Fall 2 0 11 The Chi Iota Chronicle Hello and welcome to the Fall Issue of the Chi Iota Chapter Newsletter! My name is Matt Josephs, and I am this semester’s Corresponding Secretary. Covered in this issue is a whole host of things. Over the summer, over 100 Chi Iotas met in Darien, IL for the Tom Jump Open. Our Recruitment Chairs Jake Annala and Jordan One helped us recruit and pledge in 25 outstanding young gentlemen. This past Homecoming, FIJIs of many years joined the undergraduates in celebrating the Illini victory over Northwestern at the White Horse Inn, complete with live entertainment provided by your very own Rick Bach, Jay Eigel, and Christopher Kvistad. Coming up this fall we have Dad’s Day for all the Sires and Sons on November 12th, but feel free to join us on the 19th for the Wisconsin game. Mark your calendars for Pig Dinner April 28th in the spring and keep your eyes and ears open for future events with us! Distinguished Members. Distinguished Chapter. Chi Iota has worked hard in recent years to excel in all aspects embodied by the values of Phi Gamma Delta. With hard work comes recognition, and we are proud to announce key awards and distinctions earned by our chapter and it’s outstanding brothers. Chi Iota prides itself on attracting truly outstanding members. The Interfraternity Council (IFC) recognized several of our members with awards at last years Greek Oscars award ceremony. In addition to recognized individual members, Chi Iota was also recognized for several awards as a chapter! The following awards were received: Greek Man of the Year Josh Moore Outstanding New Member Ryan Nemethy Illinois Greek Oustanding Chapter Initiative (IGI) President Josh Moore Exceptional Chapter Outstanding Scholarship Programming 1st place Congratulations to Ryan Nemethy and Josh Moore, and congratulations to everyone at Chi Iota who helped push the chapter further towards excellence. Excellence walks hand in hand with academic achievement, and Chi Iota is proud to recognize the following brothers for achieving a 4.0 GPA for the spring semester 2011: David Berkson Tom Schulz Justin Thiems Andrew Mannix Jon Tai Upcoming Events • Dad’s Day - Nov 12th • Wisconsin Vs Illinois - Nov 19th • 2012 Pig Dinner - April 28th 2011 Tom Jump Memorial Open On Saturday, August 27th, Chi Iota set out to the Carriage Greens Golf Course in Darien, IL for the 26th annual Tom Jump Memorial! As always, the event was a blast for everyone in attendance, which included 16 undergraduate brothers and 92 graduate brothers for a grand total of 108 brothers. The day consisted of a round of golf played in scramble format followed by dinner. Competent golf skills were not necessarily required as several golf-challenged brothers opted to come along just for the fun of spending the day with their brothers, both undergraduate and graduate. Overall, the Chi Iota golfers (and non-golfers) couldn’t express their fondness for the event enough, and they urge anyone who can make it out next year to do so, you won’t regret it! Chi Iota brothers take a quick break for a group shot Chi Iota Pledges in 25 Promising Young Men On September 23rd, 25 young men were pledged in- one of the largest pledge classes Chi Iota has seen yet! As a chapter we strive to put quality before quantity, and even though our numbers are growing, we are confident that these newcomers will thrive in Fiji, and push the chapter further towards excellence. The Xi class are: Eric Frey, Caleb Orozco, Andrew Farver, Brian Willis,Daniel Jaskowiak, Deyan Dimov, Diego Rivera, Erik Sproat, Greg Chavez, Jake Kluth, Jake Mihalkanin, Jon Mengel, Jonathan Liang, Keven Mcnamee, Kurt Zellner, Matthew Fisher, Michael Passaro, Michael Sells, Matthew Rajewski, Peter Jorjorian, Robert Nystrom, Robert Olson, Sam Pille, and Stuart Mullen. Congratulations to these young men, membership in Phi Gamma Delta is something to take pride in seeking. \r\nFiji Abroad! From volunteer work to schoolwork, Chi Iota brothers detail their experiences abroad Tom Kokum Donald Hruska Last spring, I had the opportunity to spend a semester studying at Queen Mary, University of London. I spent around five months living in London and had the opportunity to see and experience so much, as well as immerse myself in one of the most diverse cities in the world. The way the university system is designed there allowed me to have a lot of free time to explore Europe and experience the sights and sounds of many different cities. One of the best parts of living in London was the ease and low cost of travel to mainland Europe - I traveled all over, from Portugal to Austria and even made it to Morocco. Through studying in London I made some great friends from across the US who I plan on visiting, as well as friends in London who I will hopefully be able to visit again in the next few years. My time abroad was probably one of the greatest times of my life - I’ve never done anything like it and hope that maybe one day I’ll be able to go back. I encourage anyone with the opportunity to travel, whether through a university or other means to take advantage of any chance they can. I know I will certainly be encouraging my brothers to ! Victor Wu Kyle Livengood I went with my girlfriend Christina to Costa Rica for a month this summer to volunteer in a Sea Turtle conservation program. We were in the rainforest on the Osa Peninsula, about a 15 minute hike from the Pacific ocean. We went form July 10th to August 11th, stayed in cabin housing at a research station that was a hour and a half bus ride from the nearest town. We participated in morning and night patrols along the beaches, looking for Olive Ridley sea turtles and their tracks and nests, which could sometimes last the whole night until 5 or 6 AM. During those patrols, we collected data for researchers on population size and nesting habits of the Olive Ridley sea turtles. On our last weekend there, everyone in the area helped clean up the huge amounts of garbage on the beach. We were out for 2 days in the heat, picking up bottles and shoes from where they got washed up all over. Christina and I each picked up over 100 shoes in just a couple hours on the first day. At the end of the second day, there was a big block party type thing where everyone involved got together and had a pig roast. Two of the organizations had soccer teams and everyone sat around watching them. Overall it was an amazing experience and I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to contribute to the conservation program. I went to China for two months through AIESEC, (Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales), an RSO I am involved in for the purposes of cultural exchange and an educational traineeship teaching English to kids from 8-18 years old. It was an amazing experience because it was the most independent I have ever been and I got to see a completely different part of the world. I flew into Hong Kong, stayed in the infamous Chungking Mansions for a few nights, saw Victorias peak and the harbor, and traveled by bullet train (240mph, built 2009) into mainland China until I got to my town called Wuhan. Wuhan is nicknamed the Chicago of China (though I thought any parallels were far and few). I began teaching with around 20 other interns from Universities in Western Europe, Canada, and the United States. I became friends with a few locals and our reception team, and went on trips to Beijing and a nearby mountain town called Shiyan. Apart from living in Wuhan, I travelled back to Chicago completely on my own carrying four bags. It was an amazing learning experience as well as a great opportunity to get a feel for a different culture. I have developed a passion for travelling and am currently planning on studying abroad in Belgium next semester. I was in Taipei, Taiwan for 6 weeks through a program sponsored by the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission (OCAC) from July 1st all the way up to August 17th. Essentially it was Taiwanese government sponsored camp to teach non Taiwan/China born Chinese(they did have to be Chinese/Taiwanese) persons Mandarin and Taiwanese culture. I was in an age group ranging from 18-24 year old high school to college grads all over the world. Dominantly ChineseAmericans, but there were people all over Europe including France, Spain, Germany, Mexico, and Thailand. We came from all over the world. It was an extremely worthwhile experience, and met tons of unforgettable people. My Chinese improved and I was able to get in touch with my ethnic roots, if you will; my father and most of my immediate family grew up in Taipei. Even though I am a Chinese-American, my lifestyle at an American school and dominantly white neighborhood back home is extremely different, and this trip really opened my eyes to the Taiwanese culture (in a good way). Living in Taiwan’s capital was a great taste to an abroad experience, and I definitely want to go back for an even longer period of time, either through UIUC or something else. \r\n2011 Pig Dinner Every year as spring finally emerges in full, Fiji’s begin looking towards the annual tradition of Pig Dinner. This years Pig Dinner was held on May 2nd at the Union right on the main quad. As always, the event ran smoothly and was a great experience both for newcomers and veterans of the event alike. Rick Bach made a wonderful host as the emcee of the night, and Skip Buckley gave a great Keynote address that reminded everyone in attendance why they should be proud to be Fijis. Ryan Mercer did a great job giving the Invocation, and the tradition of the Exile’s Toast was carried out with perfectly botched diction by our own Field Secretary Josh Moore. It was a pleasant experience as always to spend an evening with brothers in celebration of the wonderful traditions of Phi Gamma Delta. Chi Iota presents: The 1848 Club The 1848 club is a great way to get more involved with the undergraduate chapter. By paying $18.48 a month or quarter, graduates receive various benefits ranging from small gifts at chapter events to a cocktail hour at Pig Dinner. If you’re interested and would like more information, contact Matt Josephs - Corresponding Secretary at MBJosephs@gmail.com or by cell at 630220-9526. Want to recieve updates? sign up for an account on illinifiji.org! Chi Iota is looking to send out more frequent updates through email and through our official website: illinifiji. org. Our new webmaster Jay Prombo did a great job completely overhauling the website, and one of the new features he added is the option to make an account and profile. If you haven’t already, head over to the website and register, all you need is a valid email and a username of your choosing and you’ll be on your way. Hopefully, this way we can create a place for undergrad and grad brothers to keep up with each other and keep up with whats going on at Chi Iota. Join us on Come find us online at youtube.com/illinifiji to see what goes on at 2nd and Daniel in glorious HD. We will be posting new videos periodically, so make sure you subscribe! Brothers gather around the Pig Roast, the traditional fare for the event XIFIJI The Chi Iota Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta is located at: 902 South 2nd street, Champaign, IL 61820 Let us know what you’ve been up to. It’s always nice to hear from grads, so drop us a line. Let us know what you have been up to. We’d like to feature grad updates in future releases, so if you have the chance, contact us by emailing our grad relations chair: Danny Hahn at hahn17@illinois.edu