The Cougar Fiji Published by Pi Mu Chapter ofthe Fraternity ofPhi Gamma Delta at Washington State University PULLMAN,WASHINGTON FALL 2003-04 LAST REMARKS OF A GREAT PRESIDENT In my time at Phi Gamma Delta, I have seen a lot of change. In 2000 we became a dry house. Since then, House Corp. has poured well over $100,000 into the house. The fraternity looks completely different from the day I signed. That is not the only thing that has changed. The members, with the help of our chapter advisor, Gary Schell '70, have worked hard to pledge qual ity men who exemplify the values of Phi Gamma Delta. We have fought many battles with the university, and it has become my mission to show through actions, not words,that we are the best fraternity on this campus. With the help and dedication of the younger members,I have no doubt that our chapter will continue to excel and achieve great status on our campus and within the International Fraternity. It is our goal this year to apply and House Corp. agreed and helped us to send two members. I am leaving office this semester and moving to Colorado to spend the winter skiing before entering the "real" world. My time at Phi Gamma Delta has given me the confidence and ability to con quer any task set before me. I would win an award at Ekklesia. In addition like to take this time to thank the House to that, we sent our entire cabinet and Corp., Ron Rawson '51, Gary Schell recruitment chair to St. Louis in Janu and the members of Phi Gamma Delta. ary to participate in Fiji Academy. We believe that it is important to invest in the leadership and development of men in our fraternity. Fortunately, Without their help, none of my success would have been possible. President Brett Noyes Perge! Another Successful Year ofPhilanthropies Philanthropy at the Fiji house this events. Even the annual Islander Week year has been successful on many lev els. Already we have participated in numerous sororities' philanthropies, was taken to new heights. We were very successful in the phi lanthropies that we participated in this semester. With creative songwriting and competitive athletic perfor mances, participating members placed hosted the All-Greek Volleyball Tour nament for charity and participated in many other campuswide charity in the top three ofevery event in which we were invited. So far this year, we have helped raise money for Kappa Alpha Theta, Gamma Phi Beta and Alpha Gamma Delta. We expect many more quality performances to come in (Continued on page 3) P m Fiji's All-Greek Volleyball Tournament, which raised more than $1,000 for the American Cancer Society \r\nPage 2 Fall 2003-04 THE COUGAR FIJI Pursues Excellence in Public Relations The men of Phi Gamma Delta have made great strides this semester in im proving their public relations on the Washington State University campus. The Fiji men did this by hosting spe cial events, accompanied by great turnouts during community service events and philanthropy activities. We to attend as the event was immediately after practice; however, such good times were had by all that a social event between the team and our chap ter is now in the works. Adopt-A-Block is a growing Greek tradition in which the men of Phi also decided to celebrate the national Gamma Delta are proud to be part. All the chapters on campus are split into founding day of each sorority by writ ing them congratulatory letters and presenting them with their chapter teams and given an area in which to patrol and pick up garbage for a day. This semester,our chapter was teamed flowers. The semester has been one of with Gamma Phi Beta, and we were great growth, of which Pi Mu Chapter is very proud. proud to have one of the largest turn outs. Usually events such as this are only participated in by the freshmen, On October 16, 2003, the men of the fraternity played host to the women of the Washington State Uni versity soccer team at a special dinner. The dinner was a major success. Only a fraction of the soccer team was able but this semester two-thirds of our live-in members were motivated ing this year, with much of the credit going to our exceptional fall pledge class. In every philanthropy partici pated in, they placed among the top three of all participating fraternities. The pledge class is personality driven, and all 11 young men are different in their own ways. I think their success is due to the fact that four of the 11 are sophomores, thus giving the incoming freshmen a bit more guidance. The chapter looks forward to their mem bership and entrusts them with the future of the fraternity. Our advances this semester have been excellent, but we know that there is still great growth ahead. If we are enough to also help clean our assigned able to maintain the same pace we did last fall, the sky is the only limit to our area. success as a fraternity. Philanthropies have been outstand Gilbert Corsey House Corporation ContinuesHouseImprovements What makes a fraternity? A group of young men living repaired and repainted; we had to replace over 200 bricks. It together, sharing the good and the occasional not so good of was painted black to match the house trim. Furthermore, times, developing lifelong friendships and learning valuable with the help of Nick and Tim Honeycutt and their father, leadership skills. A key element of any fraternity is having a we will soon have large metal letters spelling Fiji proudly place to live that meets their needs, that is safe, clean and mounted on the chimney. comfortable. Our House Corporation is constantly updating our house As chapter advisor, I enjoy my involvement with these men. We have an outstanding group of members and pledges living in our fraternity, and I encourage you to stop by and to meet the needs of the fraternity, but also to comply with health and safety issues as mandated by the university. To that end, last summer,the members of the House Corp. had visit any time you are in the area. The brothers would be a fire suppression system installed in our house. might have. How important is this and how does it help our house and happy to give you a tour and answer any questions you Gary Scltell '70 recruitment? It sends a message to our members and poten tial new members that our house is concerned about their safety and has made the financial commitment to make this improvement prior to the university deadline—the year 2006. Additionally, last summer, we had the fireplace chimney ^ ^ Pig Dinner Update The 54th annual Pi Mu Norris Pig Dinner was held on March 6, 2004. Our guest speaker this year was Archon President Jerrold Wanek (Iowa '80). Graduates who joined us saw how the house has improved and met the Fiji men who are making a difference at Washington State University. We enjoyed visiting with the graduate brothers and thank all graduates who attended and helped make the dinner a success! I Pi Mu brothers with famous Fiji Kenneth Blanchard (Cornell '51) at Fiji Academy \r\nFall 2003-04 Page 3 THE COUGAR FIJI A Fresh Perspective: Why I Chose Fiji As a child, my father would always tell me about fraternity life and his expe riences at Colby College. Accordingly,I reflected on what he said and always pictured myselfas a member ofa frater nity during my college career. So, when I started to receive recruitment calls in the summer,I was very excited, but honestly did not know what to expect. The first rush function 1 attended was a Fiji event in Sumner, WA.I had a great time playing paintball and barbe cuing with the members of the chapter. Everyone seemed to be very genuine. and by the end of the function, I could tell that they were a tight group of guys and a chapter of which I would love to be a part. I still wanted to go and check out a few other functions simply to keep my options open, but the brotherhood of the Fiji house was incomparable. Other chapters tried to impress me by telling me that they got all of the girls and threw the best parties. How ever, the most important aspect of a fraternity is that its members are qual ity individuals that you can see your years of your life. The Fiji chapter simply had the qualities that I desired. The definition of a fraternity is the quality of being brothers, and The Fra ternity ofPhi Gamma Delta fully exem plifies this. In the few months that I have been living at 810 N.E. Opal St., I have had the best time of my life. I have made self living with during the four best becoming a Fiji was an important first step to reaching my goals. more quality friendships based on trust, respect and overall brotherhood than I did in my entire high school experience. Going to college is a choice I made to prepare for the rest of my life, and Alex Lubov Brothers Kyle Hintz, Justin Calbreath and Jamisen Johnson spend quality time at a football game. Brother Kirby Redman with his date, Nancy Gehr, at the annual Black Diamond Formal ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR hoped to raise as much as $30,000. the most successful Islander in recent (Continuedfrom page 1) the spring semester. The first annual All-Greek Volley ball Tournament was held on our very own sand volleyball court. The event was a huge success and helped to raise However, the final amount has not yet been announced, as all donations have not yet been received. Islander 2003 was also a huge suc memoiy. cess for Fiji; we elected to once again raise money for the American Cancer more than $1,000 for the American Society. The backyard and volleyball Cancer Society. Not only was this a court were transformed into somewhat great way to raise money and get the of a tropical wonderland. We even entire Greek community together, it was also great public relations for our chapter. We also participated in Up All managed to create a running waterfall! The week began with skits and ser enades from the participating sororities and ended with a very competitive vol Night, a campuswide letter-writing campaign that raises money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. leyball tournament. The sorority chapters that contrib Two teams were fielded from the Alpha Chi Omega, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta and Pi Beta Phi. In the end, we all agreed that this was chapter, and together with 40 other teams from rest of the school, we Evan Boulanger uted were Alpha Phi, Chi Omega, Gilbert Corsey and Justin Johnson get pumped up for Fiji Islander. \r\nr^- Page 4 THE COUGAR FIH Fall 2003-04 More Pi Mu Chapter Graduate News Doug Shaul '60 brings us up-to-date with his note from October, "Ifinally retired completely on July 31 of this year, after 28 years with the Army Corps of Engineers and rehab counseling for seven years each in California and Oregon. I bought a clinker boat which will probably prove more of a hazard to me than to any fish." Doug and his wife of43 years, Jan, a teacher and mentor, are the parents of two sons, Pete (a WSU graduate, deceased) and Steve (SMSU). Get back in touch with this former chapter president at 25900 N.E. 311th St., your best wishes to Bob at 2303 High land Dr., Anacortes, WA 98221 or via e-mail at rhigginsmd@aol.com. Vernet W. Eliason '59 writes, "Re tirement is grand! I'm in Florida in the winter, Washington (Olympic paraeducator, have two children, have seen baseball in all but one Kathryn, 22, and Kelsey, 11. Catch up with "Hurricane" at 520 15th St. N.E., East Wenatchee, WA 98802 or via e-mail at harlan.mayer@ Major League baseball park since 1998. Dodie's (my wife of 45 years) and my business card reads, 'Con sultants: RVs and poor golf" Vem and Dodie have three grown children, Katherine, John and Lee. Yacolt, WA 98675 or via e-mail at jdshauls@aol.com. of Fiji with Vem at 13110 N.E. 177th PI. #150, Woodinville, WA 98072 or am a substitute K-I2 teacher and vol unteer as a mature driver instructor for AARP." Between them, George Ralph L."Ron" Rawson '51 sent us this news last fall, "1am the treasurer visor for the Boy Scouts. Contact Jim at 108 Fasken Dr., Cashmere, WA 98815 or via e-mail at jimfletcher@nwi.net. of the House Corp. and act as fi nancial advisor to Pi Mu Chapter. 1 have been involved as graduate ad visor, etc., since 1992. "The House Corp. has created (in 1999) a scholarship program for members that parallels the interna tional scholarship program for pledges. Any brother, while living in the house, who makes a 3.0 grade point average for a semester is awarded a $250 scholarship; these are presented at Pig Dinner in March. Last year, 15 brothers received $5,700. We are expecting more than 15 this year, as the spring grads aver age wentfrom 2.55 to 2.85!" ary 7, 2002. I am to be married on November 15, 2003, to Judy Glenn (AFA '57). We will be in Vietnam in late October to work on my project James Fletcher '78 is center direc tor of Wenatchee Valley College. He and his wife, Susan(UNR),a dietitian, have two children, ages 17 and 15. Jim is a member of Rotary and a swim team committee and is a Nordic ski team assistant coach and an adult ad interior designer, have four grown chil dren, Shawn, Betsy, Julie and Jennifer. Contact George at 6476 N. Remington, Fresno, CA 93704 or via e-mail at alma-nan@juno.com. loved wife, Barbara, died on Febru wsucougars.com. via e-mail at vgeliason@webtv.net. and his wife. Alma (Fresno State), an Robert W. Higgins '57 shared this news with us in October, "My be Harlan R. Mayer II '75 is controller for Gold Digger Apples. Between them, he and his wife, Shirley, a Peninsula) in the late summers. I Vem is active with Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. Reestablish the bonds George C. Smith '64 tells brothers, "Iretired after 39years with Chevron Texaco Corp. I am an actor (it's a hobby) with community theater and Ron and his wife, Ginny, who are retired, can be reached at 10226 N.E. 52nd St., Kirkland, WA 98033. Richard C. King '65 is retired. He and his wife, Sandy (KKF), a retired teacher, have two grown children, Doug and Kristin. Drop "Doc" a line at 1436 N. Bennett, Tacoma, WA 98406 or via e-mail at norskiking@ comcast.net. Herbert V. Levinsky '64 tells us, "After 28 years(as a toxicologist) with Pfizer Inc., I retired as senior director on August 1, 2002." Find out what he's up to these days at 61 Whippoorwill Rd., Old Lyme,CT 06371. there. "Tom Cooney '55 and his wife, Jane, visited us on October 11, 2003." Bob has three grown children, Fred (Pi Mu Fiji '80); Colleen, a WSU alumna; and Jay(Pi Mu Fiji '89). Send The Cougar Fiji is published by the men ofThe Fraternity ofPhi Gamma Delta at Washington State University for members and friends. Graduate news, photographs and change ofaddress notices should be sent to Pi Mu ofPhi Gamma Delta, c/o Newslet ter Program Headquarters, P O Box 45621. Seattle, WA 98145-0621 Congratulations! A hardy pat on the back to the men ofPi Mu Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta for achieving a 2.96 chapter CPA for the fall 2003 semester, which was above the all-men's average and second ofall fraternities on the Washington State University campus! I