THE FRATERNITY OF PHI GAMMA DELTA BETA NU CHAPTER : APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY Colony Receives Charter Inside This Issue Highest Level of Standards Achieved Spring 2011 Beta Nu Chapter only requires a nine-month process 2 Campus-Wide Greek Service Day 2 Brother Involvement on Campus 2 Maintaining Success at Appalachian 3 Pomp and Circumstance 3 Jason Sharpe Appalachian State ‘14 On November 6th, 2010 the Beta Nu Chapter was installed at Appalachian State University. Field Secretaries Jake Cramer and Nate Carney arrived on campus in October 2009 to jumpstart the colony. After a successful two semesters at Appalachian State University, the colony received approval in July 2010 to be installed and hold its chartering ceremony in November 2010. The celebration began on the evening of November 5, 2010 with a reception held announcing the newly chartered chapter. The event was catered, and the entire Appalachian community was invited to attend. After the reception, Executive Director Bill Martin (Mississippi State ’75) led the new chapter’s members through the Indoctrination School, a recap of the Purple Pilgrim, to ensure the men to be pledged to the new chapter understand the history and values of Phi Gamma Delta. After the Indoctrination School, Dick Nelson (Florida ‘56) was installed as Legate, and 59 men were pledged to Phi Gamma Delta. On the morning of November 6, 2010, 42 men were initiated into the Beta Nu Chapter of The newly installed Beta Nu Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta poses for a picture with their charter. Phi Gamma Delta. That evening, the Beta Nu Chapter held the chartering banquet and Pig Dinner. When Dick Nelson presented the charter, the men who founded the fraternity on the Appalachian State University campus felt their hard work pay off. Everything that the colony brothers had worked to achieve had been a success. Since the chartering ceremony, the Beta Nu Chapter has made plans to excel both on campus, and within Phi Gamma Delta. Brothers of the chapter believe that with hard work and dedication, they can succeed at any goal they set out to accomplish, with motivation stemming from the newly presented charter. “Friendship, The Sweetest Influence" \r\nHighest Level of Standards Achieved The Beta Nu Chapter honored as a “Black and Gold” Standard Fraternity Jason Sharpe Appalachian State ‘14 “The Standards of Excellence are a way to define campus expectations for the Appalachian State University Fraternities and Sororities. It is designed to refocus the culture of Appalachian State Greek-Letter Organizations away from a purely social-centered focus to a set of shared values and expectations,” reads the introduction of the Appalachian State University Fraternity and Sorority Standards of Excellence. The Greek Community at Appalachian State University has been operating under these standards since the 20092010 academic year. Based on the standards, there are performance levels that can be met based on involvement on and off-campus. The performance levels are as follows: NonCompliant (Below minimum expectations), Bronze Level (Minimum Performance), Silver Level (Satisfactory Performance), and Black and Gold Level (Excellent Performance). This academic year, the Beta Nu Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta was honored as a “Black and Gold Level” fraternity, becoming the first Greek-Letter Organization on campus to receive the honor. The description of a “Black and Gold Level” fraternity is as follows: “These chapters are models for the fraternity and sorority community and have achieved the highest level of recognition for their performance.” The performance levels operate on a points system, with different levels of activities receiving more points, which are ultimately added together. To receive the recognition as a “Black and Gold Level” fraternity, the Beta Nu Chapter received points for different things, ranging from academic performance to campus involvement to chapter leadership. The chapter received the most points in the categories of academics (cumulative chapter GPA and cumulative new member GPA is one-tenth above the All-Men’s GPA), involvement (seventy-five percent of the chapter membership is involved in at least one other oncampus organization or has a part-time job), and (From left) Brothers Jake Smith, Elliot Kimball, Sig Arnesen, Andrew Sessions, and Pledge Damian Harrell (front) prepare for the chartering ceremony. chapter leadership (two or more officers have attended a state, regional, or national conference within the last year). “Black and Gold Level” fraternities are required to earn seventy or more points to gain recognition, with the Beta Nu Chapter easily exceeding that number with eighty points. With the highest level of the “Standards of Excellence” now reached, the Beta Nu Chapter now looks to repeat the same standards next year, as well as check off a few more goals on the list. Campus-Wide Greek Service Day Brother Involvement on Campus Brothers take part in giving back to the community, bond with other Greeks Being a well-rounded student is essential for creating success after college Damian Harrell Appalachian State ‘14 Each year as a part of Greek Week, the University’s Greek Community participates in a community-wide service day as a way to give back to the area in which they are living and learning. This year, some of the service projects included: cleaning up the university’s campus, beautification of various parks and schools in the area, organizing and cleaning local school classrooms, and even helping to construct a new mountain bike trail. Because service is one of our five fraternal values, it was important for our chapter to fully participate in Service Day. As a chapter, Beta Nu had more than seventy percent participation for Service Day, which is huge based on the attendance by members of other campus fraternities. By participating in Service Day, our brothers also had the opportunity to interact and form relationships with members of other fraternities. This relationship that can be created between members of different fraternities is extremely valuable in accomplishing priorities on campus and ensuring that Greek Life as a whole continues to grow and prosper. Service Day was a great opportunity for our chapter to get involved in the local community and increase our already growing reputation off-campus. Next year, we look to forward to increasing our brother participation percentage in order to make an even larger impact on the community that we call home. Peter Allen Rowe Appalachian State ‘11 The brothers of the Beta Nu Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta have an incredibly high degree of involvement on our campus. Many of our upperclassmen brothers serve or have recently served in leadership roles for large student organizations within the university. This past year we have had a brother serve as the Student Director of Orientation, the president of the Appalachian Popular Programming Society, and the Student Body President. Along with this, we have a numbers of brothers involved in the Appalachian Ambassadors program, University Club Council, College Republicans, Teaching Fellows, the Appalachian State football team, academically oriented student clubs, as well as many other groups. As a fraternity, this has benefited us because it has provided new experiences which have equipped the brothers with ways to be successful within the Beta Nu Chapter, and also enables us to lead the way for fraternities on campus. These experiences that we gain as a result of superior campus involvement also help us grow as individuals and citizens within our community. This balance that our brothers display will allow us to continue to experience success and growth as one of the strongest fraternities on campus by creating a culture of leadership that helps our chapter strive for glory. \r\nPresident’s Address Maintaining success at Appalachian: Planning for the years to come Dear Brothers, In our first publication, I would like to take the opportunity to give some background on our relatively new Beta Nu Chapter, address some of our accomplishment and discuss where we plan on going in the future. We look forward to reaching out with this publication and hope you enjoy our very first edition. Humble Beginnings… In October of 2009 two Field Secretaries from Phi Gamma Delta, Jake Cramer and Nate Carney, arrived on Appalachian State’s campus with high hopes and a plan to establish a Delta Colony in Boone, North Carolina. By the end of their trip, they had recruited just fewer than 50 men who were ready to travel the long and sometimes difficult path of starting a new FIJI Chapter. Through much adversity and many challenges that group of 48 men transformed from a fledging Delta Colony to one of Appalachian State’s premier Chapters. Officially campus. The Chapter’s average GPA rose well above the all men’s campus average, setting the bar higher than Greek life had ever seen. The brothers also branched out into many important leadership positions on campus, boasting titles such as Student Body President (P. A. Rowe), Student Director of Our Mission and Our Orientation (Elliott Kimball) and Accomplishments… President of Appalachian Popular Programming Society (Andy Dang), When the Founding Fathers of three of the top five leadership Beta Nu first came together inside positions on campus. With a conference room we decided to accomplishments like these, along aim to be the best. Coming on to with over 500 community service Appalachian State’s campus and hours a semester, the Beta Nu simply aiming to fit in with every Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta has other organization was not an and will continue to be a staple of option; the new Colony brothers were going to set a new benchmark. Appalachian State’s Greek system. Pledging to be scholars, community Plans for the Future… servants and ambassadors for the face of Phi Gamma Delta long before we even truly understood With a short history behind us, her noble purpose, the group the Brothers of Beta Nu are excited of young men immediately and hopeful for the future and made an indelible mark on the continuing a tradition of excellence Mountaineer’s campus. With lofty at Appalachian State. With the goals and the willingness to work landscape of Greek Life quickly hard, the Beta Nu Brothers quickly changing across the country and became leaders and gentlemen on on our very own campus we are becoming part of the Phi Gamma Delta family on November 6th, 2010, the 51 Brothers of the Beta Nu Chapter are proud to carry the heritage and traditions of our beloved Phi Gamma Delta for years to come. proud to be leaders in remembering what makes a true FIJI gentleman. Continuing to focus on scholarship, campus involvement and being leaders on campus will be something we continue to pass down from pledge class to pledge class as we continue to recruit new men. We plan to begin reaching out to Graduate Brothers in surrounding areas and seek the involvement and guidance that strong Chapters have behind them. We plan to have our first annual Norris Pig Dinner in November of next fall and look forward to inviting brothers from across North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee to Boone. As we look at how far our Chapter has come in these past two years two simple words come to mind: Damn Proud! Fraternally, Tyler Norwood Beta Nu Chapter President Appalachian State ‘12 Pergé! Pomp and Circumstance Information compiled by: Nate Wright Appalachian State ‘13 Presenting the new graduate brothers of the Beta Nu Chapter Name: Jon Bircher Hometown: Durham, NC Major: Criminal Justice Former Fraternity Positions: Brotherhood Chairman Name: Robert Andrews Hometown: Cary, NC Major: Political Science, Pre-Law Studies Former Fraternity Positions: Scholarship Chairman Name: Sig Arnesen Hometown: Charlotte, NC Major: Social Studies, Secondary Education Former Fraternity Positions: Historian, Pledge Educator Name: Jeremiah Blanco: Hometown: Fayetteville, NC Major: Technology, Secondary Education Name: Andy Dang Hometown: Born - Ottawa, Ontario Raised - Cary, NC Major: Political Science, Pre-Professional Law Name: Elliott Kimball Hometown: Raleigh, NC Major: Communications & Advertising Former Fraternity Positions: Chapter President, Social Chairman Name: Josh Martin Hometown: Denver, NC Major: English Former Fraternity Positions: Graduate Relations Chairman Name: Peter Allen Rowe Hometown: Hickory, NC Major: Finance and Banking Former Fraternity Positions: Corresponding Secretary Name: Jake Smith Hometown: Asheville, NC Major: Architectural Design and Technology Former Fraternity Positions: Judicial Board Chairman, Scholarship Chairman \r\nTHE FRATERNITY OF P H I G A M M A D E LTA Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Lexington, KY Permit # 540 1201 Red Mile Road Lexington, KY 40504 Beta Nu Chapter Cabinet Tyler Norwood Chapter President Anthony Riccio Treasuer Taylor Jensen Recording Secretary John Michael Rhem Corresponding Secretary John Calloway Historian We would love to hear from you! Graduate Brothers, Feel free to contact us if you have any questions/comments or if you would like to get involved with our chapter. Email the Chapter President norwoodrt@appstate.edu Contribute to the Beta Nu Chapter I would like to contribute: $1,000 $500 $250 $100 $50 $25 $___________ I would like my donation to be used in the following area: ____________________ Donations can be sent to: ASU BOX 21812 Boone, NC 28608 Please make checks payable to: Phi Gamma Delta - Beta Nu Chapter “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” - Calvin Coolidge