The Golden Eagle FIJI THETA TAU CHAPTER OF PHI GAMMA VOLUME 28, No. 2 Fall 2006 25th Annual Pig Dinner \r\n \r\nThe Golden Eagle Fiji Summer 2006 THETA TAU L ET TER FROM THE P RESIDENT Graduate Brothers, First, I would like to thank the many graduates who attended our 25th Pig Dinner and helped make it a success. I hope this year’s Pig Dinner was just a taste of great many to come. To the graduates who could not make it this year, I am sorry scheduling did not work out and I hope you will be able to attend future Pig Dinners. Since Pig Dinner, graduate involvement has grown to a new high. Several brothers have taken interest in the new Tech Fiji Alumni Association and filled positions within Tech Fiji Inc. The chapter has been honored to have graduates come to our annual Black Diamond car show that benefits M.S. I am constantly receiving emails from graduate brothers wanting to know how they can help the undergraduate chapter. A few graduates have even returned to campus and are reacquainting themselves with the newer brothers. I am looking forward to seeing graduate brothers get more involved and to take some time to help the chapter with the coming fall recruitment. This past Spring semester all the members of our Beta Lambda pledge class successfully completed the pledge program and are now serving the chapter as new brothers. They also obtained a 3.185 GPA, showing they are able to strive for excellence along side the rest of the chapter. This Fall we hope to achieve the same rate of success with our pledge program and continue to impress our values and princples upon them. The undergraduate chapter is on a string of success and is ready to continue it as long as possible. The chapter’s fall recruitment is already off to a good start and has the potential to be great. The undergraduate brothers are also preparing to defend our seat as TTU’s top fraternity by repeating our success in both Homecoming Activities and All Sports Champions. Already the chapter is off to a great start, in the first week of school we won $200 for participation in a campus wide volleyball tournament, falling just short of the tournament finals. VOLUME 28 No. 2 S PECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST : • Fall Rush • 25th Pig Dinner • 158th Ekklesia • Scholarship Update • Athletic Update • Highlighted Graduates • TFI Uptdated The chapter is showing great enthusiasm for our upcoming semester that will include Rush, Fiji Islander, Homecoming and many other brotherhood activities. I invite and welcome all graduates to attend any or all of our chapter events. The chapter is entering into an exciting time and heading for a promising future. I want all brothers of this chapter, both undergraduate and graduate, to have a part in whatever glory we find. Take pride in what our great chapter has accomplished and remember Phi Gamma Delta is not for college days alone! Fraternally, Bo Byers Perge’ Bo Byers President 2006 \r\nP AGE 2 T HE G OLDEN E AGLE F IJI 25 TH A NNUAL P IG D INNER The twenty-fifth annual Frank Nor- son Phi Gams. ris Pig Dinner was a great success. We had The house corporation, TFI, made the highest turn out of any other pig dinner its final payment directly to Bill Martin dur- with an attendance of two-hundred and six ing Pig Dinner this year which means that people, one-hundred and five of those being the house now belongs to the Fraternity, and graduates, also a Pig Dinner record, the rest house payments are now going to go toward being undergrads and the brothers’ dates, the building of a new house somewhere near which really made the occasion that much campus. TFI also had a meeting over Pig more special. We were also graced by the Dinner weekend to talk about the location presence of the Executive Director of the of a possible new house, ways graduates can International Fraternity, Bill Martin. He donate money easily and open leadership was a great guest to have because he remem- positions in the organization. For more inbered attending the receiving of our charter formation check out the TFI article or go to in 1981. www.ttufiji.com/tfi. Since it was the twenty-fifth anni- Go ahead and start planning for the versary of becoming a chartered chapter, Twenty-Sixth Annual Pig Dinner next year forty-nine brothers received their Silver April 21, 2007. To make sure to have a Owls awards in recognition of being a really good time, invite all of your pledge brother in Phi Gamma Delta for twenty-five brothers. years. Eleven brothers personally attended. The 2006 recipients are the first group of brothers from our chapter to receive the award that will be continually given out each Pig Dinner from here on out. For those of you that missed this year’s Pig Dinner, or know that your twenty-fifth anniversary of being a brother is coming up, make sure to make it to that Pig Dinner. Another special recognition was given to our chapter’s first Father-Son legacy. Dan and Will Crunk were recognized and received into the Sire and Son Society, which honors father and Graduate Lee Wray speaks about the 25th Anniversary with his fellow Silver Owl Recipients \r\n VOLUME 28, No, 2 PICTURES FROM 25 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE \r\nT HE G OLDEN E AGLE F IJI P AGE 4 GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT J ASON H OLIWAY ‘99 Hello, brothers! Greetings from Jefferson City. I know, not as exciting a place to write from as Iraq or some other places, but it’s where I’m at. I left Fiji Land in January 2000 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Though on the eight-year program, I’m proud to say I graduated a semester early. I moved eastward and found a job as a Mechanical Designer for Hodge Engineering Company in Knoxville, TN. As a company we do building design work for architects, business owners, school systems, and developers. My job is to do HVAC, plumbing and sprinkler design. Since then I’ve attained my Professional Engineering license and have been putting my stamp of approval on plans since January 2005. It’s a job I enjoy doing, and I get a proud feeling when I can drive around town and see completed projects I’ve had a hand in working on. Not long after moving back home, I found my true love, Heather. She’s a kindergarten teacher at New Market Elementary. It’s funny how life turns out sometimes. When I came to school in Cookeville, I swore I’d never be back to live in Jefferson County. I had no idea the place I’d want to stay forever and the person I’d want to spend forever with were there waiting for me. We married in June 2002, bought a house, and settled in to really get to know each other. – Hey, get your mind out of the gutter. I didn’t mean just the physical stuff. – A word of advice to any newlyweds out there. No matter how much overtime you have to put in at work and how little you might be seeing your new bride because of it, never, ever say “What’s up, roomy?” as your paths barely cross for the only time that day. Humor doesn’t help in that situation. Despite a steep learning curve on my part, marriage has been great! I think everyone should try it at least once. Two years after marriage, Heather gave birth to our only child, Elijah. What a blessing he has been. The first five days were a little rough. After having a seizure from a subarachnidan hemorrhage, he was placed in Children’s Hospital for observation and care. Never a place you want to go to, but if you have to, there’s no other place I’d want my child to be. They are outstanding. The responses and love you get from a child are truly amazing. I have a feeling Elijah will be going into business, brokering high dollar deals. Whenever someone else has a toy he wants to play with, he doesn’t just take it away. Instead he brings you something else and convinces you that you want that instead, and makes a trade. At just over two years old, he’s already speaking in full sentences, has two girlfriends at church, and is doing long division. He also knows that his favorite color is to be orange and he will be learning how to play linebacker, as he gets older. “ T HE EVENTS MAKE GOOD STORIES , BUT THE TIME IS WHAT MAKES GOOD FRIENDS .” \r\nV OLUME 28, N O . 2 As a family, we stay pretty busy. We are involved in our church; Heather teaches 1st and 2nd grade Sunday School and I teach a Bible study on Sunday nights. I also help out our Youth Minister on Wednesday nights. On free weekends, especially during the summer, we like to camp. We’ve got a group of friends that we’ll get with and head off to a nice, out of the way location. It’s tough having to sit in a lawn chair all morning, play in the pool all afternoon, and grill out steaks and chicken several nights in a row, but we manage. I enjoyed some crazy days, to be sure, during my times at Tech. Island weekends, the Wine Cellar, bringing down the goalposts after the win over MTSUX, and catching up on a brother’s latest brush with the law. Porch parties, the Boone’s Farm game, Fountain Day, and the Apathy Committee. The Lounge, the midnight trip to Lexington, and the trip to Knoxville for the Florida game w/ Ben (not to mention the trip back). Going to eat at a restaurant with Fiji cooks and always getting “a piece o’ toast” with the meal, the TKE Christmas lights, and being part of the two best pledge classes Theta Tau has ever seen. – AK, AL rule! - These are some of the events I remember about my days at Tech. I was never the chapter leader or a student representative around campus. But to become those aren’t the reasons I joined Phi Gamma Delta. I joined for what I gave and what I got. P AGE 5 People I could hang with to get the most enjoyment I could squeeze out of my time at school. Through the ups and downs of college life, I was never lonely or alone. And if it hadn’t been for a couple brothers, it never would have been. So a special thanks to Grooms for being my friend before I even pledged, to Brad Dozier for showing what brotherhood meant when you picked me up after that car accident right before rush, and to Ben Clark for not making grades the first time so I’d have somebody to pledge with the second time myself. It’s friends like these and the time we spent together I remember most. The events make good stories, but the time is what makes good friends. And even with 7 ½ years, the time is over before you know it. Spend it wisely. Perge’ Brother Jason “Radar” Holiway ‘99 \r\nT HE G OLDEN E AGLE F IJI P AGE 6 F ALL R USH 2006 This year’s rush was a big mixed drinks and Dave Clifford’s success. We had two weeks of classes famous Island chicken, Island night before rush week this year, and we was also another big success. The last took advantage of it by planning sev- night of rush was our Gentleman’s eral pre-rush events. On the Thurs- Night that was invitation only and day before classes started, we held a featured a Herb Marshall picture. party on the South Patio where we had Magic 98.5 a local popular radio Overall we received 36 bids back. Each of them will help add to station to DJ. We also held our third another great fall pledge class. Everyannual slip’n’slide in Sherlock Park body give ‘six’ to another good rush. that was a big hit. During rush week we had several planned nights. The first -Kyle Davis Rush Chairman Island Night Entrance night was the Phi Gam Golf Classic, which featured 18 homemade puttputt holes that lacked everything but imagination. The next night was a brand new rush event. County Fair night was a big success. We had several carnival games set up all around the house. We had everything from a dunking tank to a car smash in the back lot. The next night was the staIsland Night waterfall and pond ple Island Night, which featured two waterfalls off of the roof of the house. One fed a stream to a bamboosurrounded pond and the other flowed into a different pond that both held goldfish. Serving non-alcoholic Brothers enjoy the slip ‘n’ slide \r\nV OLUME 28, N O . 2 P AGE 7 S CHOLARSHIP U PDATE Last spring the chapter did not the 2006 spring pledge class, did meet meet the chapter goal of an average GPA their goal. The pledge class of eight peo- of 3.0. We had an average chapter GPA ple had a average GPA of 3.18 which gives of 2.73. We did exceed Tech’s all male the chapter hope of this fall semester be- average yet again. Only three of the ing the semester where we finally meet eleven fraternities on campus were able to our goal of a chapter GPA of 3.0. meet or exceed the all male average, and we were one of the three. Even though we did not meet Six clicks to the brothers that made a 3.0 or higher and to achieving our goal this semester. our goal, we still achieved the top ranked fraternity GPA. The pledges did their part to help the chapter. Beta Lambda, P HI G AM A THLETICS U PDATE The All-Sports Champs are second to secure the All-Sports title. In back to defend our title. After winning the softball championship game we the IFC All-Sports Championship beat- played Kappa Sig. It was a very close ing out Kappa Sig in the last event, golf, game ending with Kappa Sig hitting a we are looking to make it two years in a solo walk off homerun. It was a tough row. loss but just getting to the championship We never finished first in any game solidified the All-Sports Trophy. one sport all of last year except for golf, which we won by around ten strokes. Kappa Sig finished a close second only 4.5 points behind us. With only two events left for the year, we held a very small lead knowing that we would probably kill everybody in golf. In softball, we only needed to either beat Kappa Sig or finish Jim Weakley about to pin his opponent. IFC W RESTLING W EIGHT C LASS C HAMPIONS N ATHAN P UTMAN 130- UNDER J IM W EAKLEY 185-193 \r\nT HE G OLDEN E AGLE F IJI P AGE 8 T ECH F IJI I NC . TFI, Tech Fiji Inc., has looked to annually give money, including the 1848 into purchasing the back lot and house be- Club, which gives donations of $18.48 a hind the Fraternity house, ‘the Lodge.’ month. There are all sorts of other plans Unfortunately TFI found that the lot is that can fit your budget. You can even zoned for the hospital, which means that select your own payment system if you we cannot build on the lot without getting want to. Donations There are also ways to give back it rezoned. Getting it rezoned could be The 527 Club difficult considering we are trying to re- to the chapter with out giving money. TFI zone it to build a bigger fraternity house. has set up positions for graduates to help TFI is looking for land in other areas close the chapter in different areas as an advisor. The 1848 Club to campus for the site of our new house Also, there are many positions on the TFI $18.48 a month while they look into rezoning. board that are vacant and need people to TFI has also finally paid the final fill them. Even if you think that you might house payment on the current fraternity not have time to help, any time is appreci- house. From now on, the rent money ated. Again, check the TFI website for from brothers living in the house will go more information. $5.27 a Month One time donation So please help out our chapter in toward any future new fraternity house and the upkeep of the current house. Many any way possible. Remember it is not for improvements are constantly needed to college days alone. And again check out keep the house livable and looking good. the graduate website at www.ttufiji.com/ Brothers took up a collection before the fall tfi. semester to replace the downstairs bathroom floor to keep the toilet from falling in. Many other improvements need to be made as well as other things. Your donations are always welcome. TFI has made donating really easy. You can now go to the TFI website and give money that way. They also have several different ways The downstairs bathroom gutted. \r\nV OLUME 28, N O . 2 P AGE 9 158 TH E KKLESIA This year the 158th Ekklesia meet- received honorable mention in the Zer- ing of Phi Gamma Delta was held in Min- man Trophy which is awarded to the un- neapolis, Minnesota, August 10th-13th. dergraduate chapter which excels in pro- Brothers from every chapter all across the moting the involvement of brothers in United States and Canada as well, came student government, the campus newspa- together to celebrate and improve this per and extracurricular activities. Even great fraternity. Thousands of Fijis met to during a big event such as this, the Broth- talk about the International Fraternity’s ers of Phi Gamma Delta made time to help goals and what each chapter needs to do to out the local community of Minneapolis. help preserve the glory of Phi Gamma Saturday morning at least one brother Delta. from every chapter helped landscape the Our chapter did exceptionally Minneapolis American Indian Center. well during the Awards Banquet. Out of Over one hundred brothers worked all eight awards eligible for different chap- morning to give the Indian Center a new ters, Theta Tau placed in five of them. look. The 159th Ekklesia will be held in We placed first in the Coon Cup which is the summer of 2008 where we plan to awarded for the best chapter Graduate clean house again. Relations publication. We received second place in the Condon Cup, which is awarded for the greatest improvement in scholarship, extracurricular activities, and 158th ekklesia awards fraternity relationships. In the Baker Cup Coon cup — 1st place we received honorable mention, which is Condon cup — 2nd place awarded for focusing on religious, ethical, and social service activities. We also received honorable mention in the Jordan Cup which is awarded to the undergraduate chapter which is judged to have achieved the highest comparative scholarships among the undergraduate chapters for the preceding academic year. And we baker cup — Honorable mention Jordan cup — honorable mention Zerman tophy — honorable mention \r\n 10 THE GOLDEN EAGLE FUJI PICTURES FROM FIJI] LAND \r\nV OLUME 28, N O . 2 P AGE 11 ATTENTION! Graduates, we are currently try- right hand corner update your informa- ing to get a sort of genealogy together of tion. Doing this only takes a second and big bro’s and little bro’s. We received keeps us from having to call hundreds of some information from those that attended phone numbers, and you will not have to Pig Dinner, but for most of you we still do receive phone calls from us. Registering at not have your big and little bro’ informa- the grad-website is best for both parties. tion. If you could e-mail us at our e-mail Thank you and hope to hear from account gradrealations@ttufiji.com and you real soon. please list that information. It would be Fraternally, greatly appreciated. Will Crunk Also if you have moved or have a new e-mail address, www.ttufiji.com/tfi please Graduate Relations Chairman visit and in the upper Your Thoughts... Please provide any feedback on the Golden Eagle Fiji and Graduate Relations you might have. Also, if there is anything you would like to see in future issues or if you would like to be the Graduate Spotlight, please let us know. Quality of the Good Fair Poor Graduate Good Fair Poor Good Fair Poor Additional Comments: Name Address Email Address Phone Please detach and return to: Phi Gamma Delta Attn. Graduate Relations Chairman 527 N. Peachtree Ave Cookeville, TN 38501 Will Crunk (Chairman) Phone: 615-308-2954 E-mail: gradrelations@ttufiji.com Topics covered? Would you like to be featured as a Graduate Yes No \r\nIf you have any comments or suggestions about the Golden Eagle Fiji or would like to be featured in the spring issue please contact: Will Crunk (2006 Graduate Relations Chairman) Phone: 615-308-2954 E-mail: gradrelations@ttufiji.com V ISIT US ONLINE WWW. TTUFIJI.COM PERGE`! P HI G AMMA D ELTA 527 N. P EACHTREE A VE C OOKEVILLE , TN 38501 NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #241 COOKEVILLE, TN Address Label