra joined the Executive Ofﬁce in July 2002, traveling the Midwest region of the United State as an Educational Leadership Consultant. After traveling as an ELC for two years helping chapters with recruitment, membership education, ofﬁcer training, and scholarship development, Wydra was promoted to Director of Alumni Services.

Fraternally,

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

Mark S. Briscoe Executive Director

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

4 NEWS FROM OUR

CHAPTERS Chapter News Editorial Policy Submitted news should be 100-150 words long and contain information about positive chapter events, community service efforts, ACE Projects, gatherings and other notable happenings. Other news items are accepted but will be judged on their level of interest to the entire brotherhood. Electronic submissions are given the highest priority and should be filled out online or email directly to emerald@sigmapi.org. Digital photos should be at least 300dpi in resolution. Hard copies can be sent to The Emerald, Post Office Box 1897, Brentwood, TN 37024. High-quality 4” x 6” or larger photos are preferred. Photos should not contain alcohol or other unsuitable content, and not all photos will be printed. Hard-copy photos will not be returned, but will be placed in the chapter archives at the Executive Office.

University of Florida brothers on Times Square during spring break in New York City.

Arkansas State

Auburn

Alpha-Pi Chapter The brothers of Alpha-Pi chapter are enthusiastic at the spring semester’s halfway point. The chapter currently has nine pledges and if each of those young men become initiated, Alpha-Pi will nearly double its initiation goal for the entire 2005-2006 school year. The brothers are hopeful that after these men get initiated, the total number of initiates of Alpha-Pi will surpass 1,000. Brother Matthew Dermaus is doing an excellent job as pledge educator for the second consecutive semester. His heart and dedication never goes unnoticed. Also, the brothers recently held the Founders’ Day Celebration/Golf Tournament. It was nice to see the familiar faces of old. Brothers Robert Hilgeford and Chase Davis took ﬁrst in the tournament. Also, with the a new land lease purchased, the Alpha-Pi’s plan to begin building a new house in the near future.

Alpha-Delta Chapter The brothers of the Alpha-Delta chapter of Sigma Pi are enjoying another great spring semester. The chapter once again had another successful spring rush. The brothers enjoyed a great Founders’ Day weekend which included activities for current brothers and alumni including a golf tournament and a formal dinner, which featured guest speaker Mike Grifﬁn, head coach of the Auburn golf team. The chapter is looking forward to the rest of the spring semester and closing out another great year at Auburn.

Mark Chmura, Herald, alphapi@sigmapi.org

Phil Barksdale, Herald, alphadelta@sigmapi.org

Bridgewater State Eta-Eta Chapter In the spring, the brotherhood decided to increase its focus on helping out our campus and local community. As a result of the funds we accumulated for our dedicated fundraising work with the New England Patriots, we

were able to sponsor the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association, the college production of the Vagina Monologues, the MLK Day of Service project, a college buddy program, a business etiquette training dinner, and an RHA summit for campus leaders. In addition, as part of our ACE Project, we have completely revamped the college’s volleyball courts and will be hosting a campus-wide tournament in late April. Concerning brotherhood, we have successfully hosted our annual Sweethearts Dance, and are currently going through the pledging process with nine new members. We feel that our contribution and involvement with these events signiﬁcantly improved our impact as a fraternity at Bridgewater State College.

first pledging ceremony! All of our executive board members are thrilled with the chance to lead a new colony of Sigma Pi at Cal Poly University and everyone is passionate about founding a chapter here as soon as we can. Our first meetings were hugely successful as well. We are already planning our first ACE Project and brotherhood event and focusing heavily on rushing for new brothers who will be as eager as we are. The Eta-Delta colony is proud

Christopher Norton, Herald, etaeta@sigmapi.org

Cal Poly Eta-Delta Colony The Eta-Delta colony just colonized this winter quarter and already has 24 founding fathers with our

Brothers from Zeta-Beta Chapter at Embry-Riddle gathered at the Daytona International Speedway to watch the 2006 Daytona 500.

Chapter reports are those submitted by the March 10th deadline

to be a part of the Sigma Pi Fraternity and can’t wait to charter! Kyle Olson, Herald, etadelta@sigmapi.org

Brothers from the Alpha-Nu Chapter at Wake Forest painted and repaired a room for Jake, a boy in the “Make A Wish” program. Along with painting the room, the brothers also set up all new electronic equipment.

Undergraduates making a difference Become a member of the Delta Society today for a donation of $25 to the Educational Foundation and help to insure the future of the Fraternity and its educational programs and scholarships for all Sigma Pi Brothers that follow.

Insuring the future for A New Generation of Leaders. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE DELTA SOCIETY AND OTHER PROGRAMS, PLEASE CONTACT US AT (800) 332-1897 OR AT WWW.SIGMAPI.ORG/EDFUND

Hugo Rodas Estrada, Herald, etaiota@sigmapi.org

Cal State - Sacramento Eta-Alpha Chapter Eta-Alpha had a great time this semester with rush. Our Bid Night dinner was a huge success with many alumni, actives, and prospectives in attendance. We’d like to congratulate our EC (Sage - Matt Flaherty, 2nd - Mike D’Ambrosio, 3rd - Danilo Hughes, 4th - Danny Castillo, 1st - Anthony Filice, Herald – Stefan Sanborn) on getting a great start on everything. This semester we have our annual philanthropy, Sorority Superbowl, during the last week of March and it promises to be a huge success. Our campus involvement is increasing as well, with 3 members on our IFC. We also look forward to our campus’ Greek Week and plan on making a run for the title this year. We are looking forward to Convo and can’t wait to see our other Brothers there. Stefan Sanborn, Herald, etaalpha@sigmapi.org

Colony Sigma Pi at California, in the last two months has come a long way. We were colonized on the 12th of February, and had a founder’s day party with our IUP brothers. California Colony of Sigma Pi has a lot of events planned for later dates such as our formal in April, and we are doing a can drive for ACE Project plus various community service projects. Mike Price, Historian, cup@sigmapi.org

Central Michigan Delta-Alpha Chapter Delta-Alpha Chapter has ﬁnished the year strong. It held a very successful Founders’ Day with over 50 alumni coming back and donating. The chapter held a date auction which raised $1700 with a portion of the proceeds going to the Karmanos Cancer Institute. The chapter also held an Easter Egg Hunt for faculty, staff, and administration’s children as part of its second ACE Project. The chapter is looking forward to next year and hopes to see all alumni back for next year’s homecoming. If you are an alumnus of the chapter and have not received our newsletters, please email sigmapicmu@hotmail.com Joshua Wright, Herald, deltaalpha@sigmapi.org

Christopher Newport Epsilon-Pi Chapter The spring semester has been a good one for Epsilon-Pi Chapter. We made sure we were a recognizable force on campus by holding frequent barbecues, pick up football games, and poker tournaments. We had a strong rush this spring and as a result have a strong pledge class. In the remainder of the year we are working on several philanthropies through out the Hampton Roads area and also gearing up for the spring formal our 25th anniversary Founders’ Day ball.

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

Sigma Pi Educational Foundation

Cal State - Dominguez Hills Eta-Iota Chapter Before reporting what our chapter is up to, I would like to thank our ELC Douglas for coming down this semester and having an impressive presentation with lots of useful information. Our chapter has welcomed new brothers and has noticed that they are worthy. As of now, we are arranging what is needed for Orchid Ball that will take place in May of this year. We are also working on several fund-raisers, social/mixers, and even philanthropy events such as a blood drive taking place next month. Our athletic department has also been established and has seen some bothers play their hearts out in several sports. We hold basketball games every Sunday at 1pm. We have been building a squad and are improving for this upcoming league that starts in the summer. Wish us luck!

California of Pennsylvania

George Southwell, Herald, epsilonpi@sigmapi.org

Colorado Zeta-Delta Chapter This spring started off well for the brothers of the Zeta-Delta Chapter kicking it off with a very successful continued on next page

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

6 C H A PTER NEWS spring rush. We were able to recruit 16 great young men. March was also a good month especially, because of our 6th Annual March Madness basketball tournament for the mentally handicapped. This event has grown so much in the recent years that the number of participants is now up to 250 kids. This has motivated the brothers of the Zeta-Delta Chapter to start another philanthropy that is still being worked on, called the Miss Greek Pageant. All of us are very excited to see how this event turns out. We are also looking forward to get the chance to defend our Greek Week champions’ title from last year. Lastly, we would like to send our prayers out to Chris Mentasti and family for the recent death of his father. Kyle Melvin, Herald, zetadelta@sigmapi.org

Detroit Mercy Gamma-Alpha Chapter The brothers of Gamma-Alpha Chapter have had a successful second semester so far. We recently held our Orchid Ball on February 11 at the Georgian Inn in Roseville. We also conducted our ACE Project on April 13. Currently we are working on upcoming philanthropy and alumni events to end the year on a high note. Brian Vadasz, Herald, gammaalpha@sigmapi.org

Drury Epsilon-Rho Chapter Epsilon-Rho is having another excellent semester. The highlight of our semester so far has been the six pledges we obtained during spring rush. This will be our ﬁrst spring pledge class in a few years, so we are very excited. Epsilon-Rho has been busy with philanthropy as we helped with a local elementary school teach 4th graders about the human body. We recently hosted a campus-wide blood drive beneﬁting the American Red Cross and had several brothers donate blood. In January, 30 brothers of Epsilon-Rho traveled to Colorado for the

annual ski trip. More recently, we had a brotherhood camping trip to one of our brother’s farmhouse and about 20 brothers camped in the frigid Missouri winter. In mid-February, we hosted a very successful Alumni Day/ Homecoming. We treated our alumni to lunch at a local restaurant and then watched the Drury University basketball games. Our annual Spring Formal dance was a blast after a week of fun events. Epsilon-Rho is proud of our 3.28 GPA which is good enough for us to win the intrafraternal grades again and puts us over the all-campus average Kyle Springer, Herald, epsilonrho@sigmapi.org

East Carolina Eta-Kappa Chapter The fall semester of 2005 and the spring semester of 2006 have been very productive for Eta-Kappa. We have been successful with recruiting new members, initiating and carrying out fundraising activities, and participating in intramural sports. Our fundraising activities have included working for the university at sporting events by manning conces-

sion stands during the men’s basketball and baseball season. We have worked every home game proudly wearing the letters of Sigma Pi and giving a more positive view of Greeks to the Greenville community and alumnus of ECU. With renewed vigor in our ranks, we have undertaken the daunting project of building a website presence for Eta-Kappa and creating a semester newsletter for our alumni. Eta-Kappa chapter’s website address is www. ecusigmapi.com. We are ever diligently preparing for this fall’s formal recruitment and planning another great and successful year, for Eta-Kappa. Kito Romans, Herald, etakappa@sigmapi.org

Eastern Kentucky Epsilon-Lambda Chapter The Epsilon-Lambda Chapter of Eastern Kentucky University has had a very busy spring semester. We started off with a good spring rush taking only quality guys who are anxious to become a part of the biggest and the best chapter on campus. Our chapter has many philanthropy events planned for the semester including, “Adopt-A-Highway”, and the Easter Care Baskets which we’ve gotten all the sororities involved in. We have also recently participated in a campus wide, Sexual Assault Awareness event which our chapter became very involved in. We are currently planning our annual Sigma Pi Parents Weekend which all our members parents are invited We are anxiously awaiting our annual Pig Roast Softball Tournament in which we hope to see all of our Sigma Pi Brothers from all around the nation. Jonathan Davidson, Herald, epsilonlambda@sigmapi.org

Zeta-Zeta Chapter brothers from Florida after their campus beautiﬁcation ACE Project.

Embry-Riddle (AZ) Epsilon-Phi Chapter This semester so far has been great; we started out the term helping the Salvation Army with serving food to the homeless, thanks to Andrew Minear, our philanthropy chairman. For sports, our chapter has an active

basketball intramural team which is headed to the championship this month. To end the spring 2006 term, we are planning an annual brotherhood event, to Phil Jones’ cabin in Payson, Arizona where we will have a BBQ and catch up with some of the alumni of the Epsilon-Phi Chapter of Sigma Pi. Brian Wolke, Herald, epsilonphi@sigmapi.org

Embry-Riddle (FL) Zeta-Beta Chapter The men of Zeta-Beta Chapter have been very busy this semester. We are primarily focusing on increasing our image on campus to even greater extents. The brotherhood was proud to aid and fundraise during the annual Daytona 500 NASCAR races. Fellowship within the chapter and community has soared. We have already had a few socials with other Greek organizations and are planning a brotherhood spring break to Key West, Florida. Brothers from Canada and all around the US have been coming to stay with us, and we welcome those who might stop by in the future. Jason Beim, Herald, zetabeta@sigmapi.org

Fitchburg State Eta-Tau Chapter The Eta-Tau Chapter opened the new year with a goal of moving the fraternity further ahead than ever before at Fitchburg State. A newly elected e-board has set high expectations for all brothers in the coming year and expects them to reach them all. January started with spring rush and many rush events were held including a very successful karaoke night at the school. In February many brothers traveled north to Ottawa to participate in the annual Tundra Bowl. For the second consecutive year EtaTau came back with the championship trophy, led by MVP Tj Midura.

Florida Zeta-Zeta Chapter The 2006 spring semester has been an entertaining one. Events that include philanthropies, socials, brotherhood, alumni on Founders’ Weekend have allowed the brothers to

take part in great bonding experiences. This semester, we have eleven future brothers of great character and respect. The other major event that we have taken part in as a brotherhood was our semesterly ACE Project. This semester, we helped physical plant, the maintenance department at the University of Florida, landscape a dorm and courtyard that will be renovated for handicapped students. Patrick Turiano, Herald, zetazeta@sigmapi.org

Georgia Alpha-Phi Chapter This spring has marked another semester of growth for Alpha-Phi. The brothers of Alpha-Phi are proud to be initiating ﬁve new men into our brotherhood, and plans for summer recruitment and another huge fall rush are in the makings. Founder’s Day in downtown Athens was a great success and we would like to thank all the alumni that came out and made it so successful. With our end of the year “Dazed and Confused” party and the alumni’s “Cajun on the Bayou”, as well as a number of other brother-

hood events, Alpha-Phi’s brotherhood is getting stronger every semester. This summer we have a number of events planned, such as kayaking trips and a beach weekend. The brothers of Alpha-Phi would also like to send a welcome out to any brother or alumni who would like to stop by our house anytime this summer. Kenny Fadeley, Herald, alphaphi@sigmapi.org

Grand Valley State Theta-Rho Chapter The brothers of Theta-Rho recently celebrated Founder’s Day which coincided with our chapter’s one year chartering anniversary. With the help of winter rush, our chapter now stands 45 members strong, as we are one of the biggest organizations on campus. We also hold one of the highest GPA’s for Greek organizations at Grand Valley State. Aaron Hale, Herald, thetarho@sigmapi.org

Hofstra Eta-Gamma Chapter The fall semester ended on a high note with the initiation of six new brothers. Our Annual Bachelor Auction took place during the spring semester with all proceeds going to the Red Cross. This event is one of largest and most successful on our campus. We are also proud of our four new pledges this semester that will make outstanding brothers in the next few months.

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

James King, Herald, etatau@sigmapi.org

Gamma-Sigma Chapter’s intramural basketball team after one of three games last spring at Missouri.

Brandon Szeker, First Counselor, etagamma@sigmapi.org

Indiana Beta Chapter There was a Founders’ Day alumni event in Indianapolis on February 25th. This was the largest undergrad/alumni event that the Beta Chapter has ever had. continued on next page

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

8 C H APTER NEWS We had the best turnout in history, and we are all excited about the progress that we are making. The Beta Chapter has had trouble locating alumni in the past, and has had a 70 percent return rate on all mail sent to the non-updated alumni address list. Now that the Beta Chapter’s Alumni Advisory Board has hired the services of the Fraternity Management Group, we are 80 percent up-to-date on alumni whereabouts. Bryant Snyder, Herald, beta@sigmapi.org

Indiana of Pennsylvannia Theta-Epsilon Chapter Theta-Epsilon Chapter started off the semester on a positive note, receiving awards for most improved scholarship, two brothers achieving a 4.0 GPA the previous semester and yet another first place homecoming plaque for our homecoming float last fall. Our brothers are outstanding on campus and in the community. Christian Lundis and Brian Donovan are both on IFC e-board. Brother Lundis is also a member of the national honor society Gamma Sigma Alpha. Dominic Zottoli is in charge of public relations and fundraising for Greek Week. Tim Becker held an art show on campus displaying his photography. Brad Kluchrosky was Indiana Holiday Inn’s employee of the month for February. We are looking forward to our annual pig roast on May 6th and the ACE Project, which we are teaming up with IFC and Panhellenic to work towards campus beautification. Mike Kunkle, Herald, thetaepsilon@sigmapi.org

off to a great start this spring semester. The brothers are paired with Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority and Triangle Fraternity for Greek Week. This week, the guys rushed frantically to the Memorial Union to give blood during the annual Greek Week Blood Drive. Once the guys return from break, the Greek Week main events will begin. Dad’s weekend is scheduled for April 22nd, and it should be a great opportunity for the guys to see their dads. This year we will be renovating the basement as our project. We look to see good things in the future here in Ames. Matt Koch, Herald, sigma@sigmapi.org

Mike Katits, Herald, etapi@sigmapi.org

Jacksonville State Colony This year for Jacksonville State’s ACE Project, the brothers got together to help clear land for a new intramural softball ﬁeld that will be ready for next year’s season. This new ﬁeld will provide much better conditions for the entire university intramural system to play softball on. Michael Miller, Historian, Jacksonville@sigmapi.org

Kentucky

Drury senior and architecture student, Adam Kreher (’06), on vacation in Thera while studying abroad in Greece.

Epsilon-Beta Chapter Epsilon-Beta Chapter won the Greek Sing Fraternal championship for the first time in its history, the event is the most prestigious Greek philanthropy event at UK. The chapter also participated in the first annual Dance Blue marathon, a 24 hour dance marathon that raised $123,323 for children with cancer, $2,725 of which the chapter raised. The chapter’s annual Pi-athalon philanthropy event, hosted along with UK’s Alpha Omicron Pi chapter, was successful thanks to the addition of a pudding wrestling competition. The brothers are looking forward to closing out the semester with a successful ACE Project and alumni weekend at Keeneland. Clay McGuffin, Herald, epsilonbeta@sigmapi.org

Iowa State Sigma Chapter Sigma Pi Fraternity in Ames owes a great thank you to our long-time house mother, Sandra Kellen. After retiring this past semester, she leaves behind a profound legacy and she will never be forgotten. The men of Sigma chapter are

as a fraternity among our peers. Our commitment grows with each task we undertake and the name Sigma Pi is fast becoming a symbol of leadership and trust. We are striving to improve our academic scores each day and our Sunday dinners are strengthening the ties between our brothers. Our chapter has involved itself in a number of philanthropy events and community service both this semester and last. Among them is our 3rd Annual Car Wash at the Kutztown Car Wash beneﬁting Friend, Inc. This past Halloween, our 2nd Annual Haunted House for the children of Kutztown brought back great success.

Kutztown Eta-Pi Chapter The Eta-Pi Chapter of Kutztown University is continuing to improve their efforts toward attaining greatness

Lawrence Tech Zeta-Omicron Chapter A dramatic increase in membership numbers, spurred by a strong fall rush, has lead into an exciting spring semester. After initiating 12 new members in December, our membership has risen to over 20 brothers for the ﬁrst time in two years. This momentum has carried itself over into this spring semester where we have been very busy planning brotherhood nights, fundraising, and philanthropy events for the rest of the school year and into the summer. We have big plans for fundraising as we will be working at several Detroit Tigers baseball games over the month of August. Our goal is for this momentum to carry through the summer and lead into another strong rush. Brent Wozniak, Herald, zetaomicron@sigmapi.org

Loyola - Chicago Beta-Chi Chapter The Beta-Chi Chapter of Sigma Pi is looking forward to the end of the school year. With this comes the initiation of a spring pledge class in which we have seven members, enjoying O-Ball, keeping our GPA up, and making sure our summer committees are set up and running smoothly. We have been involved in many fund raising events this past season involving a Valentine’s Day ﬂower sale where we raised about $600 for the chapter, a Chicago Cubs wrist band event where we raised about $720, and we are

hoping to get involved in many more. We have been involved in many intramural events such as soccer and basketball, and have had many brotherhood events where our chapter can come together as a whole and enjoy each others company, the surrounding area, and the city of Chicago. Michael Sullivan, Herald, betachi@sigmapi.org

Miami (OH) Eta-Phi Chapter Eta-Phi had a successful fall rush and we look forward to initiating the Upsilon pledge class in March. Our chapter had a great Mom’s Weekend on February 24-26 and has Dad’s Weekend coming up on March 31, which is also the weekend we will be hosting our philanthropy and ACE Project which is Relay for Life. Both of our relay teams, the active brother’s team and pledge class teams have far exceeded their fundraising goals. Relay for Life is also Miami University’s largest philanthropy, historically raising around $75,000 annually. We would also like to congratulate Brother Nick Shawver for receiving the Myrtis H. Powell award. Eta-Phi is doing well in athletics and we are working towards our goal of winning the All-Sports Championship for the 3rd year in a row. Joe More, Herald, etaphi@sigmapi.org

Michigan State

We have stated getting into the ﬂow of Greek Week event practices and look forward to a potential repeat championship with Gamma Phi Beta Sorority and Psi Upsilon Fraternity.

the semester. In addition to our campus involvement, we have also been active in the community with many brothers volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club. We look forward to strengthening our bonds of brotherhood while closing the semester with a strong Greek Week showing with the women of Delta Gamma.

John Eastman, Herald, zetamu@sigmapi.org

To our alumni, thank you for participating in Founders Day and we hope to see you again for Homecoming next semester.

Michigan Tech Zeta-Epsilon Chapter It has been a busy few weeks for the brothers as Zeta-Epsilon. We held our 22nd Annual Orchid Ball in Chicago and had a great turnout. We also initiated six new brothers this last weekend and as the school year comes to an end, we are looking forward to seeing our brothers again this next school year.

Tim Hazlett, Herald, gammasigma@sigmapi.org

Missouri - St. Louis Delta-Zeta Chapter The Delta-Zeta Chapter is off to a fantastic start in the spring semester. All active members are becoming more involved as the semester goes on, and spring rush was very successful with the addition of seven new members. The chapter has several philanthropy events planned over the next few months, as well as several events to encourage on-campus involvement of all of its members. Sigma Pi continues to thrive on campus and will only grow from here. Mike Nelson, Herald, deltazeta@sigmapi.org

Paul Bossack, Herald, zetaepsilon@sigmapi.org

Millersville Zeta-Gamma Chapter The past semester Zeta-Gamma has been striving toward progress. We have been working to pass the fraternity numbers in membership and have improved our grades a great deal. Our Second Annual Campus Clean-Up was a success and we have another one planned as part of our ACE Project this spring semester. Our alumni relations have improved, as well, due to our successful homecoming. This semester Zeta-Gamma plans to strengthen our charity work. We are currently planning to raise money for the American Cancer Society by throwing a concert featuring four local bands on the campus of Millersville. Other events planned include the Millersville Dance Marathon, Habitat for Humanity, and Adopt a Highway. Michael Niklauski, Herald, zetagamma@sigmapi.org

Missouri Gamma-Sigma Chapter The Gamma-Sigma Chapter is having a great spring semester, celebrating the 10th anniversary of our re-chartering. We had a very successful rush bringing in one of are biggest spring classes and hope to maintain that success with fall rush. We continue to excel in grades and are academically one of the top fraternities on campus. Currently, we are in ﬁrst place for Division II intramurals and hope to keep that top spot through the end of

Monmouth Delta-Beta Chapter We at Delta-Beta have had a tremendous year thus far. Recruitment went better than anyone could have hoped. We were able to recruit eight gentlemen during the fall and 16 during spring rush. During this semester, Delta-Beta continued to better serve the community with our philanthropic events. We held our American Red Cross Blood Drive. In addition we held a canned food drive in which we gathered over 200 canned goods for the needy. We were very excited about our ACE Project this year, where held a “Samantha Spady Week,” where we discus the dangers of alcohol poisoning and binge drinking. Samantha’s mother, Patty, ﬂew in to speak on the horrible experience to help better warn students about the dangers of alcohol abuse. Matthew Varacalli, Herald, deltabeta@sigmapi.org

NJIT Alpha-Mu Chapter Alpha-Mu Chapter has taken a step forward for the spring semester. The semester started off with a strong successful rush. We finished with seven incredibly promising pledges, the most on campus. Founders’ Day was very successful. Many alumni showed up to the event. An auction was held with the alumni helping to raise more than $300 for the house. Alpha-Mu had two brothers attend the Mid-Year Leadership Conference. They enjoyed the event greatly and learned a lot from it. The brothers of Alpha-Mu are all interested in remaining healthy and fit. Alpha-Mu is taking this interest and spreading it around campus through our ACE Project. The brothers will be working out with students to get them to reach their own personal fitness goals. Alpha-Mu would also like to congratulate Brother Jeff Chan on placing first place in a recent amateur body building competition. Michael Cheung, Herald, alphamu@sigmapi.org

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

Zeta-Mu Chapter This semester is going well and the E-board is now in the full swing of things. We had a good spring rush and ended up pining eight quality interns/pledges. But more importantly to our chapter, we signed a new housing contract. We will be leaving our current house and moving to a more Greek area that’s easy to ﬁnd, close to the freshman dorms, and has a full time house manager. These are all problems we have faced at our current house. The signing of this housing contract has raised our chapter’s morale.

This semester we took our annual ski trip to Northern Michigan for a weekend of skiing and having fun with Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority.

North Carolina State Rho Chapter This spring semester has been a busy one so far for Rho Chapter. We started off the semester strong getting 11 pledges and one new brother, who transferred here from the Zeta-Beta Chapter. Not only was rush a great success for us, but also was our Skate for Sam Philanthropy event. For this event we rented out a local ice plex and sold rafﬂe tickets for certain memorabilia and hockey equipcontinued on next page

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

10 C H APTER NEWS ment. A good time was had by all who were there. We also were able to raise upwards of $1,000, all of which has been donated to the SAM Spady Foundation. We here at Rho Chapter are looking forward to initiating all 11 of our pledges and ﬁnishing the semester on a very strong note.

speaking to students all over campus. Finally, our annual Orchid Ball was our best yet, hosting many alumni and having a great night in our beachfront hotel. The rest of the semester will only keep getting better.

Mark Sutton, Herald, rho@sigmapi.org

Oregon State

Ohio Northern Zeta Chapter It has been a banner year for Zeta Chapter here at Ohio Northern University. In Philanthropy, our annual “Buy-a-Pi” event was a rousing success again. Brothers were auctioned off to benefit the Red Cross. We are also in the final stages of planning two ACE Projects. In addition, we participated in a game night with the Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority to benefit St. Jude’s Hospital. Campus involvement may be at an all time high with four brothers elected to the Inter-Fraternity Council this year, including the new president of IFC, Garett Foley. Our new Sweetheart, Hallie Barr, was elected recently on the heels of the initiation of six new members from fall rush. Twenty-two brothers returned home from their spring break trip to South Padre Island, Texas to start spring quarter here at ONU, and the Zeta Chapter is looking forward to continued success this year and next. David Phillips, Herald, zeta@sigmapi.org

Old Dominion Theta-Eta Chapter Theta-Eta Chapter has been busy since the beginning of the spring ‘06 semester improving every aspect of itself. The new EC has been running smoothly and working well with our newly established Alumni Board. They have helped us throughout the semester offering advice and ideas, as well as donations to our chapter. We have also instituted a new scholarship program, which is running great and beneﬁting all brothers and new members alike. Our second consecutive year of our ace project at Old Dominion, the “Have A Safe Spring Break” campaign, was a success, as we passed out over 200 packages of safe driving and safe sex information, while

Michael Eyre, Herald, thetaeta@sigmapi.org

Omega Chapter Omega Chapter of Sigma Pi is going very strong. We have participated in many Greek philanthropies over the past term, including the OSU blood drive, Kappa Delta’s Mock Rock, and were winner of the Alpha Gamma Rhodeo. On March 3rd we held our Orchid Ball which had a huge turn out from the members and pledges. A meeting with the alumni was held in March, where the alumni gave examples of how to keep and strong house in the forms of brotherhood, grades and campus involvement. Keegan Fennell, Herald, omega@sigmapi.org

Purdue Eta Chapter Things are looking up for the men of Eta Chapter. We have one of our largest pledge classes in recent years. This pledge class is filled with nothing but outstanding young men. Our house is becoming more involved in the university by the appointment of a member to the Interfraternity Council. Greek relations are going well and will continue to do so. We are currently planning our ACE project which will be mulching paths in the University’s Discovery Park. We are also hosting volleyball tournament to support research for cystic fibrosis. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our alumni for making our founders day celebration such a success and raising the money needed to replace the floors on our second and third decks. We look forward to your continued involvement. Evan Steiner, Herald, eta@sigmapi.org

Radford Theta-Lambda Chapter The spring semester has been very good for us here at Theta-Lambda with the addition of 10 new pledges, we look to be setting a solid groundwork during our ﬁrst semester recognized by

the university as part of IFC. In addition to this great news, we had a former colony member, Justin Shiﬂett return this semester. As Sigma Pi continues its domination at Radford, the entire chapter has joined the American Red Cross Club on campus. Now we are in charge of all functions that are held with the Red Cross. Theta-Lambda continues its excellence in philanthropy with this and its many other services projects. Finally, don’t forget the Radford Alumni Association will be looking to form this summer. This will be open to all Theta-Lambda and RadfordNew River Valley area alumni. Please contact Matthew Hughes for more information at (703) 282-2741. Travis Hoge, Herald, thetalambda@sigmapi.org

Saginaw Valley State Theta-Beta Chapter Theta-Beta would like to congratulate the Pi pledge class and the newly elected Executive Council. Theta-Beta has a bright future ahead with its new leadership set into place. The winter of 2006 was very busy for Theta-Beta. On March 15th we held the ﬁrst Ms. SVSU Pageant and held our formal on April 1st. The biggest event for ThetaBeta in the winter ’06 was our 11th Annual Pi Games event. Joe Bellomo, Herald, thetabeta@sigmapi.org

Salisbury Theta-Xi Chapter Theta-Xi Chapter is progressing well and coming up upon our second year of being an ofﬁcial chapter. We have expanded into several philanthropic events and have planned an ACE Project to beneﬁt the campus with alcohol awareness. Theta-Xi Chapter is also branching out and visiting other chapters to gain a better perspective of Sigma Pi Brotherhood. The chapter is also continually enjoying having the one of the largest pledge classes of any Fraternity on campus at Salisbury University. The brothers of the chapter are also taking a greater part in the IFC and Greek Week activities on campus by planning and overseeing those events. Jesse Hartline, Herald, thetaxi@sigmapi.org

San Diego State Alpha-Omega Chapter The spring 2006 semester has been packed with lots of fun, hard work and great memories here at SDSU. We have taken 14 pledges this semester along with recently appointing new chair positions within the house. In late February, we had our traditional alumni vs. active football game and BBQ at Mission Bay as well as participating in Pi Beta Phi’s beach clean up philanthropy. We have also recently taken our composite pictures which might possibly make our largest composite yet. Other events coming up that we are involved in include SDSU’s Greek Week April 3rd-8th, our formal trip to Vegas sometime in April, and our annual Mother’s Day dinner in La Jola in early May. All in all this has been a great semester so far with more events planned in the future. Our chapter seems much stronger and larger than ever. Erik Puhm, Herald, alphaomega@sigmapi.org

Seton Hall Delta-Epsilon Chapter Delta-Epsilon chapter has had a fantastic semester thus far. We are solidifying our spot as the number one organization at Seton Hall, as well as the eighth best overall club to join. We are the only Greek organization in the top ten. Every Friday morning from 7-10, brothers volunteer at the St. Johns Catholic Church Food Kitchen in Newark. We are also planning an ACE Project for this semester to accompany the one we ﬁnished last semester. We have six new members that are looking for entrance into delta epsilon chapter. By the schedule, they should be ready to ﬁnish shortly. They also volunteer at the food bank. Our First Counselor Dan Rose has increased alumni relations and activity. Our Founders’ Day had a great turn out and we hope the alumni vs. active softball game in April will be a hit as well. Lucas Howard, Herald, deltaepsilon@sigmapi.org

Theta-Delta brothers from TCNJ during a trip to Montreal last winter.

Southern Arkansas Epsilon-Kappa Chapter This semester is going to be an exciting semester for the brothers of Epsilon-Kappa. We just ﬁnished rush week and we have 12 pledges. We are excited to have added six new brothers to our chapter. We have many things coming up such as a blood drive, Orchid Ball, river trip, Greek Week, and Greek Step Show. We are involved in campus activities as much as possible. We have brothers in several different organizations such as IGC and IFC. We have new ofﬁcers which are leading us in the right direction. Lane Knighten, Herald, epsilonkappa@sigmapi.org

announced our formal date, which is going to be April 1st. We are looking forward to seeing all of our alumni on this very special occasion. We are also proud to announce our upcoming event with the local Salvation Army and their endeavor to improve the community in Buffalo.

Jason Kraus, Herald, betanu@sigmapi.org

Andrew Braten, Herald, epsilonomicron@sigmapi.org

Southern Illinois - Edwardsville Delta-Omega Chapter The men of Delta-Omega started off the spring semester by initiating another great group of guys, and holding a successful rush. We then won the Toilet Bowl football game for the ﬁfth year in a row. We also ran another very successful Mardi Gras Bus system to Soulard. This provided a safer alternative to driving. The brothers are now preparing for the Third Annual Cardboard Boat Regatta on April 23rd; and for the 5K ‘Run for Awareness’ to beneﬁt the Komen Foundation on April 9th. It will be another great spring.

TCNJ

Joel Albers, Herald, deltaomega@sigmapi.org

SUNY - Buffalo Epsilon-Omicron Chapter Greetings from the Epsilon-Omicron Chapter in Buffalo! We started out our second semester with a bang, having our best rush ever. We are very glad to see that the spirit of Sigma Pi is growing fast throughout our campus here in Buffalo. We also have

Theta-Delta Chapter The brotherhood at Theta-Delta continues to grow stronger after another successful semester at TCNJ. Over 20 brothers took a vacation to Montreal during winter break, and enjoyed a relaxing week in Acapulco during spring break. We were honored to host Justin Steele during his visit to TCNJ, and thrilled about the return of our brother, Drew Beal, from his semester abroad at Oxford. We have welcomed 16 brothers into our chapter, who are all men of distinguished value and character. April was an eventful month with the Family Picnic, and the chartering of our Alumni Club. The formal was a major success this spring, and we look forward to our annual brotherhood week in the summer. We would like to give special farewell to our sixteen graduating brothers who will be joining the Alumni Club. You have left your mark in the heart of this chapter and will always be remembered. Giancarlo Giametta, Herald, thetadelta@sigmapi.org

Texas Gamma-Theta Chapter This spring we initiated five new brothers. We teamed up with Austin police, fire department, EMS and had a great ACE Project. The project consisted of a “drunk driving” awareness presentation on campus. Many of our brothers also traveled to Texas State University to take part in their chartering ceremony. At the end of the semester, we are looking forward to our annual crawfish boil with our alumni. Robert Galvez, Herald, gammatheta@sigmapi.org

Texas Tech Theta-Kappa Chapter Theta-Kappa Chapter has made a clear, known presence around the neighborhood being the only fraternal organization that resides closest to campus. Our brothers have been actively involved throughout the community by volunteering their time to work for multiple service groups. We also have an “Adopt a Highway” cleanup set for April that will consist of our brothers cleaning up the roads to promote the cleanliness of our highways. Our chapter hosted its ﬁrst ever “Texas Independence Day” social that celebrated the historical battle of 1836 giving Texas its right to become a free republic. Our plan is to make

continued on next page

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

Southern Illinois - Carbondale Beta-Nu Chapter The brothers of Beta-Nu are having a successful spring semester. We are riding high off a great fall semester. The brothers have been participating in many community service projects. We also have and are hosting guest speakers for the Greek community on topics of leadership skills and risk management. With all signs pointing toward a big spring pledge class, the Beta-Nu Chapter will remain the biggest house on the SIUC campus. The brothers are also off to a great start with spring athletics, look forward to spring basketball, softball and hockey champions! Beta-Nu members, as well as alumni would like to congratulate

Thomas Kent on becoming the new chapter director. Finally congratulations to the new E.C. with Sage Drew Swithin, Second Counselor Alex Eydinov, Third Counselor Neil McEvilly, Fourth Counselor, Paul Kolk, Herald Jason Kraus and First Counselor Drew McDaniel.

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

12 C H APTER NEWS this festival an annual event providing an opportunity for proud Texans to celebrate this historical event. We have accomplished most of our goals, but still attempting to create others that will highly illuminate the progression of our chapter house, and the fraternity as a whole.

leaders in the Greek community and on Towson University campus.

Amador S. Juarez, Herald, thetakappa@sigmapi.org

UCLA

Toronto Eta-Omicron Chapter Reaching out, and reconnecting were the ideals driving Eta-Omicron through the spring semester. The brothers reached out and gave back to the community aiding a local homeless shelter for a day. The Toronto Scott Mission house greatly appreciated our help, which the brothers were pleased to offer. The chapter also gave its time to the Ryerson University Interior Design Group, hosting a charity event in order to raise funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and their annual Year End Show. Brotherhood was strengthened as the men reconnected over cards, chips, and drinks through road trips to the Niagara area casinos. The chapter was well represented in St. Louis at the Mid Year Leadership Conference, bringing back practical lessons, new visions, and reestablishing the sense of being part of a valuable international brotherhood.

Later this semester Eta-Nu looks to win their 10th Greek Week in 15 years, and end the semester with yet another exceptional ACE Project. John Lewis, Herald, etanu@sigmapi.org

Upsilon Chapter Upsilon Chapter is seeing growth like never before. After a fall pledge class of 28 initiates, Sigma Pi continues to be one of the most prevalent fraternities at UCLA. Between planning ACE Projects and alumni events, Upsilon remains distinguished for its high GPA and involvement on campus. Our winter quarter social event was a huge success as well as Founders’ Day. Upsilon alumni donated over $1,500 for the chapter scholarship, and an alumni-sponsored renovation of the chapter room is in the blueprint stage. Upsilon has high standards for next rush, and we are planning on bringing in yet another highly diverse, intelligent, and dedicated pledge class in spring quarter. With a newly elected Executive Council, Upsilon plans to maintain a higher level of principles as well as an indissoluble brotherhood.

Aaron Veerasingham, Herald, etaomicron@sigmapi.org

Kyle Simpson, Herald, upsilon@sigmapi.org

Towson

Ursinus

Eta-Nu Chapter After a great fall semester, the brothers of the Eta-Nu chapter are looking forward to a successful and memorable spring. In late October last semester, the chapter celebrated its ﬁfteen year anniversary. Brothers in attendance ranged from a past grand sage, to Eta-Nu founders and alumni, to neophytes. The celebration was informative, memorable, and most importantly, fun. With so many in attendance, it is clear that the bond between brothers is as strong as ever.

Theta-Sigma Chapter The Theta-Sigma Chapter had their first ever New Member Education process and would like to congratulate and welcome the Alpha class of Theta-Sigma to the World of Sigma Pi. The six new brothers have already fit in well to our very new chapter and have already taken part in many of our brotherhood activities and in our year long ACE Project of maintaining the recycling on campus. We have already started recruiting for next year’s Beta class as well, so as to double or triple the new class’ numbers. After this year, the Theta-Sigma Chapter will have its first alumni, John Brent Drescher, who will be graduating this spring. We’ll miss you JB.

Also in the fall, 14 bright young men were initiated into Sigma Pi. They are certainly committed to maintaining the qualities, ideals, and beliefs of the Fraternity. The same qualities that make the members of Eta-Nu

Patrick Waldron, Herald, thetasigma@sigmapi.org

Vincennes Alpha Chapter Alpha Chapter has ended the spring semester with a bang! Thanks to our hard working rush chairman and the rest of the active chapter backing him up, we were able to pull 15 new members for the spring 2006 pledge class. This was the ﬁrst time in Alpha’s history that a spring pledge class has been bigger than the fall pledge class. On February 25, Alpha had its annual Founders’ Day celebration at the Executive Inn at Vincennes. Over 200 alumni showed up for this event plus 15 brothers from the USI Colony in Evansville. Special thanks to our guest speaker this year, PGS Gary Tash (ΒΠ, Virginia ’68) and all alumni that were in attendance. We ended the semester with two ACE Projects where we helped the City of Vincennes during a spring clean-up day and helped the university with irrigation at the new Red Skelton Performing Arts Building. Travis Tobin, Second Counselor, alpha@sigmapi.org

Epsilon-Beta (Kentucky) senior Brian Newton breaks away with a steal during an intramural basketball game against Delta Tau Delta.

Virginia Beta-Pi Chapter Things are going extremely well at Beta-Pi Chapter. After a very successful rush, we have 17 new pledges entering the house. Our chapter has also been successful in intramurals, and hopes to maintain ﬁrst place in the IFC for the year. Our semester is full of exciting events, both social and philanthopic. The brothers are

looking forward to our ever-popular Thunder Down Under party, featuring Hells Bells, a live AC/DC cover band. At the end of April, we hope to have more alumni turnout to the Foxﬁeld Races. Our chapter also has many community service events planned. Brothers are working with Junior Achievement, tutoring at local Charlottesville Elementary Schools. We also participate in community cleanup projects. Our marquee event this spring will be Blood, Sweat, and Cheers. This entails a blood drive, a 5K run, and a bar night, with all proceeds beneﬁting the American Red Cross. Michael Langman, Herald, betapi@sigmapi.org

Wake Forest Alpha-Nu Chapter Alpha-Nu is excited to get back to another semester at Wake Forest. This spring, we’re looking forward to another outstanding rush season, our annual Orchid Ball brother retreat, continuing our strong participation in intramural sports, as well as our continued philanthropic involvement in activities such as the ACE Project which entails the Alpha-Nu brothers improving the Wake Forest campus in various ways over the course of a week. Socially, the Alpha-Nu brothers are eager to open up their doors once again to students of this university and guests from others for events such as Nuclear Fallout and Viking Fest. We are very excited for our upcoming new member education as well as maintaining close alumni ties so that we can further the Alpha-Nu legacy. Chris Hayes, Herald, alphanu@sigmapi.org

Wayne State Gamma-Omega Chapter Positive momentum has carried into the winter semester at the GammaOmega Chapter. We are pleased to state that we hit our pledge goal of 21 and are looking into the possibility of starting an additional summer class. The newly renovated kitchen is nearing completion and looks to be a huge improvement over its previous design. Additional house improvements have been

Brothers from Delta-Alpha Chapter at Central Michigan enjoy themselves during spring break last March.

prompted by a new pet squirrel, single handedly leading to a newly updated electrical system on the third ﬂoor and additional insulation in the attic, both of which will help save money on heat and electricity. The chapter is looking forward to a composite photo to be taken in mid May. In addition the annual Orchid Ball has been booked and looks to be a success. We hope to ﬁnish off the semester with a highly anticipated E-board election in May. Chad Zucchetto, Herald, gammaomega@sigmapi.org

West Chester Zeta-Alpha Chapter This year our chapter has reached outstanding goals. We added 25 new members to our chapter, making 2005-2006 the most successful year in Zeta-Alpha’s history. Our chapter has also elected a new executive board, who are eager to reach even higher goals. Our chapter has also ﬂourished in fundraising and athletics. A concert raised over $1,000 for our chapter, our basketball team continued its winning tradition and our ﬂoor hockey team is on their way to their third consecutive championship. After this year, our chapter will continue to be one of the most respected chapters on campus. Jason Amareld, Herald, zetaalpha@sigmapi.org

Travis McCartney, Herald, gammaxi@sigmapi.org

Western Michigan Gamma-Rho Chapter This has been a good year with both rushes going extremely well. This year we got around 25 new members. Our house is now the second largest on campus. Our annual philanthropy event went well this year raising money for Multiple Sclerosis. We also worked the home and garden show in Kalamazoo this year, parking cars. This summer the brothers will be going to Cedar Pointe to work the games raising money for the house. Our house did well in Greek Week this year, having a large percent of the house participating in all Greek Week events. Congratulations to Dustin Thomas, Jason Bradley, Andrew Smith, and Josh Klomp for graduating. To all the alumni, the annual golf outing will be at the end of July and we will be contacting you soon with more details. Congratulations to Trevor Devendorf for being on IFC as the Administrative Vice President. James Weakland, Herald, gammarho@sigmapi.org

William Paterson Theta-Tau Chapter Theta-Tau is happy to announce the induction of our Beta class. It was comprised off our young men who

James Thorpey, Herald, thetatau@sigmapi.org

Wisconsin - Oshkosh Gamma-Mu Chapter This last semester has been a busy one for the Gamma-Mu Chapter. We graduated three brothers for the fall and welcome six new brothers to our ranks. We are expanding our ACE Project even further to include more organizations on campus and on the subject of campus involvement, we took both Homecoming and Winter Carnival for the third year in a row! Our brothers are also currently working hard on housing improvements. We completely remodeled our upstairs bathroom and it is truly a throne for the gods. We have also stressed very heavily scholastics and self improvement. We are taking strides to stand out on campus and become more involved leaders. We also want to say thank you to the brothers from Plattville who came to visit us, and to congratulate the Tau Chapter on what they are doing down there. Mathew Frost, Herald, gammamu@sigmapi.org

Wisconsin - Platteville Delta-Iota Chapter The Delta-Iota Chapter has been conﬁguring its attention towards local afﬁliations during the spring semester. We are trying to expand our philanthropy projects towards the local organizations, including the VFW, where we plan on participating in the “steak feed”, to commemorate the veterans of our country. Also, we are working with the

American Red Cross to set up a blood drive to lend a hand in the ever present need for blood donations. We of the Delta-Iota Chapter recognize the need to be acquainted with the local organizations that makes it possible for us to exist, by lending a hand in their needs. This semester we plan on expanding the good name of Sigma Pi to the community of Platteville through an abundance of philanthropy projects. Kevin Podstawa, Herald, deltaiota@sigmapi.org

Worchester Polytech Gamma-Iota Chapter The past three months have been productive for our chapter. Our fall rush has drawn in nine pledges; our spring rush has enticed another six to come down to the house. Our ACE Project is almost completed, we set up a 1-in-4 Chapter on our campus, which is a sexual assault awareness program based around the statistic that one out of every four females will experience a sexual assault during their college career. The house is currently working on reﬁnishing the wood ﬂoors in the hallways, remodeling the living room into a sports center and re-doing the ceiling in our lounge. William Brooks, Herald, gammaiota@sigmapi.org

York Eta-Theta Chapter It’s been business as usual at the Eta-Theta Chapter of Sigma Pi. We had our First Annual Christmas Exchange. Prior to the event all the brothers bought a gift and at the exchange every member would choose a gift from the pile. The event went well and we hope to make this a holiday tradition here. Pledging began in late February and our chapter is proud to say we have the second most pledges for our campus this semester. Our chapter has also been raising funds by providing services to the MotoCross Expo in Harrisburg, PA. As we progress into this new semester we hope to continue improving the current state of our chapter. Jason Kranjac, Herald, etatheta@sigmapi.org

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

West Virginia Tech Gamma-Xi Chapter On behalf of the Gamma-Xi Chapter, I would like to congratulate our most recent grads and wish them well in this next stage of their lives. Gamma-Xi has had a rebuilding semester, but due to overwhelming

alumni support and the efforts of the chapter it has been a successful one. Gamma-Xi has once again lead the campus in promoting Greek life and community service and continues to be the example that other organizations strive to attain. Thank you alumni!

we are proud to now call brothers. We recently crowned our chapter sweetheart for the 2006-2007 year in our annual Sexy Sigma Pageant, where we raised both money and awareness for the American Red Cross. We have also completed our annual volleyball court clean up, as well as a campus-wide clean up. The brothers of Theta-Tau have also just applied to adopt-a-spot on campus. The brothers have also held an alcohol awareness program to inform and spread awareness of the dangers of excessive drinking. We have a few more events before the year ﬁnishes out, and we are looking forward to next semester.

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

14 CAMPUS

EXPANSION

Where are we going? Sigma Pi Invades Minnesota by Jim DiVita

by Alan Moore

Brothers, we are aggressively pursuing the growth of our great Fraternity, and you can help. Whether you are an alumnus or undergraduate, you may have a valuable connection with our targeted schools.

On April 2, 2006, Sigma Pi officially colonized its first group in Minnesota. We are excited to expand the land of Sigma Pi into a new state and are proud to put these young gentlemen on the path toward being initiated brothers. The group is led by President Rick Orr who helped start the organization and recruited many of the members. He is also active with the school and is hoping to lead these men and successfully integrate them into the Greek system at the University of Minnesota. In addition, Greek advisor, Chad Ellsworth, is very excited to have the first colony at Minnesota in years and expressed his pleasure to have Sigma Pi be a part of the campus.

Do you have a friend or son at a prominent university who is interested in starting a chapter of Sigma Pi at his school? Do you know a faculty advisor who would serve as a good advisor for a new group? Are you a local alumnus that could be a role model, and help advise a new colony of Sigma Pi? Currently, our expansion department is in the planning stages of assembling alumni advisory boards and getting in touch with prospective members. We are seeking to establish A New Generation of Leaders and have already begun recruiting campus leaders, scholars, athletes and gentlemen prior to visiting to become Founding Fathers. Help your Fraternity prosper by contacting Director of Expansion Jim DiVita at the Executive Ofﬁce at (800) 332-1897 or via email at jdivita@sigmapi.org Our current scheduled expansion projects for the fall semester include: 4Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio Gamma Chapter originally chartered June 6, 1908; inactive during World War II and since 1995. 4University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan Alpha-Beta Chapter originally chartered April 4, 1925; inactive 19331949, 1952-1966 and since 1970. 4University of Delaware Newark, Delaware 4Kansas State University Manhattan, Kansas 4University of Texas – San Antonio San Antonio, Texas For a list of speciﬁc expansion visit dates, please visit joinsigmapi.com.

The colonization ceremony took place at the Coffman Memorial Union on a Sunday afternoon. Special thanks to alumni Jason Shores (ΔΨ, Troy ’94) and Dave Roeser (ΕΖ, Western Illinois ’78) who were on hand to

help with the ceremony and be the first to witness this group as an official colony. Additionally, Roeser was honored to be able to officially pledge his son and legacy Bryan. The colony is very excited to have these links to alumni in the area and we wish them the best of luck. The colony is currently in the process of putting together an alumni advisory board. If you live in the area and are interested in helping out this group, please email amoore@sigmapi.org or call the Executive Office at (800) 332-1897.

The University of Oregon Colonized by Jim DiVita

On the evening of Wednesday, June 7, 2006, 18 men at the University of Oregon were formally colonized by Director of Expansion Jim DiVita (ΖΜ, Michigan State ’04), Colony Director Brent Cole (Ω, Oregon State ’00), Omega Chapter Sage Kyle Sander (’07) and brother Mike Johnson (’09) in the Erb Memorial Union. The origins of the colony can be traced to the cold start expansion effort conducted at the end of April by DiVita and former Senior Expansion Consultant Jeremy Boyd (ΘΛ, Radford ’04), who were on campus for two weeks recruiting scholars, athletes and campus leaders. Several months prior to arriving on campus, Director of Alumni Services Paul Wydra (ΔΖ, Missouri – St. Louis ‘01) presented to the Interfraternity Council to gain university permission for expansion with an IFC vote. Even though a colonization did not take place during DiVita and Boyd’s visit, a solid interest group was formed which would recruit for the next month, doubling membership. During this time, the interest group also participated in a Greek-wide campus cleanup to the surprise of much of the Greek community. The interest group’s success could be attributed to both the leadership of the men on the ground in ad-

dition to the support they received from the Office of Greek Life at the University of Oregon. Much of the current colony is composed of gentlemen who were involved in multiple clubs and organizations during their high school careers and who lived on the same floor during their freshman year at the University of Oregon. The colony has a full alumni board and has aggressively laid out plans to become a chapter over the next year. Sigma Pi has never had a chapter or colony at the University of Oregon. This historic colonization marks the first establishment of a group in the state of Oregon since the original founding of Omega Chapter at Oregon State University in 1924. The colony will be joining 13 other fraternities and 10 sororities as a fully recognized colony this fall poised to continue their push towards becoming a chapter.

Saint Joseph’s University Colonized by Jim DiVita

On the evening of March 21, 2006, 24 men at Saint Joseph’s University were formally colonized by then Senior Colony Development Consultant Greg Ritchie (ΔΖ, Missouri – St. Louis ’04). The history of the colony dates back to Colony President Frank Ferrara (’09) and his friend Jon Lis from James Madison University talking to him about starting his own fraternity. Frank and his friends from the dorm were looking to shape and mold an organization of their own. Prior to the colonization, Past Director of Expansion Keith Ritson (ΘΔ, TCNJ ’02) was instrumental in

helping the interest group gain full university recognition with his presentation to the Interfraternity Council. In attendance for the colonization were Assistant Executive Director Jonathan Frost (ΔΖ, Missouri – St. Louis ’02), Past Grand Sage Don Cox (Κ, Temple ‘55), Past Grand Sage John Williams (ΕΨ, Widener ‘85), Grand Fourth Counselor Chris Brown (ΓΗ, Rutgers ’81) and brothers from Kappa Chapter at Temple University, Zeta-Chi Chapter at Rowan University and Theta-

UC – Santa Cruz Colonizes by Jim DiVita

January 24,

With Theta Chi as the only other national fraternity on campus, the UC – Santa Cruz Colony has been eager to establish their presence and further develop the ideals of the fraternity on campus and in the community. The UC – Santa Cruz Colony becomes the second active colony in the state of California, joining the ranks of the Northern California Province.

Colony joins Kappa Chapter at Temple University as the third Sigma Pi group located in the city of Philadelphia. The colony joins a Greek system composed of three fraternities and six sororities.

Gamma-Beta Revived at Eastern Michigan University by Alan Moore

On April 12th, 2006, the Gamma-Beta Chapter at Eastern Michigan University was ofﬁcially re-colonized after a 24year absence. The ceremony was presided over by Grand Second Counselor George Hakim (ΓΑ, Detroit Mercy ’78) with the assistance of Fred Salmu (ΓΩ, Wayne State ’92), Rob Pankau (ΖΠ, Oakland ’05) and brothers from Zeta-Omicron (Lawrence Tech). Everyone involved remarked how exciting it was to have the chapter back after such a long absence. Also during the ceremony, a newly elected executive board consisting of Will Orlewicz, Blake

Hintz, Mike Sandoval, Alex Ridenour, Chris Hall and Eric Bromley was installed. Sigma Pi has the utmost conﬁdence in the colony’s leadership capabilities and look forward to great things coming from this revitalized group. The colony is in the process of putting together an alumni advisory board. If you live in the area and are interested in helping out this group then please email amoore@sigmapi.org or call the Executive Ofﬁce at (800) 3321897.

Mark your calendar for

Mid-Year Leadership Conference February 2-4, 2007 St. Louis, Missouri

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

2006, 32 men at the University of California – Santa Cruz became one of the newest colonies of Sigma Pi. The colony originally formed as an interest group in the fall of 2005 with ten men. Several members of this interest group were inspired by their friends who were members of the Zeta-Eta Chapter at Santa Clara University, who furthered the idea of starting their own fraternity at UC – Santa Cruz. This interest was then communicated to the Sigma Pi Executive Ofﬁce. Then West Region ELC Jim DiVita (ΖΜ, Michigan State ’04) was able to meet with the two leaders of the interest group: Shahrooz Rhooparvar (’06) and Takis Kyriakopolis (’07), at a coffee shop right outside of San Jose, California, to discuss the possibilities of starting Sigma Pi at UCSC.

The interest group would soon gather speed as both Rhooparrar and Kyrikopolis were anxious to get going and colonize as soon as possible. Rhooparrar and Kyrikopolis were able to recruit solid men from the ranks of their friends and people from their classes. Through hard work and determination the group would triple in size by the time they were ready to colonize. On that evening in January, Past Senior Expansion Consultant Jeremy Boyd (ΘΛ, Radford ’04) and DiVita ofﬁcially colonized the group.

Sigma Chapter at Ursinus College. The ceremony took place at the Kappa Chapter house, which was wonderfully prepared, including pizza and soda provided by Past Grand Sage Don Cox in celebration. The Saint Joseph’s University

Texas State

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

Theta-Upsilon Charters at Texas State University by Jim DiVita

Founding Fathers

Michael Abola Brian Anderson Marcus Callis Eduardo Castillo-Gomez Daniel Conner Ross DeLomel Jason Doyle Jonathan Galan Reynaldo Gonzalez Jeffrey Gordon Adolph Guel Bran Hall Brian Hawthorne Ryan Hiner Scott Hook Jonathan Loo Ruben Lopez Sergio Lozano Dury Lucas Marcus Mondragon Rene Morales Michael Morris Julian Nunn Nicholas Patetta Michael Perez Alexis Perez Charles Perryman Nicholas Pocknoll Andrew Pomarantz Jose Ramos John Richmond Thomas Richter Michael Roche Robert Selden Aaron Spielvogel William Stewart Maxwell Strickler Nathaniel Thompson Ivan Veda David Villela Marshall Wesson Ross Yaussy Nicholas York

Stats on campus:

On April 8th, 2006, 42 men were initiated into Sigma Pi as the newest chapter of the Fraternity: ThetaUpsilon Chapter. Theta-Upsilon is the second quickest group to gain their charter in the history of Sigma Pi, behind Theta-Delta Chapter at The College of New Jersey which currently holds the record. The initiation ceremony took place in Old Main on the campus of Texas State in San Marcos, TX. In attendance for the chartering were brothers from Theta-Kappa Chapter at Texas Tech University and Gamma-Theta Chapter at the University of Texas. Theta-Upsilon Chapter’s roots go back to David Villela (’06) and his friend Amador Juarez (ΘΚ, Texas Tech ’06) talking to him about starting his own fraternity. David and his friends would later form ‘Interest Group 1897’ and eventually meet Blake York (’09) and his friends on the intramural ﬁelds during a ﬂag football game. They, too, were looking to start their own fraternity and would come together for a common cause: to establish a brotherhood unlike any previously existing at Texas State. On September 23, 2005, the group was colonized by Senior Expansion Consultant

22,986 undergraduates 5% of men join fraternities 20 fraternities / 13 sororities

CHARTERING TEAM:

Location: 30 miles from Austin, Texas Type of school: public, four-year, coed

Grand Second Counselor: Larry Rovira (ΕΝ, Cal State – Fullerton ’85)

Grand Sage: John Kitch (Η, Purdue ’73) Grand Third Counselor: John Yevick (ΓΔ, Slippery Rock ’85) Grand Fourth Counselor: Tim Love (ΒΧ, Loyola – Chicago ’03) Grand First Counselor: Noah Kaplan (ΓΘ, Texas ’07) Grand Herald: Jonathan Frost (ΔΖ, Missouri – St. Louis ‘02)

Jeremy Boyd (ΘΛ, Radford ’04) and then West Region ELC Jim DiVita (ΖΜ, Michigan State ’04). The road to chartering was a difﬁcult one, ﬁlled with both extreme highs and lows. The colony was gifted in recruitment, as almost 60 men were pulled together before the end of the fall 2005 semester. Unfortunately, 22 were lost due to grades. The colony would soon recover with the recruitment of more members and maintain an active role on campus. In the fall, the colony raised more money than any other fraternity for Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash, thus winning the fundraising competition. In early April the colony conducted an ACE Project by hosting a distinguished faculty appreciation banquet. Most importantly, the colony became well respected as gentlemen on campus, in addition to being a diverse group of individuals, and promoting a positive image in the name of Greek life; something that had not existed prior to the arrival of Sigma Pi. Although many people helped make this chapter what it is today, there are a few that stand out: Tim Love (ΒΧ, Loyola – Chicago ’03) with his guidance as a Sigma Pi alumnus and one of the newest Theta-Upsilon alumni and Founding Father Mike Roche (’06) who was instrumental in helping compose the chapter’s petition. Theta-Upsilon Chapter becomes the fourth chapter in the state of Texas.

Fairleigh Dickinson Epsilon-Xi Chapter Re-charters by Jim DiVita

Founding Fathers

On April 8, 2006, Epsilon-Xi Chapter was formally re-installed at Fairleigh Dickinson University at the Metropolitan campus in Teaneck, New Jersey. Epsilon-Xi was originally formed as a Sigma Pi colony in 1978 at the FDU Rutherford campus and was chartered on May 6, 1979. The chapter was closed in 1994, the same year the operations of the FDU Rutherford campus were absorbed by the Metropolitan and Madison campuses. The idea to reopen the Epsilon-Xi Chapter was conceived by FDU undergraduates, Joeseph Sabanos (’07) and Bill Brandt (’07), who felt early on that there was something missing on campus and starting their own fraternity could enhance their college experience. Sabanos and Brandt, felt the values of Sigma Pi were in line with many of their own and enlisted the help of their friends to revive Sigma Pi at Fairleigh Dickinson.

In late January 2005, past Expansion Consultant Christian Miele (ΗΝ, Towson ’04) arrived on campus to meet with the interest group and university administrators. After holding on-campus information sessions for prospective members, Miele, along with Sabanos and Brandt, recruited 23 men to join and prepared the group for re-colonization.

The group excelled academically, completed in intramurals, incorporated a non-hazing new member education program, focused on community service and philanthropy projects, and help monthly brotherhood events. After re-colonizing on January 30, 2005, the colony became well known right away for their continued service to both the university and local communities. The colony became active, running, and participating in events such as a large food drive during the Thanksgiving season and an ACE Project, where they helped freshman students’ move into their dorm rooms during opening weekend. What was originally an interest group, would soon grow, and eventually becomes the largest, most diverse fraternity on campus. Epsilon-Xi Chapter’s success can be contributed to the hard work of all its members.

Stats on campus:

Grand Sage: Christopher Brown (ΓΗ, Rutgers ’81)

3,284 undergraduates 1% of men join fraternities 7 fraternities / 5 sororities

Grand Second Counselor: PGS Don Cox (Κ, Temple ’55)

Location: 15 miles from New York City

Grand Third Counselor: Paul Gorman (ΔΕ, Seton Hall ’96)

Type of school: public, four-year, coed

CHARTERING TEAM:

Grand Fourth Counselor: Justin Saponara (ΘΔ, TCNJ ’02) Grand First Counselor: Joe Palazzolo (ΔΒ, Monmouth ’03) Grand Herald: Mark Briscoe (ΑΠ, Arkansas State ‘81)

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

After contacting the Sigma Pi Executive Ofﬁce and speaking with then Director of Expansion (ΘΔ, TCNJ ’02), Sabanos and Brandt attended the 2004 Mid-Year Leadership Conference in St. Louis, Missouri to further acquaint themselves with the Fraternity. They later set up meetings with Epsilon-Xi alumni to reengage them and solicit their support.

Under the exceptional leadership of Sabanos and Brandt, the colony developed scholarship, recruitment, philanthropy, community service, social, brotherhood, and risk management programs to serve as the building blocks of their colony.

Hassan Aljomae Jared Ambrosino William Brandt Christopher Byrne Alexander Cabrera Thomas Cauttero Daniel Councell-Rivardo John de Armas Nicholas DeAlto Nicholas DeAmorin Michael Ditizio Thomas Donlon Michael Edgein Thamir Emam Stephen Eng James Goehring William Handy Christian Hayes Clifford Heinzmann Todd Honig Jorge Ledesma Francis Justin Legaspi Andre Leverett Ziad Majbour Hiroki Ochiai Michael Oggenfuss Nilay Patel Michael Perry Johnson Pinto Felipe Rodriguez Eric Ruane Joseph Sabanos Teddy Stanowski Jung-Suk Suh Stephen Sutera

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

Getting A LTRUISTIC C AMPUS E XPERIENCE

job done

the

In the third full year of the Altruistic Campus Experience, 108 undergraduate chapters and colonies gave back to their host institutions through this unique campus philanthropy.

By Brian C. Alley (Α, Vincennes ’03)

What is the ACE Project? The Altruistic Campus Experience is a voluntary program in which chapter members approach college officials to find ways to work together and fill a specific need on campus. Each chapter designates an ACE Project Chairman to solicit campus officials with a simple proposal: “The members of Sigma Pi Fraternity are proud to be part of the campus and want to make it better. What can our membership do to make it better today?” Once a project is agreed upon by campus officials and fraternity members, the chapter quickly goes to work gathering the necessary supplies, generating interest on campus and notifying the media so the project can make a big impact on the welfare of the institution. What did Sigma Pi contribute this year? Chapters have filled campus needs in a variety of ways, including campus cleanups, natural preservation of the grounds, student/community education, collegiate unity events, and civic project labor in the name of our campuses. Many chapters held events that included more than one of these areas to increase the value of their college experience. Some chapter projects were born from new ideas. Other chapters duplicated successful programs on other campuses or built upon the success of inaugural projects. The men of the Delta-Beta Chapter at Monmouth University, for example held a week-long ACE Project to bring alcohol awareness to the students and faculty of the university. On Monday, April 24, 2006 the chapter hosted an Alcohol Awareness presentation, attended by nearly 300 students who came to hear a speech by Patty Spady about her daughter’s tragic death from acute alcohol poisoning in September 2004. The crowd ranged in age from high school students to graduating seniors and spanned the state of New Jersey as students from The College of New Jersey, Seton Hall University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, William Paterson University, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology all attended. Students even came from as far away as Kutztown University in Pennsylvania to hear Mrs. Spady’s speech. In addition to Spady’s talk, attendees also heard a message of hope delivered by Reze Zeda of the SAM Spady Foundation. To round out the night, Grand Fourth Counselor and Eatontown, NJ lawyer Chris

2005-2005 Campus ACE Projects Alpha Chapter (Vincennes) - University Irrigation Project Beta Chapter (Indiana) - Clean-Up Project Kappa Chapter (Temple) - Alcohol and Drug Awareness Zeta Chapter (Ohio Northern) - Dontation Station Eta Chapter (Purdue) - University Landscaping Theta Chapter (Pennsylvania State) - Information Booths During Move-In Days Iota Chapter (California) - Concessions Stand at Basketball Game Mu Chapter (Cornell) - Presentation to Students and Faculty Nu Chapter (Franklin & Marshall) - Alcohol Awareness Week Xi Chapter (Iowa) - Volunteer at University of Iowa Energy Fair Rho Chapter (North Carolina State) - Alcohol Awareness Fundraiser Sigma Chapter (Iowa State) - Campus Clean-Up Tau Chapter (Wisconsin-Madison) - Entertainment and Fundraising Upsilon Chapter (UCLA) - Tutor Inner City Kids Phi Chapter (Illinois) - Clearing Brush on Campus Omega Chapter (Oregon State) - Cuts for the Community Alpha-Eta Chapter (William & Mary) - Cleaning an Amphitheatre for a Concert Alpha-Iota Chapter (Missouri-Rolla) - Cleaned and Renovated Campus Weight Room Alpha-Mu Chapter (New Jersey Tech) - Campus Fitness Challenge Alpha-Nu Chapter (Wake Forest) - Staff Recognition, Campus Clean-Up Alpha-Pi Chapter (Arkansas State) - Faculty Breakfast Alpha-Upsilon Chapter (Rhode Island) - Habitat for Humanity Alpha-Phi Chapter (Georgia) - Rape Awareness Seminar Beta-Eta Chapter (San Jose State) - Dorm Beautiﬁcation Beta-Kappa Chapter (Arizona State) - Volunteer for Campus Programs Beta-Nu Chapter (SIU-Carbondale) - Dinner for Multi-Cultural Department Beta-Omicron Chapter (Cal State-Long Beach) - Campus Clean Up Beta-Pi Chapter (Virginia) - Cleanup and Greek Development Beta-Sigma Chapter (Northern Illinois) - Cleaning the Community Beta-Tau Chapter (Valparaiso) - Campus Beautiﬁcation Beta-Chi Chapter (Loyola-Chicago) - Blood Drive Beta-Psi Chapter (East Stroudsburg) - Ran Campus Function Gamma-Alpha Chapter (Detroit-Mercy) - University Easter Egg Hunt Gamma-Gamma Chapter (Central Missouri State) - Alcohol Awareness and Prevention Gamma-Theta Chapter (Texas) - Alcohol Awareness

Brown (ΓΗ, Rutgers ‘81) spoke about the difference in college life from the 1970s to today and how students need to protect each other in the event that they choose to consume alcohol. Monday night’s event kick started an entire week of alcohol awareness that impacted both Monmouth University and the community. Shortly after the week of events, university ofﬁcials began drafting a “Good Samaritan” policy that encourages students to call for help when they see the signs of alcohol poisoning. The rest of the week featured alcohol-free events including a drunk driving simulation and a

Friday night movie played on the Great Lawn on the Monmouth campus, which was an excellent alternative to the traditional “party” on Friday night. The week’s second biggest event saw well over 100 students from all walks of college life at an open microphone night at the university’s student center. The event, which was called “Thursday Night Alternative”, was an absolute success as students performed their raw artistic talent to attendees. From a cappella singers to guitar players to group singers and poetry reading, the entire event was a major success. The event drew in fraternity and sorority members, players from the school’s athletic teams,

Gamma-Iota Chapter (Worcester Polytech) - Alcohol Awareness Program Gamma-Kappa Chapter (Indiana Tech) - Second Annual Faculty Night Out Gamma-Mu Chapter (Wisconsin-Oshkosh) - Blood Drive Gamma-Xi Chapter (West Virginia Tech) - College landscaping Gamma-Rho Chapter (Western Michigan) - Alcohol Awareness/Drunk Driving Simulator Gamma-Sigma Chapter (Missouri) - Campus Speaker Gamma-Tau Chapter (Georgia Southern ) - Campus Clean-Up Gamma-Omega Chapter (Wayne State) - Fundraiser for Katrina Victims Delta-Alpha Chapter (Central Michigan) - Handing out Coco to Faculty and Students Delta-Beta Chapter (Monmouth) - Sam Spady/Alcohol Awareness Week Delta-Zeta Chapter (Missouri-St. Louis) - Date Rape Awareness Delta-Iota Chapter (Wisconsin-Platteville) - Clean-Up Delta-Lambda Chapter (Louisiana Tech) - Campus Beautiﬁcation Delta-Rho Chapter (Morehead State) - Alcohol Awareness Night Delta-Upsilon Chapter (Virginia Tech) Delta-Omega Chapter (SIU-Edwardsville) - Campus Involvement

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

Delta-Epsilon Chapter (Seton Hall) - Handing Out Coco to Faculty and Students

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

and freshman who walked over from the dorms, all enjoying the night completely alcohol free. Delta-Beta’s ACE Project was an overwhelming success. Students from Monmouth University and surrounding high schools were both touched by the sheer emotion of Spady’s speech. Along with the week-long activities, the chapter also handed out 3,000 Ace of Spades cards to students, faculty, and people in the community. Mary Anne Nagy, Monmouth University Vice President for Student Services said, “Sigma Pi’s efforts to enlighten fellow students on the dangers associated with high levels of intoxication and the recognition of the warning signs associated with these dangerous levels may mean a life saved on our campus. There has not been a ﬁner example of peers taking care of peers.” Down in the Sunshine State, the men of the Zeta-Zeta Chapter at the University of Florida assisted the university’s physical plant department in landscaping an area near one of the dormitories on campus. More than 65 members took part in activities such as planting trees and shrubs, laying sod, and spreading mounds of mulch for the project. The project was done to help the university turn one of the dormitories into a specialized handicap facility. While the university provided the work on the inside of the building, the men of Zeta-Zeta provided the

labor and completed the landscaping on the exterior. Christopher Bullins, Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs at Florida said, “Sigma Pi’s commitment to the ACE Project concept and giving back to the University of Florida is testament to the character of men the chapter recruits as brothers and the values that they instill within the entire organization.” Zeta-Zeta Chapter has been acknowledged for their past ACE Projects, both locally and internationally, being awarded one of the top projects by the Executive Ofﬁce for the 2004-05 and 200506 academic years. The chapter also received recognition for their efforts by Florida’s Interfraternity Council (IFC) by presenting them with the “Best New Chapter program” award. In North Carolina, Alpha-Nu Chapter at Wake Forest University continued upon an ACE Project they began the previous year. In the fall of 2005, the walking trails that the chapter generally cleans and maintaining were still in good condition and needed minimal work, so in addition to the work, the chapter decided to plan an alternative project for the fall semester. A longstanding tradition at Wake Forest is to cover the quad on campus in toilet paper after signiﬁcant wins during basketball season. While the administration does not oppose the activity, the maintenance crew spends

2005-2005 Campus ACE Projects Epsilon-Alpha Chapter (Southern Tech) - Alcohol and Drug Awareness Epsilon-Beta Chapter (Kentucky) - Campus Clean-Up Epsilon-Gamma Chapter (Illinois Wesleyan) - Awareness Education Epsilon-Epsilon Chapter (Emporia State) - Handed out ESU License Plates Epsilon-Zeta Chapter (Western Illinois) - Campus Clean-Up Epsilon-Theta Chapter (Elon) - Landscaping Trash Pickup Epsilon-Kappa Chapter (Southern Arkansas) - Sponsor Alumni Association’s 5K Run Epsilon-Lambda Chapter (Eastern Kentucky) - Donations for Christmas Gifts For Children Epsilon-Xi Colony (Fairleigh Dickinson) - Freshman Move-In Epsilon-Omicron Chapter (SUNY-Buffalo) - University Clean-Up Epsilon-Pi Chapter (Christopher Newport) - Clean-Up Epsilon-Rho Chapter (Drury University) - Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts Epsilon-Phi Chapter (Embry-Riddle (AZ)) - Admissions Assistance with Campus Event Zeta-Alpha Chapter (West Chester) - Free BBQ During Finals Zeta-Gamma Chapter (Millersville) - Campus Clean-up Zeta-Delta Chapter (Colorado) - Alcohol Training and Responsibility Fourum Zeta-Epsilon Chapter (Michigan Tech) - Database Survery Zeta-Zeta Chapter (Florida) - Campus Beautiﬁcation Zeta-Eta Chapter (Santa Clara) - Assisting a Local High School Zeta-Mu Chapter (Michigan State) - Helping Build and Refurbish a Home Zeta-Omicron Chapter (Lawrence Tech) - Alcohol Awareness Zeta-Pi Chapter (Oakland) - Sigma Pi Pig Roast Zeta-Tau Chapter (Northern Colorado) - Faculty/Staff Appreciation Luncheon Zeta-Chi Chapter (Rowan) - Alcohol/Drug Awareness and Risk Management Eta-Gamma Chapter (Hofstra) - Transportation and Fundraising Eta-Eta Chapter (Bridgewater State) - Revamp of Volleyball Court Eta-Theta Chapter (York) - Campus Renovation Eta-Mu Chapter (Missouri Southern State) - Campus Enhancement Eta-Nu Chapter (Towson) - Campus Clean Up/Car Wash Eta-Omicron Chapter (Toronto) - Clean-Up Labor/Football Field Eta-Tau Chapter (Fitchburg State) - Alcohol Awareness Day Eta-Upsilon Chapter (California-Irvine) - Midterm/Energy Drink Package Eta-Omega Chapter (Johnson and Wales) - Awareness Theta-Beta Chapter (Saginaw Valley) - “Pi Stock” Social Entertainment for Students Theta-Gamma Chapter (West Alabama) - Fundraiser and Blood Drive Theta-Delta Chapter (College of New Jersey) - Teacher Appreciation Theta-Epsilon Chapter (Indiana of PA) - Campus Beautiﬁcation Theta-Eta Chapter (Old Dominion) - Safe Spring Break Theta-Theta Chapter (Ferris State) - Homecoming Bon Fire Theta-Iota Chapter (Altoona) - Creek Clean-Up Theta-Kappa Chapter (Texas Tech) - AIDS Testing Theta-Lambda Chapter (Radford) - Assisting with Radford’s Highlander Festival Theta-Mu Chapter (Chico ) - Campus Clean Up Theta-Nu Chapter (Houston) - Drunk Driving Awareness Theta-Xi Chapter (Salisbury) - Alcohol Awareness Week Theta-Pi Chapter (Arizona ) - Faculty Night Out Theta-Rho Chapter (Grand Valley State) - Luau and Pig Roast Theta-Sigma Chapter (Ursinus) - Recycling Collection and Maintenance Theta-Tau Chapter (William Patterson) - Campus Clean-up and Volleyball Tourney Kennesaw Colony (Kennesaw State) - Cookout for Baseball Team Jacksonville Colony (Jacksonville State) - Clear Cutting Land Clayton Colony (Clayton State) - Presenting a Bench to the Campus

The men of Alpha-Nu decided to show their appreciation for the unheralded efforts of the facilities management crew and offered to clean the quad for them. The next time the quad was littered with toilet paper, the brothers of the chapter went out and helped the crew. After meeting with the facilities management crew brieﬂy for instructions, the chapter was off and cleaning. With more than 50 brothers helping, the quad was spotless in no time. The project not only allowed for the chapter to give back to the campus by cleaning, but it allowed them to show their appreciation for people whose actions go relatively unnoticed on the campus. Not limiting the chapter’s beautiﬁcation project to just the quad, the chapter combined the rest of campus in their clean-up efforts and turned the day into a campus-wide cleanup. After the winter weather had left the trails covered by debris and garbage, it was apparent that the chapter would need to return to the area that they had previously cleaned. In April, the brothers returned to the trails to pick up trash, remove debris, and clear branches to return the area to its

previously beautiful state. After receiving positive feedback from the facilities management staff, the brothers of Alpha-Nu decided to once again show their appreciation to Wake Forest employees whose efforts are uncelebrated by providing the university police and facilities management with a hearty warm breakfast. Across the country, members of the Eta-Mu Chapter at Missouri Southern made an impact on campus by fixing up several areas on campus that were identified by administrators as needing improvement. During the week long event, the men repainted trash dumpsters, planted trees and helped with landscaping on the campus, and cleaned out the university’s library and helped reorganize for the following year. The spring cleaning events made a big impression on university officials for the second year in a row. “This was work that definitely needed to be done,” said Director of Student Activities and Greek Life Julie Blackford. “The guys did a great job.” Established Sigma Pi Chapters are not the only ones to complete an ACE Project. Several colonies are growing in the spirit of campus altruism and Sigma Pi values through their efforts as well.

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

Theta-Omicron Chapter (Alabama) - Landscaping and Fundraising

hours upon hours cleaning up the celebratory litter.

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

22 2005-2005 Campus ACE Projects Texas State Colony (Texas State) - Faculty Appreciation Banquet

Colonies at Kennesaw State (Georgia), Jacksonville State (Alabama), Clayton State (Georgia), Penn College, Southern Indiana, and Middle Tennessee State showed their campus involvement with registered projects as well. What Does the Future Hold? The ACE Project is in its infancy, but it’s growing quickly across North America as members ﬁnd creative ways to enhance their collegiate experience. Participation has more than tripled since the inception of the program as older brothers and the Sigma Pi staff assisted new brothers in ﬁnding ways to improve on the success of the inaugural year. Next year, Sigma Pi Fraternity expects to complete more than 125 service projects. Every undergraduate and alumnus member is invited to

participate in projects, as everyone can contribute something. This is a great opportunity for alumni to reach out to chapters and increase the success of ACE by sharing the skills they have acquired as professionals and teaching our young men how to communicate, recruit, and publicize events. Ensure the success of our undergraduate ACE Projects by asking the same questions of undergraduates that they ask campus ofﬁcials: “What can I do to help you make your collegiate experience better?” You don’t have to wait until Homecoming to give back to your school. Get in touch with your chapter (or the one nearest to you) to make a difference today and help make our undergraduate members become A New Generation of Leaders.

Penn College Colony (Pennsylvania Tech) - Park Clean-Up Southern Indiana Colony (Southern Indiana) - Helping with USI’s Southern Hospitality Days MTSU Colony (Middle Tennessee State) - Alcohol Awareness

: p u y a w On the way up: e h t n O Keep your ear on Tyler Reeve (HE, Florida State ’03). The Florida State University alumnus and up-and-coming singer-songwriter is busy paying his dues along the road to the big time. A veteran at age 25 of travel between venues and cities, Reeve already has won over audiences from Tallahassee to Key West with his easy going charisma and natural stage presence. However, it’s his brand of acoustic rock that keeps them coming back for more.

“If someone comes and hears me play, I’m at a point where there is no question it’s what I do for a living,” said Reeve, who is based in Atlanta and can be seen regularly at Tin Lizzy’s, a place popular

“As a stage musician, one of my strongest points is the amount of gigs I’ve played in Tallahassee and at Irish Kevin’s (in Key West). Most people do their practicing at home. I basically have done all of my practicing on stage.” Reeve describes his sound as a cross between Maroon Five and Gavin DeGraw, and he intends for his forthcoming album to be a showcase of his 12 best original songs.

by Jeffery Seay (ΗΕ, Florida State ’91)

to see me. One day, I played a place where no one went — ever. They hired me for one night. We put out a few ﬂyers, and all these people came. I thought, ‘Wow, this is really cool that so many people showed up, just for me.’” Reeve’s ability to connect with audiences comes down to his own passion for music and performing. “I’m not there to sell them records. I’m there to have a good time, just like they are.”

“When I was selecting the tracks, I only had a couple of songs that weren’t about women. I thought, ‘I have too many songs about women!’ Then, it hit me. I said, ‘That’s it, I’m going to use all the songs about women and that’s what I’m going to call it!’”

He also has perfected gauging what the crowd wants, and adjusts his show accordingly. Switching between his own 80-song catalog and a mix of covers that run from country to classic rock, his performances can be laid back or “in your face.”

Recalling his early days as a musician in Tallahassee — his “college job” — Reeve said he ﬁrst considered pursuing music as a career after realizing he had developed a bona-ﬁde fan base.

A resident of Atlanta since July, Reeve has been pleased to ﬁnd larger venues and a world of potential new fans who are responding as favorably to his music as others have.

“During my junior year at FSU, I was playing very regularly and starting to get to where people knew me and were coming out

“The best thing about it are the new crowds. I recently played a place up here. They were really

into (my show). In Tallahassee, many people have seen it, but they’re not there staring at my guitar (for the ﬁrst time). These people did. It made me so excited.” Despite his growing Atlanta popularity, which is fueled by a weekly schedule of Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday night gigs, Reeve is determined not to forget his loyal Tallahassee fan base. He is booked to play at A.J.’s Sports Bar on Friday nights through the end of the year. In preparing for the next phase of his career — accepting a record contract and touring as an opening act — Reeve plans to establish a solid Atlanta fan base and simply do what he loves most — perform his music. And if that means more travel between venues and cities, he is ready. “I like the grind. It’s worth it. I’ll be worn out on three hours of sleep, ready to pass out as I walk, but the second I get on stage, I’m completely ﬁne.” To learn more, visit: tylerreeve.com.

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

On the cusp of recording his ﬁrst studio-produced album, “Too Many Songs About Women,” and with his Sept. 15 stage debut at Atlanta’s famed Fox Theatre under his belt, Reeve (B.S. ’03, International Affairs) has been honing his craft over the past four years with as many as 20 hours of stage time every week. Now, his hard work is beginning to pay off.

among local FSU alumni.

Reeve winning Atlanta crowds

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

Martin stood to serve

ost-Katrina n ppost-Katrina iin

s n a e l r O New Orleans w Ne

by Jeffery Seay (ΗΕ, Florida State ’91)

“I probably had about 10 messages from guys just like him who said, ‘We’re on our way.’” C.J. Martin’s face bore the weariness of two weeks’ worth of grueling duty in the ﬂooded destruction of New Orleans, a world that was upturned by Hurricane Katrina.

to help in such preparations as placing departmental boats and rescue equipment, along with complements of four divers and two sergeants, in key locations throughout the city.

After his ordeal, while on a ﬁve-day furlough to visit parents Bill and Diane Martin of Tallahassee, the Florida State University alumnus and New Orleans police detective took a much needed and well-deserved break from his obligations of service to colleagues and civilians alike.

As the hurricane passed over the city, Martin watched it from inside his police truck with his dogs, Scout and Renegade, in the New Orleans police headquarter’s parking garage.

Martin (ΗΕ, Florida State ’96), who has been a scuba instructor for the past 10 years, is currently assigned to the New Orleans Police Department’s bomb squad and dive team. He started his career with the department in 1998 as a narcotics detective, and later was assigned to the department’s coldcase squad. On Sunday, August 28, Martin reported for duty around 10 a.m. PHOTOS: NOAA

“I was just waiting for it to pass so (my fellow officers and I) could go out and do what we had to do,” he said. After the storm, Martin and his colleagues started to conduct an assessment of their surrounding blocks. Within a few hours, however, the 17th Street Canal levee broke, and floodwaters started to rise quickly. “Once the flood waters got to around the six- or seven-foot mark — and police headquarters sits a pretty good way off the ground

— we started doing an evacuation of the non-essential personnel and family that had come there to hunker down for the storm. While the flood waters rise, you don’t really want to go out into it, because it’s a potentially dangerous swift-water environment.” On Monday, August 29 — after the storm had passed — Martin and his fellow officers found themselves with no electricity or communication systems, and spent much of that day securing police headquarters. Keeping headquarters secure was critical in order to protect criminal records, evidence and expensive communications equipment. Even for a seasoned officer such as Martin, and despite the preparations made by the department in the days leading up to the hurricane’s landfall, the reality of post-Katrina New Orleans was a shock. “During the first couple of

days, when we’d be out on one of our boats, it was surreal to see the water level so high, and people in such need. Being limited to what we were capable of doing — not having helicopters — it was frustrating. But at the same time, we were just as desperate as the civilians were. Even though we had an obligation to help people as best as we could, we weren’t much better off than they were.” The ﬁrst night, Martin said that members of his 11-man contingent went up to the roof of police headquarters simply to get some

relief in the cool night wind, and survey the city. “We got up on the roof and it was just pitch black,” he said. “I used to go up there with my tripod and camera and shoot cityscapes when I was in Homicide. Now, you couldn’t see anything, except for a building burning in the distance from an electrical ﬁre.” Over the ensuing days, Martin and his colleagues ran scout and rescue missions on their departmental boats, sometimes beginning at dawn.

By Day 5, Martin and those on duty with him learned about the chaos erupting elsewhere in the city — snipers shooting at rescue helicopters and firefighters — from the fuzzy reception of TVs powered by generators. Around the ninth day, Martin was able to get close enough by boat to his home — the second story of an old-style Louisiana house with a wraparound wooden porch — to find it intact.

“The back of headquarters has a loading dock that we wound up using as a makeshift sally port to launch our boats, because the loading dock was ﬂooded,” For the ﬁrst seven days, Martin said, this became the routine. And except for the sporadic cell phone signal from one corner of the roof of police headquarters, they’d usually get the “all circuits are busy” message.

He also was able to arrange for the transport of Renegade and Scout, his dogs, out of the city with an animal-rescue group. His parents picked up the dogs in Baton Rouge, La.

But serving the residents of New Orleans was foremost in the daily grind. During the daylight hours, Martin participated in rescue missions launched from the sally port.

In the end, after Martin and the ofﬁcers in his contingent were able to hook up with the majority of the New Orleans police force, he discovered that most of them had done the same things he had.

“We started picking up people by boat from rooftops and the second ﬂoors of their houses, and were able to take them to the Broad Street overpass (an on-ramp to Interstate 10),” Martin said. “By Day 2 or 3, we had Black Hawks, Coast Guard Dolphins and Chinooks (helicopters) assisting us, airlifting people from there.

“They were bunkered in, in small groups, 10 and 15 people trying to do their jobs, not knowing whether they were being left behind or if there were other officers around.” Martin told of one officer who had been in Atlanta as the hurricane prepared to make landfall. Just as Martin had made the decision not to leave his post during the most difficult of circumstances, the officer hitchhiked back to New Orleans, courtesy of a law enforcement relay that drove him from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

“After the military arrived, we got a truck — an F-350 with a ﬂatbed on the back — loaded with a couple of pallets of MREs (meals ready to eat). We’d load the boat up from those, and gallon jugs of water, and we’d go around to people we couldn’t easily evacuate and who were waiting on helicopters to come in, and we’d deliver these necessary items.”

Around Day 12, Martin began conducting scouting missions for some of the federal agencies that had brought in equipment, including U.S. Customs out of Miami.

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

Eta-Mu Brothers Experience One-of-a-Kind Internship Missouri has a long tradition of interns at the state capitol. Most of these interns have come from various state schools. However, Missouri Southern State University, home of the Eta-Mu Chapter, has been missing in the rolls. This year, Southern had a strong presence. Right before last Thanksgiving break, several students from MSSU received an email from their advisor, Dr. Tom Simpson (Eta-Mu’s faculty advisor), offering them the chance to intern in Jefferson City the following semester. It was a short notice, but the program had just been created and the school president was eager to get it off the ground. Of those students; two were Sigma Pi’s, Mark Peron (’06) and Jonathan Russell (’08). The Missouri General Assembly regularly convenes in early January, so Peron and Russell had a fairly short notice to get everything in order and move. In mid-January, another Sigma Pi, Jake Heisten (’06), received an opportunity to intern at the capitol. This meant that three of the ten MSSU interns were Sigma Pi brothers as well, a rather impressive feat considering the size of Eta-Mu relative to Missouri Southern’s student body. The Eta-Mu brothers soon found out that interning was not easy work. Heisten and Russell, working for two state senators, endured long hours and carried heavy loads. Peron, being on the House side with Representative Ed Emery, may have had fewer hours, but his work was no easier. Senators Jake Goodman and Gary Nodler had busy legislative agendas in addition to committee assignments which made things very hectic for Russell and Heisten. The tasks assigned to interns ranged from menial to vital. Each intern was expected to give Capitol tours to constituents and check the mail. They were also expected to handle constituent problems involving Medicaid, birth certificates, and various other issues. Russell had to research possible solutions for a dying town in Goodman’s district. Heisten tracked legislation and proofread legislative bills for the Education Committee that Nodler chaired. Peron researched a bill for constituents which led to a substitute of an existing bill correcting errors he was able to find. One of the highlights of interning at the Missouri State Capitol is Mock Session, a chance for all of the interns to participate in their own legislative body. The leadership positions are elected from among all of the interns. Peron was elected to the second most powerful position, Speaker Pro Tempore. From that position, he was able to appoint Heisten as chaplain and Russell to a committee chairmanship. This bode well for Sigma Pi and MSSU because 163 interns put him in that position. The Five Ideals played a major role in their lives each day at the capitol. Relying on each other as brothers, maintaining an aristocracy of learning, developing character, diffusing culture, and promoting civic righteousness all contributed to their success at Jefferson City. They also learned how the three C’s play a vital part in achieving goals. Having contacts, using concepts, and controlling your environment are key to survival in the political world. These three brothers never failed to recognize how the teachings and ideals of Sigma Pi benefited them daily.

Left to Right: Senator Gary Nodler (32nd Senate District), Jake Heisten (’06), Jonathan Russell (’08), Senator Jack Goodman (29th Senate District), Mark Peron (’06), and Representative Ed Emery (126th House District).

NEWS FROM

ALUMNI

Beta Chapter Alumni Club “Progress, Man’s Distinctive Mark Alone.” This has been the ongoing theme of the Beta Chapter Alumni’s rebirth, but it even had more application at the recent Beta Chapter Founders’ Day event. The reception was held February 25th, 2006 at the Morrison Opera House Building in downtown Indianapolis. It was truly a unique opportunity to celebrate our Fraternity’s founding by reﬂecting on the progress we have made and the progress we will be making in the future. Over 70 brothers enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, drinks and great conversation. Alumni Advisory Board President Andy Hahn (’01), updated the group on the accomplishments to date of the Alumni Advisory Board. Chapter Director Nate Henderson (’00), read a letter of congratulations from Mark Briscoe, executive director of Sigma Pi. Chapter Sage Mike Malloy, updated the group on undergraduate accomplishments and also read a letter of congratulations from Steve Veldkamp, Assistant Dean & Director of Student Activities at IU Bloomington. Dan Gantzer, captain of the Little 500 bike team, updated the group on how hard the bike team has been training for the Little 500 coming up in April. Also make your plans to attend Homecoming on October 28, 2006. We are anticipating the event to be at least twice as large as it was this year. —John Huybers (’90)

There were nine brothers and ﬁve wives that convened at the home of John Crum and Carol Porter on Saturday, April 22 for a great BBQ and gabfest. Some of us

Couples and individuals that didn’t live in Las Vegas made the trip by car or plane. Jerry Dye, who lives in Las Vegas and Jerry Lambert, who winters in Indio, Calif., joined the group on Saturday only, just for the picnic. Dick Foringer ﬂew in for the weekend from the Chicago area and stayed with the Crum’s, who reside year round in Las Vegas. John and Glenda Montgomery winged it in from Grand Rapids, Mich., for a three-day stay, while Dick and Anna Armstrong came in from Venice, Fla., Floyd and June Davis made the trip from Pennsylvania and Tom Campbell drove up from San Diego, Calif. Jim and CJ (Carolyn) Bradham have made their home in Las Vegas since 1980. We “painted the town lavender and gold” by cruising the strip, continued on next page

Epsilon-Pi Celebrates its 25th by Alan Moore

April 8th, 2006, marked the celebration of 25 years

since the chartering of the Epsilon-Pi chapter at Christopher Newport University. Dozens of alumni and undergraduates were present to mark the occasion. As the celebration went on into the night we were honored with speeches from Past Grand Sage John Williams (ΕΨ, Widener ’71) and Grand Herald John Michelich (ΕΓ, Illinois Wesleyan ’74). Special thanks to these Grand Council members who were able to attend the festivities. We hope you will honor us with your presence at future events. It was clear upon arrival that the active chapter had done an excellent job in preparation for the event and spared no expense to make sure the occasion was a memorable one. Chapter Sage Mickey Neeley summed up the experience perfectly, “Founders’ Day this year was incredible. The amount of alumni in attendance and having John Michelich and John Williams as guests made all the hard work and dedication the active brothers put into the event all worth it. Just by looking at the faces of those in attendance you could tell the event was a big success.” The lobby was ﬁlled with every composite, every award, the original charter, and the petition to charter, which added to the overall positive ambiance of the event. Dinner was served, which was followed by speeches, awards presentations and dancing. During the awards presentation, Epsilon-Pi welcomed in its ﬁrst chapter sweetheart in four years. Congratulations go to the newest sweetheart, Casey Dunn, and we welcome you into our chapter. All the guests were excited to see many faces from the past and faces never seen before. The event was a huge success and we were all honored to be a part of Sigma Pi at Christopher Newport University. The active chapter would also like to extend a warm thank you to our alumni who were able to attend. We would not be here if it was not for you, and we hope that you will continue to come to our events and support this great organization.

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

Beta-Gamma Alumni Reunion

hadn’t seen each other since graduation, while others have stayed closer due to there home base and locations. Most all are retired, or semi retired, from business and industry or higher education. These areas include marketing, sales, insurance, banking, real estate development, accountancy, teaching, and the law.

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

28 A L UMNI NEWS seeing some shows, gambled a little, did a great picnic, toured Red Rock Canyon, and even found time for some golf. Since the Crum’s and Bradham’s live in Las Vegas, it gave us two great launching points for all the weekend activities.

alumni event since the chapter was rechartered in 1991. As dedicated alumni club members, we’re glad to see that the mission of the club is being achieved via increased communication between all of the chapter’s alumni and the undergraduates.

Some of the comments overheard were, “Would you have ever thought back in 1961 that we would all meet in Las Vegas in 2006”, “Why the heck don’t we do this more often” and “Boy, have we forgotten how to party, or what?” —John Montgomery (’62)

Thank you to the alumni who covered the travel costs for our chapter director, sage, second counselor, third counselor, and ACE Project co-chairman to attend the Mid-Year Leadership Conference in St. Louis. Anyone who attended this conference from New Jersey knows that the plane tickets were not cheap, especially for ﬁnancially strapped undergraduates. The alumni club is glad that the chapter’s efforts are drawing more positive alumni inﬂuence from our early 1990s alumni. We are hoping that the anonymous identity of this alumnus is revealed in the coming months through a luncheon between him and the current active roster for the chapter.

Jersey Shore Alumni Club Special thanks are in order for the Delta-Beta Chapter’s active brothers – thank you very much for an outstanding Alumni Day during Founders’ Day Weekend! The club was quite impressed with the active brothers and pleased to see a strong new member class being diligently trained to carry on the Sigma Pi legacy at the chapter. Also, all of the club members were glad to see some more recent alumni attend the celebration. To this end, we would like to congratulate our newest alumni club member, Chris Lastre! The Alumni Club President Steven Colvell (’03) and the Chapter Director Joe Palazzolo (’03) planned and hosted a Christmas Party for the active brothers and some alumni in Ocean Grove in December. This party was a huge success. Over 50 brothers (plus 50 stunning dates) attended the event and plans are already being made for the Jersey Shore Alumni Club to sponsor next year’s party. Another special thank you goes out to Brother Andy Smith (’72). Smith had corresponded with our chapter director a few times over email, but this was the ﬁrst time that he attended an

Jersey Shore Alumni Club member Kevin Phelan (’04) continues to assist the chapter’s ﬁrst counselor in preparing the printed alumni newsletter. Due to ﬁnancial constraints, the alumni club will not be covering all of the costs of this newsletter, but will donate a portion of the overall costs. The following orders of business were discussed at the latest alumni club meeting: Nominations are open for the vice-president and treasurer positions in the alumni club. The terms for these positions are two years and nominations are due on August 1, 2006. Voting will take place during the fall 2006 meeting on Homecoming Weekend. Any member in good standing with the alumni club is eligible to run for a position. In the event that no

Emory Alumni Dean Celebrates 94th Birthday Emory students, administrators and alumni lifted their champagne glasses on April 11, 2006 to toast the 94th birthday of Judson C. “Jake” Ward (Ψ, Emory ‘36), former executive vice president and current dean of alumni. Several of Emory’s boldface names attended the celebration, dubbed “Jake’s Open House,” including University President, James W. Wagner, Vice President and Deputy to the President, Gary Hauk and the University’s unofficial mascot, the skeleton, James W. Dooley. In a letter that Hauk read, Dooley said Ward “exemplified the work and greatness that Emory seeks to inspire.” “His work and his overall efforts are of someone who is deeply committed to his alma mater and who wanted to ensure the growth and betterment of this University,” Dooley wrote. “I thank you from the very depths of my soul, or from whatever a dead man has.” The event also marked the birthday of John Emory, the Methodist minister for whom the College is named. Emory died in a carriage accident one year before the College was founded. A student dressed as Emory rode to the Miller-Ward House on a carriage led by Clydesdales. Walker Rey, the president-elect of the Association of Emory Alumni, called Ward “a legend in his own time who spent nearly 77 years in service to Emory.” Ward graduated from Emory in 1936 and then received a doctoral degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He taught at several institutions, including the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he reached the rank of major. In 1948, he returned to Emory as dean of the undergraduate liberal arts college. Ward, who was born in 1912 in Marietta, said he has enjoyed watching Emory evolve since his arrival in 1929 - a decade after the school moved from Oxford to the current Atlanta location. “You can’t believe how much the place has changed,” Ward said. “It was so small when it was built. Everything was built around the Quadrangle. There really was nothing else.” Ward recalled the arrival of the first undergraduate woman in 1953 and the first black student in 1963. “You just accept the changes that come in the world,” Ward said. “I never thought Emory would be like this. The campus is growing, the number of people are growing, its reputation is growing. The University is much better as a result of the change.” Ward said the memories of time spent with his fraternity, Sigma Pi, remain his favorite from his time at Emory. The fraternity has been inactive at Emory since 1959. Even at 94, Ward continues to serve as the dean of alumni, coming to work in the building named in his honor - the Miller-Ward Alumni House - every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

nominations are made, the current officers will retain their positions for the new term. Nominations may be submitted via a written letter or an email to the chapter director or alumni club president. The floor opened for a discussion on raising the club’s yearly dues. The chapter director told the club members that while the club was able to meet some of their intended goals, financial restrictions really held the group back from sponsoring some of the events that they wanted. The proposal on the floor stated that dues would be raised by 50 percent and that a one-time “new club member” fee would be added to new members’ first year alumni club dues. Brothers Chris Navarro (’04) and Matt Salerno (’04) spoke in favor of the increase and actually were successful in amending the proposal to allow for a 100 percent increase in yearly dues. The amended proposal was passed unanimously along with penalties for late payments and the introduction of the one-time new member fee. For the next alumni club meeting, the Chapter Director will prepare a new budget stating the intended usage of the new revenue.

Please visit the Jersey Shore Alumni Club on the internet at club.sigmapi.com. You can now join the alumni club and pay your dues online at this address! Attention Delta-Beta Alumni: the monthly email updates from

upcoming events please visit our website at sigmapizetachi. com or contact me directly at mattypetz@yahoo.com. —Matthew

Finally, the alumni club would like to congratulate one of our founding members, brother Michael Ciavarella (’98), for being named the chapter director at the Zeta-Chi Chapter at Rowan University. Brother Caivarella had a tremendous impact on the DeltaBeta Chapter as sage during the late 90s and we are conﬁdent that his experience and dedication to the fraternity will show in his time as chapter director at Zeta-Chi. Congratulations. —Joe Palazzolo (’03)

The SWVAA and Gamma-Xi Chapter’s motto “To Establish Unity” during the Sigma Pi Lifetime Experience jumped off with our annual Homecoming Meeting. This meeting included inspirational recollections by brother McMillion (’48). A school-status briefing by WVUIT President and brother, Charles Bayless (’65), was expanded upon by brother Robinson (’66) who enrolled actives in the Giving Habit supporting the institution and organization that form our character. Our Lifetime Experience is one of continual change and alumni brothers should keep close together. Brother Miller (’95) shared a financial report that reflected the extent of our joint functions; both chapter and SWVAA finances and business practices are sound.

Southern New Jersey Alumni Club Founders’ Day brought about old feelings of friendship and memories of days gone by as members, both past and present, gathered to celebrate brotherhood in its simplicity. Alumni and actives of the Zeta-Chi Chapter, in Glassboro, NJ, spent some quality time together on February 26th. The day was spent at both the chapter house and around the campus as brothers walked and reminisced. We wish to thank those who attended and hope that next year’s turnout is even better. The more the merrier. Membership in the Southern New Jersey Alumni Club is open to any brother of the Zeta-Chi Chapter or alumnus residing in the New Jersey counties of Burlington, Atlantic, Camden, Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland, or Cape May. If you would like any information on joining or

Petz (’04)

Southern West Virginia Alumni Association

This year brother Davis (’97) and SWVAA Representative Lowry (’04) were among alumni working with Gamma-Xi Leaders at the Mid-Year Leadership Conference. Our housing improvements, scholarship recognition, mentoring, and job-search activities have been mutually rewarding to generations of brothers intent on being Sigma Pi’s for a lifetime. West Virginia Tech alumni are encouraged to establish unity and build on our 80 year history of Sigma Pi Brotherhood. —Tom Curry (’83)

Upsilon Alumni Association Bob Howe (’52) attended his 50th Founders’ Day on February

25, 2006 as 80 alumni gathered to hold their annual reunion at Sigma Pi Manor in Westwood. He has missed only one Founders Day since 1955. Howe was one of several pledges from the late 1940’s, who represented the wisest of the wise, including Captain Ray Lahr, Dick Kater and former sage/student body president Fred Thornley. Pinche chef Ruben Zuniga feted everyone with a great Hawaiian buffet of roasted pig and ahi tuna. Many brothers came from great distances: Gene Roche (New Jersey), Ltc Ron Rule (Wyoming), John Ivsan (North Carolina), Ron Mathis (Tulare), Bill Kelly (Sacto), Chris Cochran (Sacto), Doug Frank (Sacto) and Doug Glantz (San Francisco Bay) from northern California. Erik Johnson, Dan Furr and Dr. Lance Fuchs returned after absences of 10 plus years. A large contingent from the 1958 pledge class attended: Chuck Bader, Ron Mathis, Gary Stafford, Jack Burghardt, Alex Riddell and Doug Frank. Doug Frank returned to the house for the ﬁrst time in almost 30 years and combined the trip with visits to his former U.S. Marine Corps colleagues. Rich Frank rallied a group from the late 60s, including Chris Cochran, Dave DeCamp, Dr. Kent Shoji and Dr. Rainer Beck. Fred Faeth joined the group earlier in the day. Dave reports that his father, Upsilon alumnus Ray DeCamp from 1937, the oldest living Upsilon alumnus, is a spry 92 years old and still drives around town! Business notes: The Alumni Association has 41 donors thus far in 2006. A “Seniors Dinner” and “Career Night” are planned for June. The Sigma Pi World continued on next page

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

A request has been submitted to one of the chapter’s alumni to fund one of the three scholarships that the club voted to sponsor last year. This particular scholarship, the New Member Achievement Grant, will be awarded to the new member with the highest GPA from the previous calendar year. The scholarship will cover both the pledge fee and the initiate fee.

the chapter director have been changed to quarterly updates! The actives will be handling the monthly updates to the entire alumni email list while the chapter director will send out an additional monthly email to alumni club members to update them on happenings related to the club.

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

30 A L UMNI NEWS

Attention Alpha Chapter Alumni When Sigma Pi alumni get together, they talk about yesterday. When Sigma Pi undergraduates get together, they talk about tomorrow. And that’s good. Because sometimes, looking back ... or looking ahead ... is a lot easier that looking around. The focus of the Alpha of Sigma Pi House Corporation is to do just that, addressing today’s challenges so as to develop A New Generation of Leaders and foster lifelong friendships. In order for the undergraduates to look at tomorrow they need your help. The Alpha Chapter House is in desperate need of a new roof. Over the last 16 years, the current roof has withstood quit a bit of wear and tear but it has gotten to the point to where it can’t stand anymore. The Alpha of Sigma Pi House Corporation is asking for your support in the purchase of a new roof. The cost of roof with supplies and labor is going to cost around $7,000 and the House Corporation has less than $1,000 available for the roof. Please give back something to the organization that has given so much to you. Please send your generous donation to Alpha of Sigma Pi, PO Box 1897, Brentwood, TN 37024. You can also donate online by visiting rushsigmapi.com and clicking on Alumni News. Any donation will be accepted. Those donating $100 or more will become members of the Century Club and will receive special recognition. $100 is not a lot to ask when you consider it is only $8.33 a month. Please donate now and help insure the future prosperity for the chapter. It’s great to “remember when,” and it’s okay to dream about “someday.” But what we do about right now counts for so much more. Thank you in advance for you continued support and dedication. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact House Corporation Treasurer, Brian Alley at (800) 332-1897 or via email at balley@sigmapi.org.

Series is on May 6 at “The Yard” in Fullerton. RSVP: Dan Romero - DRomero@DRom.net . The Classes of 1966-1972 “Scot Irwin Memorial” Reunion will be Sat., Aug. 12, at the home

of Dr. Kent Shoji (20 Vista Real Dr., Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274 - (310) 539-2280). RSVP: Rich Frank - (805) 526-6276 or RFrank@FreyClaims.com. —Jay Ross (’92)

Alumni Updates William A. Brenner (ΑΖ, St. Lawrence ’62) is seeking to be the Republican and Conservative Party candidate for the United States Senate from New York. He is opposing the re-election of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Gary Calligas (ΔΛ, Louisiana Tech ’72) is the publisher of a regional senior newsmagazine The Best of Times and is the radio show host of The Best of Times Radio Hour on 50,000 Watts AM 1130 KWKH, a Clear Channel station in Shreveport, broadcasting every Saturday morning live from 9 to 10 am CST. He and his wife, Tina, who is the editor of The Best of Times have received several awards regarding their news-magazine, annual resource directory, radio show, and website. Recently, The Best of Times was chosen as the exclusive member from Louisiana for the North American Mature Publishers Association. Visit their popular website at thebestoftimesnews.com for more information. For information, call (318) 636-5510 or email him at glcallig@hotmail.com. Steve Canada (ΗΒ, Southern Connecticut State ’89) is the author of a new book entitled: The New Standard Optician, which will be used as a standard reference book for all new opticians entering the profession.

the Confederation of Interalled Reserve Ofﬁcers. Sanjay K. Gupta (ΒΧ, LoyolaChicago ’00) has been working at J.P. Morgan Chase (formerly Bank One Corporation) and recently completed the Scholar Program, a management training program involving rotations through various departments within the ﬁrm. As part of the program, Gupta has been attending Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management part-time and graduated in June with a M.B.A. In addition, Gupta has taken a full-time position as an Underwriter in J.P. Morgan Chase’s Commercial Bank in Chicago. Christian N. Heausler, Esq. (ΑΚ, Louisiana State ’95) recently accepted a position as a patent counsel for Kellogg Brown & Root, where he lives with his wife, Sandra and four-year old twins, Anna and Cole. Kirk Hyde (Υ, UCLA ’72) moved to Australia and is teaching in the Faculty of International Relations at the University of Shizuoka (Japan). Steve Kaufman (ΔΒ, Monmouth ’98) recently received a MBA from the University of Phoenix. Kurt Kenworth (Υ, UCLA ’55) retired as President and CEO of Standard Quality Inc. and is keeping busy being a substitute teacher and forensic consultant for ladder accident incidents.

Gus Constancio (ΗΑ, Cal State – Sacramento ’90) and wife, Lisa, are the proud parents of Elia Neves Constancio, who was born on March 27, 2006.

Mike Liskey ( Υ, UCLA ’90) is an assistant basketball coach at Biola University in La Mirada, California and has traveled to Benin during the summer to hold camps and help coach the National Team.

Colonel Thomas C. Fosnacht (Θ, Penn State ’70), USAR (ret.), was recently honored by induction into the NATO Grand Priory of Saint Sebastian, The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem. Known in short as the Knights Templar, Tom was selected for his many years of service to NATO’s reserve forces and active involvement in its auxiliary organization,

Daniel Longenderfer (ΖΓ, Millersville ’88) was promoted to Marketing Director at New Holland Concrete, an architectural products company, based in New Holland, PA. In this new role, Longenderfer will be responsible for all corporate branding and advertising promotion efforts, as well as new product development.

UCLA Alumnus Elected President of the Trial Lawyers of Public Justice Foundation Activist trial lawyer Thomas M. Dempsey (Υ,

UCLA ’64) of the Law Offices of Thomas M. Dempsey in Los Angeles was elected president of The TLPJ Foundation on July 25, 2005, at the organization’s annual membership meeting in Toronto, Ontario. The TLPJ Foundation is the nonprofit parent of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), the national public interest law firm dedicated to using trial lawyers’ skills and resources to advance the public good. “Tom is one of our nation’s most dedicated advocates of public justice,” said outgoing TLPJ Foundation President Jeffrey M. Goldberg of the Law Offices of Jeffrey M. Goldberg in Chicago. “We are thrilled to have such an exceptional attorney and distinguished leader at our helm.” Dempsey is an accomplished trial lawyer who specializes in professional negligence, products liability, and premises liability with an emphasis on traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. His history of leadership positions in the legal community span over 30 years. He is a past President of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), and CAALA honored him with its Outstanding Chapters President Award in 1993. The Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles honored him with its Ted Horn Memorial Award in 1992 for his outstanding contribution to the profession. He was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Whittier College of Law from 1979 to 1985, and a Professor at Southwestern University School of Law from 1975 to 1979. He received his J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law in 1969, and a B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1964. His association with TLPJ is long-standing, and he has served on The TLPJ Foundation’s Executive Committee since 2000.

Currently, TLPJ is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the role of the courts in two key cases. TLPJ recently joined an amici brief in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld,

“We’re also challenging the sealing of vital information in two key cases. One involves a tainted expert witness and the other a popular, but dangerous SUV. First, in November 2005, TLPJ achieved a huge victory for crash victims and First Amendment rights by unsealing a scathing court sanctions order against Honda and its expert witness for “deliberately” tampering with evidence. Then, in December 2005, TLPJ and Public Citizen challenged a court order sealing ‘smoking gun’ exhibits which show that Ford repeatedly weakened the roof of its popular Explorer SUV throughout the late 1990s, despite its knowledge of how stronger roofs could prevent rollover injuries and deaths. After the exhibits were disclosed and nationally publicized, they were re-sealed at Ford’s request. They remain sealed today, despite their relevance to a proposed federal regulation that would toughen vehicle roof strength safety standards. TLPJ won’t rest until this crucial evidence is made public.” “Democracy depends on respect for the rule of law, and keeping the courthouse doors open for all. Please support TLPJ. Join us in bringing the talent and tenacity of the best of our nation’s trial attorneys to these strategic battles to defend our constitutional democracy.”

Arturo Martinez (Υ, UCLA ’91) is the Deputy City Attorney for Los Angeles and has helped to write state legislation to clamp down on the fake I.D. trade in MacArthur Park. Don Pearis (Υ, UCLA ’64) retired from General Electric Company in 2005 and has been busy traveling with trips to Africa twice, Europe, and Mexico. Herman Quispe (Υ, UCLA ’93) joined the Tournament of Roses and volunteered during the Rose Parade this past January. Jeremy Sarnovsky (ΖΠ, Oakland ’01) and Martha Ciske were married on May 12, 2006 at the Historic Christ Church in Arlington, Virginia. Robbie Schwietzer (Υ, UCLA ’96) has recently moved to Germany to work for Amazon.com. Adam Shores (ΔΨ, Troy ’98) and Kathryn Grant (Zeta Tau Alpha, Stetson Univ.) were married on July 29, 2006, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Donald Simmons, Jr. (ΒΜ, Mississippi ’83) was recently re-elected to the Egan City Council for a second term. He serves as Vice Chair of the Council, as well as an appointed member of the South Dakota Municipal League’s Public Works and Nominations Committees. Kasper (Szuba) Teichmann (Υ, UCLA ’02) is serving in the U.S. Peace Corps in Ukraine. Chris “Toonces” Morris (ΗΑ, Cal State – Sacramento ’94) was hired in November as the new Vice President at Katherine L. Albiani Middle School in Elk Grove, Calif. Victor Vidana (ΗΑ, Cal State – Sacramento ’92) and wife, Tamara, are the proud parents of Jaxson Daniel Vidana, who was born on March 22, 2006.

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

In a recent issue of TLPJ’s Public Justice newsletter, Dempsey speaks out on the U.S. Supreme Court and “Upholding the Rule of Law and Access to Justice.” Dempsey writes: “From trial courts coastto-coast to the U.S. Supreme Court, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ) battles to uphold the rule of law and access to justice. We ﬁght for liberty and justice for all in the place where we ﬁght best, and where the biggest impact can be made – in the courts.”

which argues that the President does not hold, and should not be ceded, the power to try people before military tribunals on the basis of secret, unsworn statements from faceless, nameless accusers who cannot be cross-examined in open court. This case tests the limits of the President’s power and presents a vital opportunity for courts to reassert the constitutional balance-of-powers that is a bulwark against tyranny. The justices will hear oral argument in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld on March 8, 2006. And in November, TLPJ’s Paul Bland presented oral argument in a key U.S. Supreme Court case, Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc. v. Cardegna, in which TLPJ argued that it is the proper role of America’s courts – and not private arbitrators – to decide when a loansharking contract is illegal and therefore, unenforceable.

Chris Lowe (ΗΚ, East Carolina ’91) was recently promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant with the California Air National Guard at Channel Islands. Chris and his wife live in Ojai, California, just north of Los Angeles.

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

32 A L UMNI NEWS

Reﬂections of a Career as a Diplomatic Courier by Carl Bayard (Θ, Penn State ’57) Carl Bayard gives a ﬁrsthand account of his life with the U. S. State Department

In the Fall of 1959, I started a new career with the Department of State in Washington, D.C. Eighteen months prior, I had applied for the position of a Diplomatic Courier with the Foreign Service of the State Department. After a year and a half waiting period, having completed security clearances, etc., I began what was to become a 35-year career in the Diplomatic Service. In October of 1959 I went to Washington to process for my new position before going to the American Embassy in Manila, Philippines for my first posting. The Diplomatic Courier Service for the Federal Government is run by the Department of State, and is operated out of three Regional Offices: Frankfurt, Germany; Manila, Philippines; and Washington, D.C. Later on the Far East office in Manila moved to Bangkok, Thailand. Each office covered one third of the world, serving all of our embassies and consulates in that area. The Diplomatic Courier Service had about 85 members, and was responsible for the safe hand delivery of the Diplomatic Pouch to each post twice a week. The time of assignment to a post was from two to six years, after which time each courier would transfer to one of the other

posts. Most all of the travel was on commercial air lines, but some flights on US Military aircraft were used as well. In Europe, from the Frankfurt office, some train and truck travel was utilized also. In the 1960’s and beyond, the travel to Moscow and the Iron Curtain Countries of Eastern Europe was performed by two couriers as a paired trip for extra security measures. One of the many requirements for the position of a Diplomatic Courier was that you had to be single when you entered the service and had to remain so for two years. From my first posting in Manila (1960-1962) I transferred to Frankfurt for four years (19621966). I then returned back to Manila for two years (1966-1968). My first Washington assignment was for two years (1968-1970) , after which I returned to Frankfurt for four years from 1970-1974. It was in Frankfurt that I met my future wife Brigitte, and we were married there in May of 1973. Our courier trips from each Regional Office varied in duration from a day trip to one of three weeks or more .While on a trip of say two weeks , there were days off in the cities that we serviced. It was not possible to be traveling every day of the trip due to airline scheduling. When we returned

to our home base there were days off before taking the next trip. The closest thing to compare it to would be the life of an airline pilot.

In 1981 we transferred back to Frankfurt for six years. From 1987-1990 we spent three very interesting years in Bangkok, and again I traveled all of Asia.

The Diplomatic Pouches we carried varied in size, weight and number. They could be as small as a one pound pouch or as large as one weighing several hundred pounds. Couriers carried no arms, and the pouches, which were under seal, could not be opened for inspection. This was covered under the Geneva Convention.

Retirement was approaching and our last assignment was for two years in Frankfurt from 19901992 where I retired on April 4, 1992 after a long, fascinating career. It was more of an adventure than a job, and it took me to every major country in the world except Iceland and Mongolia. In 1982, when we were in Frankfurt, we bought a mountain house in the Spessart, East of Frankfurt. We have kept this home, and in our retirement, we travel back and forth from Annapolis to Germany each year spending several months there. This permits us to keep in touch with both our countries, which we enjoy very much.

In over 30 years there were a lot of take-off’s and landings. It was not hard to log at least 250,000 plus miles every year. Naturally, flying so much brought a number of hazards. In my career I was involved in two minor plane crashes and two coup d’etat’s. In the history of the Courier Service there have been five couriers killed in plane crashes. It is difficult to fly so many years without an incident of some sort. In the fall of 1974, Brigitte and I left Frankfurt for a six year assignment in Washington from 1975-1981. We bought a house in Annapolis which we have kept over the past 31 years. Travel from Washington took me again to South and Central America and the Caribbean plus Canada.

After retiring in 1992, I did some part time traveling for about 10 years for the Courier Service, mostly out of Washington but some from Frankfurt when we were there at our home in the Spessart. Now Brigitte and I are fully retired and enjoying it to the fullest. The question I have been asked quite often is, “Would you do it all over again?” My answer every time has been, “ You bet I would.”

ADYTUM

ON HIGH

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

Arizona State - Beta-Kappa Dennis Gillmore ’68

Indiana Tech - Gamma-Kappa Steven A. Palms ’73 2/2/06

Virginia - Beta-Pi W. Preston Haupt ’62 12/17/05

Arkansas - Alpha-Sigma Robert Percefull ’50 6/25/98

Kenyon - Lambda Merrill Manz ’38 11/12/05

Wayne State - Gamma-Omega Dennis Ponichter ’70 10/25/89

Arkansas State - Alpha-Pi Jerry Bookout ’55 2/22/06 Tony Cariaco ’68 2/3/98

Louisiana Tech - Delta-Lambda Joseph Sansalone ’72 11/15/05

Western Michigan - Gamma-Rho David Saganek ’77

NJIT - Alpha-Mu Harry H. Brown ’46

Western State - Delta-Chi James Lamprecht ’67 2/06

North Carolina State - Rho Carl E Trexler ’33 1991 Walter Britland ’56 2/6/06

William & Mary - Alpha-Eta Robert Doughtie ’58 7/05

Auburn - Alpha-Delta Arthur Rogowski ’37 6/13/01 Beloit - Alpha-Theta William Schuett ’50 Cal State-Long Beach - Beta-Omicron Richard Rinella ’57 12/10/05 Steve Stovall ’79 1988 Central Missouri - Gamma-Gamma Michael Hartwick ’91 4/01/06 Columbus - Epsilon-Delta Mark Sussenbach ’77 1/22/06 Detroit - Gamma-Alpha * See note at right Eastern Illinois - Beta-Gamma Steven Bosworth ’64 12/12/05 Ned Schrom ’56 2/26/06 Emory - Psi Greenville Wood ’36 John Rooney ’34 George Barker ’30 Emporia - Epsilon-Epsilon John Blaufuss 12/17/05 Florida - Zeta-Zeta John Nattress 11/30/05 Franklin & Marshall - Nu George C. Fryburg ’41 2/20/06 Frank F. Burgess ’42 3/06

Indiana - Beta Newton Youngblood ’28 5/89 Jeffery Medlen ’75 Indiana-South Bend - Delta-Tau Scott A Miller ’85 8/3/04

Wisconsin-Whitewater - Gamma-Phi William Pappa ’74 9/24/99 Gregory Kraemer ’69 8/04

Ohio - Epsilon Max Wenger ’42

Worchester Polytech - Gamma-Iota Wayne Stratton ’75 2/10/06

Ohio Northern - Zeta Robert Spees ’49 8/23/05 Ohio State - Gamma James E Stapel ’68 William R. Snyder ’60 Pennsylvania - Delta Ronald Silknetter ’23 9/4/76 Purdue - Eta James Stahn ’42 Ernest Schechter ’34

* Dr. John A. Pazell, Sr. was marked deceased in 1995 per information from an alumnus. We received an email from Harris Publishing stating that Dr. Pazell called them to state that he was indeed alive. We apologize for the mistake.

Rhode Island - Alpha-Upsilon Daniel R. Bucki ’90 11-9-01 Rochester Tech - Beta-Phi Thomas Wells ’99 Alfred Haacke ’82 2/12/06 San Jose State - Beta-Eta Walter Andrews ’50 1/5/06 Elvin Meek ’55 10/19/03 Southern Tech - Epsilon-Alpha Larry L. Conner ’73 Tulane - Omicron Dudley Foley ’33 1/19/06 Utah - Pi Boyd Holbrook ’40 Vincennes - Alpha August Diener ’71

Consider an online gift in memory SIGMAPI.ORG/EDFUND

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

Illinois - Phi Joseph Sirotek ’39 2003 Arthur Schultz ’32 1/5/83

Northern Arizona - Beta-Iota Virgil Strimple 11/85

Why do I

give

to the

Sigma Pi Educational Foundation? Patrick Vacanti (ZH, Santa Clara ’93) • $1,656 since 1994

Since graduating from Santa Clara University in 1993. I have consistently donated annually to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation. When I look back at my time in college, my fondest memories and biggest lessons were gained through my membership and participation in Sigma Pi. Sigma Pi taught me the meaning of stewardship. I have heard the word before, but never could put it into context like I could with Sigma Pi. I am proud of the accomplishments we reached in the Fraternity when I was an undergraduate member. A signiﬁcant way I can continue that feeling of pride and sense of stewardship is by donating to the Educational Foundation. While I can not commit the same amount of personal time to the Fraternity as I did in college, I can feel just as proud knowing that my hard earned donation is going to suuport the Fraternity in providing young men of Sigma Pi with the same opportunities, and more, that I had in college. You can count on my support as a life long donor to the Educational Foundation. Fall 2005 • www.sigmapi.org

S I G M A P I E D U CAT I O N A L F O U N DAT I O N Help us to secure the future of Sigma Pi for our young brothers. Please contact Richard S. Robinson at the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation, (800) 322-1897 or online at sigmapi.org.

2 Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

Why People Give There are many reasons people make charitable gifts to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation. For example, a person who has a hefty tax liability may make a year-end gift to ease the tax burden. Another person may give to obtain a charitable gift annuity and gain a lifetime flow of income at a respectable rate. Another person may be influenced to give by a friend or family member. And still someone else may give out of a sense of duty. But the overwhelming reason people provide financial support for an organization like the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation is because they believe in what we are doing and want to help us fulfill our mission. They give to underwrite our cause. This is especially true for donors who make planned gifts to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation. Such gifts involve estate assets and often include legal documents. They can be made during life or deferred until a later time. They can be used to create endowments or to provide funds for building or operational needs. Such gifts are not made lightly; they require thoughtful planning and sound rationale. All of this explains why we like to sit down with folks and talk about the good things happening at the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation. We like to open the annual report and show the results of good planning, wise stewardship and solid leadership. We like to describe the vision of our president and our board. How much do you know about the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation? Do you know enough to know whether this is an organization you want to support with a will bequest or some other kind of planned gift? Would you like to learn more? Richard Robinson, our President and Chief Development Officer, is available to visit you and tell “The Sigma Pi Educational Foundation Story.” He will answer your questions and provide an annual report and other informative literature. And, then — during that visit or at a later time — if you want to discuss how you might join us in supporting our mission through a planned gift, he can explain the various options. In any case, you will find Richard cordial and respectful. You will enjoy getting to know him and appreciate his love for the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation and his ability to communicate our mission . . . and the benefits of planned giving. To arrange a visit with Richard, or to obtain a copy of our most recent annual report and other literature about the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation, call us at (800) 332-1897. You can also learn more about the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation by visiting the Sigma Pi Fraternity web site at sigmapi.org.

If you have a choice, it’s usually better to give appreciated stock to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation than to give cash. Here’s why: You receive an income tax charitable deduction for the appreciated value, not just the amount you paid for the stock. You also avoid tax on the growth. Consider Brother Jones. He wants to give the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation $5,000. If he wrote a check for this amount, it would cost him $5,000. Let’s assume, however, that Brother Smith has stock worth $100 per share that he bought years ago for only $10 a share. Excellent growth, but not unusual for a good growth stock. If Brother Smith gave 50 shares of this stock to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation, the gift value would be $5,000, not the $500 he paid for these shares originally. In other words, his $5,000 gift would cost him only $500!

Give the Growth

There are, of course, a few rules. First, you must have owned the stock for at least a year and a day prior to making the gift. Second, the value of the gift is determined by the average trading price on the day the gift is made. Third, the charitable income tax deduction can be applied, on an itemized return, up to 30 percent of the donor’s adjusted gross income, whereas a cash gift is deductible up to 50 percent. Fourth, if you are unable to apply all of the deduction in one year, you have an additional five years to use it. Your accountant can explain these things and anything else that may apply to your situation. It’s prudent to obtain professional advice when making a non-cash gift. You may agree that “giving the growth” is a good idea, but the process may seem difficult. After all, “I haven’t done anything like that before.” Our President & Chief Development Officer, Richard Robinson, can explain how the process works, and assist you along the way. Actually, giving stock is a common practice for many donors. It’s much easier than most people think. For more information, call the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation at (800) 332-1897. If you wish, Robinson will be happy to discuss these matters with you personally. You can also contact him through our web site at sigmapi.org.

Summer 2006 • www.sigmapi.org

Also, consider the capital gains tax Brother Smith would have to pay if he sold those 50 shares outright. Ouch. He avoids all of that by simply transferring those shares to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation. Since the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation is a qualiﬁed charity, the IRS permits us to sell those appreciated shares without paying tax. We are able to avoid the “growth tax,” and so does Brother Smith. Now do you see why we encourage our donors to “give the growth?”

Emerald of Sigma Pi Fraternity

FROM THE

FOUNDATION

Foundation Volume III, Number 3 • Summer 2006

Dear Brothers:

FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES

The Board of Trustees and President & CDO of the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation wish to express our sincere thanks for your financial support. Whether cash, stock, real estate or other possessions, you have given generously to help us succeed in fulfilling the mission of Sigma Pi Fraternity. While some of you have made outright gifts, others have included the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation in your wills. Some have obtained charitable gift annuities, and others have named the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation to ben- Moore efit from charitable trusts. We even know of those who have made the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation the beneficiary of life insurance policies and IRA accounts. All of these gifts – whether current or deferred – inspire within us a keen sense of gratitude not only for your generosity, but also for your expression of confidence in our leadership. We realize there are numerous causes and organizations that compete for your charitable interests and this makes us all the more grateful for your support. You honor us with your gifts. We do not take your generosity for granted. We feel responsible to be careful stewards of the resources you provide. You have honored us and we desire to honor you by making sure the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation is all that you expect it to be both now and in the future.

Robinson

Again, thank you for every gift – past, present and future – that you have made or will commit to make to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation. We are working hard to be worthy of your trust.

Chairman Thomas A. Moore (ΓΡ, Western Michigan ’69) Vice-Chairman Gary T. Dvorchak (Ξ, Iowa ’86) Edward J. Panconi (ΕΣ, Loyola Marymount ’84) Allen W. Yee (ΑΦ, Georgia ’99) Treasurer L. Nelson Farris (ΒΟ, Cal State – Long Beach ’66) Secretary John J. Merino (ΒΟ, Cal State – Long Beach ’58) Trustees Donald J. Cox (Κ, Temple ’55) G. Mason Cozart (ΕΚ, Southern Arkansas ’83) David L. DeFilippo (ΕΝ, Cal State – Fullerton ’92) Brenan C. German (ΕΝ, Cal State – Fullerton ’91) Paul W. Hansen (ΒΤ, Valparaiso ’80) John D. Kitch (Η, Purdue ’73) John J. McCann (ΑΜ, NJIT ’83) R. Todd Miller (ΕΤ, Tennessee – Martin ’87) Larry P. Rovira (ΕΝ, Cal State – Fullerton ’85) Marc S. Saffren (ΗΛ, SUNY – Albany ’92) Michael J. Simmons (ΕΝ, Cal State – Fullerton ’87) Jay M. Vaden (ΘΚ, Texas Tech ’03) Clifford A. Wilke (ΔΖ, Missouri – St. Louis ’80) FOUNDATION STAFF President/Chief Development Ofﬁcer Richard Robinson (ΕΤ, Tennessee – Martin ’87)

Fraternally,

Managing Editor Brian C. Alley (Α, Vincennes ’03) Administrative Assistant Jennifer R. Wyatt ADMINSTRATIVE OFFICES

Thomas A. Moore, Jr. Chairman

Richard S. Robinson President & Chief Development Ofﬁcer

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

We are only as strong

as the support of our Alumni

Helping Our Fraternity Build “A New Generation of Leaders”

Become a member of the Brotherhood of the Gold Cross today. Your annual donation of $1,000 to the Educational Foundation will help insure the future of the Fraternity and its educational programs and scholarships for all Sigma Pi Brothers that follow. For more information, contact the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation: (800) 322-1897 • sigmapi.org

Foundation www.sigmapi.org • The ofﬁcial publication of Sigma Pi Educational Foundation • Summer 2006

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

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