The Hokie A Publication of Rho Alpha of Phi Gamma Delta Rho Alpha Virginia lecn Fall 1989 House Renovations Nearing Completion by Mike Ma gee C ninetysomclhing) The big story at Rho Alpha again. Well, except for the these days is the House kitchen. The stove still sat renovations. For those who there surrounded by plaster haven't had the pleasure of chunks and dry wall dust. coming back to In t h e Blacksburg, our following chapter house weeks, the just went hardwood through a floors were $15,000 facelift. refinished Under the and the wallsupervision of painting Michael "Captain began. The P*-upid" Rooney, kitchen ^_s* house began cabinets to change. The f i n a l l y first step was to arrived, and work on the the kitchen pantry. The back started to fall staircase was into place. ripped out; along Shortly after, with the the counters, staircase removal sink and came taking out Davis Eichelberger, Handyman Extraordinaire dishwasher a few walls, followed, which revealed several bags of Finally, three weeks before styrofoam balls and Molson school began, the house was bottles (how did they get sort of livable.Just in time for there?). The next stop on school came the carpeting in Rooney's campaign was the the living room, dining room, kitchen cabinets and even the and upstairs hallway. kitchen sink. This posed only Although there are a few slight discomfort to the house small things left to do, the brothers when they couldn't house is almost completed. The clean their dishes. But this was undergraduate brothers would quickly rectified- they started like to thank all of the showering with them. graduates who gave either their After several more weeks the time or their money to this c^_; wall started going back up. summer's overhaul, with a Plumbing was installed and the special thanks to Mike Rooney wiring was done. The house and Dana Hesse. started to look like a house liiifc m H 1 1 1 1 1 ,.;|MK I illilil HI mmsMg mmm llill |||||i|||§ilill^il|i \r\n| i | | | | | | i | iflfiiiii FIJI Spotlight: Charter Brother Returns to Virginia After spending the past ten years serving as Dean of Students at the WardlawHartridge Lower School in Plainfield, NJ, Charter Brother Thomas R. Wuest (72) has accepted a position at the Southampton Academy in Courtland, VA. His new responsibilities at SA include Director of Studies, English Teacher in the Upper arid Middle Schools, and varsity basketball coach. A native of Edison, NJ, Brother Wuest had also taught English and served as assistant varsity hoops coach at Wardlaw, helping lead the team to a 13479 record and a Prep State Championship over ten years. He had been named varsity head coach for the upcoming 1989-90 season at Wardlaw when SA wooed him back to the Old Dominion. Brother Wuest graduated from Tech with a B.A. in English. For two and a half years, he taught in nearby Pulaski County. In 1986, he received his Master's degree in Administration and Supervision from Rutgers University. He and his wife Pat have three children: Jesse,?; Travis Jon,5; and Emily,!. Now a resident of Franklin, Brother Wuest says he looks forward to living in the area and is excited about his new positions. "I intend to be a hard-working, supportive and contributing member of the Academy staff, both as a teacher and a coach," he said. , Cfir i Btriiaft:;Party ;!;. ;.. House s :;;:;f!orjO;-. : i A prlllifl Charter Brother Thomas R. Wuest House Corporation News Thanks to Hurricanes Rooney and Hugo, our fraternity house is changing. This summer, we performed $15,000 worth of renovations to the house. A new kitchen, painting (inside and out), new drains in the basement, new furniture, a pantry (with washer/dryer), safety corrections and new carpet has put a new spark in the fraternity house. We lost our tree in the front yard by the porch recently due to Hugo. Fortunately, it didn't hit the house. Lastly, many thanks to Mike Rooney for doing a bust-ass job as the GC, Dana Hesse, Mike Magee, and Davis Eichelberger for all your help. Ill get you the blow-up dolls soon. We are still accepting bond donations until October 31. For those of you who are donating them, we will cash you out on November 1. If you would like to keep track of the HC minutes, a small donation of at least $30 gets you all that information. At Homecoming, we passed a resolution to accept MasterCard and VISA for donations/payments to the House Corporation. Jon Parker presented a well-researched 5-year plan for the fraternity with respect to housing. There is a good possibility that we will move on campus within 3-4 years with a new fraternity house on university-leased land. We are also looking into the possibility of looking at other properties for purchase/investment/building, should the on-campus project die. We don't expect the fraternity house to make it past the year 2000. At Pig Dinner, we will be electing all the officers for the House Corporation. There are seven positions: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Finance Chairman, House Chairman, and MemberAt-Large. If you are interested in running, please call me d I can fill you in. Homecoming was a small graduate turnout, but Tech trounced Temple 23-0 and the graduates shut out the undergraduates for the umpteenth time, with Nasty and myself each throwing two touchdown passes and Linwood Leftwich throwing one. Keep trying, you guys! Lastly, congratulations to my fellow yuppies on their impending births. Henry and Sue King, Tammy and Chris Tilghman, Rick and Sally Gass, and Sara and I are expecting. Come on, legacies! Lastly, congratulations to Mike and Sharon Maret, Colin and Julie Winchester, and Mike and Vanessa Barringer on their recent nuptials Danny Kallick, House Corporation President Perge! \r\nPresident's Message Well, "things" have been happening here down in Blacksburg since spring. We h ~ e seven new brothers since la^u spring, Tom Poole, James Hamric, John Fiorani, Brian Oakes, Chuck Fraley, and two more who were initiated before some eight hundred brothers at Fiji Academy, Bert Smith and Dave Harrison. These guys are a real asset to our chapter and are already expressing interest in taking over my position! Over the summer, major house renovations took place. Many thanks to all the brothers and graduates who spent a lot of their time coming down here to work over the summer. We really appreciate all the time and effort. At the start of school the undergraduates took the ball and ran, finishing up the job with massive painting jobs, and the many small projects that needed to be done. T*»e emphasis now is on getting I basement up to par. Already a new brick bar is fourfifths towards completion. Douglas Gilbert is responsible for having the walls painted at the moment I am typing this. Anyway, to conclude this paragraph, the house is looking shhhweet!! I think anyone who hasn't seen it since last spring should come on down and enjoy it. So what else has been happening? Hurricane Hugo is responsible for one less tree in the front yard (the big one on the Washington Street side.) Grades are going up! Yeah! The brothers have gone from 23rd to 17th to llth (out of 32 fraternities) in the last two semesters and one quarter. We're still not satisfied with 11,. but it's moving up. The pledges have been number one in grades the past two semesters! Our newest pledge class, Alpha Psi, is made up of Craig Swanner, Bobby Stephenson, and John Hepler. They're about a third through their pledge pei-iod and working hard. The brotherhood was hoping for a bigger pledge class, but we weren't about to let the quality of our brothers drop just to have a bigger chapter. There have been changes as far as our social scene goes. We have the big FIPG (Fraternity Insurance Policy Group) decree from above that says we can't break the law anymore. It also says we can't buy alcohol with chapter funds. That basically means all our parties have to be BYOB. So don't be surprised if parties are a little different than they have been. The chapter is really working hard. Everyone is enjoying themselves and striving to uphold the ideas of our fraternity. I personally have never seen the chapter stronger and more unified. Fraternally, Patrick Muir Chapter President there may be a job for you. In t h e meantime, Ward, Ephry, and I have met several times since Pig Dinner to determine w h a t direction the BCA should take. Assuming for the short term our manpower will be limited, we decided we should focus on five issues. Three of these were taken from the Field Secretary's Report from last spring. These are rush, pledge education, and campus are the development of a graduate-supported scholarship (and student loan?) fund and BCA contact with the undergraduate chapter. If you have any suggestions or opinions on any of these, feel free to call us. BCA Message There have been many changes in the graduate support groups of the Rho Alpha chapter over the past two years. The House Corporation has grown from four elected members to seven, relies on the talents of a few additional members, and has taken on some of the responsibilities the BCA used to deal with (some of the house and finance issues.) These changes have been very good for the undergraduates, however it pulled much of graduate talent from the BCA that we used to rely on. If you would like to contribute some time to the BCA, we will be happy to ir^ke use of your talents. We 1 a been meeting in Maryland (and over the phone) so even if you cannot get to Blacksburg, involvement. The other two issues that are very important Thanks, Richard Eskelund. \r\nGraduate News Carl Hunter Russell III, a 3>AX charter brother, visited our house recently. Address: Rt. 8 Box 277 Johnson City, TN 37601. Tom Wuest,'72, now resides at 204 Calvin Dr. Franklin, VA 23851. See Spotlight. Mike Griffith,'73, was in town for NPD in April and several times over the summer to help with house renovations. P.O. Box 10690 Harrisburg, PA 17105. Robbie Phelps,'79, flies helicopters and generally enjoys life in the Land of Oz. 912 Garden Way #18 Manhattan, KS 66502. Vil Vaitas,'80, works in retail management in Warwick,NY. RD 1 Box 149 Middletown,NY 10940-9710. Steve Debevoise,'80, is a DOD Contractor for RBC in MD. 136 Gallant Man Dr. Hollywood, MD 20636. Cliff Rober,'80, is a land surveyor for Beals & Thomas in Westboro, MA. 33 Walnut St. Arlington, MA 02174. Ed Hardell,'81, and wife Barbara are the proud parents of Adam Ross, born on 6/5/89 and weighing in at 8 Ib. 601 E. Burgess Rd. #D-3 Pensacola, FL 32504. Mike Rooney,'82, is furthering his education at Johns Hopkins. How he got them to let him in there, no one knows. 3024 Keswick Rd. Baltimore, MD 21211 Richard Eskelund,'82, is a systems programmer and our BCA President. 9503 Country Roads Lane Manassas, VA 22111. John Adamo,'82, has been studying at night for his MBA while working days for IBM. 1310 Fox Run Drive Charlotte, NC 28212. Mike Walton, '83, is a computer programmer for First Amer. Data Services. "Wally" lives at 208 Marcum Ct. Sterling, VA 22170. Jeff Carter, '84, is a senior software engineer in Cambridge, MA. 22 Fletcher St. Winchester, MA 01890. Dana Hesse,'86, visits Blacksburg often with the abundant paid leave, holidays, etc. that the government lavishes upon him. When not in Blacksburg he resides at 659 Concerto Ln. Silver Spring, MD 20901. Peter Cadra,'86, is a systems analyst in scenic Newark, NJ. 1-K Franklin Greens Somerset, NJ 08873. Jim Burlant,'88, works for Westinghouse in Baltimore but will be moving to New Mexico one of these days. Until then, he lives at 4A Fallridge ( Baltimore, MD 21207. Scott Stanko, (AK), would like brothers to visit him at the Ski Chalet in Arlington, VA, where he is currently employed. James Lemons, (AN),works at Circuit City in Woodbridge. 3313 William Johnston Lane #34 Dumfries, VA 22026. Brian Young, (AT), cruised into town for the Vanderbilt game. He is living at 503 Princess Ct. Vienna, VA 22180. Mike Maret, '89, is a Staff Engineer for Engineering Science Inc. in Fairfax. 10428 Rapidan Ln. Manassas, VA 22110. Lin Leftwich,'89, works for Wiley & Wilson in Lynchburg. He is also our new Purple Legionnaire! Bill Woodward, '89, works for Computer Science Corporate"^ in Laurel, MD. Shandon Thompson, '89, is studying at the National Chiropracting School out side of Chicago. Greg Neiman, '89, works for WWBT-12, an NBC affiliate, in Richmond. Mark Hardt, '89, is working for Computer Science Corporation in Falls Church. Editor's Message I invite all graduates to fill out the questionnaire insert and mail it to the Chapter House. I was pleased with the amount of graduate news we were able to include in this newsletter; let's see if we can increase it for the next one! We realize that with so much going on at Rho Alpha, newsletters may be too infrequent to adequately cover everything in a timely fashion. To that end, we are going to investigate the feasibility of sending out one-page updates between newsletters. Of course, contributions earmarked for the newsletters or updates are always welcome! We hope you enjoy this newsletter and we look forward to seeing you at Pig Dinner, if not sooner! Fraternally, Pete McDevitt ('90) Graduate Relatio Chairman I would first like to thank all of those brothers who contributed articles to this newsletter. Special thanks to my committee: Rob Paine, Dave Harrison, Brian Oakes, and Bert Smith; John Vert, Kevin McGuire and John's roommate, Ed Hammond, production assistants; and Tom Wuest, who took time to send me information on his new job. Perge! \r\nLatest FIJI Trend - Weddings! by Rob Paine ('90) The institution of marriage is alive and well at Rho Alpha. In a ^pan of only twelve weeks, foui^_. ijis took their vows and began new chapters in their lives. The trendsetter was Jefferson Waldon ('84), who married Sally Bitely Goff on June 24 at the War Memorial Chapel on the Tech campus. The best man was Jeffs pledge brother Jon Parker ('84), who amazed many by remaining conscious through the entire ceremony. Jeff and Sally then departed for a week of hiking and other recreational activities in Glacier Park, Montana. Jeff is now the proud stepfather of Daniel, 8, and Meghan, 4, thereby being dubbed "instapop" by some. Colin Winchester ('89) surprised no one when he wed' Julie Vert on August 5 at the Mo t Zion Methodist Church in «:ghland, MD. Brothers John Vert ('91) and Stephen Klosky ('90) served as groomsmen. According to a reliable source, it all began for Colin and Julie years ago in high school when Julie phoned him to get the number of a friend of his whom she intended to ask to a dance - but Colin, being the persuasive type that he is, convinced her that he himself was the better catch. The rest, as they say, is history. Brother and Mrs. Winchester spent their honeymoon in the Cayman Islands. An event that was years in the making was the union of Michael Maret ('89) and Sharon Fry on September 9 at the National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C. Mike's pledge brother Dana Hesse ('86) served as Best Man, and brothers Mike Rooney ('82), Danny Kallick ('80) and Richard Eskelund ('80) took part as groomsmen in a very moving ceremony. Soon afterwards, Mike and Sharon departed (without luggage) for the Virgin Islands - but a Hurricane named Hugo convinced them to settle instead for a week on the Florida coast. Mike and Sharon have been together since meeting at Richard and Kim Eskelund's Christmas party in 1985. Just a week later, on September 16, Brother Mike Barringer ('84) and Vanessa Ackerman exchanged the nuptial vows at St. Mary's Church in Fairfax, VA. Brother Andy Paine ('87) was among the ushers in a small but beautiful ceremony. Mike and Vanessa then departed for a week in Maui. According to Mike, he and Vanessa began dating three years ago, after they had already been roommates in an apartment for some time. The entire Rho Alpha Chapter would like to wish these four couples many years of love, peace, health and happiness. Watch this space for the next Fiji trend- legacies! Homecoming 1989 by Brian Oakes ('90) Tech's 1989 Homecoming brought much of Rho Alpha's past and present together. The main events of the weekend were the Friday night party, the Homecoming game and barbecue and the graduate vs. undergraduate football game. Despite intense grooving and partying on Friday night, the brothers were able to (more or less) rise on Saturday and see the Hokies play the Temple Owls. The game included a Hokie TD in the first two minutes of the game and a brawl which resulted in four pla^ s being ejected. The Tech defence, then ranked eighth in the nation, helped the Hokies handle Temple 23-0. Following the game, brothers, families and friends converged on the chapter house for some grilled burgers before calling it a day. Sunday was the day of the graduate-undergraduate football game, a rivalry of intensity comparable to that of the TechUVA contest. With keen leadership and organization, the graduates wheezed and puffed to a 28-0 victory. Oxygen was provided to the graduates by the local rescue squad. This brought homecoming to a close, as graduates then packed up and headed home. Graduate brothers in attendance included Howard Canada ('75), Steve Robbins ('78), Nasty Jones, Danny Kallick ('80), Ed Hardell ('81), Henry King ('81), John Adamo C82), Jon Parker ('82), Mike Rooney ('82), Ephry Kaplan ('84), John Dietrich ('85), Dana Hesse ('86), Steve Snyder ('87), Jim Burlant ('88), Mark Hardt C89), Lin Leftwich ('89) and Bill Woodward ('89). Thanks for coming, Brothers! Norris Pig Dinner 1990! The 18th annual Norris Pig Dinner will be held on Saturday, April 21, 1990 at the Best Western Red Lion Inn on Price's Fork Road in Blacksburg. Cost this year will be $30 per person for graduates, and $25 per person for undergraduates. Any questions? Call the chapter house at (703) 552-4251, or Pete McDevitt at (703) 9532186. S \r\nAlpha Psi Pledge Class Craig Swanner is a freshman from Virginia Beach. He is majoring in Engineering. John Hepler is a sophomore from Accokeek, MD, majoring in Electrical Engineering. Bobby Stephenson is a sophomore from Roanoke, VA and is studying Biology. The 21st Fiji Academy In 1949, Cal Chambers (Wisconsin '12) had the inspiration to organize the first FIJI Academy on the campus of Denison University. There were 119 Delegates from 66 different chapters gathered together to share ideas and information on fraternity law, finances, chapter administration, scholarship, pledge education, Ritual, rush, Hazing-Free Pledge Education by Bert Smith ("92.) The Alpha Psi pledge class is the first of Rho Alpha's to use International's new pledge education handbook. The handbook was presented to each chapter at this year's FIJI Academy. The pledge manual was devised to implement Phi Gamma Delta's policies against hazing. The program is composed of three phases of three weeks each, with each week focusing on a certain aspect of Phi Gamma Delta. Although the manual covers the and graduate relations. This past summer, over 600 brothers from chapters across the United States and Canada gathered at Ohio State University, home of FIJI Academy since 1981, where two of our pledges from Rho Alpha Chapter, David Harrison and Bert Smith, were initiated into the brotherhood during the Model Initiation Ceremony. THE FRATERNITY OF PHI GAMMA DELTA RHO ALPHA CHAPTER OF PHI GAMMA DELTA 202 Church Street Blacksburg, Virginia 24060 Postmaster - Address Correction Requested fraternity as a whole, it allows for individual chapters to input their own history and customs. Pledge Educator Patrick Reilly has high hopes for the program. The program also keens in touch with the pledge bi ^ ier's parents through letters from both the fraternity and the big brothers. Also included is a toll-free number that the pledge brother or parents can call in case either feels that they are being mistreated. Taken as a whole, the program is the fraternity's stand that the bonds of brotherhood in Phi Gamma Delta are built on friendship and trust, not the abuse of its members. The theme, for the*-Academy was "Striving for • Excellence." The program also included a Model Norris Pig Dinner and several special sessions on a variety of topics including management systems, leadership skills, racial sensitivity, etiquette, male/ female communications, £ _ hoi/ ^substance abuse, hazing, risk management, and chapter operations.