The Emerald, Fall 2013

UNDERGRADUATE SPOTLIGHT

THE UIFI EXPERIENCE

Skydiving and Sigma Pi

How You Can Get Involved

THE INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE

A Beneficial Opportunity

OF SIGMA PI FRATERNITY, INTERNATIONAL • SIGMAPI.ORG • FALL 2013

STATE OF THE FRATERNITY Michael R. Ayalon Executive Director

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL LENS

Photographer Jimmy Steinfeldt’s journey into the music world

Welcome Home, Brothers A look inside the new headquarters of Sigma Pi

The Emerald

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME XCVIII, NUMBER 1 FALL 2013

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DEPAR TME NTS:

F E AT U R E S :

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6 8 The Mitchell House 32 The Rush of Jumping

34 38 UIFI 40 The Internship Experience

1 From the Grand Sage

42 Alumni Notebook

2 From the Editor

46 Flashback Photo

2 Historical Society

47 Adytum on High

3 International Digest

48 Regional Directors

4 Educational Foundation

50 Expansion

State of the Fraternity

Michael R. Ayalon, Executive Director History of the new Executive Office Skydiving and Sigma Pi

14 Undergrad Reports

Rock ‘N’ Roll Lens

A journey through the music world

How to get involved

Daniel Ugartechea and Phil Aiello

57 Photo Finish

EDITORIAL STAFF: Chris Carter (QW, Middle Tennessee ’11) Editor and Creative Director Jason “Gilligan” Walker (AF, Georgia ’96) Business Manager Sigma Pi Fraternity was founded at Vincennes University, Vincennes, Indiana, on February 26, 1897. Sigma Pi has chartered more than 230 chapters in North America and has initiated over 99,000 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) THE EMERALD OF SIGMA PI FRATERNITY: (ISSN 1074-5289, USPS 011-013) has been published since 1911. The Emerald is published two times a year by Sigma Pi Fraternity, 106 North Castle Heights Ave, Lebanon, Tennessee, and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SIGMA PI FRATERNITY, 106 North Castle Heights Ave., Lebanon, TN 37087 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 or at mysigmapi.com.

PRINT EDITION SUBMISSION DEADLINES: Spring February 10 Summer May 10 Fall September 10 SUBMIT EMERALD NEWS TO: Sigma Pi Fraternity, Attention: Emerald 106 North Castle Heights Ave, Lebanon, TN 37087 Telephone: (615) 921-2300 Fax: (615) 373-8949 Email: emerald@sigmapi.org

Member, North-American Interfraternity Conference

SIGMAPI.ORG • MYSIGMAPI.COM

SIGMAPI

Copyright © 2013 Sigma Pi Fraternity; Sigma Pi, ACE Project and the crest are trademarks of Sigma Pi, all rights reserved.

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A Message

FROM THE GRAND SAGE

Dear Brothers,



It’s hard to believe we are half way into the biennium. We’ve concluded a successful leadership conference and are marching towards completion of goals we set at the beginning of the biennium.

Over 245 men attended Sigma Pi University: Tony Siress Career and Educational Institute (SPU) in July at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Sessions included topics on resume building, professional networking, legal rights, workplace leadership, communication skills and emerging technologies. We appreciate the efforts of our presenters, staff and the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation (and especially Tony Siress) for making this a very successful conference.

As stated previously in the Emerald, Grand Council looks to improve upon three basic areas for our organization: our operations, our communications, and development of a long-range vision.

Here is a summary of our progress: 

Grand Council has a set of clear, relevant goals for our members. We have developed a Vision Statement, Core Values (essentially, the Creed), and a Mission Statement. We have gathered much data on future undergraduate trends and have a few more areas to explore. A three to five year vision is probably a “best case” (vs. the desired five to ten year) as there are many changes and uncertainties in the education industry (e.g., technology).



Grand Council has transparency, consistency and accountability.

Possibly the most challenging task, we have made some process changes (e.g., council self-assessment and governance process review) and are in the midst of evaluating others (such as council business functions).

We have reviewed and revised our methods to guide and evaluate our Executive Director and will monitor our results throughout 2013-14.

Grand Council has well established methods of communication with its members. We have made great strides: a Facebook Fan Page, surveys and more interaction with our members. We have developed survey tools and implemented small scale surveys. We know we can continue to improve communications with our members and will develop this area further in 2013-14.

We look forward to our continued progress and hope you will share your thoughts on our Facebook Fan Page. We hope you will share your stories of how Sigma Pi helped you advance your own personal quest for excellence. Please feel free to contact me via email, Facebook or the Grand Council blog in mysigmapi.org (sign in required).

GS Edward Levesque (HH, Bridgewater State ’89)

“...Grand Council looks to improve upon three basic areas for our organization: our operations, our communications, and development of a long-range vision.”

Fraternally,

Ed Levesque

Contact Ed: grandsage@sigmapi.org ed.levesque.71

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Historical Society

DIGITALIZATION

From The Editor:

Chris Carter (QW, Middle Tennessee ‘11) Director of Communications & Editor, the Emerald

When I began my journey as Director of Communications at the Executive Office on September 16, 2013, I knew that I was stepping into a role that had previously been filled by a very talented person, Todd Shelton.

My immediate priority was this issue of the Emerald, and I knew I had to put everything I had into making it special. I hope that I accomplished that and you enjoy it.

As Director of Communications, I want to take Sigma Pi to the forefront of fraternal communications. We are an organization founded on the concept of “progress”, and that forward movement is an unending process.

At the Executive Office, we work every day to improve the path that our chapters are taking, so that we can further develop and grow as a organization, which will undoubtedly increase the positive exposure of Sigma Pi from a international perspective.

I’m extremely excited to be a part of this team. I have many obligations as the Director of Communications, some of which include: “developing and maintaining the fraternity communication efforts, including the fraternity magazine, as well as social media, the fraternity website, and other media.” I will also continue to maintain unity in the fraternity’s branding and partnerships.

Sigma Pi has had a profound impact on my life. I’ve grown as a person and learned many important life lessons from my experiences as an active member, as well as an alumni of the Theta-Omega chapter. The opportunity to work at Executive Office is something I’ve dreamt of since I pledged. I’m honored to be a part of this team, and can’t wait to give back to this organization through my creativity and hard work.

Contact Chris: a

ccarter@sigmapi.org @chriswcarterii

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Various issues of the Emerald from 2007-2012 available online

SIGMA PI HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO CREATE DIGITAL ARCHIVE

By Christian J. Miele (HN, Towson ’04) President, Sigma Pi Historical Society Ever wish you could flip through the pages of the very first Emerald (circa 1911) without having to pay a special visit to the Fraternity’s national headquarters?

How about having the ability to peruse the issue covering your chapter’s chartering from the comfort of your own home? Well, for the first time in the Fraternity’s history, you’ll soon be able to! At its meeting this past summer at Sigma Pi University, the Historical Society voted unanimously to authorize the creation of a Digital Archive, which is scheduled to go live during the Fraternity’s 52nd Biennial Convocation this coming summer in Orlando!

The Society, in partnership with the Executive Office, has entered into an agreement with document digitization leader Enivation for the scanning of the Emerald catalog in its entirety. That’s right, all 366 issues to date (including the one you are now reading), spanning 102 years and an estimated 19,000 pages worth of rich Sigma Pi history.

Based out of Claysburg, Pennsylvania, Enivation has completed similar projects for a number of other national fraternities and sororities, including Phi Kappa Tau, Pi Kappa Alpha, Alpha Delta Pi, Gamma Phi Beta, and Phi Sigma Sigma. The company

is also an affiliate of the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), Fraternity Executives Association (FEA), and the Fraternity Communications Association (FCA).

The Digital Archive will be hosted on the Fraternity’s national website, sigmapi.org, with access reserved exclusively for initiated members. Issues of the Emerald will be presented in flipbook format, which will allow Sigma Pi to showcase its official publication with real page-turning features, fulltext searchable pages, and internal and external hyperlinks. Future plans for the Digital Archive include the scanning of pledge manuals, Convocation minutes, the Keryx, and Fraternity correspondence of historical value, among other documents.

Founded in 2010, the Sigma Pi Historical Society is dedicated to promoting and preserving the history of the Fraternity, and fostering an appreciation of the same among its members. Membership in the Society is open to initiated members who have attended at least two Convocations, with full membership reserved for those brothers who have attended five or more. a

International Digest

CENTENNIAL

E. Andrew Morris (GU, Murray State ‘70), Jim Keene (M, Cornell ‘57), Craig E. Donnelly (BC, Loyola - Chicago ‘01), John Haggerty (M, Cornell ‘79), and Joe Dervay (M, Cornell ‘80)

Mu Chapter at Cornell University marks centennial

Mu Chapter House

by E. Andrew Morris (GU, Murray State ‘70), Grand Second Counselor In 1913, a group of men - who were bonded together as the St. Lawrence and Jefferson Club - founded a fraternity and chose the name Omega Delta.

Though the fraternity was well established, in 1917 the brothers recognized that it would be better to be a part of a national fraternity, and petitioned Sigma Pi to become a chapter. A month later, the petition was granted, and the Alpha chapter of Omega Delta became the Mu Chapter of Sigma Pi On the first weekend of September, 2013, The Mu Chapter celebrated 100 years at Cornell University. The planning had begun months before with the committee of Mu alumni: Jim Keene (’57), Kurt Rasmussen (’80), Brian Finneran (’81), Mike Vernick (’83), Jarett Wait (’80), John Haggerty (’78), Dave D’Orlando (’79), Alex Deyle (’06), and John Allmeyer (’81).

The alumni worked alongside a group of undergraduates as well: James Alvarez (’16), Zach Smith (’12), Felix Tabary (’14), Andrew Luzzi (’14), Nate Winans (’15), Zach Gilbert (’16), Connor Riser (’16), Jacob Laufer (’15), and Max Olivares (’15).

The first event started on Thursday night with a steak cookout for early arrivals, on the front porch of the chapter house. On Friday, a kickoff dinner was held at Bartels Hall with a roast and stories about the years on campus.

Saturday morning began early during breakfast with the major athletic coaches, followed by tours of the new Cornell athletic facilities. A lecture entitled ”The Psychology of Money” by Professor Jeffrey Hancock was presented atop the Johnson Art Museum overlooking Lake Cayuga.

On Saturday evening, 215 brothers, 35 wives, and 1 guest attended a formal dinner with presentations in the grand ballroom of the Statler Hotel on campus.

In attendance on behalf of the Grand Chapter were Grand Second Counselor E. Andrew Morris and Grand Fourth Counselor Craig Donnelly to announce that James H. Keene III (’57) had been selected to receive the Founders Award at the 52nd Convocation in Orlando, Florida in August 2014. Brother Keene will be the second from the Mu Chapter to be presented the highest award of the fraternity, followed by Howard Hulford (’44) in 1996.

After the dinner, Brother Keene was the Master of Ceremonies for the presentation, which was a review of the history of Omega Delta, that later became the Mu Chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity. It was a nostalgic remembrance of those brothers who had started the chapter and have since passed on to the Adydum on High, as well as of the evolution of the fraternity House, which has been a Mu asset for 98

of the now 101 years and the effect of the two wars.

Mu was originally chartered only a few weeks from the outbreak of World War I, and the new updated house at 730 University Avenue was dedicated 90 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. During dinner, the ninth President of Cornell, Frank H. T. Rhodes, delivered a video presentation on the future of the fraternity and challenges as to student behavior.

Meanwhile, at the time of the banquet, the Mu charter was floating far above earth onboard the space shuttle, having been taken there by Astronaut Christopher Cassidy. This had been made possible by Sigma Pi Brother Dr. Joseph P. Deray (’77) NASA flight surgeon, who had arranged for this to be a first for any fraternity, to have their chapter charter in space.

Pictures were displayed at the dinner of the Mu charter floating above the earth.

The entire presentation was punctuated with the Cornell University Glee Club Hangovers singing Cornell and Sigma Pi songs. The highlight was the singing of the “Sweetheart of Sigma Pi” to all the women who have cast their lot with brothers of Mu Chapter.

The evening events moved to the chapter house, and after brunch on Sunday morning, the celebration concluded. a FALL 2013

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Sigma Pi

EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION

Allen W. Yee (AF, Georgia ’99) Chairman

Dear Brothers, Special thanks to all who supported the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation during the 2012-2013 school-year. Because of your support, we had our best year since the economic downturn began in 2007.

Les L. Wright (GU, Murray State ’70) Vice-Chairman of Administration

A renewed focus on development saw a 14% increase in contributed support, a 5% increase in the number of donors, and 220 new donors to the Foundation – translating to 75 scholarships and grants, and other support to Sigma Pi and its members. This is all evidence that the Sigma Pi brotherhood is gaining momentum and that our alumni believe in the Fraternity’s work in making our undergraduates the leaders of tomorrow.

Edward Mora (BO, Cal State-Long Beach ’93) Vice-Chairman of Investments PGS Larry P. Rovira (EN, Cal State-Fullerton ’85) Vice-Chairman of Development Gary S. Grubacich (AO, UC-Santa Barbara ’68) Vice-Chairman of Legal Affairs

We also saw substantial investment gains for the year due to sound asset management by our investment committee lead by Trustee Edward Mora, (BO, Cal-State Long Beach ’93). Ed and his committee adeptly took advantage of the strong equity markets to recover much of the loss experienced by the Foundation (and the market as a whole) in previous years. Nevertheless, we continue to exercise caution as interest rates and energy costs are on the rise and market volatility remains a concern.

Paul M. Hetrick (GU, Murray State ’92) Treasurer Ian M. Itschner (W, Oregon State ’93) Secretary

Inflation and rising costs, however, were once again a challenge. Despite tremendous improvements in expense management and efficiency over the last two years, our cost of doing business again increased. With that being said, I am very proud of the Board of Trustees and of our Foundation staff who have managed to do more with less.

Dr Jay C. Joern, Jr. (GS, Missouri ’72) Trustee Michael Simmons (EN, Cal State-Fullerton ’87) Trustee

Even more challenging has been the continued increases in the cost of education, which outpaces even the high inflation rate. CNN/Money reported net price (the cost after scholarships, grants and federal tax benefits) increases of 4.6% to an average of $16,510 for public colleges and 4.0% higher to an average of $43,289 for private colleges from a year ago. At the same time states have cut funding – an average of 28% since the beginning of the economy downturn. Private funding, from sources like the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation, therefore is more important than ever.

Ricky Marshall (AP, Arkansas State ’92) Trustee Shea Stickler (BK, Arizona State ’90) Trustee

And the economy continues to be a challenge. For example, while we have welcomed improved employment statistics the last several months, the reality is that the job market remains competitive, especially in those professions that demand the higher education in which our members compete. This means we have to do more for our young men to ensure they are the ones to succeed.

GS Edward Levesque (HH, Bridgewater State ’89) Trustee PGS Christopher R. Brown (GH, Rutgers ’81) Trustee Paul W. Hansen (BT, Valparaiso ’80) Advisor Trustee

If you haven’t made your gift to the annual fund campaign this fiscal year, I encourage you to consider taking advantage of year-end giving by continuing your support of the Educational Foundation and to consider increasing your gift of support to help meet our challenges. And if you have not chosen to make a gift in the past, I invite you to join the ten thousand alumni who have already invested back into Sigma Pi.

PGS Frank C. Fryburg (Q, Penn State ’49) Honorary Life Trustee

Heartfelt thanks and best regards,

Allen W. Yee To donate, please contact Lisa Pearson at 615-921-2300, or make a donation online at sigmapiedfund.org/waystogive.php

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(AF, Georgia ’99) Chairman, Board of Trustees

WHY I SUPPORT WILLIAM MARCUS “MARK” REED II (AF, GEORGIA ‘69) I have been a Sigma Pi for over 48 years, having pledged Alpha-Phi Chapter at the University of Georgia in 1965 as a college freshman.

I can say without hesitation that my membership in Sigma Pi has been one of the most influential and life shaping things I’ve ever done. Obviously, being raised by a loving family is the defining basis of who I am, but Sigma Pi took a young man and further instilled values epitomized by the Creed of Sigma Pi. I have not taken them lightly.

My father always told me that you pretty much get out of something what you put into it, so I took that to heart and have tried to dedicate myself to serving my fraternity, first as an undergraduate as social chairman, rush chairman, Second Counselor and then Sage, and then as a volunteer after graduation.

I was fortunate enough to have as my mentor in Sigma Pi, the late Col. Walter H. Lemmond, Jr., Psi ’25, a past Grand Council member and Founders’ Award recipient in 1974. The Colonel taught me what it meant to be an Alumni, and how to serve our fraternity and impact young men for the rest of their lives.

albeit on a small level at the start with yearly donations. Like many of us, as I became more financially successful in life, those donations increased, although they may have fluctuated or ceased for a time due to the normal ups and downs of life. But the size of your donation is not the basis of whether it has value or not. Any amount is appreciated and I know from experience that all donations are put to furthering the good of our great fraternity. So start young, although it is never too late to start, give what you can, and watch your investment in Sigma Pi grow.

The Colonel gave of himself not only through his countless volunteer hours, but through financial donations to his fraternity, both on the local and national (now International) level. The Sigma Pi Educational Foundation, as it exists today, is the primary conduit, beyond direct contributions to our individual chapters, for impacting our undergraduates now and into the future. I have been a contributor to the SPEF since my early days as a college graduate,

I have been blessed beyond belief by my membership in Sigma Pi, and I believe a good part of that came about by my giving to the fraternity, both through service and financial donations. Probably my greatest benefit of being involved as a volunteer is the fact that unlike many people, I have a long list of friends who vary in age from 18 to 90, and that is because of my involvement in Sigma Pi. Not bad for a 67 year old. I recommend it highly.

Many alumni want to have a more direct impact on their home chapter, and that can be done by establishing an individual Chapter Educational Fund (CEF), which we at Alpha-Phi have done. We have been able, through generous donations and bequests, build our fund to a point where we are able to give twice yearly scholarships to undergraduate brothers at Alpha-Phi, as well as fund loans to the Chapter for housing/educational purposes.

BROTHERHOOD OF THE GOLDEN CROSS RECOGNIZING ANNUAL FISCAL YEAR GIFTS TO THE SIGMA PI EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION OF $1,000 OR MORE. WE THANK THESE GENEROUS SUPPORTERS! Michael Ayalon, SUNY-Buffalo, ‘97

James T. Jennings, Murray State, ‘93

David Reale, Monmouth, ‘96

Buddy Beck, Arkansas State, ‘58

Dr. Jay C. Joern Jr., Missouri, ‘72

William “Mark” Reed II, Georgia, ‘69

Roger Claar, Eastern Illinois, ‘66

Rande Johnsen, Cal State- Long Beach, ‘78

Andy Richard, Georgia, ‘92

Matthew Paul Collins, Georgia, ‘87

Stephen Lawler, Iowa, ‘82

PGS Larry Rovira, Cal State-Fullerton, ‘85

PGS Donald J. Cox, Temple, ‘55

GS Edward Levesque, Bridgewater State, ‘89

Andy Salas, Cal State-Long Beach, ‘78

Mason Cozart, Southern Arkansas, ‘83

Thomas Luciano, NJIT, ‘70

William Schmitt, Slippery Rock, ‘65

David Culbreth, Barton, ‘66

Samuel Mann, Georgia, ‘62

Michael Simmons, Cal State-Fullerton, ‘87

Brian Devot, Cal State-Long Beach, ‘00

John Manobianco, Northern Arizona, ‘76

Paul Singer, Maryland, ‘71

Dr. John Dinka, Detroit-Mercy, ‘83

Dr. Richard Marcello, Franklin & Marshall, ‘71

Eddie Gene Smith, Missouri-Saint Louis, ‘70

Allen Dogger, Beloit, ‘66

Ricky Marshall, Arkansas State, ‘92

Richard Soja, Wake Forest, ‘86

Craig Donnelly, Loyola-Chicago, ‘01

Edward Mora, Cal State- Long Beach, ‘93

Shea Stickler, Arizona State, ‘90

James Espy, Beloit, ‘70

Carl Moroney, UCLA, ‘55

Ronald Tredennick, Eastern Illinois, ‘78

L. Nelson Farris, Cal State-Long Beach, ‘66

E. Andrew Morris, Murray State, ‘70

PGS James Verplanck, Mississippi, ‘61

David Finkel, UCLA, ‘87

David Newberg, Cal State- Long Beach, ‘80

Howard Vierra, San Jose State, ‘67

Russell Furnari, NJIT, ‘79

Larry Niederkohr, Ohio Northern, ‘74

Dr. Charles Wahl, Rowan, ‘92

Gary Grubacich, UC-Santa Barbara, ‘68

Paul Owen, Cal State-Long Beach. ‘93

Les Wright, Murray State, ‘70

Paul Hansen, Valparaiso, ‘80

Joseph Palazzolo, Monmouth, ‘03

Allen W. Yee, Georgia, ‘99

Ian Itschner, Oregon State, ‘93

Rob Pankau, Oakland, ‘05

Barry Jenkins, Mississippi, ‘77

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Dear Brothers, Parents, and Friends of Sigma Pi: I want to start by recognizing our undergraduate members on a fantastic year in 2012–2013. It would not have been possible without their efforts and our staff that was committed to excellence throughout the year. Sigma Pi’s efforts over the last year focused on two critical areas: 1) Increased quality and frequency of communication with our membersa 2) Growth in pledges, initiates, and average chapter size Our Fraternity is a lifelong commitment that enhances the undergraduate collegiate experience and prepares our members for growth and success throughout their personal and professional lives.

“Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.”

- Rollo May, American existential psychologist

“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”

– Anatole France, French writer

We will discuss the last year in alignment with the Grand Council’s Ends (or goals of the organization): Members will be well networked, have an enhanced undergraduate experience, have developed social skills and public service opportunities, experience membership growth and success, and be able to maintain relationships with their brothers throughout their lives. They complement Sigma Pi’s mission “to advance man’s quest for excellence.”

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STATE of the FRATERNITY An Analysis of the 2012-13 year in Sigma Pi...

Well-Networked:

This end focuses on lifelong friendships and advantageous career, social networking, and communication opportunities with mentors and peers.

• Increased communication through social media, websites, blogs, videos, email newsletters, and the Emerald • Updated Sigma Pi branding • Awards through Fraternity Communications Association for our new and enhanced website and the Emerald • Created the Sigma Pi job board

Enhanced Experience:

This end seeks undergraduate members who are prepared for transition into the workforce as leaders and role models with scholastic aptitude, financial literacy, interpersonal skills, and organizational abilities.

• Regular surveys to ensure we are addressing the needs of our members • Higher quality speakers and content at MYLC and SPU (450 members attended MYLC 2013, 245 members attended SPU 2013)

Social Skills and Public Service: This end concentrates on undergraduate members who are well rounded, active citizens and leaders on campus and in their community, including volunteering and philanthropy.

• Award winning presentations across the country from Sigma Pi on issues like Hazing Prevention and Networking campus wide • 53,481 community service hours performed last year • $579,191 philanthropy dollars raised last year • 99 chapters performed an ACE project, with 130 total projects over this fiscal year

Relationships:

This end seeks maintenance of the relationships with fraternity brothers for our alumni members.

• New alumni packets delivered to recent graduates with ways to get involved and Sigma Pi Alumnus stickers • Golden Cross Certificates delivered to alumni members who reached 50 years of brotherhood this year • New Regional Alumni Clubs created (Lone Star, Upper Canada)

Growth and Success:

This end focuses on opportunities for growth and success for our members and chapters.

• 8.5% increase in pledges (2363 last year to 2565 this year) • 39.3% increase in initiates (1430 last year to 1992 this year) • 4.8% increase in total undergraduate members (5298 last year to 5555 this year) • This year we’ve had the highest number of pledges since 2006-2007, and the highest number of initiates since 1990-1991. 10% of our pledges was from cleanup of prior years, and 25% of our initiates was from cleanup of prior years, and we still had growth on top of that.

• Our average chapter size has improved from 41.4 in 2011-2012, to 44.8 in 2012-2013.

• Hired higher level staff for Assistant Executive Director, Regional Directors, Director of Finance, and Director of Alumni Services.

• Better insurance coverage through FRMT, discounts for top performing chapters. This led to an excellent claims history over the past year.

• New chapters chartered: Rutgers, Oklahoma State, and Southern Illinois University – Carbondale.

• Expansion projects were started at Missouri State and Central Michigan.

• New projects will begin at University of South Florida and St. John’s University.

STRATEGIC PLAN FOR 2013-2014

• Our Mission: To advance man’s quest for excellence • Our Vision: Our men will strive for excellence by living our core values.

• Our Core Values: Promote fellowship, Develop character and leadership, Advance heightened moral awareness, Enable academic achievement, and Inspire service • Environmental assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) • Strategic directions that respond to the SWOT analysis and further the mission and vision • One-year program and administrative goals and objectives that are tied to the strategic direction • To focus on networking opportunities to advance the careers of our undergraduates and alumni • To become a values-based organization in practice, not just in theory • To assist the SPEF to raise funds for our leadership and personal development educational conferences • Systems development (database) • Identify and recognize donors • Cultivation and engagement (visits) • Solicitations (organize a major donor drive)

In closing: 2012-2013 was a remarkably strong year for Sigma Pi. In order to continue to deliver top quality programming and training, as well as sustained growth for Sigma Pi, we will need your help. Please consider making a donation by contacting Lisa Pearson at 615-921-2300, or make a donation online at sigmapiedfund.org/waystogive.php We would like to thank our alumni volunteers, our staff, our Board of Directors, and our active members for their hard work in making it happen. I’ve never been more optimistic about the future of Sigma Pi. I see the next 5 years as a continuation of the successes we have started and a great opportunity to differentiate the Sigma Pi brand that we are building.

I want to say thank you for the confidence I’ve received from our Grand Council and our undergraduate members. It is an honor and a privilege to serve you.

Contact Mike:

Fraternally,

a

Michael Ayalon, Executive Director

mayalon@sigmapi.org @SigmaPiExec

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A NEW CHAPTER IN

SIGMA PI HISTORY

By Chris Carter, Director of Communications

As the 117th year of Sigma Pi Fraternity approaches, we embark on a new journey together; a journey that will revolutionize the image of our beloved brotherhood. We, as brothers, can now call the Mitchell House - a historic national landmark in Lebanon, Tennessee - our “home”.

The Mitchell House, like Sigma Pi, has a rich history.

From it’s early beginnings as a home, to it’s reincarnation as a military school and then as a business office, the Mitchell House has been a symbol for change and evolution since being built in the early 1900’s. Now, Sigma Pi will look to create a new chapter in the history of the historical landmark, while also introducing a new headquarters to build upon the fraternity’s legacy.

The Beginning of the Mitchell House Started in 1905 and completed in 1910, the majestic stone mansion known as the Mitchell House was originally constructed by Dr. David Mitchell and his wife, Elizabeth.

The Mitchells, who were originally from Pennsylvania where Dr. Mitchell had accumulated a fortune from the coal mining industry, found themselves in Wilson County, Tennessee, when Dr. Mitchell chose to continue his education at Cumberland University.

Dr. Mitchell had already lived an interesting life up until the time he moved to Tennessee. By the age of seventeen, he had graduated from a junior college in California, Pennsylvania, and immediately became a high school principal. At twenty, he became a newspaper editor in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. However, he had a strong desire to continue his education, so he packed up with his wife and moved to Lebanon.

As a believer in God, Dr. Mitchell believed that his wealth was a result of his intelligence, and his intelligence was a gift from God. He chose to donate thousands of dollars of books and furnishings to the university library, which then bore the name “Mitchell Library” for almost 90 years. He also purchased a heating plant for Memorial Hall, and built a men’s dormitory on campus.

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New Headquarters Committee: Mason Cozart (EK, Southern Arkansas ‘83) Gary Tash Past Grand Sage (BP, Virginia ‘68) Les Wright (GU, Murray State ‘70) E. Andrew Morris Grand Second Counselor (GU, Murray State ‘70) Justin Beck (ZH, Santa Clara ‘95)

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Just a few days after graduating, Dr. Mitchell was elected by the board of trustees as the President of the university. He immediately began securing endowment funds for the university by traveling back to the Northeast, and improved the endowment of the College of Arts by $10,000 in just 5 months. Dr. Mitchell did all of this without taking any money in salary from the university. He also paid the salaries of professors out of his personal funds.

Dr. Mitchell purchased 450 acres from A.W. Hooker, the father of famous Nashville attorney John J. Hooker. This was considered the most desirable land in Wilson County at the time. Dr. Mitchell brought in craftsmen, architects, and stonemasons from Pennsylvania to construct his dream home. In just five years, this team created a masterpiece - a beautiful building that captures the imagination and creativity of it’s namesake.

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Standing the Test of Time As the years have gone by, the Mitchell House has faced many obstacles. The Mitchell family’s time in the house was short-lived due to many tragic events.

First, the children contracted typhoid fever and Elizabeth nursed them back to health. However, soon after Elizabeth became ill, and just three days later, she died of typhoid fever at the age of 42. Dr. Mitchell was heartbroken and shortly after left the Mitchell House and moved to California, leaving behind his children to be raised by their maternal grandparents.

Five years after their mother’s death, the children and their maternal grandparents moved to Florida.

The house sat dormant for many years, but was purchased in 1936 by Castle Heights Military Academy to be used as their junior school. Until its closing in 1986, the Mitchell House was home to

Photos Courtesy of Manous Design

hundreds of cadets from virtually every state in the country, and also from many different countries as well. The Mitchell House was a vital part of each of these cadets’ lives, and played a significant role in the Castle Heights military education.

After the school closed in 1986, the house again sat dormant, this time for about ten years. This period of abandonment and neglect left the building in a terrible state. However, the purchase of the building by the Lebanon-based Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., brought new life to the Mitchell House.

Cracker Barrel purchased the building for use as the executive offices for CBRL Group, Inc., the holding company for both Cracker Barrel and Logan’s Roadhouse restaurants. Therefore, much restoration had to be done to make the space usable again.

The restoration project involved the stabilization,

restoration, and adaptive reuse of the original structure. Cracker Barrel worked closely with D.F. Chase Construction and the State Historical Society to identify what had been the intent of the original architect and what Castle Heights had modified. This led to the removal of various add-ons and a return to the original appearance of the Mitchell House as it stood in 1910. Components of the house, such as the handcarved, intricate woodwork was restored and brought back to life. Exterior walls and roofs were reconstructed, primarily to insure that water damage would never be an issue again.

Every piece of the house that could be restored was kept, such as the large columns at the front of the house. These columns had some irreparable damage, but minimal reconstruction and restoration allowed the original columns to stay. The pieces that were too badly damaged were replaced. This included the FALL 2013

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The Evolution of Headquarters The first Executive Office of Sigma Pi was established on May 16, 1927, at the home of Executive Secretary Harold Jacobsen in Roselle, New Jersey. The purpose of a central headquarters was to bring together all the records of the fraternity, which would eliminate the remote work that had been done by the Grand Officers over the previous years from all parts of the country. Within months, the office was growing

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columns at sides of the house. Mirrors throughout the house were replaced, but the doors worked well on their hinges and closed perfectly. The wood throughout the house had absorbed moisture and swelled. The drying out process of the building took place during the first year of restoration. However, the gifted craftsmen on the project handled the challenge well, and the wood throughout the house is now nearly perfect.

r

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BOTTOM LINE

rapidly. By February 23, 1929, the office was moved to Elizabeth, New Jersey. It remained there until 1963.

Through the efforts of Judge Curtis G. Shake (A, Vincennes) and Dr. Isaac Beckes (A, Vincennes) - who was also President of Vincennes University the Shadowwood Estate in Vincennes, Indiana, was donated to Sigma Pi Fraternity upon the death of its owner, Colonel Eugene C. Wharf. The dedication of the building took place on August 30, 1962, in conjunction with the 26th Convocation at French Lick, Indiana.

On July 1, 1963, Shadowwood became the new headquarters for Sigma Pi Fraternity and Harold Jacobsen retired as Executive Director. Operations were maintained for the next forty-one years by Executive Secretary James L. Hills, Executive Director D. Dean Crook, Executive Secretary William A. Marrs, Executive Director E. Andrew Morris, and Executive Director Mark S. Briscoe.

200 3

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RS THROUGH THE YEARS

Dedication of the New Headquarters As Sigma Pi’s new journey begins, the Executive Office is currently planning a ribbon-cutting ceremony to take place at the Mitchell House in Lebanon on Saturday, March 29th, 2014. More information will be given in the coming months.

In 2005, Shadowwood was sold and the fraternity moved to Brentwood, Tennessee to a temporary business location. In October of 2006, a commercial property was purchased on Wilson Pike Circle in Brentwood, which has housed the executive office of the fraternity for the last seven years.

A New Chapter Begins At the 50th Biennial Convocation in 2010 - which took place in Danvers, Massachusetts - Grand Sage Christopher Brown announced that Sigma Pi would be in a new headquarters by 2014. He then appointed members to the New Headquarters Committee, who’s purpose was to investigate other fraternity headquarters and come up with a recommendation on the type of building that the fraternity would pursue. The committee - made up of Mason Cozart (EK, Southern Arkansas), PGS Gary Tash (BP, Virginia), Les Wright (GU, Murray State), and Grand Second Counselor E. Andrew Morris (GU, Murray

State). Justin Beck (ZH, Santa Clara) was later added to the committee. The results of their findings were presented to the Grand Council.

Through the efforts of Executive Director Michael Ayalon and the New Headquarters Committee, the Mitchell House was determined to fit the criteria that the committee had decided upon, and the purchase was completed in 2013. This move signifies the improved and continued focus to bring Sigma Pi to the forefront of fraternal organizations. The impressive building will give Sigma Pi a platform to create a truly impressive image as a national presence.

As we look toward the future, Sigma Pi will continue to go above and beyond to maintain the foundation that the Founding Fathers built for the fraternity. The move to the Mitchell House is a new chapter in the history of Sigma Pi, and will continue to build upon the legacy that has been created over the past 117 years. a

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For more information on Lebanon or the history of the Mitchell House, visit MitchellHouse.org

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CHAPTER & COLONY REPORTS

The Iota-Kappa Chapter at the University of Central Florida

Arkansas State University

Arkansas Tech University

Alpha-Pi Chapter

Auburn University

Iota-Lambda Chapter

Alpha-Delta Chapter

NONE

h

h

48 N/A 884 149

4/5 N/A 57 9

115 N/A 1431 174

The Alpha-Pi chapter is glad to be back in session for the fall semester. Fall formal rush concluded with the chapter inducting sixteen new pledges at the end of our third week with a second induction for open bids planned for the end of the fourth week. We strongly believe these new pledges will do great things here at Arkansas State. The rest of the semester is already filled with social events and an upcoming philanthropy spaghetti dinner to benefit the Wounded Warrior Foundation is set for October. We invite, and look forward to seeing, all of our alumni and friends for homecoming this year. We wish the best to our fellow brothers for the remainder of 2013!

In the spring we gave bids to 8 gentlemen, which was the largest on campus.

Chapter Director Ricky Marshall was also recognized by Arkansas State Greek Life as most outstanding IFC Chapter Advisor.

In fall 2013, we are planning a fundraiser to benefit the Amazing Day Foundation.

We have gotten off to an amazing start with recruitment in the fall and we are looking at doubling our chapters overall membership. Our big fundraiser this semester will be our annual Sigma Pi Haunted House, which the Arkansas Tech administrators thought enough of our chapter to include our haunted house in the campus homecoming festivities.

The Fall semester for the Alpha-Delta chapter, here at Auburn University, has been one of the most prosperous yet! We kicked off the beginning of classes with an incredible performance by country artist, Corey Smith. Following the trend of last year’s Fall kickoff, the event was a success and was easily one of the best performances in Auburn among other fraternity events. Also, the Brotherhood Annex is finally in the early stages of being built! Hopefully it will be completed by the time Founders’ Weekend rolls around.

We won’t have a problem packing it from wall-to-wall since our Rush Committee did such an awesome job with expanding the brotherhood size. After many well-

Guide to Undergrad Reports: Use the key below to learn more about each chapter: f

Grand Sage Cup recipient in 2012

h

Chapter has zero balance with Executive Office

Total number of active members from chapter

f

Grand Council Award recipient in 2012

p

ACE Project this school year

Chapter GPA (previous semester)

f

Grand Chapter Award recipient in 2012

m

Philanthropy project this school year

Total number of living alumni from chapter

Total donors to SPEF this fiscal year (undergrad & alumni)

Note: Chapter reports are those submitted by deadlines listed inside front cover - Data current as of 09/11/13

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planned recruitment events, we ended the fall formal rush with 34 new members! We are very proud of how we are representing Sigma Pi throughout these progressive times here at Auburn University!

Bentley University Iota-Theta Chapter h

38 3.11 54 1 On April 21st of this year, the Iota-Theta chapter held our annual Sean Williams Memorial basketball tournament.

With the amount of people that came to the event, the chapter was able to raise money for the Sean Williams Scholarship Fund. Also on July 6th, current members and alumni of the IotaTheta chapter participated in the Sean Williams Memorial Golf Tournament in North Adams, MA. The proceeds for the tournament were also included in the Sean Williams Scholarship Fund.

Members of the fraternity and people from Sean’s hometown came out for the event making it a huge success.

California Polytechnic State University Eta-Delta Chapter h

48 2.83 210 10 Well spring quarter was a great success!

We are very happy to have initiated 9 new members into Sigma Pi Eta-Delta at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and we are now looking forward to fall rush which has recently been change to nondeferred. School starts just a few weeks from now and we are excited to see brothers returning and getting back into recruitment mode. We have a recruitment seminar coming up, as well as our first chapter meeting and we are striving for a large, well-rounded group of guys that have the ability to positively effect & help grow our already amazing brotherhood.

California State University, Dominguez Hills Eta-Iota Chapter h

34 N/A 244 24

Bridgewater State University Eta-Eta Chapter hm

48 N/A 305 11 The brothers of the Eta-Eta chapter of Sigma Pi, have been working hard all summer in preparation for the fall semester. Thanks to the hard-work of each and every brother we are expecting to have an exceptional semester in all facets of measure. The Eta-Eta chapter has completely revamped its recruitment process over the last few semesters and is expecting to see quite a large incoming class of quality gentlemen. We have many philanthropic events scheduled this year; my personal favorite being “Pie a Sigma Pi” which gives members of the campus an opportunity to literally hit the brothers of our chapter in the face with shaving cream pies. All donations from the event go to the wounded warrior foundation.

Eta-Iota Chapter is progressing. In the spring, we accomplished many of our goals. During rush week for the new interest, Eta-Iota did two events, which were playing Ultimate Frisbee and hanging out at Sevillas, which brought new interest into joining the brotherhood. In honor of Founder’s Day, the chapter did a Harlem Shake Party which was a way to celebrate 116 years of brotherhood. Our social networking is continuing to expand; we did a couple of events with the ladies of Destiny, which were the neon theme social where we socialized and enjoyed each other’s company, and our 2nd annual toy drive party in which the money and toys were donated to the Children’s Hospital

in Orange County for Easter. Also, the chapter hosted the Ms. Cutie Pageant for the 1st time in 4 years. The event was very successful. All of the ladies in the competition did their performance and raised funds for the Sigma Pi national philanthropy Amazing Day Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Also, the chapter did an ACE project which was at the Child Development Center at our school. We developed everything that was needed, like making a new sandbox, donating pencils, crayons, paper, etc to that place. Lastly, this chapter did another philanthropy event which was participating in the Relay for Life which were to walk around on campus for 24 hours to prevent cancer.

California State University, Long Beach Beta-Omicron Chapter f

58 2.83 1360 224 Beta-Omicron is starting out the Fall 2013 semester fresh with a new Sage, Herald, Chair positions, renovated house, and a whole new crew of house guys. All of this is adding on to the success of our Rush week so far, as we are leading all fraternities on campus with a solid 35 bids. Our semester is already packed full of events including IFC sports, sorority exchanges, philanthropies, & fundraisers.

Carleton University Eta-Rho Chapter p

58 N/A 282 6 Over the past few months, Eta-Rho has been working diligently to ensure that this following year runs smoothly. Last week we kicked off the 2013-2014 ...Continued On Next Page

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CHAPTER & COLONY REPORTS academic year by participating in our ACE project this involved first year orientation.

20 of our brothers volunteered all week to help move in first year students into residence, and ensure that the orientation week ran smoothly. Eta-Rho looks forward to another successful year and continuing to be the gem of the north.

Central Michigan University Delta-Alpha Chapter

NONE 50 N/A 741 75 Things have been going well. We’ve had a slight struggle getting people to send in pictures they take at events so that we can post them to Omega Fi. Besides this slight hiccup, there is not much to report.

College of Willam and Mary Alpha-Eta Chapter h

31 N/A 726 67 It has already been a very busy year for the Alpha-Eta Chapter as we begin to work to improve on the great year we just had. Rush is fully underway and it appears that we will again have a solid number of great guys to add to the chapter. The chapter house is looking fantastic, and all the residents could not be happier. We look forward to hearing from our alumni and hopefully may even get to even see them for homecoming.

Cornell University Mu Chapter h

53 3.20 1203 141 August was an exciting month for Mu Chapter, as students reconvened for the start of the school year. The older members have attended executive board meetings and provided valuable guidance to younger executive board members. In addition, we have attended all minor board, and house meetings. Per the necessary responsibilities, we have organized house cleanups, and sorted through our mail room. The Herald has also begun developing/adjusting the new member education process.

Drury University Epsilon-Rho Chapter f

30 N/A 445 39 The brothers of Epsilon-Rho have started the semester off with quite a bang already

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The Epsilon-Rho Chapter at Drury University

and have no plans of stopping. In the spring semester we earned the highest GPA among campus fraternities, while being the only chapter to surpass the all male average. In the month that we have been in school, our chapter has participated in philanthropy events such as MS150 (a 150 mile bike ride to benefit the research for a cure for Multiple Sclerosis) and are already planning future service opportunities. We have also just finished formal fall recruitment and pinned a 17 member pledge class, allowing us to double the size of our chapter.

East Stroudsburg University Beta-Psi Chapter

NONE 18 2.89 711 44 With a new school year and a new executive council, East Stroudsburg University, Beta-Psi chapter is already making big moves for this year. Starting the year off right with an outdoor weekend that includes team-building initiatives, camping, hiking, canoeing and everything else we can do in the Poconos. We plan to go to Philadelphia on October 6 for a

as best active GPA on campus. We are also on track to be all-sports champions.

Progress...

Elon University

Epsilon-Theta Chapter

NONE 40 N/A 583 31 This past spring, the men of Sigma Pi Epsilon-Theta at Elon University held their annual Battleballs, a charity dodgeball tournament with teams from sororities at Elon. The event was a great success and raises several hundred dollars for several charities of the entrants’ preference. We also participated in the 2013 Angels Among us 5K, collectively raising over our goal of $8,000 for The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke. The brothers of Sigma Pi at Elon ran in honor of the late father of Chase Barbe, one of our own seniors. Chase’s dad passed away from brain cancer, and we participated in his memory and spirit.

The brothers of the Epsilon-Theta chapter are looking forward to welcoming a strong new pledge class in just a few weeks this fall.

Emporia State University Epsilon-Epsilon Chapter

NONE 23 N/A 464 57

suicide awareness walk. Our chapter will be sending brothers and asking other local chapters to join us in this event that reflects our national philanthropy.

Eastern Illinois University Beta-Gamma Chapter m

74 N/A 1829 330 The men of Sigma Pi continued with their great efforts this semester by getting 367 new donors for our philanthropy of Donate Life. Paired with the ladies of Kappa Delta, we spend 4 hours on campus convincing

new students why they should become donors. Between the two houses, our goal is to gather 500 total before the semester ends, which is very reachable with the motivation we both have.

Eastern Kentucky University Epsilon-Lambda Chapter

NONE 33 N/A 407 34 The Epsilon-Lambda chapter had a very good summer and has been preparing for this upcoming rush. We have big plans for this upcoming semester to keep our streak

The men of Epsilon-Epsilon chapter have been hard at work on recruitment to restore our numbers to replace the men we have lost to graduation and to bring some new life to the chapter by having one of the largest recruiting classes on campus. Since the campus is holding its 150th anniversary, we are having an alumni event in conjunction with it on homecoming, which is the 12th of October.

One of the main focuses of our chapter has been to raise our GPA and to jump up two spots to take the IFC scholarship trophy of our campus. We are proud with the progress we have made and hopefully continue to prosper at ESU.

Ferris State University Theta-Theta Chapter fh

16 N/A 139 3 We had a busy September here at Theta-Theta. We planned a Cedar Point fundraiser to raise chapter funds. For 30 hours in September, we hosted ...Continued On Next Page FALL 2013

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CHAPTER & COLONY REPORTS the Teeter-toterathon to raise money for the Susan P. Wheatly Foundation and the very same day we hosted a 5-Star event where our Executive Director Michael Ayalon spoke to the student body about networking.

Fitchburg State University Eta-Tau Chapter hm

35 N/A 287 15 The Eta-Tau chapter at Fitchburg State University have been working very diligently to have the most successful rush. These events include hiking nearby mountains, BBQ’s, Car smash, and more!

Over the summer the men of Eta-Tau traveled to Old Orchid beach over the summer for our retreat and spawn new ideas to better the chapter. We are looking forward to a very successful semester!

Florida State University Eta-Epsilon Chapter h

77 N/A 514 29

Georgia Institute of Technology Iota-Mu Chapter h

30 N/A 53 1 This Fall has been most wonderful to the Iota-Mu chapter. We had one of the best recruitments in our history which gave us a double-digit pledge class. We are looking forward to an equally successful recruitment in the Spring. The newer members are doing an excellent job in their new chairman and Executive Council positions. The new social chair organized several data nights and parties that brought happiness to every Brother.

Brotherhood retreat was at Blairsville, Georgia in a cozy cabin with a hot tub and big screen TV’s. The pledges had a fantastic time bonding with the brothers EMERALD.SIGMAPI.ORG

Grand Valley State University Theta-Rho Chapter fhpm

37 N/A 148 26 We are hitting the ground running with recruitment this year. We are hoping to surpass our chapter’s quota for the year and bring in the largest pledge class we’ve had. This October we celebrate our 10th year on campus and our alumni couldn’t be more excited.

Hofstra University

This fall semester has been off to a good start. After nearly doubling our size last year, we currently have 55 active brothers.

We are all very excited for rush week and are eager to continue to grow. We have a lot of fun events planned for the semester including the inaugural Sigma Pi Iron Chef philanthropy. Our chapter is thriving and constantly improving so you can expect great things to come from Florida State! Don’t hesitate to visit us down here in Tallahassee, our doors are always open to traveling brothers. GO NOLES!

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and each had the opportunity to become closer to their big brother. We have met several of the goals that were set in the previous semester with our ELC, including a double-digit pledge class. The average GPA of the chapter has also increased thanks to the efforts of the Scholarship and Brotherhood standards chair.Our new website is up at gtsigmapi.com, and is in the process of being filled with content.

Come visit us some time, both through our site and physically in Atlanta, Georgia.

Every brother is welcome!

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Eta-Gamma Chapter

NONE 23 2.96 225 6 Sigma Pi Eta-Gamma is looking forward to building on its momentum from a strong spring in which the chapter saw several of its rising members get elected to the chapter’s executive board. The members of Eta-Gamma Chapter are very excited The Eta-Tau Chapter at Fitchburg State University

to participate in Hofstra University’s Homecoming festivities at the end of September. The brothers are looking forward to working with the sisters of Delta Phi Epsilon to best represent Hofstra’s school spirit. Moreover, the chapter looks forward to hosting philanthropy events for both Donate Life and The Amazing Day Foundation throughout the semester.

Indiana University Beta Chapter

NONE 85 N/A 1601 278 The Beta chapter has truly achieved a lot in the past few months. In the spring of 2013 we started a new alumni program called “Building for the Future” and we have seen fantastic results. The formal lounge now has a beautiful, dark copper patterned tin ceiling; replaced the broken seal windows and door in the formal lounge with a full wall, new handcrafted end tables and coffee table; totally renovated the kitchen including replacing the flooring with tile, a new dishwasher, replaced some cabinets with handcrafted cabinets, purchased 100 sets of flatware and new paint; replaced broken chairs and repaired tables in dining room; new tile and paint for the 1st floor men’s restroom; security cameras and key less entry pads throughout the facility. In addition to these renovations, we have already raised over $10,000 to help support further renovations to the fraternity house.

Iowa State University

Keene State College

m

h

Sigma Chapter

Colony

57 N/A 482 65

29 N/A 0 0

With the Fall semester starting here at Sigma Chapter, we are excited to be getting back to classes. This semester we are excitedly paired with our neighboring sorority, Pi Beta Phi, for Homecoming along with Theta Chi and Alpha Kappa Lambda. We already have some major plans underway to win Homecoming and show the rest of the Greek Community what we can do as this is our first time as the “Big House” for Homecoming. Sigma Pi is well on its way to being a top house and a force to be reckoned with at Iowa State.

The brothers in the Keene State colony are fired up for the fall semester and rush after a recent visit from Mike Ayalon.

Motivated to get recruits, the brothers are working harder than ever to charter this semester. A social with the dance team is coming up and we can not wait for the masquerade ball. This is the semester for Keene State colony to prove themselves.

Johnson & Wales University Eta-Omega Chapter h

19 N/A 166 11 The Eta-Omega Chapter of Johnson & Wales University is working diligently to strengthen our brotherhood this upcoming year, filled with community service and scholarship acts throughout our campus. We are also going to maintain the excellent relationship with The Boys & Girls Club.

Kansas State University Iota-Alpha Chapter m

16 2.75 85 1 The Iota-alpha chapter had a great year philanthropically. In the spring, we started two brand new philanthropies and had great success with both of them.

Our first philanthropy was Tie-Dye with Sigma Pi to raise money for the Amazing Day Foundation. We also started Dunk For A Cure with Alpha Chi Omega. We started this philanthropy in memory of our brother Thomas McCord who passed away earlier this year from diabetes. With the help of Alpha Chi Omega, our dunk tank raised almost $1500 for the American Diabetes Foundation. We were even able to convince our ELC, Woody, to get dunked before he left. We also initiated 10 upstanding gentleman in to our active brotherhood ranks. This summer we had lots of great recruitment events to get us another amazing pledge class, including trips to Royals games, trips to the golf course & our personal favorite brotherhood event: Slamball!

Lawrence Technological University Zeta-Omicron Chapter fh

students interested and more signing up each day. Rush will end September 28th, and by then we hope to have a pledge class of twenty or more. Our philanthropy committee is working on an even bigger and better Sigma PInk event, an annual fundraiser we hold to support breast cancer research. The week-long event will draw in more campus and greek life participation with raffles, a bra design competition, and a fraternity beauty pageant, and will begin on the first of October.

Miami University (OH) Eta-Phi Chapter h

110 2.55 498 16

The Eta-Phi chapter is happy to report that we achieved the largest pledge class on campus last semester with 36 The Zeta-Omicron Chapter of Sigma total new members. We’re also proud Pi had a very exciting summer this to say that because of this, we are now year. During the summer our brothers the largest fraternity on campus with went to Lupton, Michigan to enjoy our a total number 130 active summer retreat at Rifle River members, which helped us Campground. At Rifle River earn the honorable Merinoour members first discussed Tash Award. Currently, our our plans for Rush, New chapter is working on setting Does your chapter Member Education, and our up our philanthropy, “Up ‘Til have news to share?

Budget. After taking care of the Dawn”. This will be our 6th business, we began enjoying Use #sigmapi, year planning and running or tag @sigmapi our weekend by barbecuing, this event. On October 19th, in the tweet. tubing down the river, and we are excited to celebrate talking around the campfire.

Miami’s homecoming Many bothers found more weekend with the many alumni that are common interest, and hobbies among expected to return this year. Finally, we each other after Rifle River and we look were very pleased to see that we earned forward to winter retreat. the 6th highest efficiency score in tier Louisiana Tech University 1 chapters for the Gold Standard. This Delta-Lambda Chapter could not have been achieved without the help from all of our chapter’s incredible h members.

14 2.82 85 1 41 N/A 259 9

The Delta-Lambda chapter started this school year off right with a great week of recruitment. We are very hopeful for a large fall pledge class. The chapter is now planning its annual alumni camping trip that will take place in early October. The chapter is also working towards joining IFC.

Loyola University, Chicago Beta-Chi Chapter f

64 N/A 686 53 The Beta Chi chapter is in full swing with recruitment with a busy, monthlong rush period. We’ve had one of the biggest turnouts in potential new members attending rush events with over a hundred

Michigan State University Zeta-Mu Chapter h

101 N/A 339 16 Fall 2013 has begun, and there is excitement in the air of East Lansing.

There are new faces at Sigma Pi ZetaMu, and still some familiar ones as well.

Everyone has settled in to his new room, and all have been lending a helping hand to prepare for an important upcoming rush week. New letters have been proudly hoisted on the front of the house, and rush signs are already out on campus. Over the summer, brothers engaged in a lot of redeeming activities. Some studied ...Continued On Next Page FALL 2013

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CHAPTER & COLONY REPORTS abroad, others took classes and worked all summer long, and others lived in East Lansing, and kept the Sigma Pi house up-to-date and clean. Since we’ve been back, the only thing on everyone’s mind is bringing in a solid rush class for this upcoming fall. Everyone is progressing, as man should.

The Theta-Omega Chapter at Middle Tennessee State University

Michigan Technological University Zeta-Epsilon Chapter

NONE 19 N/A 96 3 The Zeta-Epsilon Chapter started off the spring semester by assisting with the community’s annual Pigs-N-Heat fundraiser, where all proceeds go to local house fire relief for families. Winter in Houghton, MI can be unforgiving, so throughout the semester we would go on, “shovel runs” to help clear out excess snow around fire exits and fire hydrants around the university. Even though we still had over a foot of snow on the ground by the end of April, we were still able to complete our ACE Project. The project involved installing new trash bins, cleaning, and preparing the community’s disk golf course for use this summer.

Middle Tennessee State University Theta-Omega Chapter fff

44 N/A 96 3 In the spring, Theta-Omega once again had the highest IFC GPA on campus.

After winning a third consecutive MTSU President’s Cup and the Grand Sage Cup, the chapter continues to take positive steps in the right direction. With a great group of guys from the 2012 fall class, we look to get our chapter rolling right into gear for another great fall semester. We have been working hard and diligently this past Summer on what matters most, recruiting. We are looking to have a great pledge class this fall that will do nothing but boost scholarship and character in the form of great future brothers for our chapter.

Missouri Southern State University Eta-Mu Chapter h

20 2.23 228 20 The Eta-Mu Chapter has been very busy this last year, in recent history we have made it to playoffs in the 2nd round of basketball intramurals as well as the all star team for the spring of 2013 semester.

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Founder’s day camping trip was a huge success with a lot of alumni participation and also allowing us to access land they own for the camping trip. We have 2 brothers participating in St. Baldricks day to raise money to help find a cure for children’s cancer. We have also initiated 9 pledges into actives from the fall 2012 semester and have 3 current pledges for the spring 2013 semester and hope to initiate all 3. Although we have had our rough patches over the last few semesters our current EC has set some good groundwork to build a strong foundation of leadership and accountability.

Missouri State University Alpha-Rho Chapter

NONE 36 N/A 1039 101 Our colony at MSU started off slowly during our first semester on campus. Once second semester rolled around we began to grasp the concept that what we put into the fraternity is exactly what we get out of it. As time went by we began trimming off the extra fat of our organization. Pulling together, we were able to gain ground and get within striking distance of chartering for the next fall semester. Building a stronger brotherhood within the fraternity led to one of our most successful events we’ve had since we’ve colonized. We developed a fundraiser called Rent-ARescue where people could rent rescue dogs to play with for half an hour. This put our name out there on campus in a big way and gave everyone something

to remember us by. We hope to make this an annual event at Alpha-Rho and to include the idea in other areas, such as philanthropy.

Missouri University of Science and Technology Alpha-Iota Chapter m

37 N/A 855 155 This summer, Alpha-Iota worked diligently in both improving our house, as well as our rush strategies. We enjoyed a few great social events that helped with our efforts, including some dodge ball and a float trip on the Meramec river. By the end of the summer, Alpha-Iota had gained 12 new incredible pledges. Along with these developments we have also increased our efforts at maintaining high grades, and in keeping scholarship a high priority in the house. The semester ahead holds many social and community service events that will, without a doubt, strengthen our Chapter’s Brotherhood. We see nothing but positive growth and development in the future.

Monmouth University Delta-Beta Chapter fh

40 3.12 301 55 Delta-Beta is planning for a strong fall semester. We plan to continue our weekly volunteer work at a local soup kitchen. We are also volunteering at a local knights of Columbus fall festival.

Montclair State University

Murray State University

h

h

Iota-Iota Chapter

Gamma-Upsilon Chapter

24 2.78 54 1

43 N/A 591 89

Up here at Montclair State University the brothers of the Iota-Iota chapter are very excited for this upcoming semester. One of the main reasons for this being the success we had last semester. Upon submission of the gold standard we happily received news that we had broken the 900 point plateau and would be awarded lower insurance costs for each brother of the chapter. With the spare funding we now have, the chapter can do many things for the campus and off campus as well to better brotherhood and the fraternity as a whole. Also, the chapter has been doing other things to keep it running smoothly.

This summer we had our 2nd annual pre semester meeting, our first annual alumni BBQ, and planned for our 4th annual Alzheimer’s walk at Point Pleasant beach at the Jersey shore, which all the brothers look forward to. This semester promises to be a very successful one and we are all excited to see what it has in store.

We had a very successful recruitment in receiving 22 new members which nearly doubles our chapter size of 24 brothers. We took the 4th largest new member class of all the fraternities at Murray State. We would like to thank Mike Ayalon, Executive Director, for speaking at our Smoker. During Summer Reunion, we celebrated our 45th anniversary on Murray State’s campus. It took place on July 19th – 21st and we had over 100 alumni attend. We would like to thank those from the Executive Office that came out and participated in the weekend’s festivities. Our 24th annual Fall Fest will be taking place October 21st – 26th. Many university organizations will participate to raise money for our philanthropy, Sean Feliciano’s Amazing Day Foundation.

Murray State’s Homecoming will be October 18th – 20th. We look forward to seeing all our alumni at the parade, Tent City, and the game.

Morehead State University

New Jersey Institute Of Technology

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Delta-Rho Chapter

Alpha-Mu Chapter

18 2.55 475 44

37 N/A 862 220

We the brothers of Delta-Rho chapter had a great turnout for the Fall 2013 rush.

Standing up to the challenge with only 10 actives we had 17 new guys accept bids. All 27 of us here at Morehead State are very excited for what lies ahead for our chapter.

This semester is turning out great so far with our reputation skyrocketing from just average to our house being “the place to be”. We are teaming up with our sororities on campus for recruitment and new member education to teach the

chivalry we were all taught and founded on. Having more involvement and being in higher regard with the NJIT community is one of our main goals for this year. We plan on recruiting a very large spring class from all the excitement on campus when our name is mentioned. At such a demanding school we work very hard for our grades and are looking for a GPA boost to an “above average” status.

These progressions will come from our brotherhood as a whole being more involved with helping new members in scholarly activities and previously taken classes. Finally, we are going to get the ball rolling on a campus-wide seminar displaying how to manage your personal finances as well as transitioning into society after your college career comes to the end.

Oakland University Zeta-Pi Chapter p

12 N/A 258 29 Between having fun in the sun, and gearing up for fall rush, Zeta-Pi has had an eventful and exciting summer. We held a chapter retreat and planning weekend at our Sages cabin, in Frankfort MI, enjoyed the sleeping bear dunes as well as the beach during the day, and worked on bettering the inner workings of the chapter at night. The chapter would like to congratulate our previous Chapter Director, Mike Long, on his new position as Archon of the Greater Detroit Province, as well as welcome our new Chapter ...Continued On Next Page

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CHAPTER & COLONY REPORTS acts that competed. Our Spring ACE event, creek clean up, went off without a hitch and we even had time to clean up one of the roads we adopted in the Altoona area.

Our chapter also won three awards within the Greek community at PSU Altoona: Academic Achievement, Excellence in Involvement, and our President Bret Baginsky won Greek Many of the Year.

Along with these achievements we won Greek Week right after. We’re on fire and definitely ready for fall rush and another great year!

Pennsylvania State University Theta Chapter h

94 N/A 1147 219

The Iota-Pi Chapter at Oklahoma State University

Director, Bob Van Acker to our ranks.

While the fall term has not yet arrived, the chapter is already in full swing performing various workshops and ritual reviews, and we all eagerly await what the new school year will bring.

Oklahoma State University Iota-Pi Chapter

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39 N/A 6 2 The Alpha Pledge Class of the Iota Pi chapter had an exciting coke date with the wonderful women of Delta Delta Delta.

They had a shaving cream fight, and got to meet all of Tri Delta pledges! Our entire chapter is excited for the Sigma Pi and Tri Delta date party later this semester!

Old Dominion University Theta-Eta Chapter ffhm

43 2.74 127 5 The semester started off great, the chapter initiated 7 guys, including 2 honorary members. We are also are planning our annual semi-formal. The chapter is also excited to participate in Old Dominions homecoming. The chapter is also in the planning stages for socials with sororities and the sailing team.

Oregon State University Omega Chapter

13 2.56 66 3 The Theta-Phi chapter just initiated four new members into our brotherhood! We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate those members and welcome them into the Sigma Pi brotherhood.

The Theta Phi chapter also successfully completed our ACE Project. While rocking in rocking chairs for 24 hours, the chapter raised money for the Mary-Beth Saar Scholarship at Penn College, which is provided to students who are only a few hundred dollars short of paying for school.

We are incredibly proud to be helping those students! We are now looking forward to next semester and what the future holds for the Theta Phi Chapter.

Best wishes to everyone.

Pennsylvania State University, Altoona Theta-Iota Chapter

NONE 30 N/A 98 5

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51 N/A 623 98 Omega Chapter is starting off its school year with an 8 man initiation class. The new members are top-notch and we’re EMERALD.SIGMAPI.ORG

Pennsylvania College of Technology Theta-Phi Chapter

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excited to see what they can accomplish in the coming years. 2014 marks our chapter’s 90th anniversary and we’re going into it with a strong rush class and a very enthusiastic member base. We hope the rest of the chapters have a fun and successful Fall!

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Spring rush brought in 3 new brothers of Tau Class to add to the Brotherhood. Our 3rd Annual Jam Session was held in March and we had a great time raising money for Amazing Day along with listening to the 8

Everything is going well at the Theta chapter this year, we all just moved in and are getting back into our everyday routines. The rush process is starting up and we’re looking forward to getting decent sized pledge class. We’re beginning to start up our philanthropy again to raise money for THON as we do every year. We broke $100,000 last year but we’re looking forward to raising more money than last year.

Purdue University Eta Chapter

NONE 32 2.72 891 203 This semester at Eta chapter we are all excited to finally be back from summer!

We have kept the ball rolling by having a very successful rush so far this fall.

With our rush ending soon we have really gained a really great class of new members this fall. We are very excited about the new members we gained and are looking forward to the day they represent the International Fraternity of Sigma Pi. As a chapter we are also very excited for our homecoming that is coming up very soon! We hope to see an amazing turnout of alumni this year!

Rutgers University Gamma-Eta Chapter hp

75 N/A 503 68 The Gamma-Eta Chapter of Sigma Pi hit the ground running this semester.

During the first week back from summer vacation, Rutgers University had its annual involvement fair. Our chapter had the flag of Sigma Pi valiantly raised in the middle of College Ave Gym amongst the other national organizations who were represented at the fair. Our event was

spearheaded by brother Dave Solomon, who was both enthusiastic and confident when approaching groups of Rutgers students. His tactics along with the support of the entire fraternity gained us a “names list” of over forty new potentials. The chapter plans to continue its aggressive rush tactics throughout the following week to gain many new potential brothers for the Fall 2013 semester.

Saginaw Valley State University Theta-Beta Chapter h

31 3.10 167 6 The Theta-Beta Chapter of Saginaw Valley just recently installed two new members to Executive Board whose priors did not return. We also just initiated two more

committee was strong as we had events such as Paintball, Barbeque, Dodgeball, and several other sporting activities.

Salisbury University Theta-Xi Chapter

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to increase our philanthropic efforts, and currently have a volleyball tournament planned for later this semester. As always, we intend to continue working hard to maintain a high house GPA, and we look forward to building on our past successes.

Santa Clara University Zeta-Eta Chapter

54 2.83 118 5 The brothers of Theta-Xi are coming off of a very strong semester. We kicked it off with John Williams coming down to Salisbury University to give a “Know Your Rights” speech as our ACE project. That was a success and had a good showing getting our name out there on campus.

We are proud to say that we have set the record for most community service hours in a semester in our chapter’s history. We also are working diligently with our GPA’s The Delta-Epsilon Chapter at Seton Hall University

NONE 82 N/A 593 58 The Zeta-Eta chapter is proud to announce that we had an incredibly successful year and are looking forward to another great rush. Some of the activities we did as a fraternity include lunch every Saturday, river rafting and Giants baseball games. We also had one of the best turnouts for our philanthropy event, M.S Volleyball. We are all looking forward to another great year. Our rush takes place in the beginning of October and we had a great time helping out the Beta-Eta Chapter with their rush.

Seton Hall University Delta-Epsilon Chapter

NONE 32 2.90 343 38 On September 5, 2013, the Delta-Epsilon chapter of Sigma Pi kicked off rush season with the Fall 2013 Involvement fair. 62 students signed our interest sheet.

Southern Arkansas University Epsilon-Kappa Chapter

NONE members, and formal recruitment on campus begins Monday, September 9.

We’re looking forward to an increase of on-campus events this semester and a great year of brotherhood.

Saint Joseph’s University Theta-Chi Chapter

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45 N/A 101 4 The Theta-Chi Chapter extended 17 bids in the spring of 2013. We initiated all 17 new members. Our chapter had a strong semester as we successfully completed such events as our 2nd Annual Alumni weekend, which included Golf, a banquet, and barbeque with the alumni. Ace events included Donate For Life Organ Donation, Watching Baseball with the Jesuits, our Free Ritas Water Ice for the student body event, and a cleanup of a major street that runs through campus. Our Brotherhood

and keeping logs of brothers studying hours. We already have several socials, alumni events, brotherhood events, and rush all scheduled. So far, this rush seems to be very promising are all excited for a great semester ahead. Also, in the spring semester we had a great ACE Project that included numerous other organizations around campus. We hope to make leaps and bounds in the near future.

San Jose State University Beta-Eta Chapter

NONE 28 N/A 455 49 We are a few weeks into the semester and it has gone well so far. We recently finished recruitment and are preparing to begin the new member process. We hope to increase our participation on campus to improve visibility as well our relationships with other organizations. We also want

35 N/A 360 27 We recently had a Brotherhood event at the Caddo River. We had 12 brothers in attendance. We have created a new “New Member Education” Plan, as well as a new Scholarship Plan. We have the highest numbers of any Greek organization on campus. Rush week is next week. We will cook out and play flag football for our potential new members. Looking forward to a great year.

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Beta-Nu Chapter h

39 N/A 908 75 Since chartering on May 4, 2013, we have focused on improving the chapter so that it may become the very best fraternity on campus. Even though we recently ...Continued On Next Page FALL 2013

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CHAPTER & COLONY REPORTS

The Alpha-Omicron Chapter at University of California, Santa-Barbara

chartered, we already are a powerhouse here in Greek life. The head of Greek life named us one of the top five fraternities on campus despite our new entry as an official chapter. In an effort to continually improve ourselves we began this school year with an entire breakdown of our by-laws, our chairs and our methodology.

Our goal is to improve our GPA, as well as, our image here on campus. Before the year even began, we participated in community service while promoting ourselves on campus. Since chartering we have had multiple sororities and other Greek organizations request Sigma Pi to participate in both Greek and non-Greek events. We are on our way to being the number one fraternity on campus.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Delta-Omega Chapter hpm

The Delta-Omega Chapter recently held it’s annual Pig Roast which was a great success as over 400 pounds of pulled pork in under three hours. Recruiting is looking very promising, the Chapter is expecting to exceed it’s goal for recruitment.

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Epsilon-Alpha Chapter h

19 2.77 383 30 Fall semester is upon us and EpsilonAlpha is back at it again. We’re ready to make this semester the best we ever had.

Like every semester Southern Polytechnic State University Greek life compete in a one day event called Goat Night. It’s a skit and a dance competition between the Greek community of SPSU. Two years ago we got second place and this year we’re going all out, like it was our last one, to win it all. We have a great Fall pledge class and we’re on a quest for excellence.

To all of our Brothers we wish good luck in your future endeavors.

State University of New York, Buffalo Epsilon-Omicron Chapter

39 2.83 388 27

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NONE 28 N/A 289 29 Entering a new year, the Epsilon-Omicron Chapter has very much to look forward to. Although we have had an unfortunate decline in active Brothers, and with rush

going extremely well thus far, there is no doubt in any of the Brothers’ minds that a plethora of other men are interested in Sigma Pi Fraternity and the ideals and vast history that it entails. Furthermore, the preparation for the annual Ontario Province Workshop is currently underway and we are all very excited to get to know other Brothers from other chapters. With such a strong kick off to the year, only better things are surely to come.

The College of New Jersey Theta-Delta Chapter fff

47 2.91 254 19 The Theta-Delta Chapter is looking forward to another successful semester. At almost 50 brothers strong, we are hoping to expand our brotherhood by 10 during the fall rush season. We are also excited about beginning a brand new week long campus wide ACE project that we hope will be even more successful than those in the past. Throughout the semester, brothers will be heading south to the Jersey Shore to continue our efforts to Restore the Shore. Lastly, our brothers are very excited to re-enter our chapter house, as much needed summer renovations have been taking place.

The Ohio State University Gamma Chapter m

48 3.06 668 163 With deferred recruitment, we are welcoming eight new members into our chapter this Sunday. As a chapter we currently have a 3.125 cumulative GPA and we look to improve that through our scholarship program. We also have many philanthropic events lined up this year including our biggest event, BEST DAY, a health awareness program spread throughout the campus.

University of Alabama Theta-Omicron Chapter

NONE 136 3.30 147 9

twelve members. Iota alumni have also visited us in overwhelming numbers for the 2013 California Bears football season.

restful summer. Riding the momentum from a spring semester where we raised $2700 dollars for the Children’s Miracle Network through Knight-thon: UCF’s University of California, dance marathon philanthropy, earned the Santa Barbara 4th highest GPA out of all fraternities, and Alpha-Omicron chapter had an incredible formal in Savannah, NONE Ga, we managed to come right back into the swing of 88 N/A 340 66 things for rush. Iota-Kappa Here at Alpha-Omicron, we is proud to have recruited 40 are proud to report we are potential members for our Iota Be sure to like the entering one of our most “Sigma Pi” page on class, filled with great guys momentous years in our Facebook for news who we’re sure will be able history. The old house was and events from the to live up to our letters. In packed up, the walls repainted, Executive Office addition to Iota class, we are and the U-Hauls have come also especially excited to have and gone. We are all moved homecoming with Pi Beta Phi. into our new, spectacular house which As far as athletics go we are tied for 1st will house more brothers and greater place in fraternity athletics. events. Our chapter has the potential to

Our chapter is currently situated with a new 34 person pledge class. They seem very beneficial and eager to help out with chapter progression. With the addition of the new pledge class, the chapter continues to grow in size. A new philanthropy chair has a couple big charity events planned out, the house was renovated over the summer, and the new brotherhood chair is in the process of setting up whole house brother bonding events. The chapter is growing quickly and looks to continue to the progress in the coming months.

expand greatly and we look to fulfill that potential. This coming quarter, we will be holding our philanthropy, Sigma Pi Rodeo, for the second time. The philanthropy was a big hit last year, winning the Outstanding Philanthropy award, and it is only going to improve. As always, AlphaOmicron continues to pursue academic excellence and maintains a presence in our community through volunteer service.

Everyone is excited going into the new school year. It will be a year of growth, greatness, and glory for Alpha-Omicron.

University of Central Missouri

University of Arkansas

University of California, Santa Cruz Iota-Eta Chapter

University of Colorado, Boulder

Alpha-Sigma Chapter

NONE 94 N/A 447 59 Everything is going well. Recruitment is looking to turn out great. After the first cuts we kept 62% of the rushees. This is a greater number than we have ever had in the past. We look to give 60 bids and initiate over 45 members this semester.

Things are looking to be a great year at the Alpha-Sigma chapter.

University of California, Los Angeles Iota Chapter

NONE 30 N/A 609 54 This summer, Iota Chapter renovated our historic house, adding a koi pond, bike racks, and other assorted improvements.

All work was done by brothers. As August ushered in the new semester, we kicked recruitment into high gear, hopefully yielding an incoming class of more than

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Gamma-Gamma Chapter h

38 N/A 611 40 The Gamma-Gamma chapter had a very successful rush with fifteen signed bids this fall! We are looking forward to a exciting homecoming with Alpha Sigma Alpha Sorority as our homecoming partner and over 100 alumni coming into town to join in the festivities.

Zeta-Delta Chapter

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80 2.96 111 3

110 N/A 485 11

Iota-Eta Chapter had twenty pledges cross at the end of our spring quarter. We now have seventy nine active brothers for the upcoming year. All of the brothers are extremely enthusiastic about the new members that are new additions to our chapter. During our spring quarter, we had a retreat that involved both brothers and pledges. We all went camping and strengthened our sense of brotherhood within our organization. The retreat was a fantastic experience that the Iota-Eta chapter intends to repeat for many years to come.

After a long summer away from Boulder Colorado, the men of the Zeta-Delta chapter are back in the swing of things.

Our chapter has decided to shift our focus this semester to academics and community service. The chapter’s Community Service Chair has planned numerous events with different sororities on campus and groups all around the community. In the quest to maintain good scholarship, our chapter is in the process of teaching every brother about his learning style to help them improve their study habits. This new school year has revived the brotherhood of Zeta-Delta.

Our chapter has been making a big effort to become closer to one another by going on hikes, target shooting, watching Buffalo football games, and even helping out around campus. Fraternity Rush is under way and the whole chapter is excited to find new quality members and have a strong fall pledge class.

University of Central Florida Iota-Kappa Chapter m

116 3.12 89 2 Greetings brothers, from the men of IotaKappa at the University of Central Florida!

We’re excited to be back after a long

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CHAPTER & COLONY REPORTS have mixers with at least two sororities, as well, as partner up with a sorority for homecoming. All these events present a great opportunity for the chapter to grow and have a bigger impact on the Greek community at the University of Houston.

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Phi Chapter h

13 N/A 939 183

The Theta-Psi Chapter at University of Southern Indiana

University of Delaware Iota-Beta Chapter ffh

72 N/A 142 3 So far this year we have been spending time regathering as a chapter and getting ready for rush. We are looking forward to our first rush event of the year tonight.

University of Detroit Mercy Gamma-Alpha Chapter fh

22 3.10 502 54 Over this summer renovations were made to the house. The back deck got a new coat of paint and the kitchen was finished with a new coat of paint, fixtures and a new back splash. Before this summer a new budget was passed and dues were raised for the first time in 5 years from $415 a year to $600; it has helped dramatically and we are paying off our debts as we speak. All-in-all we are improving with help from Justin Steele!

University of Georgia Alpha-Phi Chapter

NONE 82 2.64 756 141 Sigma Pi Alpha-Phi Chapter has again shown solid growth, recently inducting an excellent fall pledge class of 21 members.

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As a result, our chapter is approaching an all-time high in membership since the 1960’s. We have focused on scholarship this year, and our new pledge class has several honors program students. We have also emphasized the importance of achieving the status of Dean’s list and Presidential Scholar to our brothers, and expect to see even more brothers receive these titles this year. Our social calendar is good this year, and our relations with sororities have continued to improve as a whole. Our philanthropy has also carried over into the year, and we plan on creating a new “battle of the bands” event as a fundraiser for next semester. Overall, the chapter is continuing to move forward with high positive momentum.

University of Houston Theta-Nu Chapter hm

24 N/A 93 4 The men of Theta-Nu are looking forward to another successful year at the University of Houston. We are also very excited to be moving back to our newly renovated house. This semester we have been rushing heavily, going into rush week we have a total of 68 potential new members. For brotherhood, we have plans to have a beach day as well as smaller biweekly events. In regards to sorority relations, we are planning to

Currently and for the remainder of Fall 2013 Phi Chapter will be undergoing expansion efforts directed by Sigma Pi’s International Office. Utilizing the new tools provided to us by the Expansion Department, the Chapter feels confident that all future recruitment will be immensely more successful than in the past. Our thanks go out to both our International Office and our Phi Chapter Alumni for providing such great support.

In addition to the Chapter’s recruitment efforts, Phi Chapter has taken steps forward in supporting Sigma Pi’s national charity, Donate Life. To achieve this Phi has begun to lay the groundwork in volunteering with Gift of Hope, a branch of Donate Life. There truly is an incredible degree of optimism surrounding these programs going forward through the academic year.

University of Iowa Xi Chapter ff

96 N/A 625 79 Xi is continuing to thrive here in Iowa City. Our chapter has once again come back to school in full stride, as we just welcomed in our newly initiated members!

Our morale is through the roof and we are currently getting amped up for the formal fall recruitment. We cannot wait to give bids to a new pledge class, as we have already met many gentlemen who possess the potential to better our chapter.

Our new member education program will give our neophytes the tools to develop great leadership skills, amongst the other values that will mold them into successful Iowa students and Sigma Pi men. Our goal of reaching 100-man status is in sight!

Along with football season now being in full swing, we have several events to look forward to this fall semester. Homecoming week is approaching, and our men are very determined to take home the title.

Our alumni and parents weekend will be a

great time as always, as we can showcase how our continuous hard work and efforts have advanced the Xi chapter into what it is today. Roll Xi!

University of Kansas Beta-Delta Colony

NONE 32 3.20 70 8 We have grown over the past three months to 41 members. Also we are hosting a philanthropy this weekend, “Kicking Cancer in the Balls Kickball Tournament” to benefit Testicular Cancer Awareness.

University of Louisville Iota-Omicron Chapter h

25 3.01 24 3 Iota-Omicron is off to a great start this fall.

We began the year with a brotherhood retreat at a fellow brother’s house. Then we had a back to school cookout on campus. We look forward to another great fall pledge class.

University of Michigan Alpha-Beta Chapter h

38 N/A 163 15 The Alpha-Beta Chapter completed its ACE Project by picking up trash, fallen branches, and other unwanted items at the Arboretum in Ann Arbor, MI. “The Arb” is a popular park at the University of Michigan where many students and people of all ages hang out. This picture was featured on the front of the University’s yearly Greek Life publication that was sent to all incoming freshmen.

University of Minnesota Iota-Zeta Chapter ff

30 N/A 71 1 The men of the Iota-Zeta chapter are starting the year off well after a summer full of house repairs and projects to get it looking great for our second year of formal recruitment. We have bid 15 men through the first week of school and are excited to continue the month recruiting more great guys who can help grow our chapter.

Along with recruitment, we cannot wait to host our 7th Annual Foam Party for the Amazing Day Foundation. Last year we raised $1,200 dollars and we are hoping to raise over $1,500 this year. We have an early Homecoming week this year and

are paired with the ladies of Kappa Alpha Theta, Alpha Epsilon Phi, and the men of Sigma Chi. We hope to defend our title as Homecoming champions and are excited for the upcoming year as we continue to grow on campus.

University of Mississippi Beta-Mu Chapter

NONE 64 N/A 259 35 The Beta-Mu chapter at Ole Miss is excited for the upcoming school year. We have yet to start fall recruitment here at Ole Miss, but have been preparing for weeks and are going in strong to find the best and brightest potential new members.

We also are looking into doing bigger and better fall and spring philanthropy events this year. We in the Beta-Mu chapter are determined to not let complacency set in.

We will continue to do great things while maintaining a strong reputation on our campus and around our community as we go into this new year.

University of Missouri Gamma-Sigma Chapter m

129 2.82 458 45 University of Missouri, Columbia The Gamma-Sigma Chapter. The spring and summer months of 2013 were recordsetting for our chapter’s history. Most recently, we placed 10th overall among 35 Fraternities at Mizzou in chapter GPA with a 3.066, even beating the all campus average of 3.053. Our spring pledge class ranked 4th in new member grades with a 3.12 GPA. For these exceptional feats, we are one of only 11 Fraternities to receive an academic achievement banner at the University of Missouri. We are also proud to announce the pinning of 41 new members for the fall of 2013 into the Epsilon pledge class. Counting the upcoming pledge class, it puts us at over 130 men strong. At this rate of improvement, it’s no secret how quickly the Gamma-Sigma chapter is becoming one of the elite Sigma Pi chapters across the country.

University of Missouri - St. Louis Delta-Zeta Chapter hm

34 N/A 422 46 Delta-Zeta had a great summer, initiating 8 new members and receiving a reward

for being in the 900 Efficiency Club. We look forward to progressing further this semester.

University of Oregon Iota-Epsilon Chapter f

69 N/A 94 7 The Iota-Epsilon chapter at the University of Oregon is very anxious for the upcoming school year. Every year it’s always a bittersweet moment to say goodbye to our Seniors, but we look forward to the meeting and befriending the incoming Freshman. We are starting off the year strong with what’s expected to be our best Rush yet. Our Rush Chairman did a great job in the Spring bringing in almost 20 new members and is expecting to get around 40 for the Fall. Along with Rush, we also have Greek Week and Dad’s weekend coming up in the Fall. We are teamed up with Fiji and Kappa Alpha Theta for Greek Week and are striving to take home the win after barely missing out and getting 2nd place last year. We’re very excited to get the year started and wish the best of luck to all the Sigma Pi chapters.

University of Rhode Island Alpha-Upsilon Chapter

NONE 45 3.22 811 79 As we begin the new year, the AlphaUpsilon chapter has a lot of potential plans. Recruitment has been well so far and we are very excited to getting a new pledge class this fall. We have been working at Gillette stadium to help pay off our debt and plan on doing that all semester. We also will be working on scheduling multiple brotherhoods and philanthropy events through out the year.

Such as hosting a blood drive, raising money for breast cancer, habitat for humanity, brotherhood dinners, poker nights, and more. We are very excited to get this year going and hope to achieve all of our goals and make our chapter better than ever.

University of Southern Indiana Theta-Psi Chapter m

21 2.78 56 8 The Theta-Psi chapter is gearing up for a new semester. Over the summer we held our 3rd annual EC retreat and shortly ...Continued On Next Page FALL 2013

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CHAPTER & COLONY REPORTS after held our 2nd annual Chapter retreat.

Here we revamped our constitution and fulfilled many of our yearly workshops and set our goals for the year. Theta-Psi currently have already pinned 5 New Members before Rush has even begun and looks like we will double the chapter this year. We are also working on an improved New Member Education Program which will stress values and becoming better men more so than anything we have done before. Also we ended on a high note last semester with winning 6 awards at USI, including Greek Man of the Year (Tyler Robling), Chapter Officer of the Year (Dylan Robling), Fraternal Values Award (as a chapter and as an individual (Tyler Robling) and Chapter Advisor (John Thomas). Good things to come!

University of Texas Gamma-Theta Chapter m

33 N/A 301 19 Recruitment is coming to an end and we look forward to getting to know the new guys over the next few months. We have at least six new guys with lots of potential.

We have increased our average GPA significantly and are looking to continue to do so. Some of our guys helped move in freshmen on and off campus. Philanthropy and fundraising are crucial goals for us this semester as well as just growing

The Beta-Tau Chapter at Valparaiso University

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larger. This looks to be a promising year for us in our new house both as an organization and as brothers.

University of Texas at San Antonio Iota-Delta Chapter fp

68 3.02 92 13 Iota-Delta has been hard at work since school reconvened. We have revamped our recruitment strategy and are looking to take in a large group of guys to make up our Fall 2013 Mu class. Recruitment aside, we recently welcomed the brothers of Iota Pi to join us for the UTSA vs. OSU game at the Alamodome here in San Antonio.

The event was phenomenal and even the President of UTSA (Dr. Ricardo Romo) made an appearance at our tailgate. All in all, the Iota Delta chapter is gunning for a strong new class to take us to the next level and continue to assert our dominance here on UTSA’s campus.

University of Toronto Eta-Omicron Chapter h

6 N/A 167 9 Since coming back from Leadership School in Tennessee, the brothers of Eta-Omicron are on fire. We have been active on the campus, building up our names lists. We have a number of great

events with the local sororities, and our Alumni. Special thanks to Peter Konidis and the founding fathers for helping us out these past few months. We have a newly renovated house, a boost in morale and an action plan to turn things around and make things happen.

University of Virginia Beta-Pi Chapter

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45 N/A 841 56 We are excited to have just welcomed back our returning brothers to school for this fall semester. We are saddened to see our friends and brothers graduate this past May, but we are excited for them as the begin their careers. Our first week of school was capped off with a great success as we held a tailgate at our house before the first football game of the season, then got to watch our team come away with a victory over BYU. Classes are starting to pick up, and there is the usual buzz (or groan) around the house as men begin to engage in all of the schoolwork in front of them. We are going to have brotherhood cookout this Friday, and are hoping that the weather keeps cooperating so that grilling is readily accessible this school year. Overall, our chapter is extremely happy to be back in Charlottesville, and we are looking forward to another great semester.

University of West Alabama

University of Wisconsin, Platteville

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Theta-Gamma Chapter

Delta-Iota Chapter

28 2.62 142 4

28 N/A 484 24

The Theta-Gamma Chapter started the year off right with a great turnout at the fall rush event. After taking home a number of different awards presented by the university, the chapter was able to add 13 potential new members. In addition to what will be a great semester, the chapter will also be celebrating its 15th anniversary. Founded in 1998 on the University of West Alabama’s campus, the Theta-Gamma Chapter has been awarded the most outstanding fraternity on campus for the past 3 years. There have been bumps along the path but it is those bumps that helped build this chapter into the group of leaders that it is today.

With higher standards and good character as one of their main qualities that must be seen in its new members, the chapter is and will strive to hold a leadership role on its campus.

Here in Platteville, we are thrilled to be starting another great year. Our homecoming theme is “America” and we have decided to take on the decade of the “Roaring Twenties” as our house theme.

If all goes well, we are hoping to start this semester off right by participating and excelling in upcoming Homecoming events. Our growing chapter is dedicated to putting in hard work in order to improve our campus as a whole.

University of Wisconsin, Madison Tau Chapter

NONE 33 N/A 108 12 After a productive summer, the members of Tau Chapter are excitedly looking forward to the Fall semester. The focus of the chapter is mainly on rush, though our Ace Project, the Brittany Zimmerman 5k, is fast approaching. We have also begun preparations for the campus wide charity Humorology, which we will be participating in come late September.

University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh Gamma-Mu Chapter p

12 N/A 455 28 Here at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, we’re all having a blast!

It was a fun summer, full of retreats (water parks, birthdays, cabins in the forest), house projects (brand new paint-job upstairs and the letters have on our house were touched up), and squirrels (don’t ask). We’re all excited to bring what we learned at SPU to our own campus, and so far recruiting is going better than ever and spirits are high! Not too mention we just had a fantastic little visit from Patrick Patterson, our Regional Director.

Man oh man, what a guy! We’re very excited to have him on board and utilize his knowledge.

Ursinus College Theta-Sigma Chapter h

31 2.96 64 0 The first few weeks of school for our chapter have gone really well. As brothers we have been enjoying the good weather, and have had outdoor events and BBQ’s when possible. Other than brotherhood events, we have also seen a good turnout at rush events which we are very happy about. Intramural football starts in the next week and we are aiming to get back to the finals and win a championship for Sigma Pi. We have reached the finals the last two years, and we feel we have the team to beat the other fraternities and competition on campus.

Valparaiso University Beta-Tau Chapter fh

24 N/A 568 50 The Beta-Tau chapter has been hard at work with fall recruitment and acclimating the newest members to become the newest generation of men and leaders. This fall we are hosting such events as Sig Pirates, a post Popcorn Fest BBQ, and a Meet and Greet Wings night.

The Beta-Tau Chapter hopes to pull in 10 new recruits by the end of fall and 20 by the end of the school year.

Vincennes University Alpha Chapter ffm

30 N/A 923 123 We at Alpha Chapter would proudly like to report that we have gained 10 new perspective members to our chapter with the help of a successful rush week.

Brothers helped out new students with moving into their dorms as well. We also painted the walls within the house and made repairs to help ensure its good condition. We have many great ideas to make this a great year for Alpha Chapter and look forward to the events to come in the future.

Wake Forest University Alpha-Nu Chapter fh

51 2.99 1078 159 Since he has just been elected as the new philanthropy chair, brother Monsees is currently working on this year’s philanthropy events. So far, it looks like our first event will be a charity cornhole event with Tri Delt. More events will be planned as the semester continues.

Washington State University Iota-Nu Chapter

NONE 49 N/A 65 5 With the start of a new school year at Washington State University, the Iota-Nu chapter is working hard to become a better chapter after. During recruitment Executive Director Mike Ayalon was here and gave us some much needed advice and encouragement. We are organizing ourselves to work towards the growth of our chapter by focusing on grades, community service, and philanthropy. The goal of our chapter this year is give our self’s and Sigma Pi a better image on Campus.

Wayne State University Gamma-Omega Chapter h

44 N/A 330 28 Wayne State’s Gamma-Omega Chapter is proud to announce that last semester, we initiated 5 new Brothers. At the same time, one of our brothers won the Mr. Wayne State University Pageant hosted by Delta Zeta Sorority. Another won Kappa Delta’s “Shamrock King”, and another still won Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority’s “Phiguy!” As a chapter, we took 2nd place at the Wayne State “Warrior Games!” The summer was taken as an opportunity to regain our bearings as we prepared for the most driven and successful Fall Semester we have seen in years. Five of our Brothers ...Continued On Next Page FALL 2013

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Undergrad

CHAPTER & COLONY REPORTS carpooled down to Sigma Pi University in Nashville, Tennessee, and it was agreed by all to be a highly educational, if not entirely life changing event! Together, we are working to expand our chapter and progress ourselves not only socially, but academically, fiscally, and personallytaking our many successes, and occasional failures, in stride.

West Chester University Zeta-Alpha Chapter

NONE

non-recruitment events we have held so far this semester include two car wash fundraisers that we have hosted with WVU Tech sororities. Currently, we are planning for our chapter’s Orchid Ball, which is currently set for November, as well as planning philanthropies to participate in later this semester. WVU Tech’s homecoming is slated for October 26 - 28, with many Gamma-Xi alumni planning to be in attendance that weekend for the chapter’s annual homecoming pig roast.

Western Illinois University

61 N/A 275 16

Epsilon-Zeta Chapter

The Zeta-Alpha Chapter of West Chester University is currently in the process of one of our biggest recruitment periods in history, headed by recruitment chair Brian Whitehead. The chapter currently has 69 members, the highest total on campus and is in position to add a substantial amount to that with this year’s fall class.

Aside from recruitment the chapter has started to get down to business planning fundraising events, participating in community service opportunities and setting up Sorority Showdown, the chapter’s local philanthropy event, where all proceeds go to the local Police Athletic League in West Chester. With everything going on Zeta-Alpha chapter is poised for a great semester.

West Virginia University Institute of Technology Gamma-Xi Chapter

NONE 23 N/A 632 80 Starting the school year off strong with a lot of recruitment. We are focusing on promoting our Chapter on campus. The ACE Project we are doing this fall is Toys for WIU Infant and Preschool Center.

The project supports the Day Care center on campus because they are not funded by the university. Therefore, all school supplies, food supplies, toys within the Day Care and much more is paid for by the people who work there. We try to assist them as much as possible, as well as collect money donations for them to build a new playground for the children.

William Paterson University Theta-Tau Chapter

NONE

living. There were three videos of the competition posted on YouTube with over 80,000 total views each, and our letters were shown in the opening of the videos!

We’re both very proud and honored to gain such recognition, and getting our fraternity out there for a good cause is only making our quest for excellence that much more attainable. We also helped the William Paterson University freshmen class move in on their move in day.

Brothers wore letters all over campus and helped any freshmen move things into their dorm rooms. We also have many rush events and other events planned to start off another great semester here as brothers of Sigma Pi at William Paterson University!

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Gamma-Iota Chapter ffh

40 N/A 633 71 After a great summer, everyone is back at school to start the academic year. At the start of the school year, we welcomed the incoming freshman by assisting them in moving into their dorm rooms. Currently, we are completing massive renovations to our house. This year, we are looking to fully implement the dynamic recruitment philosophy, striving to increase the quality of men we recruit as well as our numbers.

We are now planning for Homecoming and our week-long Guitar-A-Thon. a

26 3.02 80 5

m

13 3.07 465 34 The Gamma-Xi chapter has just finished a successful Fall Rush Week, gaining four new members to our numbers. Other

The Theta-Tau chapter of Sigma Pi had quite an eventful summer. Our brothers teamed up with the men behind Barstarzz to co-sponsor the Calisthenics World Cup in New York City to promote healthy

How To Update Your Information!

We are asking for your assistance in spreading the word to all alumni. Please keep your e-mail addresses up to date. It can be done online and it only takes about 10 minutes.

Step 1: Go to www.mysigmapi.com Step 2: Click on “Register for Access” if you have never had an account there.

Step 3: Once you are approved and have your access set up, login to the site.

Step 4: Click on “Edit My Profile” Step 5: Enter your current information (mail, phone, e-mail, etc.) and click to save it.

That ensures you will continue to get important information and communications from Sigma Pi.

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I BELIEVE IN SIGMA PI, A FELLOWSHIP OF KINDRED MINDS, UNITED IN BROTHERHOOD TO ADVANCE TRUTH AND JUSTICE, TO PROMOTE SCHOLARSHIP, TO ENCOURAGE CHIVALRY, TO DIFFUSE CULTURE, AND TO DEVELOP CHARACTER, IN THE SERVICE OF GOD AND MAN; AND I WILL STRIVE TO MAKE REAL THE FRATERNITY’S IDEALS IN MY OWN DAILY LIFE.

A QUEST FOR EXCELLENCE Moving Sigma Pi forward, the Grand Council took action in October to update the Mission and Vision for Sigma Pi incorporating the values and beliefs of our Creed. We have updated our branding motto to reflect our new emphasis.

Our Mission: To advance man’s quest for excellence

Our Vision: Our men will strive for excellence by living our core values.

Our Core Values: • Promote fellowship • Develop character and leadership • Advance heightened moral awareness • Enable academic achievement • Inspire service

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Photo courtesy of Michael Slappik

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RUSH OF JUMPING

THE

By Brandon Deveraux (IM), contributing writer

I

began skydiving after I graduated high school in the summer of 2009. I wanted at least one memorable story before I started college, and going skydiving seemed like it would do just the trick. I was given two options for my first jump: go attached to an instructor or take a ground course and jump with my own parachute. Naturally, the second option appealed to me more, and that jump became the first step in my path to becoming a certified skydiver.

It was a rush. That first jump was everything I had thought it would be and more. Right away, I knew that one jump wasn’t going to be enough, I needed more. Using money that I received as high school graduation gifts, I finished the seven jumps required to be a solo skydiver that summer, and in August, I headed off to begin school at Georgia Tech. I learned that Georgia Tech had a wellknown skydiving club, so of course I was quick to join. The skydiving club wasn’t the only group that I joined my first year in school; in my first week I met the brothers of the Sigma Pi colony at Georgia Tech, and after a week of rush activities, I accepted their invitation to join and became a founding father of the Iota-Mu chapter.

I continued skydiving on and off throughout my freshman and sophomore years at Georgia Tech, but ultimately spent a lot of my time with schoolwork and fraternity activities. I took on many positions in the Iota-Mu chapter over several years: technology chairman, scholarship chairman, IFC representative, and Fourth Counselor in which position I spent almost three years. At the end of my sophomore year, I realized that it had been almost six months since my last jump, and I felt it was time for me to return to the sport. My involvement in school and Sigma Pi left me little free time, but I decided I was going to strike a more fine-tuned balance that would enable me to continue doing the activity that gave me such a thrill.

I started jumping regularly with the Georgia Tech Sport Parachute Club beginning in August of 2011. As I spent more and more weekends at Skydive Atlanta in

Thomaston, GA, I found myself becoming a better skydiver, and I soon declared my intent to compete for the Georgia Tech club team. With my training schedule established, I found myself busier than ever before. Between school, skydiving, and Sigma Pi, I was grateful for the time spent in the fraternity that enabled me to strike such a delicate balance of time.

After months of jumping at our dropzone and training at the wind-tunnel in Orlando, FL, I made my first appearance at competition. My team partner and I were very nervous, but were able to end up bringing home the gold medal in the two-way formation skydiving category.

I was so excited! I let everyone know right away that all of the hard work had paid off, and my friends, family, and fraternity brothers were quick to send congratulations my way. After returning home, I decided that I was going to start training for next year’s competition, but I would be competing in the four-way competition.

2012 became a whirlwind of excitement in my skydiving career. I passed the 300 jump mark, I made my first wingsuit jump, and I returned to Arizona for my second competition. This time, we narrowly edged out teams from the University of Connecticut and the United States Air Force Academy to bring home gold in the four-way formation skydiving competition. Once again, I was overjoyed. Skydiving had become such a big part of my life over the past year and a half, and I had nothing but more skydiving to look forward to.

In the spring of 2013, I was elected president of the Georgia Tech Sport Parachute Club, and thanks to the leadership positions I held in Sigma Pi, I was able to undertake the position’s responsibilities with relative ease.

I continue to progress in the skydiving world, and I am about to begin pursuit of my instructor certification. I am sure skydiving will remain a part of my life in the future, as will Sigma Pi, and all the lessons that I have learned from being a part of both. a

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It took me thirty years to “shoot ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Lens,’

Steinfeldt in his photo studio in Hollywood Hills, California

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“

two years to edit and publish. I had to review about 250,000 photos...

LOOKING THROUGH A

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL LENS THE STORY OF JIMMY STEINFELDT’S JOURNEY INTO THE MUSIC WORLD

By Phil Aiello (GM), contributing writer

A

snap from a $100 Minolta camera at an ‘82 Stevie Nicks concert, shuttered a quest for a particular brother’s career. Jimmy Steinfeldt (AΩ, San Diego State University ‘81), a veteran Rock ‘N’ Roll photographer, and Sigma Pi brother has photographed music icons like Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, ZZ Top and Cyndi Lauper.

With the 2012 release of his book, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Lens,” Jimmy sat down with the Emerald to chronicle his accomplishments and reflect on his quest for excellence.

Steinfeldt’s adolescent years comprised of admiration for the late scientist, photographer and author, Jacques Cousteau.

Among others, Jimmy cites photographer Richard Avedon and cinematographer Karl Freund for artistic inspiration. Growing up in Minneapolis, Jimmy surrounded himself with his loving and supportive family.

As an incoming undergraduate at San Diego state university, Steinfeldt met brothers during freshman orientation. “The brothers impressed me, so when the semester started, I rushed.” said Steinfeldt. Describing his experience at the Alpha-Omega chapter with enthusiasm, Jimmy mentions the chapter brothers were ‘very close’ and many of them resided in the chapter house, - Jimmy calling it home for half of his college career. Living in the chapter house could not have been possible, if it wasn’t for an alumni fundraiser described as unconventional, and one of his fondest memories. “One of the older brothers knew movie distributors in New York. We were able to rent and show a very popular movie during the time, Deep Throat.” How did the chapter get permission from the University you ask? “About ½ of student council was a brother, or a little sister of our chapter, including the President and Vice

President of Student Council.” “..Oh yeah! The editor of the University daily paper was also a brother!” He added.

“The success of the fundraiser showed our alumni that we were serious about getting a house. Soon after, a purchase was made.” Steinfeldt, who served as social chairman, reflects on the little sister program, the chapter’s successes in intramural sports, and his fellow like-minded brothers. “The chapter was gifted with several excellent photographers, one of whom assisted me pick out my first camera; the same camera I photographed Madonna, Prince and Tina Turner with.” “I did attend a few concerts in college, but that was before I was doing photography.” Jimmy added.

Jimmy packed his Business Management diploma, and took to the nation’s great cities. With the very camera his chapter brother helped him select, Jimmy shot his way through many long road-trips and rock concerts, while bunking at various Sigma Pi chapters. “ I just showed up on their doorstep. When I announced I was a brother from San Diego state, (along with the grip of recognition) they made me right at home,” commending each chapter’s hospitality.

“Each time when I had to head off to my next journey, they would say ‘Oh! Stay for the big party on Saturday!’

‘But it’s Monday!’” Jimmy countered. “Had I accepted all those ‘Please stay’ invitations, I’d still be on that Sigma Pi roadtrip from 1981.”

That trip consisted of the 1982 Stevie Nicks concert. “I’m holding my camera and standing on a chair in about row 25 of the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota.” Jimmy reflects in his 2012 release of “Rock ‘N’ Roll Lens’, “It’s pitch back in this hockey arena turned concert hall, and I have no real idea of what I’m doing.” He adds. The next day, Jimmy brought the film to the lab. A few days later, he FALL 2013

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From left to right: Guns N’ Roses, Dolly Parton, James Brown, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner and Johnny Cash

returns and opens the envelope of proofs. “I look them over and realize it right then - I’m a music photographer.” That same week, Jimmy began working to attend every concert possible. “My very first paid job was photographing the Go-Go’s or, to be precise, ⅖ of the Go-Go’s. Belina Carlisle and Jane Wiedlin came to town to promote their new and last record (prior to their reunion years later.)” During those years some important musical artists based in Minneapolis were rocking the national charts - Prince, The Replacements, The Time, Alexander O’Neal. Flyte Tyme Productions arranged, later producing a roster including Michael Jackson, Usher and Mariah Carey. “It turned out Minneapolis was a darn good place for a music photographer to be in the 1980’s.”

Along with an array of the canyons of Hollywood, Jimmy’s Elusive Studios also proudly displays a framed copy of the cheque written after SPIN magazine published a photo of his in 1985. That same year, Rolling Stones published a Madonna photo, crediting a career boost. Dreams came true in 1986 when Rolling Stones published his photo of Bob Dylan. CD covers followed, his repertoire including Miles Davis, Willie Nelson, Santana and many others.

Some of Steinfeldt’s favorite artists to shoot? Jimmy mentions the ‘long list’ includes Prince for his ability to be photogenic, Madonna for her rapidly changing music and look, Michael Jackson for his productions and music, and the Rolling Stones for Jimmy’s love of the Blues.

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Jimmy Steinfeldt’s book “Rock ‘N’ Roll Lens” is now available

When comparing his daily life to the Sigma Pi creed, Steinfeldt mentions volunteering with the Make-A-Wish foundation. “I am donating $1 from every book sale to the organization. I have been volunteering my photography services to them for about 10 years.” “I try to help someone each day.” Added Steinfeldt. Today, the Leica D-Lux 6 and the Canon 5D are Jimmy’s primary camera choice, mentioning he would suggest both for an undergrad. When advising undergraduate brothers, Jimmy states, “First, be patient, and don’t give up on your dreams,” adding “Don’t do everything yourself, because no one is great at everything. Do the things you are great at and enjoy, enlist others to help you with the rest.”

“It took me thirty years to shoot ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Lens,’ two years to edit and publish. I had to review about 250,000 photos, and select which ones I believed were most outstanding, and consider the ones that had an interesting or funny story to go along with them.” a

“Rock ‘N’ Roll Lens” is now available on Amazon.com, and also through Jimmy’s website, JimmySteinfeldt.com

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BOTTOM LINE UIFI

THE UIFI EXPERIENCE

by Michael Ayalon, Executive Director

This

past summer, I had the opportunity to facilitate at UIFI, otherwise known as The Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute. It is a five day institute developed by the NIC that brings together fraternity men and sorority women from all over the country in an effort to enhance their leadership skills, personal awareness, and their commitment to their fraternity. It also examines your own personal values and the values of the men in your chapter. It gives attendees the skills to improve their own leadership abilities and positively affect their own chapter and community.

It’s interactive, fun, challenging, and intentional. We discussed how to model the way for our chapter, how to inspire a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, finding the challenges in living our values, and building a solid plan to take back to the chapter and execute it. I hope that more undergraduate members of Sigma Pi will participate in the UIFI experience.

Consider the survey results from the 2012 participants: • 98% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they are a better leader because of UIFI. • 99% agreed or strongly agreed that UIFI deepened their commitment to fraternity life.

• 99% would recommend UIFI to a peer.

I had three main takeaways from the UIFI experience this summer.

1. Our values = our actions I spend much of my time defending fraternity life, mostly because I know that I would not be a college graduate without the support of my brothers. There are others out there just like me. It took the structure of the Fraternity to give me communication skills and leadership skills that translated to success after college. When I spend so much time defending fraternity life, I wonder what we could accomplish as a group if we spent less time cleaning up our mistakes and more time living our values that have been printed in our manuals for the last 100 years.

Do you know what our values are? Have you taught them to everyone in the chapter, not just the new members? Do you reinforce those values on a weekly basis not just by giving an award for “brother of the week”, but actually showing how that brother’s actions relate to the values of our organization? Do you have a ritual review for all members each semester to break down the meaning of your creed, the values of the organization, and what it all means?

There are multiple problems within Greek life that we as brothers need to own. We can discuss hazing prevention, alcohol abuse prevention, and many other problems facing our college students today. However, if we all just lived the values that our Founders created for us, our habits would all be good ones. It’s up to me to reinforce those values in my organization, and it’s up to you to be that enforcer in your own chapter. Don’t depend on anyone else to do it for you, and stick to those values “to make real the Fraternity’s ideals in my own daily life”. It’s never too late to start living those values in your own daily life.

2. We are all privileged Therefore, it is our duty to perform more community service to make this world a better place for our sons and daughters. Yes, philanthropy is a big part of fraternity and sorority life. We raise millions each year for great causes. However, let’s not forget about our local community and actually rolling up our sleeves to give back to those less fortunate. Being able to prepare the food and serve it to those less fortunate made me feel great. It also bonded me to the rest of our team in a way that wasn’t possible before engaging in that activity.

3. It starts with me I’m going to make sure that we have more staff members attending UIFI as facilitators, and I’m going to send more of our members to future sessions of UIFI to get the same life changing experience that I had. By sending our leaders to UIFI, they will be the beacon of light for the rest of their chapters to hold them accountable for their actions. I’m going to make sure that happens because I want my son and daughter to be able to go Greek when they reach college age. I’m fighting for them, but I’m also fighting for the great leaders in Greek life that I met at UIFI. It’s the “why” I will continue to speak and teach at Universities all over North America to make our Greek system the best it can be. a

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From Attending to Interning; Get Involved with UIFI chapters. UIFI also gave me the opportunity to talk with members of both fraternities and sororities from around the nation. We were able to bounce ideas off of one another that our individual chapters have used in the past so that we can potentially leave with an idea or two from our fellow Greek brothers and sisters.

by Marcus Johnson (GW, Wayne State)

I had the opportunity to go to UIFI as a participant in the summer of 2012 and then again as an intern this past June and I loved it. UIFI helped me and other members of the Greek community face what we all have to deal with on a daily basis, such as stereotypes and internet portrayals, and then guided us to finding potential solutions and creating a plan of action to take back to our

But for me, UIFI not only gave me these resources to make my chapter great but it also changed me as a gentleman of Sigma Pi. It helped me to live the values that I made an oath to uphold upon joining. UIFI also gave me the strength to stand up as a leader for my chapter. It prepared me to be confident in my fight to bring positive change to my brothers even when some of them resisted.

By the end of that following fall semester, I helped lead my brothers in achieving our largest new member class in 5 years through values based recruitment. We were also able to rekindle

our relationship with a competing fraternity on campus by being the gentlemen we swore to be. As a result, our chapter image has improved dramatically not only in the Greek community here at Wayne State University but in the general student body as well. And due to my progress with my chapter and community at home, my brothers not only elected me as Sage of my chapter but I was also offered the opportunity of returning back to UIFI as an intern in the spring.

I highly recommend UIFI to all my brothers around the nation. It will help you achieve any and all goals you have for your chapter and promotes you to live the values based lifestyle that we promised to live by in order to become members of our organization. Overall, my experience with UIFI has continued to be extremely rewarding and has made me persistent in making my chapter the best it can be well after attending. a

The Sigma Pi Values Leadership Fund An opportunity for you to help send undergraduates to a UIFI Conference

The Sigma Pi Values Leadership Fund was created in 2011 with the mission of providing scholarships for Sigma Pi members to attend leadership programs hosted by the North American Interfraternity Conference.

2013 UIFI scholarship recipient Kevin Skilton (BY, East Stroudsburg ’13) wrote, “My Chapter has struggled to fight stereotypes and cultural pressures that do not reflect Sigma Pi’s obligations, creed or values. I now feel I have the tools, skills and knowledge instilled by UIFI to defend and better our values and beliefs. I hope you will be able to see my Chapter’s success as we grow from this experience and our actions will reflect my appreciation and gratitude for the opportunity you have given me.”

The programs available to attend through the scholarship are: • The Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute (UIFI) – a five day institute that brings together fraternity men and sorority women from across North America to create opportunities to explore, define and enhance their leadership skills, personal awareness, commitment to their fraternity…and grow to expect vales based action from themselves and those they lead.

• Futures Quest – For men who have joined the fraternal system in the past two years. They

will work to discover their priorities and goals, explore their dreams and aspirations, and navigate through uncharted territory so that they can be prepared to achieve success on their lifelong journey as fraternity men.

• IMPACT – Enabling fraternity and sorority communities to address their current reality and assist students in developing the skills necessary to confront their challenges and positively elevate their community.

• IFC Academy – A one-day conference for members on an IFC executive board that will help refocus commitments and re-engage councils.

The scholarship was created by Kyle Koelbel (BK, Arizona State ’09) and Adrian Rodgers (BK, Arizona State ’10). Kyle was a participant at UIFI (‘07), IMPACT (‘06) and IFC Academy (’08, ’09) along with being a UIFI intern (’08), UIFI facilitator (’10, ’11), IMPACT Facilitator (’11) and Futures Quest Mentor (’07, ’09). Adrian was a participant at UIFI (’08), Futures Quest mentor (’08) and UIFI facilitator (’11). It was from their extensive involvement with these NIC programs and seeing first hand the impact they had in elevating the culture of an individual, Chapter and Greek Community that they saw the need for more Sigma Pi men to learn from these programs. a

Kevin Skilton (BY, East Stroudsburg ’13)

If you would like to support the Sigma Pi Values Leadership Fund, visit the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation website at sigmapiedfund.org and click on Donate to the SPEF, then choose Sigma Pi Values Leadership Fund in the drop down box, or email Lisa Pearson at lpearson@sigmapi.org FALL 2013

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Top linePi Internship Sigma

BOTTOM THE EXPERIENCE LINE

My Experience as Intern Dan

by Daniel Ugartechea (IK, Central Florida)

When

I first saw the opening for this unpaid internship in the Executive Office of our beloved fraternity, Sigma Pi, I was a bit hesitant because of the whole unpaid factor. However, that never stopped me from applying and contacting Director of Chapter Services, Justin Steele. One of my main reasons in going forth for an internship with Sigma Pi was not because of a desire to getting my foot in the door of a possible future job in the Executive Office, or even for the purpose of gaining some sort of advantage for help with my chapter. I wanted to pursue this internship solemnly on my own endeavors. I love being productive and gaining experience in any sort of work, primarily business; I find it infectious.

That’s exactly what I viewed this internship as, a business of Sigma Pi Fraternity, International. Evidently, it became way more than I could have imagined for me.

Being only an incoming sophomore; I had very little knowledge of not only what went on in the Executive Office, but also the main duties that each of the officers in my own chapter were truly set to be responsible for. Sure, I had an overall idea what each position consisted of, just as every other chapter brother of mine thinks they have, but never a true understanding.

Moreover, the understanding fails to the point where we all think we are doing ever thing at the best of our ability, blinding us from our flaws because we only see our chapter and not the fraternity as an international organization. You see, us chapters around the nation and up through Canada; we are not alone! As all of us do share different styles at times, when it comes down to it, we all are running the same business for the same common goals of: 1. Expanding our chapters in both the quantity and quality of men 2. Having the most elite brotherhood 3. Becoming the most superior Fraternity on our campuses.

Realistically though, not all of us are achieving these common goals we all strive for. This is where we need to look beyond our own individual chapters, open up our eyes, and to not be scared to contact other chapters and mirror what has worked for them, ultimately bouncing off ideas among one another.

As I learned the importance of networking among chapters, the connections each of us have with the Executive Office goes hand and hand as well. I soon learned that rather than the Executive Office being there to serve as a “party buster” or sort of parent watching over each chapter and waiting for us to mess up, the Executive Office’ staff is truly there to help us and guide us to those goals I mentioned earlier, for they possess those same goals, just on a larger scale! Therefore, I saw the importance of the connection among chapters and the Executive Office, itself. The stronger the communication between these two, the greater the bond that will be formed, ultimately enhancing the chances of chapters succeeding. This will continue to bring our beloved Sigma Pi as an international organization to the next level!

While all of this is great information, many brothers tend to ask me what I, as an intern, was responsible for during my time working in the Executive Office. The answer is always simple; I did the work no one else wanted to do. Being the chapter services intern, I was responsible for work such as: scanning in all the gold standards, registering and reporting ACE projects that were not in the system, updating old expansion and alumni files, and, my personal favorite, cleaning out the upstairs closet at the Executive Office.

As all this may seem like a joke being the boring work of the office, I viewed it as tasks that had to be done by someone, therefore I bore with it without complaint. Meanwhile though, that is not all I took part in. Being on staff, I had the privilege of sitting in on weekly progress office meetings in the

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conference room. At these meetings, I learned how business meetings are run, giving me that experience and the power of speaking up, explaining what tasks and projects I was working on as well as my plan for the week.

I also got to sit on and learn from our Expansion Director, Zach Spillner, about his expansion knowledge, skills, and strategies. Thanks to Zach’s help, I now have a plethora of knowledge in the recruitment field and how to properly lead my chapter into a successful recruiting organization, facing the challenge of the quantity of members in relation to the quality of them that we as chapters bring in. Additionally, I learned how to enhance alumni connections and support with individual chapters thanks to our Director of Alumni Services, Jason Beck.

I cannot express how thankful and grateful I am for our Executive Director Mike Ayalon, and Director of Chapter Services, Justin Steele, for not only opening up this internship position but for taking me in as well. That work I had to do is not what I am going to remember and take back from this experience. What I will remember is all of the training seminars, weekly progress meetings and, most importantly, the one-on-one sessions with the regional, expansion, and alumni directors; those are what I will remember and take back to my Iota-Kappa chapter at the University of Central Florida.

If our Executive Office keeps this internship living on, I strongly suggest all of you fellow Sigma Pi undergraduates out there apply for this position and take hold of this great opportunity to learn. a

Interns Dan and Phil while visiting the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee

Taking on Nashville as #internphil

by Phil Aiello (GM, Wisconsin - Oshkosh)

In

fall 2012, I enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, as a Journalism major, with an emphasis in Advertising & Public Relations. I knew after transferring to a school in a different state, with no acquaintances, and with the little knowledge of my father’s undergraduate experience as a member of a local organization, I wanted to “go Greek.” I knew Sigma Pi was my primary choice after meeting an eclectic group of men who didn’t want me to sign a bid just to be another number, but wanted to be a friend.

I applied for the Communications Internship position after several years experience developing public relations programs for several businesses, designing advertising materials for the university union’s marketing department, as well as building websites for myself, local corporations and my university union.

Through my travels from Chicago to Nashville, I visited Vincennes for a tour of our Alpha chapter, and its historic surroundings. No quantum of inspiration or pride can be expressed through an article in the Emerald. Our history is immortal, as long as we, as Sigma Pi men, live our creed. I entered our Executive Office in Brentwood on June 10, eager to take on any project, and assist with advancing a man’s quest for excellence. I quickly learned each and every person who works for Sigma Pi Fraternity holds bold and exemplary character. These people move away from home, live on the road, and volunteer their time - all with, or away from - their families, to ensure we have a better undergraduate experience. Some, not affiliated, or have an affiliation with another fraternity or sorority.

My experience as an intern permitted me to assist our Director of Communications with projects that included a redesign of our website, developing several recruitment and promotional materials, edit and write articles for the Emerald, as well as discuss phases of redesign of our publication, and compare and contrast it with others. I received the ability to network with alumni while assisting in the execution Sigma Pi University, and discuss my experiences as a freelance web developer and graphic artist, and as my chapter’s Sage. I’ve received an unlimited amount of resources that will assist me in improving my chapter, and being a better Sigma Pi brother, and with the future in mind, alumni volunteer.

I can guarantee that this experience will assist me in finding a job in the future, through its various means of education and development.

I’d like to close with a letter I sent to every member on staff here at Sigma Pi Fraternity Executive Office to help you understand the lasting impact these people have left, and can leave you.

“Friends, This is it, my final goodbye! I cannot express the amount of gratitude and joy I have received during my time here in Nashville. I’ve learned it takes an ample amount of dedication and passion to work for this organization, and through you all, I have been inspired.

To Jen, Nadine, Chrissy, Lisa, Don and Todd, Thank you for all you do, and thank you for all the work you put in for the Fraternity. It is a delight to see people who are not associated with our organization (and have associations with other organizations) put in as much work as you all do.

To my Sigma Pi brothers, it takes a great man to initiate and make a difference for our organization, however it takes a man of bold and exemplary character to lead our organization. Thank you for moving away from home, for living on the road, for volunteering your time, all with, or away from your families to ensure I improve my daily life and have a better undergraduate experience.

To all, it has been such an inspiration to walk through the halls with each and every one of you, to collaborate with each of you, and to assist you advance our men’s quest for excellence. I am eager to return - more than I am to leave. The lasting impact and lessons made here, by all, empower me to be a better Sigma Pi man, Gamma-Mu Sage, and eventually a better alumni volunteer. With the help you’ve given me, I will improve my chapter, and ensure progress at Gamma-Mu is made every day, until I am no longer capable.

The only way I can currently give back to you is by volunteering my time. I ask that you all please contact me if you ever feel I am capable of helping. Not only would I enjoy it, I want to. I am excited to assist Todd in additional communication projects, and hope that you all feel I can assist you with the same. I am eager to see where you all take this excellent fraternity. If you have questions or concerns regarding GammaMu, need an undergraduate for a committee, need an undergraduate for advice, need a donor to assist for a web development/design/ communications projects, or even need on-the-ground individuals, I am committed to serve you, as you serve me.

We have shared too many smiles and laughs, and I know this won’t be the last time. I’ll be back in Nashville. I will miss this city. I will miss you. I appreciate all of you, as I do my Oshkosh brothers. If you ever find yourself in Wisconsin or Chicago, please feel free to contact me, as I always know a good place to eat, hang out or grab a drink.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

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Alumni

NOTEBOOK

ALUMNI CLUB REPORTS

Members of the Columbus Alumni Club at their annual golf outing

Cascade Alumni Club

and have opened many different avenues of communication between the two groups. This will only help us facilitate a greater relationship for future successes.

Indicative of this growing relationship; a group of Alumni annually assists the actives in the house and grounds clean up and repair. The event occurred this year, after the past spring semester.

Columbus Alumni Club

Summer Picnic was held at Twin Knobs Recreational Area at Cave Run Lake near the Morehead State campus. The event has run continually for many years and is held the weekend after the fourth of July. A good turnout of actives and alumni enjoyed a beautiful day. During this year’s event the group organized a tangible financial means to assist the active chapter in recruitment and we believe that it was successful. The Alumni Association has begun discussions regarding a Scholarship Fund as well.

Cascade Alumni Club is looking to track down members living in Oregon and southwest Washington. If you would like to be contacted about events or would like to join the board, please send inquiries to e2alumni@gmail.com. You may also find us on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/cascadeac The annual Sigma Pi Columbus Ohio Golf Outing was held August 16, 2013.

Twenty eight Brothers enjoyed a day of golf and were joined by twelve Brothers for dinner. Jason Beck and Jason Walker attended from Sigma Pi National. Province Archon Charlie Eldridge was one of the golfers. Next year’s outing is planned for Saturday August 16, 2014. Our event is open to any Brother and their guests.

Contact Wib Angles for information at wangles@columbus.rr.com.

Delta-Rho Alumni Association

The Delta-Rho Alumni Association continues to support the active chapter at Morehead State University in many ways through giving of our time, finances and counsel. Throughout the last year Delta Rho Alumni have worked to create a closer bond between the active chapter

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Morehead State University homecoming is planned for late October (24-26).

Alumni and Actives plan to meet and have fellowship during this yearly event. Delta Rho Alumni Association has also began to organize for the Active Chapter’s 45th celebration. In closing, we ask all alumni of Sigma Pi Delta Rho to join us in our future endeavors in assisting the Active chapter in becoming their best.

Photo courtesy of James D. Smith

In a heated contest between the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos on October 6, 2013, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (BG, Eastern Illinois ‘02) completed 25-of-36 passes for 506 yards and five touchdowns.

This set the Cowboys’ franchise record for most passing yards in a single game.

Other Cowboys records held by Romo below: Career • Games with 3+ touchdown passes: 30 • Games with 300+ yards passing: 41 • Career interception percentage: 2.71% • Touchdown passes: 190 Season • Games with 300+ yards passing: 9 • Passing TDs: 36 • Passing yards: 4,903 • Completions: 405 • Consecutive games with a TD pass: 20

Kentucky Thoroughbred Alumni Club Summer Reunion in Murray went well this year. It is always the third weekend of July. Special thanks go to Peter Dirks and Cole Adcock for setting up our luncheon on Saturday. Congratulations go to Paul Ahlhaus and Clay Young for winning the golf scramble. At the alumni club meeting Dave Gray became the club’s Herald. The Housing Corp added new members with Brian Rickard as Treasurer and Les Wright, Tommy Moore, Brian Millner and Scott Carlson joining as AtLarge members. Members staying on the corp include Russ Hetrick, Carl Oros, Andy Morris, Jason Frank, and Cody Robertson.

We would also like to thank Executive Director Michael Ayalon and Jason Beck for attending our meeting.

The Housing Corp is looking at properties to purchase next to the MSU campus. You can help out by donating to our Chapter Educational Fund. Money from the fund goes toward scholarships and can be used for the purchase of a house. By donating to the CEF at www. sigmapiedfund.org you help the chapter and you get a tax deduction. The CEF has already given away three scholarships and has a balance of $25,000. The Housing Corp has a balance of $64,000.

Remember that events at Summer Reunion and Homecoming, as well as our newsletters, are not free or cheap. They are only possible because brothers pay their alumni club dues. Dues are only $25 per year. Please make checks out to Kentucky Thoroughbred Alumni Club and mail them to 609 Bailey Road, Murray,

KY 42071. You can also pay by PayPal by sending money to SigmaPiAlumni@ hotmail.com. When we can, we also assist the active chapter with rush events and other needs.

Congratulations to these GammaUpsilon alumni who are serving the international organization: Andy Morris is the Grand Second Counselor, Les Wright and Paul Hetrick are on the SPEF’s Board of Trustees, and Juan Casa del Valle has been named the Chapter Director for the University of Louisville Chapter.

Congratulations to alumni Dr. Jay Morgan, Dr. Jeff Allbritten, and Trooper Ed Shelton. Jay is Murray State’s new Provost and Jeff is now the President of Edison State College. Illinois State Trooper Ed Shelton was recognized by for helping save the life of a motorist after an accident.

Chapter Director Wyatt Alverson is putting together an Alumni Advisory Board for the chapter. Current board members are Mark Mallory, Jonathan Baskin, Joe Allen Mattingly, and Peter Dirks. There are still open positions for Recruitment Advisor and New Member Education Advisor. Please contact Wyatt or the alumni club if you would like to volunteer for these positions, or another advisory position where you would feel comfortable.

All of the alumni and active chapter newsletters can be found on-line at www.scribd.com/GammaUpsilon. Our e-mail address is SigmaPiAlumni@hotmail.com.

Please contact us if you have questions about the alumni club’s activities.

Former Director of Communications Adam Dibble with fellow Founding Fathers from the Theta-Theta Chapter at Ferris State University

Vincennes University golf coach Dennis Chattin named NJCAA Div. III Coach of the Year The Vincennes University Golf Team claimed its first NJCAA National Championship in June by edging runner-up Sandhills Community College on the final day of the NJCAA Div. III National Golf Championship on the Lake Course at the Chautauqua Golf Course in Chautauqua, NY. VU Coach Dennis Chattin (GP, Indiana State ‘71) was named NJCAA Div. III Coach of the Year after the victory.

Chattin purchased Shadowwood Estate from Sigma Pi Fraternity in April, 2004. He and his wife, Beth, currently reside in the former Executive Office.

Brandon Spinner (BT, Valparaiso ’12) was recently promoted to Chief Meteorologist for KDLT-TV in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He has worked at KDLT since March 2013, serving as the meteorologist for KDLT News Today. Prior to KDLT, Spinner worked as the weekend meteorologist at FOX News 21 in Duluth, Minn.

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Alumni

NOTEBOOK Alumni from the Epsilon-Omicron chapter at SUNY-Buffalo

Lone Star Alumni Club

The Lone Star Alumni Club kicked off its inaugural year with Texas’s infamous Sigma Pi Lone Star Reunion BBQ. We held our first official meeting to elect officers and approve our charter, from there Sigma Pi from Texas’s major cities met to BBQ with active members, alums, friends and family of the Fraternity. We plan on meeting twice a year with our major meeting always taking place at the annual Lone Star Reunion. Beyond that the club has been broken up into cities around Houston, San Antonio and Austin where we plan after work Happy Hour meet ups, poker games, movie nights etc. We hope to continue our momentum by expanding both membership and the amount of events we can hold.

Upper Canada Alumni Association

The Upper Canada Alumni Association (UCAA) is pleased to announce that it is now the regional alumni association for brothers in the province of Ontario. The UCAA serves chapters Eta Rho (Ottawa), Eta Omicron (Toronto) and former ZetaIota (London). Sigma Pi alumni from other chapters who reside in Ontario are

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also welcome. Alumni looking to join are encouraged to reach out to herald@ucaasigmapi.com.

UCAA’s primary purpose is to extend brotherhood after graduation and encourage continuous networking. The organization will hold regular monthly events, alternating between Toronto and Ottawa. The first official event was held on July 19 bilaterally in Toronto and Ottawa with frequent exchanges over social media. Beam Global generously donated a door prize won by brother Ian Shepard.

The association’s Petition to Charter was unanimously approved at the Grand Council meeting on March 13. The UCAA officially came into being on April 12, when brothers joined the inaugural meeting in person and by conference call from across country to ratify the association charter, elect an executive and organize committees (Social, Web, Audit, New Members). Notable attendees of the meeting were the newly-elected association founding President David Rigby, Eta Rho founding Sage, Daren Givoque and Province Archon, Robert Spender. We thank the founding members

and the 64 chartering members of the Upper-Canada Alumni Association for their commitment to a united Sigma Pi brotherhood.

Walter H. Lemmond Jr. Alumni Association

We have made great strides in our “Pass the Hat Campaign” for the Elon Sigma Pi Marchman Scholarship and we have raise $40,000.00 towards our goal of $50,000.00.

We still have work to do and we need everyone to Step Up! An endowment of this size will enable Sigma Pi to give a $1,000.00 Sigma Pi Marchman Scholarship to an active brother annually. The Elon Sigma Pi Marchman Scholarship was named after our first Sage and founder of Sigma Pi at Elon. It will be distributed on an annual basis to the brother who best embodies the ideals of Sigma Pi. If you are on Facebook, make sure you are a member of our Elon Sigma Pi Epsilon Theta Chapter group. Our group is a great way to keep up with everyone and be notified regarding upcoming events. a

Carleton University on the Rideau River

alumniservices

Brothers,

The Executive Office is currently searching for candidates for several alumni volunteer positions. We are in need of more Chapter Directors and Province Archons. If you, or someone you know, is interested in helping our undergraduate chapters grow stronger by volunteering your time and energy in filling one of these positions, please contact Jason Beck, Director of Alumni Services at jbeck@sigmapi.org. He will provide you with the official application form to begin the process.

Province Archons Needed: • Great Plains Province Covers chapters at Central Missouri, Kansas, Emporia State, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State • Keystone Province Covers chapters at Penn State, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Penn State-Altoona

Chapter Directors Needed: • St. Joseph’s University (Theta-Chi Chapter) • Ursinus Collge (Theta-Sigma Chapter) • Elon University (Espilon-Theta Chapter) • Southern Arkansas University (Espilon-Kappa Chapter) • Michigan Technological University (Zeta-Epsilon Chapter)

• Northern California Province Covers chapters at Cal-Berkeley, San Jose State, Chico State, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz

• University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh (Gamma-Mu Chapter)

• Southern California Province Covers chapters at UCLA, Cal Poly, Santa Barbara, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Long Beach, and Irvine

• University of Rhode Island (Alpha-Upsilon Chapter)

• North Carolina Province Covers chapters at North Carolina State, Duke, Wake Forest, and Elon

• University of Central Missouri (Gamma-Gamma Chapter) • Johnson & Wales University (Eta-Omega Chapter) • Penn College (Theta-Phi Chapter) • Carleton University (Eta-Rho Chapter) • University of California - Santa Cruz (Iota-Eta Chapter) • University of California – Berkeley (Iota Chapter) • California State Univ. - Dominguez Hills (Eta-Iota Chapter) • College of William & Mary (Alpha-Eta Chapter) • Kutztown University (Eta-Pi Chapter)

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Alumni

NOTEBOOK PHOTO FLASHBACK

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Obituaries

ADYTUM ON HIGH Arkansas State University Alpha-Pi Chapter Charles Delson Watson ‘50

Kenyon College Lambda Chapter Lloyd Warner ‘57

Auburn University Alpha-Delta Chapter Warren Simons Richardson ‘49

Monmouth University Delta-Beta Chapter Edward Michael McLean ‘70 Chris Andrew Mejia ‘12

California State University Dominguez Hills Eta-Iota Chapter Rene Romero ‘11 California State University Long Beach Beta-Omicron Chapter Sean Patrick Fahey ‘92 Cornell University Mu Chapter Richard David Fisher ‘55 Eastern Illinois University Beta-Gamma Chapter Paul Christian Adam ‘63 James Michael Lemaster ‘69 George Alexander McArthur ‘53 Walter Joe Pippen ‘57 Richard Haven Turner “58 Eastern Kentucky University Epsilon-Lambda Chapter Jefferson Franklin Taylor III ‘08 Embry Riddle University Epsilon-Phi Chapter Brian Douglas Kelly “93 Emory University Psi Chapter James LaFayette Clark ‘49 Thomas Andrew Shealy Jr. ‘39 Franklin & Marshall College Nu Chapter Edwin Lane Dunbaugh ‘50 Georgia Southern University Gamma-Tau Chapter Proctor Howard Carr Jr. ‘71 Edward Glenn Gibson ‘71 George Richard Remeta ‘71 James Harold Whiten ‘80 Grand Valley State University Theta-Rho Chapter Christopher Michael Evans ‘09 Indiana State University Gamma-Pi Chapter Jerry Eugene Davis ‘75 Indiana University Beta Chapter Jack Herbert McDonald “60 Edmund Ellsworth Shollenberger ‘49

Morehead State University Delta-Rho Chapter Joshua David Babb ‘04 Shawn Michael Bolibrzuch ‘06 Chris B. Litteral ‘86 Larry Raymond McKenzie ‘78 Thomas Edward Slocum ‘79 Stephen Craig Slone ‘78 Murray State University Gamma-Upsilon Chapter Louis Frank Gholson ‘73 Michael Ray Jernigan ‘86 New Jersey Institute of Technology Alpha-Mu Chapter Ronald Edward Michel ‘57 Kennedy Savage ‘43 Frederick Stober ‘44 Northern Illinois University Beta-Sigma Chapter Donald John McMillin ‘70 Ohio Northern University Zeta Chapter Robert Clare Dorsey ‘60 Jack Mellinger ‘73 Oregon State University Omega Chapter Townsel Allen Combs ‘42 Pennsylvania State University Theta Chapter Frederick Diomedo Caccese ‘48 George Wallace Davis III ‘49 Travis Egbert McDaniel Jr. ‘45 Walter Henry Thomas Raymond Jr. ‘67 Purdue University Eta Chapter John Thomas Chenoweth ‘74 George Wesley Haniford ‘41 Jeffrey Marvin Keiser ‘88 Scott Lee Lasley ‘52 Rowan University Zeta-Chi Chapter Joseph Bernard Rieger ‘92

The College of New Jersey Theta-Delta Chapter James Andrew Landritsi ‘01 David John Popel Jr. ‘10 The Ohio State University Gamma Chapter Henry Augustus Webster Bell Jr. ‘63 Lawrence Herman Biddle ‘33 Robert Dennis Chirico ‘66 Reginald Evan Skilling ‘53 William George Syfert ‘56 University of California - Los Angeles Upsilon Chapter Garni Arakelian ‘09 Albert Edward Dunford ‘24 Alan Stewart Hanson ‘69 Buckley Gordon Martin ‘60 Dario Robert Sanchez ‘48 University of California - Santa Barbara Alpha-Omicron Chapter Joseph Peter Constantino Jr. ‘53 Jordan Thomas Studley ‘11 University of Central Missouri Gamma-Gamma Chapter William Boyd Morris ‘63 University of Georgia Alpha-Phi Chapter Marion Ernest Brinson Jr. ‘68 Claude Everette Surface Jr. ‘65 University of Kentucky Epsilon-Beta Chapter Paul Norton Craycraft Jr. ‘79 University of Maryland - College Park Alpha-Chi Chapter Bernie Odell Coberly ‘52 University of Northern Colorado Zeta-Tau Chapter Cameron Cyrus Schubert ‘07 University of Tennessee - Martin Epsilon-Tau Chapter Michael Robert Meschede ‘89 Valparaiso University Beta-Tau Chapter Dale Scott Taylor ‘84 Wake Forest University Alpha-Nu Chapter Robert Louis Fraysse ‘79

San Jose State University Beta-Eta Chapter David Paul Millovich ‘51

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Regional Directors

ROAD WARRIORS

Get to know your

REGIONAL DIRECTORS NEIL THORSBAKKEN SOUTH REGIONAL DIRECTOR

For my second stint with Executive Office, I’m very excited to be the South Regional Director for Sigma Pi. Originally from Wisconsin, I graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 2008 with a degree in Recording Industry and Marketing. While at MTSU, I served as the founding Vice President of the ThetaOmega chapter, as well as Public Relations Chairman. After graduation, I worked for Executive Office for 2 years as the Senior Educational Leadership Consultant for the Midwest region, being named Consultant of the Year in 2010, as well as a Senior Recruitment Consultant for a semester.

I pursued my passion in music by working as the membership coordinator the Nashville Musician’s Union, as well as an account manager for a music financial firm in Nashville. I continued my Sigma Pi experience by volunteering as Chapter Director for Theta-Omega for the past 2 years and presenting at numerous province workshops on “Time Management”.

I’m excited to be coming back on staff with our new director program and the great possibilities we have in front of us. I look forward to increasing our communications and collegiate services with our chapters and their host institutions.

My short term goals are to have a 80% average chapter efficiency, a 80% retention rate, as well as expanding our Sigma Pi contacts and relationships in the South region for future expansion for the upcoming year. Some of my long term goals include creating a membership development program which will encompass the undergraduate experiences and as well as working with our educational foundation and increasing our donor program. Sigma Pi is looking to make some great leaps forward in the near future and I’m excited to be a part of the evolution of our organization and making the South region the best in the country. I look forward to working with everyone and hope you’re having a great start to your new academic years!

KEVIN PONS

WEST REGIONAL DIRECTOR

I most recently served as the Assistant Director of Residential Education for Fraternity & Sorority Affairs at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA. As a 2006 graduate of Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI, I served as the Re-Founding Sage of the Eta-Omega Chapter. Through my leadership, Eta-Omega was recognized as “Most Improved Chapter” and I was personally awarded “The Harold Jacobsen Award”.

After graduating from J&W, I spent five years in operations and hospitality consulting. I then decided to switch my career focus and further my education at The University of Delaware. There, I received my M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration in May 2012 with a primary research focus on fraternities, sororities and student leadership development.

I bring expertise in the areas of Response ABILITY Bystander Intervention, Alcohol Education, Suicide Intervention, Leadership Development, Fraternity/Sorority Advising, Student Conduct and Group Dynamics. This year, I will be focusing on increasing communication and chapter operations in my region. My goal is to get all of the chapters in the West operating at 85% efficiency and increased Gold Standard scores across the board.

I’m also an active member of Rotary International where I serve as eClub of District 7500 President and District 7500 Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA) Assistant Executive Director.

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PATRICK PATTERSON MIDWEST REGIONAL DIRECTOR

I’m originally from Michigan where I pursued my Bachelor’s degree at Grand Valley State University. I initiated as a Founding Father into the Theta-Rho chapter on February 26, 2005. For the past four years, though, I’ve lived and worked in Columbia, MO. I spent four years at the University of Missouri working full-time, most recently as an Academic Advisor. It was also there that I received my Master’s degree in Student Affairs Leadership. This year, I hope to help each of the chapters in the Midwest region move the needle. I want to celebrate our many successes, but also provide personalized support to help each of them accomplish their goals and get over whatever humps they might be encountering. I, too, want to build strong undergraduates who will become strong alumni and promising leaders within Sigma Pi while also supporting and enhancing the alumni leaders who already exist.

JOE TURCK

NORTHEAST REGIONAL DIRECTOR

I am from the St. Louis area where I graduated in 1998 from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville with a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication. Before Sigma Pi, I worked in management for a midwest retail chain for 16 years. I also served as Chapter Director for Delta-Omega for 4 years and Central Missouri Province Archon for 10 years. I also served as founding president of the 1897 Alumni Association and have served on various committees throughout the years. I have 3 Dachshunds named Harley, Sammy and Rudy who live with my family in St. Louis. I am a huge St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Rams and Michigan Wolverines fan.

I have always wanted to work for Sigma Pi, and I am very excited to be part of the Regional Director program. As I travel and meet the different chapters within the Northeast, I hope to build a working relationship with them, their alumni and the university. Some of my goals are to help establish a reliable foundation within each chapter so that they communicate well, accurately report, retain new members and transition officers from one year to the next. I plan on working with alumni in the area to help establish alumni advisory boards so they can help maintain and develop that infrastructure. I have also been involved with developing a new member education program that can strengthen the brotherhood from the moment someone joins, throughout their collegiate career and into their personal life.

The experience has been incredible so far, and everyone has welcomed me throughout my visits. The work that I am seeing so far has been outstanding, and I cannot wait to visit every chapter within my region!

THORSBAKKEN PONS PATTERSON TURCK

*State color representations are based on the Regional Director with the most representation in that state. Regional Directors may also represent chapters outside of their specified area (such as their affiliated chapter). States shown in gray do not have an active chapter.

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Fraternity Expansion

CHAPTER CHARTERING

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IOTA-PI OKLAHOMA STATE Iota-Pi Chapter charters at Oklahoma State Unversity

by Zach Spillner, Director of Expansion

The

men of the newly installed Iota-Pi Chapter at Oklahoma State University officially chartered with 36 brothers on April 27, 2013.

The night began with an invocation from the chapter Sage Ben Kline. After which guests enjoyed a full 6 course meal including Tomato Bruschetta, Grilled Salmon, Chicken Penne, and Chocolate Crème Puffs, Grand Sage Ed Levesque (ΗΗ ’89) spoke to the guests about the impact that a fraternity can have especially when building your chapter from the ground up.

Ival Gregory, the Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life then spoke to the families and friends in attendance on the importance of supporting these outstanding young men and how that has helped to lead them to this achievement.

Both Spencer Adams (Α ‘91) and Blayne Mayfield (ΑΙ ‘79) the chapter advisors, spoke about the sometimes difficult but fantastic journey that the members and advisors have taken so far. They were continually amazed at the resilience, determination and character that each and every member has shown in the grown and development in the colony through the chartering process.

Next the Sage Ben Kline introduced the newest sweethearts of Sigma Pi and representatives from ID (University of Texas- San Antonio) presented the new chapter with a gift of recognition which was appropriately shaped in resemblance to the Alamo.

I want to echo the congratulation that has been previously bestowed on the members of the ΙΠ chapter for their hard work and diligence in growing the ideals of Sigma Pi on the Oklahoma State campus.

Another great experience for me was to see the excitement and joy of Raymond Schremmer (ΕΕ ’81) at the initiation ceremony. Raymond’s daughter, Amanda, recently said yes to marry Phil Miller, a brother of Iota-Pi, and Raymond was able to see his future son-in-law also become his brother.

Congratulations to Raymond, Phil and Amanda!

I also want to thank Ival Gregory, Spencer Adams, Blayne Mayfield, Rick Battin (ΓΞ ‘68) Robert Weber (ΓΣ ‘77) and Tim Walker (ΕΕ ‘03) for their support of the Iota-Pi chapter through the chartering process. As the advisors and volunteers you often put in countless hours, sacrificing time with your families to help men of Sigma Pi grow and achieve the great things that they have and will continue to do. Your hard work will never be fully known but will always be appreciated. a

Date of Installation: April 27, 2013

Chartering Officers: SAGE:

Ben Kline SECOND COUNSELOR:

John Carmichael

THIRD COUNSELOR:

Ryan Miller

FOURTH COUNSELOR:

David Sherier

FIRST COUNSELOR:

Adam Wisniewski HERALD:

James Barnes

Installation Team: GRAND SAGE:

Ed Levesque Grand Sage (EE, Bridgewater State ’89) GRAND SECOND COUNSELOR:

Spencer Adams Chapter Director (Iota-Pi) (A, Vincennes, ’91)) GRAND THIRD COUNSELOR:

Brian Devot Grand Third Counselor (BO, Cal State Long Beach, ’00) GRAND FOURTH COUNSELOR:

Blayne Mayfield Faculty Advisor (Iota-Pi) (AI, Missouri S&T ’79)

GRAND FIRST COUNSELOR:

Chris Chesney (TK, Texas Tech, ’04) GRAND HERALD:

Rhett Larose Ritual Committee (ID, UT-San Antonio, ’12)

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Fraternity Expansion

CHAPTER CHARTERING

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BETA-NU SIU-CARBONDALE Beta-Nu Chapter charters at Southern Illinois University - Carbondale

by Zach Spillner, Director of Expansion

The

men of the newly installed Beta-Nu Chapter at Southern Illinois University - Carbondale have worked tirelessly since colonizing to become a chapter. Thanks to their hard work, dedication, and great members, that is now a reality.

cheesecake; Grand First Counselor Jim Wisherd (ΑF ’93) a founding father of his chapter spoke to the newly initiated men of Beta-Nu about the need to constantly strive for excellence. He talked with those present about what it means to see the hard work of starting your own chapter finally come to reality.

The celebration began with Kelly Cummins, the chapter director for Beta-Nu, who acted as the MC for the evening. He welcomed all guests, family and friends to the chartering celebration. It was a great conclusion to the weekends festivities for Kelly, who the day before had been named the advisor of the year by the SIU student involvement community and earlier that day had become a newly initiated member of Sigma Pi as an alumnus.

After an awards ceremony; hosted by president Matthew Hazel and vice president Joshua Hahn which saw brothers John Stahulak, Kevin Logan, and Mustafa Abdullah get recognized as “Brother of the Year” “Academic Man of the Year and Chairman of the Year” and “New Member of the Year” respectively, Chapter Director Kelly Cummins ended the night with his thank you to the guests, families and members of the chaptering team for attending the ceremony. Kelly spoke Also in attendance for the celebration The Installation Team at the to the members of the new chapter was PGS Bob Odaniell (ΒΝ ‘51), an chartering ceremony for Beta-Nu congratulating them on their hard Chapter at SIU-Carbondale original founding father of the chapter. work and issued a challenge they PGS Odaniell is the oldest living former are very familiar with; “You guys council member of Sigma Pi as well have once again set the bar, so now it’s time to go and as a former Director of Alumni Association for the achieve even more.” university. He and his wife Marilyn were elated to commemorate the re-installation of his home chapter as Grand Herald Rob Pankau (ΖΠ ’05) addressed all in attendance with a letter written to PGS Odaniell from PGS Don Cox (Κ ’55), PGS Chris Brown (ΓΗ ’81), PGS John Williams (ΕΣ ’71) PGS Frank Fryburg (Θ ‘49) and PGS Howard Beyer (ΑΜ ’56) congratulating him on the return of his chapter. When asked about the weekend’s festivities and the return of Beta-Nu to the SIU campus, Bob was very proud to see the group of young men who had done so much to become a successful chapter and he also wanted to make sure that everyone knew “Don’t listen to Frank [Fryburg], he is older.”

Before dinner, the guests were addressed by Sigma Pi Executive Director Michael Ayalon (ΕΟ ’97) and the Fraternity and Sorority Life Coordinator for Southern Illinois University- Andy Morgan. Both spoke to the parents and family’s in attendance and thanked them for the continued support of their sons. In addition they both spoke to the great work that the young men of ΒΝ have done and the many high hopes and aspirations that lay in front of the chapter as they move forward.

After an appetizing dinner of chicken parmesan with penne pasta, traditional beef brisket, garlic mashed potatoes, vegetable medley and rich

The Beta-Nu chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity would again like to thank all guests, families and friends in attendance and for their continued support of the men of Sigma Pi at Southern Illinois University.

It was a great experience to see the men of this colony who have put in so much time and effort to show that they understand what it means to be a brother of Sigma Pi. From the impact they have had on their campus and FSL community, to their ongoing development of their members. These men have continued to show that being a Sigma Pi truly is a privilege that you must continue each and every day to strive for more. One additional highlight that spoke so strongly to the ties of brotherhood displayed in Sigma Pi was the initiation of another legacy. Scott McGlasson (ΔΩ ’96) was able to see his son, Nick McGlasson go through the Golden Quest. To see Scott beaming with such pride from this event was truly an emotional high.

I would like to again congratulate all the brothers, volunteers and alumni of Beta-Nu on their hard work and thank you to all those who have and continue to help along the way to developing men of Sigma Pi. May you continue to strive for more and in all things remember; through adversity the character of men is proven. a FALL 2013

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Date of Installation: May 4, 2013

Chartering Officers: SAGE:

Matthew Hazel SECOND COUNSELOR:

Joshua Hahn

THIRD COUNSELOR:

Johnathan Stahulak FOURTH COUNSELOR:

Kevin Gerwitz

FIRST COUNSELOR:

Eric Vences HERALD:

Charles Voss

Installation Team: GRAND SAGE:

Jim Wisherd Grand First Counselor (AF, Georgia ’93) GRAND SECOND COUNSELOR:

John Kitch Past Grand Sage (H, Purdue ‘73)

GRAND THIRD COUNSELOR:

Mike Ayalon Executive Director (EO,SUNY Buffalo’97)

GRAND FOURTH COUNSELOR:

Jason “Gilligan” Walker Asst. Executive Director (AF, Georgia ’96)

GRAND FIRST COUNSELOR:

Joe Turck Province Archon (DW, SIU-Edwardsville ’98) GRAND HERALD:

Rob Pankau Grand Herald (ZP, Oakland ’05)

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Fraternity Expansion

CHAPTER CHARTERING COLONIZATIONS

ALPHA-RHO MISSOURI STATE

by Zach Spillner, Director of Expansion

On

September 9th, 2012, thirty men from Missouri State University became members of the Alpha-Rho Colony of Sigma Pi. The chapters that came to the colonization were Gamma-Gamma, Epsilon-Rho, Iota-Alpha, and GammaSigma. After four years of being disbanded, our colony hopes to restore greatness and honor to Alpha-Rho on campus and to uphold the values that make up Sigma Pi. So far, the colony has participated in many intramural’s as well as taking first in a local kickball tournament. Another great achievement for the colony is that Alpha Rho took fourth out of twenty-two Greek Letter Organizations in this year’s homecoming.

Frank Polston coordinated a fabulous homecoming at the University Plaza which was attended by over 100 alumni, making it the largest alumni party in chapter history. Their slogan for the weekend was “Get It Done,” which was boasted on t-shirts created by alumni.

The Alpha-Rho Alumni have spent over $40,000 and countless hours renovating the chapter room in the house for the new colony members. This was all since April when they began with only 30 email addresses and now have over 400 valid email addresses due to the hard work put in by Mike Hennessy (AR ’72) and others.

With the generous assistance of over 100 alumni brothers a total of $45,000 was raised; of which the remainder will be spent of undergraduate scholarship funds.

Bill Reed and Larry Bradley have also published a large book of history and stories from chapter alumni. There are 25 copies remaining and are available for purchase from Tom Barr at tombbarr@hotmail.com or by calling 417-894-4799. The chapter is also missing an estimated 600 valid email addresses from alumni members, so please go to mysigmapi.com and register your contact information. There are also informational packets available by emailing tombbarr@hotmail.com. Finally, the annual alumni luncheon will be December 24th at noon at Springfield Brewing Company. The new colony hopes to see each of you there.

Alpha-Rho’s original thirty men are Cody Costello, Connor Forbeck, Lucas Gautier, Charlie Goranitis, Zachary Griffith, Austin Hale, Cole Hanson, Jesse Hauser, Timothy Hogenkamp, Ryan Huegerich, Brandon Huff, Alex Hunsel, Taylor Jarrel, Marshall Jones, Alex King, Tyler Kleeschulte, David Leehy, Jacob Lewallen, Adam Palmer, Jackson Redd, Dalton Reeves, Jacob Richter, Austin Roberts, Adam schilling, Phil Schnefke, Adam Shields, Michael Smith, Kyle Stewart, Franklin Tindall, and Michael Withrow.

Executive Officers are: Alex King, President; Zach Griffith, VicePresident; Tyler Kleeshulte, Treasurer; Lucas Gautier, Secretary; Timothy Hogenkamp, Sergeant-at-arms; and Jackson Redd, Herald. The colony has grown in size since colonization and is more than excited to be bringing Sigma Pi back to Missouri State University as well as hopes to charter diligently in 2014! a

DELTA-ALPHA CENTRAL MICHIGAN

by Zach Spillner, Director of Expansion

On

February 16 1969, Sigma Pi officially chartered at Central Michigan University and built a strong chapter with an impressive list of awards that included Sigma Pi’s Triad award in 1982 and the William J Cutbirth award for outstanding community service in 1984. In an odd but fitting twist of fate, Sigma Pi officially re-colonized at Central Michigan on the 34th anniversary of that chartering, plus one day; On February 17th 2013, Sigma Pi re-colonized the Delta-Alpha colony at Central Michigan University.

The 33 members that were pinned into Sigma Pi were welcomed by a host of Sigma Pi’s from all over the state of Michigan with representatives from five chapters as well as more than 25 Delta-Alpha Alumni. Also present was Past Grand Sage George Hakim (GA ‘73). The new members at Delta-Alpha colony are excited to join the Fraternity and Sorority community this semester and are very excited about bringing a new fraternal experience to CMU’s community.

There are a few people I would like to thank for their help and support of our colonization at Central Michigan. The CMU community has shown great support for Sigma Pi’s expansion effort and for that we want to give much thanks. Specifically to the IFC and Panhellenic councils and their members for all their support, help and active involvement in our expansion efforts.

We are excited to add another outstanding organization to your community and hope that you will be very proud of these men

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that will be representing Sigma Pi and your fraternal community.

I want to specifically thank Erica Johnson the Coordinator of Greek Life and her administrative staff for their support to Ryan Khuri (IO ’12) and myself while we were on campus. I also want to thank Alexis Bollman and Matt Varner the Presidents of Panhellenic and IFC respectively. They were vitally important in helping Ryan and I network on the campus and in the Fraternity and Sorority community.

To the alumni that have supported the expansion team and have either stepped into advisory roles, attended the colonization or will be getting involved in the future, thank you for your continued support and guidance to the Delta-Alpha colony. Your passion for Sigma Pi is why we now have a colony at CMU and is why we will be successful in shaping the lives of many more generations of young men to come on the campus.

My final thank you is to the 33 founding fathers of the DeltaAlpha colony. Gentlemen, now is the time for you to embark on a journey that none of you were prepared for six months ago.

You exemplify the qualties that Sigma Pi needs to ensure that our organization can continue to help develop men and impact our communities in the future. You will have stuggles along your path and sometimes will be faced with difficult decisions. But as long as you remain united in brotherhood, work to advance truth and justice, and strive in your daily lifes to develop character, diffuse culture and encourage chivalry, you will be successful. a

COLONY SOUTH FLORIDA Sigma Pi colonizes at the University of South Florida

by Ryan Armstrong. Senior Expansion Consultant On Sunday, September 29, 2013, we had the unique opportunity to welcome a new group of young men into our brotherhood. We pinned 48 new members into the first ever Sigma Pi Colony at The University of South Florida. Our Expansion Team spent 6 weeks on the ground, meeting campus leaders, students and staff, to put together the absolute best group of men the campus has to offer.

I couldn’t be more proud of the group we recruited. Ranging in age from freshmen to graduate students, this new colony will be able to learn from one another and grow together in their quest for excellence. Based on the conversations we’ve had with each of the new members, I have no doubt that they will not only have an immediate impact on the USF campus community, but leave a lasting positive impression on the hearts and minds of the students there.

For more information on Sigma Pi Expansion, visit joinsigmapi.com

Thank you all the new members, actives and alumni who attended our Colonization Ceremony and made this such a memorable experience for all the newly pinned members. a FALL 2013

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Fraternity Expansion

CHAPTER CHARTERING FUTURE Sigma Pi Announces Expansion Project for January 2014; Appoints Colony Director

by Zach Spillner, Director of Expansion It is with great enthusiasm that Sigma Pi announces the acceptance of our invitation to expand at St John’s University. St. John’s University is a private Vincentian university located in Queens, NY with a current student body of almost 16,000 students. Sigma Pi is planning an expansion effort for January 2014 and is in the process of finalizing details with the university regarding preparations for staff to begin onsite recruitment in the spring semester of the 2013-2014 academic year.

Sigma Pi has never previously had a chapter at St. John’s. Fraternities and sororities have been an integral part of the St. John’s University community since 1956. Currently there are thirtythree member organizations within the Fraternity and Sorority community at SJU (ten IFC, sevent Panhellenic, and sixteen in the African & Latino Fraternal/ Sororal Alliance) It is very evident that these Greek organizations are comprised of groups of individuals with various interests. They are bonded together by common goals and aspirations and these bonds are strengthened by the communities’ shared values of honor, friendship, truth, knowledge, and character.

Sigma Pi is very excited to have the opportunity to add another organization to the growing community and looks forward to the opportunity to continue the conversation about fraternal values in another outstanding community. I believe Sigma Pi has a unique opportunity to be an asset to the SJU Fraternity and Sorority community by: • Building relationships with non-Greek Student organizations • Cultivating in our members strong leadership characteristics that reflect Sigma Pi’s core values • Building strong relationships with university administrators, faculty and staff Sigma Pi believes that the best way to create a successful, strong men’s social

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fraternity at St John’s is by involving men of a variety of ages and majors. Junior and Senior students are encouraged to talk with my staff about potential membership.

If you or someone you know is interested in finding out more about Sigma Pi or becoming a founding father at St. Johns you can complete our interest form on our website.

In addition, it is with great pride that we announce that Derick Rheaume (HH, Bridgewater State ‘99) has been selected as the future colony director at St John’s.

Derick will serve as the primary advisor to the undergraducate colony.

St. John’s University is located in Queens, New York

Derick has served as a great Sigma Pi volunteer in a variety of capacities in his time as an alumnus including facilitating at Sigma Pi University (SPU) and Mid-Year Leadership Conference (MYLC). Derick has also previously served as the Chapter Director for his own chapter at Bridgewater State University (HH) and as Colony Director for Bentley University (IQ).

In his career Derick serves as a Bank Examiner at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he works in the supervision department overseeing the largest financial institutions in the US in an effort to protect consumers and to ensure access to credit is fair and equal.

Sigma Pi has never previously had a chapter at St. John’s

When asked about why Derick wanted to take this opportunity to give back to Sigma Pi he said, “When informed of our intentions to colonize at SJU, I immediately knew I had to involve myself. After years of serving in the capacity of Chapter Director at schools in Massachusetts, I realized facilitating at SPU and MYLC was not fulfilling my desire to give back. I look forward to working with SJU, the Executive Office, and the local Sigma Pi community to build a strong and diverse chapter in America’s most iconic city.”

Derick lives in Astoria, NY and is originally from Taunton, MA. He received his BA and MSM from Bridgewater State University and MPP from UMass. a

Derick Rheaume (HH, Bridgewater State ‘99)

The Emerald

PHOTO FINISH Nicholas Hieger of the Iota-Delta Chapter at the University of Texas - San Antonio took this incredible photo of the Sigma Pi badge. Here’s what he had to say about the photo: “When I pledged Sigma Pi in fall 2012, I was taught that we were ‘born on a beach’. It was a motto for the chapter that we took seriously since we were so close to a variety of beaches.

So over the summer, I went on a vacation trip with my family to a small island in the Caribbean Sea known as Anguilla, which is a very small island with beautifully exotic beaches that I thought would look great for a photo. Thankfully, I had my badge on me. So one day, I took it on the beach and captured that photo for my brothers. We ended up using this photo for some of our recruitment. This is the best photo I’ve taken for the brotherhood, but I will most likely be trying to find other brilliant ways to take photos to represent Sigma Pi Fraternity.”

Photo Finish is an opportunity to feature unique, high quality photographs of Sigma Pi in the lives our brothers — not just the normal group shots. Clear, high resolution photos may be submitted to emerald@sigmapi.org.

FALL FALL 2013 2013 EMERALD.SIGMAPI.ORG EMERALD.SIGMAPI.ORG| 993 | 57 AA

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