Spider Fiji Spider Fiji is published by the brothers of The Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta at the University of Richmond for members and friends. January 2008 HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR By Tony DeRosa (2009) - Chapter President For the Rho Chi chapter, 2007 was an exceptional year of growth and exciting developments: we added 14 new brothers and had tremendous support from our graduate brothers. We are incredibly grateful for the hard work of Jack Jensen and the outgoing cabinet who provided impressive leadership and dedication to our fraternity. As its president, I hope to inspire my fellow brothers to consistently exemplify our five values and expand the influence of our fraternity at school and in the greater community. We hope that more graduate brothers will wish to interact with us and learn about the happenings of the chapter, remembering “Not for college days alone”. I’m very excited to be involved in a program that will utilize the lodge to host academically themed events. Among the activities planned, we will have university professors speak briefly on topics of interest, followed by a question and answer session and even debate. We plan to take advantage of the generous gifts made by our alumni to renovate the brothers’ room and to install an impressive multimedia system. In the area of service, we are considering new ways to raise money and benefit the community. For example, we are planning with the JMU chapter to complete a special fundraising relay from one campus to the other prior to our football game with JMU. As I’ve learned in life, growth often requires a return to founding principles. Over the next year, I implore my brothers to strengthen our fraternal bond, achieve and promote scholarship, serve the community, and always display strong character. Through this, we will show the excellence of Phi Gamma Delta as a fraternity and as individuals. Perge! Rho Chi Officers for 2008-09 President - Tony DeRosa (PX ‘09), Marlton, NJ Treasurer - Jon Silverman (PX ‘10), Baltimore, MD Recording Secretary - Garrett Schlein (PX ‘09), Ridgewood, NJ Corresponding Secretary - Andrew Deel (PX ‘09), Richmond, VA Historian - Jeff Russell (PX ‘09), Arcadia, CA THE PURPLE HEARTS SCHOLARSHIP By John Moreau (1964) - Purple Legionnaire Rho Chi Chapter and its graduates are very excited about a very generous gift of $25,000 given by Ron L. Turner, PX ’89 to “kick off” our scholarship endowment. The following excerpt from Ron’s letter speak to both his affection for Rho Chi and to his generous gift: “I am excited about this opportunity to share some of my success with Rho Chi in the form of a Scholarship en- dowment. As I have mentioned to Jack Jensen over the past few months, my experiences there at Rho Chi had more impact on my ability to succeed in an ethical and proper manner than anything else. The principles we learned through Phi Gamma Delta, if executed in daily life, help ground us for a pleasant and fruitful life providing true peace and happiness. As President of Rho Chi when I was a senior, I was able to take advantage of scholarship opportunities International offered, and I am excited that some of the other brothers at Rho Chi will now have an opportunity for some help. I am very fortunate to be in a position to help the Rho Chi Chapter kick off a scholarship endowment with this gift. By my calculations, you should be able to set up my initial $25,000 (Continued on page 2) \r\nPAGE 2 S P IDE R F IJI THE PURPLE HEARTS SCHOLARSHIP CONTINUED... (Continued from page 1) contribution into some type of safe interest-bearing investment. Hopefully, this gift will allow us to recruit more graduate brothers to increase the endowment and allow for more scholarships. My thoughts are that the undergraduate brotherhood would vote on an undergraduate to be awarded the scholarship annually based upon the fun- damentals of Phi Gamma Delta---Brotherhood, Scholarship and Service. I guess we need to think of a name for the scholarship as well.” “My experiences at Rho Chi had more impact on my ability to succeed in an ethical and proper manner than anything else.” I know that each Rho Chi brother, both undergraduate and graduate, joins me in thanking Ron for his most generous and thoughtful gift to The Purple Hearts Scholarship. His gesture exemplifies our fraternity’s values and our motto of “Not For College Days Alone”. THE HOUSE CORPORATION AT RHO CHI By Tom Sakowski (1965) - House Corporation President Our knowledge of our House Corporation (HC) goes back to before 1922 when funds were raised to construct our beautiful home on Towana Road. The Towana Road house was sold in 1945 because of the severe financial crisis that had evolved with WWII, and the loss of students to this endeavor from UR. The current lodge was built under the guidance of HC President Bob Martin ’39, and many other brothers, who provided funds and energy to create the basic lodge that was completed in 1952. Major improvements have been completed since 1990: complete renovation of heating systems, bedroom, kitchen and new bathrooms; Jepson Brothers Room addition; perimeter brickwork gates; Dean Clarence J. Gray Memorial Deck; home theater installation and complete renovation of the Jepson Brothers Room. Most of the architectural advice was provided by Donald StrangeBoston, who is the father of Cameron, PX ’78. Many smaller projects have been overseen through the years by such dedicated brothers as D.W. Mallory (deceased), and Jamie Ryland ’75. The HC has been filled with brothers who have assumed the responsibility for the care and maintenance of the lodge for the benefit of the present undergraduates, for those who will follow, and for graduate brothers. The HC is responsible for paying the taxes on the lodge property (we have a 99 year lease from UR that began in 1952), providing fire/house insurance on the lodge, and meeting any insurance safety regulations that are required by both UR and Phi Gamma Delta. The HC has served as the major fund raising entity to accom- plish both large and small projects that enhance and maintain the lodge. In 1990, the Col. Pete Dunford Endowed Fund was created to assist with the maintenance and improvement of the lodge. Annually, all brothers are encouraged to contribute to this fund. You may contribute by sending a check in care of Dr. Tony Sakowski, 6 Tapoan Road, Richmond, VA 23226. (The checks should be made out to Col. Pete Dunford HC Fund. They are not tax-deductible.) The HC finds it very rewarding to work with the officers and undergraduates of our Rho Chi Chapter. House Corporation Members: Bob Bennett ’94, Bill Ranson ‘64, Bill Bugg ’60, Jamie Ryland ‘75, Craig Cronheim ’98, Tony Sakowski ’65 President, Bob Martin ’39 (ex-officio), Rick Steenrod ‘91, Scott Quarforth ‘01 GRADUATE CHAPTER UPDATE By Ben Baker (1957) An effort has been underway to bring together graduate brothers of Phi Gamma Delta living in the greater Richmond metropolitan area. The hope is to provide opportunities for brothers, regardless of their chapter, to get acquainted, to renew old friendships and to socialize with fellow Phi Gams. At some point, there will be the opportunity to form an “official” graduate chapter with the blessing of International. In 2007, there were three graduate functions: a “happy hour” at a local restaurant/pub with brothers from JMU, an evening in a reserved suite at Colonial Downs, and the annual Norris Pig Dinner on campus. We would like to invite you to participate in any and all under- graduate and graduate activities and events. If you are interested in being included on the email list for future fraternity events, please contact Ben Baker (PX ’57) at bhbaker3@comcast.net and 804-3799260 or John Moreau (PX ’64) at johnzebra2@comcast.net and 804-3535939. \r\nS P IDE R F IJI PAGE 3 RHO CHI VALUES SCHOLARSHIPS By Chris Lucas (2010) At the beginning of this school year, our undergraduate chapter met and held discussions concerning scholarships being established to recognize achievements of undergraduate brothers of Rho Chi. My idea was to create scholarships representing each of the five values of our fraternity: Friendship, Morality, Service, Knowledge, and Excellence. Friendship: The Friendship scholarship would be presented to a new freshman pledge, since friendship is one of the most important aspects of pledging. New bonds that will last a lifetime are created during the pledging process and those that are true friends should be recognized. Morality: The Morality scholarship would be presented to a sophomore as they have completed the first year of school, their first year as a brother and persevered through collegiate adjustments. Morality is especially important during the freshman year; those that best exemplify good morals deserve to be recognized. Service: The Service scholarship would be presented to a junior exemplifying service to the school, commu- nity and fraternity. Knowledge: The Knowledge scholarship would be presented to a senior maintaining an outstanding scholastic record and GPA combined with knowledge of Phi Gamma Delta. Obviously, this scholarship concept allows for Phi Gams and their families to show appreciation and gratitude for the fraternity experience. It also allows brothers to pay tribute to a brother, to honor a family of a brother, and to memorialize a brother. We are very excited about the unlimited possibilities this concept provides to all graduates and undergraduates. LOOKING BACK - FORMER PRESIDENT’S REPORT By Jack Jensen (2009) For the past year, I had the distinct honor of leading the Rho Chi Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta. Though the year did not lack its fair share of controversies, conflicts or catastrophes, I strongly believe that the chapter has made tremendous progress and is poised for further success under the next administration. Throughout the year, the undergraduate brothers of Phi Gamma Delta have sustained our traditional academic and philanthropic successes, drastically increased the size of our brotherhood and improved our risk management practices while strengthening our bonds of brotherhood. GPA of 3.08. This was the second consecutive semester of beating the University of Richmond’s all-male average. This accomplishment qualified Rho Chi to receive an Alcohol Free Housing Exemption by our International Headquarters. This privilege, only granted to thirty percent of chapters, allows brothers over twenty-one to consume alcohol at the lodge. Grades for the Fall 2007 semester have not been finalized, but based on the preliminary information gathered thus far, I fully anticipate that we will, again, exceed the all-men’s GPA average. Last spring, the undergraduate brothers of Phi Gamma Delta worked diligently toward an average The Alcohol Free Housing Exemption, coupled with additional pressure by the University, prompted I am also very proud to announce that this past spring, our chapter installed fifteen new brothers. This large pledge class has increased our recruitment capabilities for the upcoming semester and we anticipate one of our largest pledge classes in late January. our chapter to revisit and restructure our risk management policy. Because of these internal changes, our chapter did not have any major incidents and remains in good standing with the University. The main change, an implementation of a risk lottery, encourages brothers to do well academically to avoid being eligible for the week’s risk shifts. The role of President turned out to be more demanding, timeconsuming and exhausting than I could have ever anticipated. Though the position frequently tested my patience, endurance and leadership ability, I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve the organization that has fundamentally changed my life. I am confident that the newly-elected President, Tony DeRosa, will do extremely well as President and only hope that he will take away as much from the experience as I have. Perge! Spider Fiji is a graduate-oriented newsletter and we want to continue to feature news of Rho Chi Chapter graduates. Please take time to update your information and tell us about your life since college days at the University. Graduate news about you or another brother, photos, and change of address notices should be sent to Rho Chi Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta, P. O. Box 96, University of Richmond, VA 23173 \r\nPAGE 4 S P IDE R F IJI RHO CHI ATTENDS FIJI ACADEMY By Tony DeRosa (2009) - Chapter President Brothers Tony DeRosa (President), Jeff Russell (Historian), and Jon Silverman (Treasurer) represented Rho Chi at the 2008 Fiji Academy held in St. Louis, Missouri, from January 4-6. (Georgia 1974) and best – selling author Dr. Ken Blanchard (Cornell The purpose of Academy is to prepare chapter leadership for the various challenges to be faced throughout the coming year and as a vehicle for forging stronger intrafraternal ties. 1961). While these graduate brothers’ successes have come through diverse paths, each indicated his experience in Phi Gamma Delta as having instilled the values and skills needed to achieve greatness. The Academy’s speakers exemplified how Phi Gamma Delta is “NOT FOR COLLEGE DAYS ALONE”. Brothers in attendance heard from several esteemed graduates, including Major General Jack L. Rives We are confident that the educational sessions imparted the knowledge and perspective needed to be successful fraternity officers. FIJI WEEKEND - March 28 – 29, 2008 March 28th - Fiji Cocktail Party Fiji Brothers and Guests Are invited for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres Friday, March 28, 2008 from 6 to 8 pm At the home of Gail and Gray Broughton (PX ‘65) 3208 Monument Avenue Richmond, Virginia March 29th - Fiji and Friends Golf Outing Tee Times 9 to 10 am Cost of $60 – 75 per person Please R.S.V.P. to Scott Quarforth by March 8, 2008 squarfoth@vcu.edu or 804-855-9469 117th Norris Pig Dinner 4:30pm 5:30pm 6:30pm 7:15pm Gathering at Lodge Reception at Tyler Haynes Commons Invocation and Dinner Program: Keynote speaker is Ron L. Turner (PX ‘89) : Creator of The Purple Hearts Scholarship In Memoriam 2007 May 23 June 15 August 13 November 5 December 18 Richard E. Humbert (1941) John P. Livingston, Jr. (1976) W. Gordon Cousins, Jr. (1949) J. Ashton Kesler (1958) Charles A. Mink (1954)