The Hokie Fiji A Publication of Rho Alpha of Phi Gamma Delta Virginia Tech PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS These first few months in Blacksburg during the 91-92 school year have been very successful. With the number of brothers that returned in the fall, everyone had to help each other. I have to commend each brother for their part in the planning and execution of the many events that have taken place at the house this year. A well planned schedule of events including brotherhood events, pledge education activities, and rush activities was laid out last spring. Learning from past mistakes, the pledge trip was moved away from the beginning of the year so that the chapter would not be absent for an entire weekend during the critical-to-rush first weeks. Islander was planned for Saturday, Sept. 21 during rush to convince potential pledges that the Rho Alpha Chapter knows how to have a good time. Pledge education homecoming Issue activities were all planned last spring to coincide with rush in hopes that the excitement that surrounds the last week of pledging would carry over into the rush events. As with anything that goes on here, nothing went exactly as planned. The difference this year was that everything got done one way or another. Brothers seemed to have a good time doing things for the fraternity. Our parties have been going very well with the BYOB/no keg policy. Brothers went and visited the rushees they were assigned to contact. We worked together to decorate for Islander and again, holding it as a philanthropic events, raised 805 pounds of food for the Blacksburg food bank. Our high chapter tone is reflected by the rush that we had this fall. We improved our scholastics in the spring ending up above the all-male, all campus, and all-chapter Fall Semester averages with a 2.66 QCA. We are doing great in athletics, sweeping our softball schedule 5-0 and tying number one ranks SPE dogs in soccer. We have already accumulated over 80 service hours this fall and have begun sponsoring a night at Hawaii Kai. In order for this to continue we need to set goals (since the immediate goal of getting pledges and pulling off Islander are past), continue working together, have a good time and refrain from internal fights that can and have smothered tone in the past. Fraternally, John C. Hepler (Alpha Psi) Chapter President RUSH REPORT Finally. After a year of frustration in the area of rush, it appears that Rho Alpha's fortunes are improving. \r\nMy term as Rush Chairman began after a disappointing spring rush. Although we initiated two fine quality gentlemen, Glenn Kinnear and Mike Morrone, it didn't take a math major to figure out that our numbers couldn't sustain the chapter. Therefore, it became my committee's task to reach the large QUANTITY of QUALITY men that we were missing. We kept the same system that Brian Oakes had set up in the spring, with different brothers delegated to do different tasks. I have been assisted by Dave Green as Refreshments Sub-Chair, Scott Giffin in scheduling, Ted Kraje with art, Glenn Kinnear with fundraising, James Hamric with publicity, Dave Harrison and John Hepler with general support, and the hard work and effort of all the undergraduates. We got a huge jump on the other fraternities on campus by planning early and "beating them to the punch." We compiled a summer rush list and I sent letters out to each of them before classes began in the fall. We also distributed 4,000 flyers to Freshman attending orientation in July. In addition rush t-shirts were ordered over the summer so that they arrived in plenty of time for the fall. Graduate support has been strong as well. The Steak-Out held on Sept 14 was really appreciated by all the undergraduates, although there were some organizational problems, and we would have enjoyed seeing more of the graduate brothers in attendance. I am however disappointed in the lack of graduate participation in our "Pledge a Pledge" program, where you may pledge any dollar amount to the Rush Committee for each pledge that we receive. So far, John Vert, Brian Oakes, and Ed Hardell are our only patrons. In all honesty, this is perhaps the best way that you can support our fraternity's rush effort. If you can, please take the time to mail us a letter stating your wish to participate in the "Pledge a Pledge" program. Approximately 50 different men passed through our open rush events. Twenty-nine were invited to closed rush at the house, 17 were extended bids, and II accepted. We now have our most current pledge class - the Beta Delta's. Fraternally yours, Bart Warner (Beta Deuteron) Rush Chairman HISTORIAN REPORT The new fall semester started out better than ever for the FIJI'S at Va Tech. We finally obtained a new gas stove for our kitchen, and with the leadership of Jay Bumgardner, the new House Chair, our House is looking pretty awesome. The Beta Gamma pledge class planned a camping overnighter at the Pine Swamp Shelter on the Appalachian Trail before the cold winter set in. Six brothers, two pledges, and three rushees turned out and memorable events of the trip included some massive pummelling in trying to find a place to sleep, Dennis falling out of an elevator tree, and Dennis and Scooter's wild antics at the end of the night. But finally, on Sept 13, pledges Glenn Kinnear and Mike Morrone were initiated into our chapter. David Scott Smith also joined our ranks as an affiliate from Depauw University. Our Social Chair, Greg Rappaport, has made a successful effort in maintaining high quality parties so far this semester, and has started a bar night at Hawaii Kai (a local dance club) on Wednesday nights (lady's night). And of course who can forget \r\nFIJI Islander. Thanks to Scooter, Mark Mennuti, and Purple Legionnaire Linwood Leftwich, we even were able to get two cases of pig bones, with which we boiled for two weeks and made into necklaces and other useful party items. Except for the party monitors who had to work 8 hours straight, FIJI Islander was a blast. This is one of the main reasons we had such a successful rush this fall. We've had some minor financial difficulties with couple of cleaning supply companies who keep screwing us around, but except for that and mid-terms, chapter tone is very high, so let's keep it that way!I ! !t Fraternally, Ted Kraje (Beta Alpha) Chapter Historian FIJI ACADEMY The 22nd FIJI Leadership Academy motto was "meeting the challenge", which is what I believe is what our four delegates from the Rho Alpha Chapter accomplished during their four day stay in Columbus, Ohio, at Ohio State University. To those older Hokie FIJI'S who have been to Ohio State, you realize what Jay Bumgardner, John Hepler, Dennis Reece, and Greg Rappaport first saw when they got to campus was just a blur of buildings. Virginia Tech is large, but Ohio State is immense. The Headquarter Staff made the campus seem a little bit smaller by securing one small corner of it with a dining facility, two dorms, and conference rooms. The four days were planned out with group meetings and general meetings focusing on many important fraternity and social issues. The standard officer meetings were held, but interesting seminars on University relations, legal liabilities, teamwork and date rape were available for the education of every brother attending. The dorm life and night life that accompany any FIJI summer conference was there for the enjoyment of all. The well known High Street beckoned brothers from all corners of the US and Canada. Everyone eventually survived the evening outings, but the usual bumps and bruises were readily apparent, to the surprise of none. In the end the Rho Alpha FIJIs came back to Blacksburg with a purple attitude and a clear idea of what needed to be accomplished this year in our chapter. I hope every Rho Alpha brother and graduate brother can find a few days in the summer of the upcoming years to attend the FIJI Academy or Ekklesia, for a good time will be had by all. Fraternally, Jay Bumgardner GRAD RAP SHEET For those of you who didn't get the BCA newsletter, here's a brief summary of what's up with those you may or may not have graduated with. Jim Shoalwater married Allyson Brown this past June, Pete McDevitt and Laura Meidenhall will be hitched next September, Davis & Lisa Eichelberger, and John and Debra Friedman were also joined in matrimony. That's four brothers down for those of you who didn't get it the first time. We'll be sorry to see all them go but it's just a sign of things to come. Dana Hesse and Terri Dumoulin are engaged to be married as are Jeff Carter and Karen & Ephry Kaplan and Patricia. I suppose they should all speak to the above brothers about what they're getting themselves into! \r\nFuture legacies include James Sanford Latane, son of Bill Latane, Vil Stanislov Vaitas son of Vil and Janet, and Doug and Tammy Frushours upcoming son. Let's not forget Jeff Whipple and Mike & Sharon Maret who are also anticipating new additions to their family units. Congratulations to all. For those of you who are wondering, Mike O'Brien has been found living in New Jersey and was not kidnapped by aliens as previously thought. Be sure not to lose sight of Bill & Kelly Woodward as they take off to Texas. Their new address is 9009 Great Hills Trail, Apt 1821, Austin, Texas 78759. If you know of any other new and exciting grad news, or you have a good idea for the Graduate of the Week program, don't hesitate to drop a line by the house. The undergrads are always eager to hear from you! Fraternally, David Harrison Corresponding Sec UNDERGRADUATE SPOTLIGHT Scott Smith, a.k.a. Scooter, is one of Rho Alpha's most recent additions. He transferred to Va Tech last spring from Depauw University where he was a member of the Lambda Chapter. Scooter is from Rochester, New York, majoring in Mechanical Engineering at Tech, and is currently a member of the Tech Varsity Baseball Team. Since affiliating, Scooter has taken an active part in the chapter by suggesting decoration ideas for Islander, running a weekly football pool and helping to organize the annual BlackDiamond Semi-Formal. He also participated in intramural Softball. Our volleyball team should also be competitive since Scooter played for the varsity team in high school. Since he is one of the nine house brothers, there should be no problem catching up with him over Homecoming Weekend. James Hamric (Alpha Chi) FIJI ISLANDER Well another FIJI Islander has come and gone, and what a time it was this year. Brothers began working on this year's Islander late last year, and as Sept 21 approached _ t* J everyone was ready re to party hard. And And party hard they did, with —---•"- weather, ..~-.4-u««. scores great of guests, Fiji's first P-Man, and most importantly loads of FUN! It began last semester with some basic planning, and later during the summer developed into some of the initial preparations. By the beginning of this year the official Islander t-shirts were ordered. The Hokie FIJI-Bird was painted in the basement, brothers were cleaning the house, and much much more. Decorations were the best yet! The basement was a vast jungle wit*" vines draping the ceiling, murals of animals painted on the walls, and an assortment of colored lights hanging in strategic positions. Brothers all pitched in and erected a mammoth volcano around the front door, a waterfall was constructed off the back porch, and we can't forget P-Man the colossal center piece in the back yard who stood close to 30 feet tall. And the day of judgement came, with brothers, grads, and rushees in the best of spirits, and with perfect weather all night. Pi Lams and other guests began with volleyball, and then two bands, BioHio and AGM began playing providing the music to listen to throughout the night. FIJIs \r\nchallenged Pi Lams to a variety of party games and everyone drank plenty of beverages while socializing into the wee hours of the morning. And when it was all said and done, Rho Alpha amazingly raised 805 pounds of canned food for the Blacksburg Food Bank, not to mention a plethora of aluminum cans to be recycled. A definite success, with over 400 guests having enjoyed the festivities. This will be a party to talk about the whole year. And what about next year? Better yet, that *s for sure! ! Greg Rappaport (Beta Alpha) Social Chair PLEDGE REPORT Thanks to a stellar rush by the brothers of Rho Alpha we now enjoy the 2nd largest pledge class in Rho Alpha history. Congratulations to our newest pledge class: Riley Broadwater Steve Butera Steve Fitzgerald Scott Junkins Shaun Kaiser Weej Kusumoto Josh Mackert Bill Van Mullekom A.J. Vieira Mark Wentick Mike Young The pledges have a lot of requirements to fulfill, thanks to the hard work by pledge educators Tom Poole, and Glenn Martin. Some of these include a Greek Relations project, a fundraiser, and community service. Naturally books are still required as is the House project. They're off to a good start on their projects, having already elected officers and gone on their retreat. Upcoming events for the pledges include the DZ classic and the DZ classic BBQ. We would like to convey the banishment on destruction of pledge books. No longer will we allow for pledge books to be defaced. So, if you happen to get a hold of one please do not destroy it. The pledges take great pride in their pledge books and have put a lot of effort into them. Hopefully we can expect our pledge classes in the future to be just as great as the Beta Delta's who are quickly setting the standard. Tom Poole Pledge Educator FIJI SPORTS So far FIJIs have fared well this year in intramural sports. We started the fall semester with Softball and soccer. Both of these teams were very strong. The softball team went on to win the division with a perfect 5-0 record. Under the management of Glenn Martin the FIJI softball team is the best we've had in years. Standing out among the team was Scooter Smith who compiled excellent marks in pitching as well as hitting. Scooter was our cleanup man and lived up to the name by leading the team in both homeruns and RBI's. The rest of the team played well also and we couldn't have done it without all the brothers who participated. Also we can't forget the large amount of fan support we received at all of our games. Enroute to our division title we beat perennial powers such as Phi Sigs, Sigma Chi, and Theta Chi. Soccer was successful as well. Led by Dennis Brumfield, the soccer team compiled a record of 1-1-1. We played one of the hardest divisions there was this year in soccer. We cruised to victory in our first game against Zeta Psi behind \r\n. - the goals of Dennis Brumfield and Weej Kusumoto. We lost our second game against TKE due to a controversial call. Our last game was a physical one against number 1 ranked Sig Eps. We tied them with the help of Dennis Brumfield's sole goal of the night, knocking them from the top spot to ft4. Soon we will be beginning volleyball under the direction of James Hamric and flag football under the direction of the Beta Delta pledge class. Dave Green (Beta Deuteron) CHAPTER TONE As a newly initiated brother, my only experience on chapter tone has come from my pledge period. Yet this short period of time was enough for me to recognize the vast improvement. Our enthusiasm spread quickly throughout the chapter and helped to increase the* ;general tone of the chapter. Yet the biggest contribution to the chapter tone was the fall rush. With a large number ot seniors leaving our ranks, it THE FRATERNITY OF PHI GAMMA DELTA RHO ALPHA CHAPTER OF PHI GAMMA DELTA 202 Church Street Blacksburg, Virginia 24060 (703) 552-4251 Dana Postmaster - Address Correction Requested •C, was paramount to engage actively in rush to maintain the size of the chapter. Every single brother did his part to see that the rushes were successful, and they were! All in all I can not imagine much more of a turnaround in chapter tone then I have seen since last semester. If the chapter tone can stay at this level, nothing will be able to stop the Rho Alpha Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta. Glenn Kinnear (Beta Gamma)