THE CHI DEUTERON PHI GAMMA DELTA AT KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY | JANUARY 2020 Chapter Update The undergraduate chapter has made tremendous strides toward achieving our 3-year goal. So far, brothers have taken on a new purpose to drive Phi Gamma Delta in a positive direction. Our fall class had 14 members and every single new member was initiated, showcasing how effective our new 8-week pledge education program has been this year. The recruitment committee has been putting in a lot of hard work, and we currently have 8 signed and 3 bids outstanding. Almost reaching our goal of 10 for our spring class. The chapter has also improved academically. The chapter GPA is now 3.23, our best in several years. To increase accountability, we implemented a scholarship draft in which the brothers compete on GPA Excellence teams for a monetary prize. This has encouraged all brothers to improve their academic performance. Blood Drive and participated in highway clean up for the Bill Snyder portion of the road coming into Manhattan. Brothers were able to give back to the community and bond through these events. Our chapter also hosted the FIJI run philanthropy where brothers ran to Dwight, Kansas to visit Rod Morgan’s gravesite. Together, we achieved our goal of $5,000 with help from our graduate brothers, friends, and family. Another fun brotherhood event was decorating the house with support from the mothers of brothers in the house. We decorated the house in preparation for the holiday tour philanthropy. In October, we hosted fathers weekend thanks to the hard work of the social committee. Through the support of our graduate brothers and families, the brothers of the Chi Deuteron Chapter are making tremendous progress towards our goal of achieving the all-fraternity average and filling the house. None of this would have been possible without the commitment of our committees and leadership, as well as the guidance from our Purple Legionnaire, Chris Hupe. Our new Resident Advisor, Greg Nelson, who is a graduate of the chapter, has also positively impacted the chapter by being a liaison for the undergraduate brothers and a great presence within our various meetings. Overall, this has been a successful year for Phi Gamma Delta. The future is very bright for the Chi Deuteron Chapter! We also had strong attendance at our community service Sincerely, events. This year our chapter volunteered for the KSU Robbie Foley (2021) PIG DINNER APRIL 25, 2020 \r\nHouse Corporation Update In January of this year, the House Corporation defined a strategy and a tactical platform to achieve on-going, consistent greatness at Chi Deuteron. • • • MANHATTAN FIJI CHAPTER HOUSE ASSOCIATION STRATEGIC PLAN Occupancy Scholarship Property Management to consistently support the execution of the expectations. I am pleased to report to you that due to the MFCHA, PL, RA and BCA, designing and implementing sound strategic plans, the HC and Chapter are cash-flow positive this school year, the chapter membership is growing, scholarship is improving and the property is in better physical shape than it has been in years. Our three-year strategy to create a repeatable operational routine for long term success is ahead of plan. The Mission of the Manhattan Fiji House Association is to professionally, ethically and transparently manage a safe, healthy, comfortable, properly maintained and renovated, financially sound property in which the undergraduate members of Chi Deuteron Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta may live while seeking to obtain a college education at Kansas State University. Finally, I would be remiss not to be thankful to the brothers who contributed almost $60,000 this spring THE TACTICAL PLATFORM and summer to give us the room to breathe during the • Hire a property manager to supervise safety, early days of implementing this strategy. security, code enforcement and repairs, maintenance. We hired brother Jeff Fowler Mighty Proud to Be a Fiji! (1992) of Wildcat Property Services. Dave Schreck (1969), President • Hire a resident advisor to provide a full-time, consistent, responsible adult presence in the chapter house. We hired Greg Nelson (1979). • Hire a consultant to improve academics, rush and culture strategies. We hired John Hatfield of Brave Man Society. • Contract with a professional food service management company to provide safe, quality, diverse meals to our members. We contracted with Upper Crust Food Service, preferred by International Headquarters. • Ensure our undergraduate members are provided with clear, straightforward By-Laws, policies Terry Meyers & I with Bill Martin at his retirement and rules. Furthermore, the MFCHA commits celebration last June in Lexington. PIG DINNER APRIL 25, 2020 \r\nResident Advisor Update Greetings from the Chi Deuteron Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta! My wife, Margaret, and I look forward to meeting every one of you in the coming months. As resident advisor, it is my role to help the undergraduate chapter develop Phi Gamma Delta’s core values of Friendship, Knowledge, Service, Morality, and Excellence, as well as to act as the liaison between the undergraduates and their parents, House Corporation, BCA, Purple Legionnaire and graduates at large. Greg and Margaret Nelson 2017 brought deep concern for Mom Pickett’s declining health and what to do if she was no longer able to serve. She had served Chi Deuteron for over 20 years and was respected and loved by all – a true “mom away from home”. I had thought of taking on the role at some point, but when Mom Pickett passed in January the option became very real. So, through some hard selling on my part, my wife agreed to give it a go. Graduate leadership supported the idea, and we hammered out a plan to upgrade the apartment with the addition of a kitchenette and fresh paint. With a leap of faith, we sold our home in Overland Park and donated, dumped, sold, stored and crammed all of our earthly possessions into a 500 SF apartment at 1919 Hunting Ave. We had three weeks to “settle in” until mid-August when the active Fijis returned and we all welcomed a bright new class of fourteen new members. My first objective was to match thirty names with their faces which turned out to be much easier than I planned. So I checked the box on the first objective. Objective #2 was to get to know each one of the actives and pledges on a personal level, and that continues each day. But I can report with confidence that we have a group of young men of high character and great ability. The third objective was to help achieve Phi Gamma Delta’s revered mission - “to unite men in enduring friendships, stimulate the pursuit of knowledge, and build courageous leaders who serve the world with the best that is in them”. Our progress towards this mission can be measured in two ways: INSIDE of our walls, unity and self-sacrifice are creating a new sense of purpose at Chi Deuteron. It’s something you can experience and feel when you are at 1919 Hunting. OUTSIDE of our walls, our improvement in scholarship, campus involvement, community service, intramurals and campus “buzz” about FIJI are strong indicators that something big is happening. But our road ahead is not without challenges. College has changed since the ’70s. There is an unrelenting “noise level” that threatens to derail our mission daily. The sheer amount of messaging, including social media, study group chats, campus org chats, texts from professors (and resident advisors, PL’s & HC presidents), online assignments, emails, etc, is daunting. Helping our members to stay focused on our mission and see it through will be one of my most important roles. Also, I found that “advising” is not the same as “leading”. Unlike corporate life, this is not my team to lead but rather to help develop into leaders. To encourage and challenge daily and catch each member doing something RIGHT is my job. It’s not the few big things but a thousand little ones that will get us to where we want to go at Chi Deuteron. My greatest contribution might simply be to JUST BE THERE for the actives, pledges, graduates, and parents. But I will need everyone’s help for the journey. I will provide updates on more tangible results in the coming months and encourage everyone to visit Chi Deuteron to experience the change for yourself! Greg Nelson (1979), Resident Advisor \r\nPurple Legionnaire Update Fraternity, done right, is fun and life-enhancing. As we enter year eight of a strategic effort to help our undergraduates return to our roots and enjoy the fruits of true FRATERNITY, I am happy to share many milestones have been met, far too numerous to share in the space Dave has allocated in this publication. Recent surges of graduate understanding of the challenges facing today’s collegiate students and unified support have pushed us over the proverbial hump. Bold new initiatives implemented over the past three years are now bearing fruit in the areas of new member education and brotherhood development. Additional new initiatives to build better men at Chi Deuteron are being introduced each semester. Graduate brother engagement has been a key component in the chapter’s rise. Broad support and participation by members of HC, BCA, the Jim Kincaid Foundation, those who have stepped up and provided financial support, participated in work weekends or joined the brothers for dinner and a chapter meeting, are lighting the way and demonstrating brotherhood in its truest form. I cannot overstate the benefit of Brother Nelson (and his wife Margaret) living on the property as resident advisor. Having a stable and engaged adult who is also an initiated brother has enabled his participation in chapter operations and accelerated our progress toward reaching our goals. Our leadership consultant, John Hatfield of Brave Man Society, has been a tremendous resource and partner when there are simply not enough hours in a week for me to provide all the time that is needed. Lastly, our HC team under the leadership of Brother Schreck has banded together following a strategic plan providing clear objectives, expectations, and accountability. No man is an island, and by working together in concert with our chapter, great things are happening. I look forward to future semesters with great anticipation of the awards and accolades this chapter will achieve as it continues a meteoric rise at KSU and internationally. My strategy as PL has been simple: 1. Supporting our members understanding of, and efforts in daily life to exemplify the ideals and values of Phi Gamma Delta. 2. Helping us recruit, pledge, and initiate men qualified to be our brothers. 3. Creating an environment which assists each brother in achieving the highest scholarship of which he is capable. 4. Stimulating the moral, physical, and social development of our brothers. 5. Providing an opportunity for brothers to develop Proud to be a Fiji! their organizational and leadership skills within the Chris Hupe (1993), Purple Legionnaire fraternity, on campus, and in the community. 6. Striving to maintain efficiency and continuity in chapter operations with our chapter leaders to achieve the above objectives. Simply put, the fall semester of 2019 has been one where the members of our chapter have explored personal values and aspirations, built deep brotherhood ties through shared experiences, pursued scholarship, served the campus and greater community. The objective performance measurements will validate the work and success of our undergraduates and we can be proud of FIJI at Kansas State. Jill, Blaine & Chris Hupe Questions? Contact: Dave Schreck at dave.schreck@icloud.com PIG DINNER APRIL 25, 2020