received OCT 2 6 Volume 1 Spring 2000 THE ORANGE INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Fiji Days And Nights V Francis Woodworth ('01) Fiji Days and Nights Prssidents Address Intramural Report The 1999-2000 school year was a step back on the right track for the Sigma Nu chap ter. We finally paid off all of the back dues from years past and could move forward in rebuilding the chapter back to the standard of its glory days. The year started in the dark; literally and figuratively. We moved into a new off-camous ten-man house Dditonals -that had no electricity for the first week of school. And we had moved into a new year with a clean slate that was waiting to be filled. Matthew Musgrave '98 said, "that we were in the best situation since Fiji was at 300 Euclid." We tried to improve that situation by making strong ties in the freshman community to bolster our recruitment efforts. This was done by holding a freshman '^football tournament to acquaint the freshman with Phi Gamma Fall 2000 Cabinet: • President: David L. Schoenholt ('02) • Treasurer: Ronald D'Abbraccio,Jr ('01) • Recording Secretary: Brad T.Stewart ('03) • Corresponding Secretary: Robert K. LaDuke ('01) • Historian: Francis M.Woodworth ('01) Delta. We put our name out in the Greek community as well by winning the fratemity league softball championship. After a regular season blemished by only one loss, the Phi Gam Ten stormed through the playoffs with its slogan,"99 Fiji Why Not," finally capturing the title over an overrated ZBT squad. With our Patrick Magnuson dances the name out there we did not relent. Homecoming was next and p'i'f«™»' teamed up with the sisters of Alpha Xi Delta we placed fifth out of 16 teams with especially strong showings in the banner and relay race competitions. This feat was celebrated at a reception for graduate brothers for graduate brothers where I know all involved got a treat in hearing stories about the glory days from Royal O Day '36, Carl Durei '98, Josh Snyder'98 and Mitch Polack'98 made it later in the evening to make it a very good day brotherhoodwise. After the se mester break, rush went well and we ended up with seven men who persisted through the pledging process to become brothers. This includes two legacies and several lega cies from other fraternities. They are strong and poised to take over the leadership of the house after the graduation of a large senior class next year. The Phi Gam basket ball team started its run around this time and continued its string of playoff appear ances making it to the championship game for the second time in three years. Luck was not with us as a late three point shot ended our championship hopes, but with President's Address Milan R. Kosanovich ('01) "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will."-Vincent T. Lombardi The future of this chapter must thrive on principles like this one. We have a wealth of knowl edge among the brothers and graduate to think and develop great Ideas and events to further the pro gress of the Syracuse chapter. We have the strength of a large number of successful and helpful graduate brothers to stand aside the active brothers we have In the house. We must Increase the will we put forth In our everyday efforts. You must dredge up the will, you must devote yourself to persis tence In even the little chores of dally life... Continued on page 2 \r\nC ■ Page 2 Volume 1 President's Address continued ...because after all the entire is reflected in the smallest act of every member. No one can be exempt from this theory of life. I am the first to admit that my service to this fra ternity could be increased even greater and I know that other feel the same way about themselves. This is supposed to be the most exciting times of our short lives. It is sup posed to be the time when you can call upon your friend, your brother, and hit up the casino because you're bored at four in the morning. These are the times when you grab a bite to eat with your brothers to watch the super bowl or just to shoot the breeze. Its also the same period in your life when you are called upon to become a man and make life decisions without the constant nurture of your parents, a time when scholastic excellence is demanded of you for future employment. It is also a very vul nerable time when the wrong decisions with large consequences can be made. But the one choice we all made was to devote ourselves to Phi Gamma Delta and her mission. The pig roasting outside the chapter house the night be fore the Pig Dinner. Brothers Francis M. Woodworth and Brad T. Stewart will be attending the 152nd We know that the devotion never ends. As our distinguished Bart and Pat move out of their college ranks, and into the "real world", they will whole-heartedly continue their faith and devotion to this institution. Service never ends. As it has been noted, our chapter has been a very active member on campus this past year. But still, we can do more. We can work to devote even more time to giving bacM^ "mmunity through philanthropy. We can work to develop an even more involved broth^ood plan to fur ther solidify those bonds of friendship. We need to strengthen the communication lines between graduates and active brothers. We have started in the right direction, but we can always do more. The main focus of our chapter for the upcoming year is to increase the recruitment of new members. We have a number of good men who have Joined us this year, but still not enough. Next year, almost two thirds of our fine chap ter will be lost to graduation. We need to work together to develop strategies for the recruitment of those individuals that best exemplify the qualities our fraternity was founded on. Most of all, its our 100th anniversary next May. And the brothers want nothing more than to be able to invite back every living member of this specific chapter house back to Syracuse for the celebration with a reception at the official Fiji Chapter House on the SU campus. I propose a challenge to all the brothers and graduates in this room right now to work together to make this goal a reality. The groundwork has been slowly laid over the past few years and now its time to persist and achieve this goal! We need to continue to make steps in the right direction to ensure the stability vivacity of this house. Martin Luther King once said, "The time is always right to do what is right." Ekklesia in San Antonio thisyear. Fiji Days And Nights (cont.) three returning starters and all of the re serves plus a fresh crop of young talent next year should bring more of the same high caliber play. We did not let this dampen our spirits though. There were plenty of things to occupy our time. Fiji brothers completed over four hundred hours of community service in the sec ond semester. Corresponding Secretary Gray Gramling started a weekly graduate list serve that prompted responses from Dick Beyer '53, Steven "Kramer" Jones '96, Gory Wood '97, Taro Naruse '95 Nicholas Malagisi '71 among others about the day to day operations of the chapter. We are thankful for any re sponse and the help or hope it gives us. We finished up the year with pig dinner. The night of the pig roast was a good night for all, and an inspiring speech given by Dick Beyer was a perfect cap to a wonderful weekend. We are redoubling our efforts for next year so that the chap ter can grow in leaps and bounds and the Sigma Nu Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta can experience a return to glory. \r\nThe Sigma Nu Chapter of Phi Gamma Deita 701 AckermanAve. Phi Gamma Delta FIJI Syracuse, NY 13210 Phone: 315-479-0955 Email: sufiji@yahoocom Two good names For one Great Fraternity A Challenge to the Sigma Nu Chapter Gary Gramling ('01) Earlier in the newsletter you read the article on the Fraternity Basketball Championship in which we lost to DKE. The brothers of DKE, both those playing and those watching, were shockingly unsportsman-like and conducted them selves with absolutely no class at any time. This is the same house that was able to pin numerous freshman rushees who we had bonded with over the course of the year, a fact that should disturb every undergraduate and every gradu ate of the Sigma Nu Chapter. How does this happen? The answer is simple: DKE has a beautiful chapter house on Walnut Avenue. Phi Gamma Deita does not. It is a testament to the past few rush committees that we have been able to have a moderate amount of success rushing in recent years. However it has been a struggle. There are no guaran tees: one bad year for rush and the chapter will be in major trouble. This is a challenge to every brother who has ever loved the Sigma Nu Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta: LET'S HAVE A NEW CHAPTER HOUSE BY THE FALL 2001 SE MESTER. If you want to be a part of your chapter's return to a chapter house, contact Undergraduate House Corp. Committee Chair Jason R. Dunlap ('02) at(315) 477-0127 orJdunlap@syr.edu. It won't happen over night, and we need as many of our graduates as possible pitching in. There will be no greater feeling of pride than when this chap ter opens its new chapter house in August of 2001. Get involved in your chapter's return to glory! \r\nPage 3 THE ORANGE FIJI Fiji strong in the Syracuse sporting world Robert K. LaDuke ('01) Coming Into the 1999-2000 school year, the men of Phi Gamma Delta had high expectations for the Intramural sports season. The first sport of the year was Softball, and with a team compro mised of top notch batters, the Fraternity Championship was their only objective. Headed by Brother Gary Gramling as the skipper and left fielder, the FIJI team cruised through the competition, suffer ing only one loss in the regular season. The team went on to realize their dream In the championship game with a stun ning bottom of the seventh rally over ZBT. Seniors Bart Conway and Pat Magnuson provided the team with Invaluable leader ship and clutch hitting. The pitching of Todd Parmalee, who had the league's lowest ERA, kept opposing teams guess ing and their run totals low. The FIJI run producing machine had two main cogs. ner's .889 batting average and LaDuke's .856 slu^lng percentage. With a majority of last year's starters returning and a great amount of Incoming talent from newly Initiated brothers, the championship will be our only goal. The basketball season for the men of Phi Gamma Delta had two parts to It The first was Alpha Epsllon Phi's philanthropy Phi Hoops. FIJI still In preseason condition breezed through the competition of Sigma Nu and Delta Tau Delta. Unfortunately In the semi final round FIJI fell to a group of Independents who went on to win the championship. Neverthe less, the men of Phi Gamma Delta were determined to take this momen tum Into the Intramural season. Much like the softball regular season FIJI suffered only one loss In basketball. In tournament play FIJI again cruised to the finals triumphing over Alpha Chi Rho andSlgma Alpha Epsllon. In the Finals FIJI squared off against the brothers of DKE. Again led by Senior Brothers Bart Conway, a hard as nails guard, and Patrick Magnusson, a rebound hungry power forward, FIJI fought tooth and nail for every point and rebound. The final score was DKE ^e score did not reflect the game In this case. Unfortunately7misst?L ifi^ throws and shotty officiating led to the win for DKE who, through cheap shots and trash talk ing, proved themselves to be the most pompous, classless group of boys (they clearly don't deserve to be called men)this University has ever seen. It Is with this bitter taste In our mouths that the Brothers of Phi Gamma Brothers Mike Stiener and Rob LaDuke. Delta will drive themselves harder to take the Intramural Basketball Cham Between the two of these hitters, they led the team In almost every offensive cate gory. The most notable beingStle- pionship next year. A NOTE ON Brotherhood Brad T. Stewart ('03) Brotherhood is the heart and soul of our fraternity. We are not just members of a fraternity, we are a big fam ily, a family we can count on, a family we can trust. Our strong brotherhood is what sets us apart from everyone else. Brotherhood unites us and helps us grow both as a fraternity and as individuals. The most rewarding part of being a Phi Gam is fellowship developed through working, socializing, and living with such a tight knit group of people. Phi Gams are some of the finest people you will ever meet. Phi Gamma Delta stresses values such as ac complishment through hard work, honor, courage, and commitment. These traits can be found in every member, and these are the traits that will help you in all you do. That was what I think the Sigma Nu chapter of Phi Gamma Delta stands for. That would be ideal, but I know that the ideal usually never happens. As I was the Brotherhood chair for Spring 2000, I realized that laziness plagued our house. Petty differences and lack of interest made this a difficult time to be a Phi Gam. According to a very reli able source, the quote, "Prefect Ldeai, Imperfect Men", fits us adequately. "Nothing has happened to our fratemity's ideals. No member is perfect, and no chapter is perfect, for no man and no human organization this side of paradise can escape the human equation." There must be standards for which to strive and challenges that inspire improve ment. This upcoming year is the most important year in our chapter's history, the 100'^ anniversary. We must achieve more this year than any other year to get our name out and get us noticed. I think it would be nice to have a chapter house to come to after a glorious pig dinner attended by over 100 graduates. I want all of this to happen, but it will not if people do not get their acts together. Any amount of money cannot take the place of individual effort. The effort and strength of our brothers will lead the Sigma Nu Chapter to glory once again. Alone we are only so much, but together, we can do anything. \r\nAddendum Dear Graduate Brother, At the time of printing the Orange Fiji was an accurate representation ofour chapter. We had a good year and were poised to build on past success to reestablish Phi Gamma Delta as one ofthe premier fraternities on the Syracuse campus. You can imagine my surprise then, when at Ekklesia this summer we were informed that the archons voted to suspend our charter. The primary reason for this suspension was a debt of6,208 dollars. The secondary reason was lack of graduate involvement. The archons felt that the rift between graduates and undergraduates could not be repaired, so that without graduate involvement we could never thrive as a chapter. Needless to say we appealed the suspension, and by unanimous vote ofthe Ekklesia our charter was reinstated provided we met the following conditions. 1. The iHf^TThi'T debt will be paid off by September 1 ofthis year, 2. We had to have eight graduate brothers signed on to either a BCA or a house corps by October 1 ofthis year. We accomplished the first goal immediately by taking out a loan from our recording secretary's father Tom Stewart, a Phi Gam from Penn State. We then had a meeting between the graduates and undergraduates on August twenty-sixth to discuss the second part ofthe agreement. At this meeting several people signed on to be part ofan advisory board. These include Bud Seager, William Schofield, Carl Durei, and Mitch Polack. Also at the graduate meeting a flood of donations were pledged to offset the cost ofthe loan from Mr. Stewart. These include Dick Beyer, Tom King, John Goldson, Bill Schofield, Robert Churchill, Adam Sulimirski, Glen Garvin, Bud Seager, Ryan Madar, Carl Durei, Tim Mills, and Jesse Lessard. We thank these brothers for their generosity. Their efforts to retain one hundred years of history must be applauded. The Sigma Nu Chapter needs your help. We need to reestablish a BCA and a House corps so that first our charter is not revoked, and second that the knowledge and experience of graduates can be heard by the undergraduates and we never get into a situation like this again. Our next meeting will be November 18^ at the annual homecoming reception at our residence of701 Ackerman Avenue. I hope that eight people will have signed on by October first so that I can report all ofthe good things our chapter will have done this semester and not about our charter being revoked from lack ofgraduate interest. Fraternally, Frank Woodworth '01 Chapter Historian Perge! P.5.- The Pig Dinner is April \r\n,. '■ •■■•,. 5 . "" ■3-'; ' i: ' Phi Gamma Delta 701 Ackerman Ave. Syracuse, N.Y. 13210 ^000> 0000315211 Phi Gamma Delta International HeadquarterB 1201 Red Mile Road P.O. Box 4599 ;y- ■ . .-A Lexington KY 40544 1 -4- ' r 40544K45SS m- ii . i i i ii iiinimii 11 II j', ' l,lnllln,,UuluUnU,J,IUIul,lnUuUuluU 'a-. ; -: :»■ V ■ /a ■