The KENTUCKY PHI GAM The Upsilon Kappa Chapter Fall 2015 Issue No.2 Hello Brothers, As I approach the end of my term as the president of the Upsilon Kappa Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta, I can proudly say that this experience has been a huge highlight in my undergraduate life as a Fiji. It is very hard to find the right words that sum up exactly how appreciative I am to have had this opportunity to give back to the Fraternity. While there were plenty of tough moments during my term, they were significantly outweighed by the honor, pride, and knowledge I gained through this elected position. The Chapter now has 101 brothers, including our most recent pledge class of 31. This is the first time since the rechartering of our chapter in the 1994 that the fraternity has reached this number of brothers. The “bigger chapter problems” have definitely proved to be a challenge for my cabinet (for example, the overflowing of our chapter room!), but the growth of worthy brothers entering the Fraternity is second to none. Overall, the chapter is doing better in the areas I wanted to focus on most during my term: academics, philanthropy, and apathy. With the help of the scholarships implemented by our past president, Tyler Mahoney (2015), and our International Headquarters, we had eight brothers receive $500 scholarships for their 4.0’s during the spring 2015 semester. On top of that, I am very proud to announce to you first, that the Upsilon Kappa Chapter placed second overall in academics for fraternities and fifth overall in all of Greek life. We are currently shooting to make up the 0.05 GPA that separated us from first place. I have a great feeling that we are almost there! I am very excited to see what the fraternity holds for me, not only in the short time left in the undergraduate chapter, but also for the new opportunities in the graduate chapter. As elections are approaching very quickly, I am very pleased with the work my cabinet was able to accomplish over the past year, and I cannot wait to work along side the newest brothers elected into cabinet. I am very proud to be leaving the Chapter in such a great position and I can only imagine where we will be in the future! Fraternally, Eric Dullen Chapter President P! Cabinet Officers Eric Dullen (2016) President Blake Bostick (2017) Treasurer Jackson Kiser (2016) Corresponding Secretary Feltcher Young (2015) Recording Secretary Andrew Click (2017) Treasurer TABLE OF CONTENTS: Recruitment Philanthropy Athletic Scholarship Brotherhood Graduate Spotlight House Corporation Report Pig Dinner Save the Date The Kentucky Phi Gam Fall 2015 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 5 1 \r\nRecruitment D uring the fall 2015 semester, the Upsilon Kappa Chapter experienced one of the most successful recruitments in years. After a long week of hard work, we welcomed a class of 31 pledges. In my opinion, these are some of the most successful, respectful and eager gentlemen that I have ever met. These young men live by our values and have already shown their potential; we are proud to soon call them our brothers. As the result of recent success during past recruitment, our chapter has grown to 70 brothers, and 31 pledges, expanding our roster to 101 members. This has been some of the largest The Fall 2015 Beta Alpha Pledge Class growth this chapter has ever seen, and with the quality of men we have recruited I foresee an amazing future for the Upsilon Kappa Chapter. The opportunity to have lead recruitment has changed my experience as a brother and has taught me that serving our fraternity is one of the most rewarding things a brother can do. I am proud to say that this was a very successful year of recruitment, and I am proud to be a Fiji. Perge! Austin Wicker (2018) Recruitment Chair Philanthropy O ur second annual philanthropy event, BonnaMu, was held on October 8. This fall, the ladies of Phi Mu and the gentlemen of FIJI raised in between $12,000 and $15,000* for the USO and the Children’s Miracle Hospital, nearly tripling the money raised from last year. For those brothers who do not know, BonnaMu is a battle of the bands competition between fraternities and sororities where each band plays a 3-5 minute mashup of their favorite songs. The first place winner receives a cash prize towards the charity of their choice. This year’s first place winner was Delta Sigma Phi, with Beta Theta Pi coming in second and Chi Omega winning the people’s choice award. Perge! Zach Vo (2017) Philanthropy Chair FIJI and Phi Mu Perform at Bonnamu intermission. From left to right: Taylor Hazlewood (2018), Nena Griffin, Taylor Watkins (2018), Scotty Herman (2018) 2 The Kentucky Phi Gam Fall 2015 *We are still waiting on donations to arrive to compile the final number \r\nAthletics L ast semester, FIJI finished third in athletics. There were many events that helped us achieve this title but the one that stands out the most is the Wiffleball Tournament, which we won. We pulled off a stellar comeback win to bring home the title and move us up into the top three. This year, we are currently sitting at third place and we have competed in over ten athletic events. We have two flag football teams that are competing once a week and the A team is currently 3-0. We are also excited to participate in volleyball in early November and bring back the intramural championship title we took home last fall. P! Griffin Bowling (2018) Athletic Chair Scholarship Brothers are currently undefeated in intramural flag football. Above brothers are facing Phi Psi. They took the win 18 to 6. Brotherhood A s brothers of the Upsilon Kappa Chapter, we pride ourselves on having one of the strongest brotherhoods on the University of T Kentucky campus. Strengthening friendships through brotherhood second in grades among all fraternities on campus. southern Indiana. We will also have weekly events, which will include his year, the Upsilon Kappa Chapter achieved a total GPA of 3.36. This was an improvement from last year’s 3.25 GPA, and the chapter is now Nine of our eleven pledges from last semester earned above a 3.2 GPA and qualified for the AAA Scholarship, also placing our spring pledge class second in scholarship among all fraternity pledge classes. activities is imperative in keeping our continuously growing chapter feeling like a small one. So far, this fall we have already enjoyed numerous events, from hiking in the Red River Gorge to playing paintball in UK football viewing parties, Keenland tailgates, bowling tournaments, and more. As the fraternity motto says “Not for college days alone”, we invite all graduate brothers to attend brotherhood events with the undergraduate chapter. If you would like more information on brotherhood events, please contact brother Alex Edlin (2017) at (502) The new $5,500 scholarship package introduced last 377-4676 for more information. We hope to see many of you all out year has absolutely been a great influence on the this fall! Chapter. These scholarships recognize the brothers with the highest and most improved GPA’s from each class, and they allow us to recognize great feats of scholarship while strongly incentivizing self-improvement among brothers. P! Allen Flath (2016) Scholarship Chair Paintball in Southern Indiana. Screen shots from a GoPro courtesy of Dave Oswalt (2018) The Kentucky Phi Gam Fall 2015 3 \r\nGraduate Spotlight N “ ot for College Days Alone.” As Phi Gams, we have heard or seen this phrase numerous times, and I believe that our fraternity does as good a job as any at instilling this mentality from day one. Since graduating from Texas A&M in 2013 and departing the Alpha Mu chapter, a lot has taken place. I moved back to my hometown of Lexington, KY and began a career in agriculture, managing a farm and raising thoroughbreds in Woodford County. As of late, I am pursuing a master’s degree in agricultural economics. Admittedly, my schedule has been hectic. Still, attending Pig Dinner has been a priority, and lending advice to my chapter, albeit remotely, remains. We should not view our time spent as undergraduates as glory days, but rather a foundational experience that prepared us for the rest of our lives. I will speak for my fraternity brothers at A&M and say that joining Phi Gamma Delta gave us just that. This is evident in their professional lives. My contemporaries’ careers range from finance to attending medical school, and even professionally guiding hunts in Argentina. Whatever they may be doing, they are excelling and exemplifying what it means to be a fraternity man, and specifically, a member of Phi Gamma Delta. Although many miles separate us, communication with my Alpha Mu brothers is a weekly occurrence. The relationships we build during our time in any chapter do not weather away unless we let them. A few of my fraternity brothers have gotten married since graduation, and inevitably there has been a pledge brother standing with them as a groomsman. Whether it is conscious or not, my fraternity brothers practice what was preached to us as undergraduates: Phi Gamma Delta is a lifelong commitment. As previously mentioned, I enrolled in graduate school at the University of Kentucky this fall. Having a little more free time and being an arms length from the undergraduates at UK, I felt an obligation to pursue some kind of advisory role with Upsilon Kappa. Although that role has not been fully developed, I hope to be an example of involvement as a recent grad and extend relevant guidance to the chapter. I know from personal experience that an undergraduate Chapter can be wary of graduate involvement and view it as overbearing. My aim is transform any such conceptions. With any luck, my participation as a graduate brother will demonstrate that Phi Gamma Delta is truly “Not for College Days Alone.” Perge! Ben Martin Texas A&M (2013) 4 The Kentucky Phi Gam Fall 2015 I went to North Carolina State University, where I iwas nitiated in FIJI in the spring of 2004. I graduated with a bachelors in French language and literature, and after student teaching my senior year, I did not feel like teaching elementary school was the profession for me. Having enjoyed my time on a college campus, I decided that I wanted to work in student affairs, specifically in education abroad. I went to the University of Tennessee-Knoxville where I graduated with a M.S. in College Student Personnel. This degree prepared me for my first job in 2009 at Texas A&M university, where I was a Study Abroad Advisor (we were still in the Big 12 then!). After two years at TAMU, I took a job here at UK as an education abroad advisor. During my time in that position, I coordinated the orientation programming and also began teaching UK 101, which I continue to do today. Last November, I transitioned to a new role in the Gatton College of Business as an academic advisor. I've been at UK for almost 4.5 years now and look forward to more as I hope to begin working on a Ph.D in the next year. I also hope to work more with the UK FIJI Chapter as the scholarship advisor. Thomas Teague North Carolina State (2004) Want to be featured in the Graduate Spotlight? Send us a blurb about you and your pledge brothers and we will make sure to include you in our next issue. Please email your blurb to Frank Bradford at franklin.bradford@uky.edu \r\nT House Corporation Update he University continues to work on development of its new Greek Park. The House Corporation made a presentation this past summer for consideration for several of the sites that will be available initially. While we were not selected for one of the initial sites, we are in a great position to either obtain a site in the next cycle or an existing house that becomes available once the current occupant moves to a new building. The House Corporation will continue to work on parallel tracks with a view toward building on our existing site, which is across Woodland Avenue from the new Greek Park. To that end, the debt on the existing rental properties will be paid off in early 2016. One point that became clear in working on our presentation to the University is that we need to have an active fundraising program. In order to establish such a fundraising program, we are seeking volunteers to serve on a Fundraising Steering Committee. This committee would consist of 15 to 20 brothers from various class years and geographic areas representative of our chapter history. The members of the committee would assist in approaching their contemporaries for donations. We already have a couple of commitments, however, this will only work if we reach people who have not been actively involved before. It is an exciting time to work on housing issues at the University. If you are willing to serve or would like more information, please contact Harry Dadds at (502)316-3382 or Harry.dadds@skofirm.com. Brothers, Save the Date! The 2016 Norris Pig Dinner will be held Saturday, April 9th! Please join the brothers of Upsilon Kappa for our annual Norris Pig Dinner. The Dinner will be held on April 9th at Malone’s Banquet Hall in Lexington, Kentucky! The address is 3347 Tate’s Creek Road, Lexington KY. The date is quite a few months away, but it is never too early to reserve April 9th for Pig Dinner, an event which unites the undergraduate and graduate chapter! Additional information, including ticketing, formal invitations and Pig Dinner weekend activities will be sent out soon. Feel free to direct any questions or concerns to either myself, or the chapter President, Eric Dullen. Preston French (2018) Pig Dinner Chair pdfr222@g.uky.edu (270) 952-7142 The Kentucky Phi Gam Fall 2015 5 \r\nNonprofit Org US Postage Paid Lexington, KY Permit # 540 Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity Upsilon Kappa at University of Kentucky 1201 Red Mile Road Lexington, KY 40544 Important Contact Information: Eric Dullen – Chapter President 404‐395‐5771 ericdullen@gmail.com Blake Bostick – Treasurer 513‐704‐8073 bigbluebostick2@gmail.com Fletcher Young – Recording Secretary 270‐784‐0968 fletcher.young@uky.edu Jackson Kiser – Corresponding Secretary 540‐765‐9293 jackson.kiser@uky.edu Andrew Click – Historian 606‐356‐5521 am_click@yahoo.com Travers Manley – Purple Legionnaire 502‐751‐5716 Travers.manley@gmail.com Chris Crumrine – BCA President 386‐473‐4381 cjcrumrine@gmail.com Scholarship Winners - Spring 2015 AAA Scholarship Winners Spring 2015 Blake Bostic (2017) Evan Clare (2016) Preston French (2018) Nick Imhoff (2018) Thomas McKinley (2016) Ryan Panoushek (2016) Will Schaefer (2017) Zach Vo (2017) Frederick Brady (2018) Taylor Hazlewood (2018) Morgan Hockensmith (2018) Ross Larkins (2019) Matt Mamoth (2018) Collin Rutledge (2018) Nick Spicher (2018) Zach Starcher (2018) Harrison Wainwright (2018) The Kentucky Phi Gam is a biannual publication of the undergraduate members for the graduate members, parents, and friends of the Upsilon Kappa Chapter of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. All correspondence regarding this publication should be directed to the Graduate Relations Chairman, Frank Bradford (2018), at franklin.bradford@uky.edu Harry Dadds – House Corporation President 859‐231‐3955 Harry.Dadds@skofirm.com Design, printing and mailing services provided by the International Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta.