T he T iger F iji Chi Sigma Colony at Colorado College ‐ Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity ‐ Spring 2011 Edition CHI SIGMA IS BACK! By: Johnny Reed (2012), Colony President The Chi Sigma Colony has officially returned to Colorado College! On October 17, 2010, the 14 founding fathers were initiated as pledges. In attendance at the ceremony were Purple Legionnaire Chas Churchill (Nebraska 2005), Director of Chapter Development Josh Laufenberg (Illinois 2008) and Adam Thomas (UNCW 2010). With the pledging of these 14 gentlemen, the recolonization process ended, and it has become our job to restore Chi Sigma to its former glory. Our main focus through this academic year has been to simply establish a solidified foundation. Surprisingly enough, not only have we done this, but our Things to Know • Chi Sigma welcomed 14 founding fathers into the Colony on October 17, 2010. • Homecoming banquet will be held on September 17, 2011. • Every founding father won the AAA scholarship award during their pledging semester. • What are you doing now? Send us your updates to include in a future newsletter. See the form on the back page to find out how. Founding Fathers and Purple Legionnaire Chas Churchill at the 12/17 initiation. Colony has actually taken things a step further. Initially, in the process of establishing such a foundation, scholarship was, and still is, our main priority. We dedicate countless hours to our studies. As a result, during the 2011 Colorado Section Day we received the Scholarship Award for the highest GPA of 3.4. This was one of the first of our many accomplishments this year. Then, transitioning from our top priority of scholarship, we began to focus on expanding the Chi Sigma Colony and inevitably replacing ourselves. (Continued on page 2) WE ENCOURAGE SERVICE By: Colin McCarey (2012), Philanthropy Chairman On a cold November day, Nathan Lee (2013) stood bare-chested at the edge of a frozen lake, preparing to take the Polar Plunge as a representative of Chi Sigma. Before him, a fully costumed Chic-Fil-A mascot crawled from the icy wa- ter. Beside him stood two other dedicated students. When his time to dive came, Brother Lee did not even flinch. With the spirit of a true Fiji, he charged headlong into the uninviting cold. The sponsorship of his feat benefitted the Special Olympics. In February and March, Fiji brothers committed themselves to planning, coordinating and actualizing a fundraising meal for the CC Community Kitchen. The meal, Empty Bowls, has been operating for 11 years at Colorado College. For the price of a ticket, each attendee received a handmade ceramic bowl donated by the pottery studio on campus, live entertainment by student bands, and as much soup as he or she could eat. The soups were all homemade and do(Continued on page 3) \r\nThe Tiger Fiji Page 2 FINDING OUR PLACE ON CAMPUS By: Dan Eppstein (2013), Social Chairman After a semester of building our base, creating bylaws, assigning positions, and understanding what it means to be a part of a fraternity, Chi Sigma has now shifted towards becoming a major social group on campus. As Social Chairman, I have been involved in organizing events with all three sororities on campus. During our first semester, we dedicated ourselves to getting to know them and introducing ourselves as true Fiji gentlemen. We did this by cooking dinner, serenading them with song, and wooing them with charm. During our first official rush, our Recruitment Chairman Brian Hersh (2013) organized an ice cream social with Kappa Alpha Theta, our sister sorority, to draw new gentleman in with our sisters’ good looks and wit. This spring, FIJI held the 13th bi -annual psychedelic bowling. This event allowed students to get off campus and go bowling on a weeknight as a well-deserved study break from the rigorous block plan. We were able to receive just under $6,000 of funding from the school to throw the event. Originally 500 tickets were to be sold, but after 36 hours of advertising we were sold out. Because of the high demand for tickets, 200 more people without tickets received wristbands to go to the event. The event was packed with people in neon clothes dancing, throwing balls down the lanes, and having a fantastic time. People have dubbed it the best psychedelic bowling in years. In total, 700 of the 1800 people on campus came to the event. An article written about the event will be published in the next printing of our school's newspaper, The Catalyst. The faculty is excited to collaborate with FIJI in the future because of the event and how smoothly it ran. Future social plans for the year include a late night steak night and mixers with different sororities. Late night steak night will feed over 150 people as a break from that night’s festivities. Believe me, as a social group, Chi Sigma is BACK! CHI SIGMA IS BACK continued... (Continued from page 1) Furthermore, we developed a strategic plan for recruitment that eventually led to an increase of 17 pledges. Now, with the existence of an Alpha and a Beta Class, we are able to branch out and become more involved on our campus and in the surrounding community. From the success of various on-campus events, we have established a well-known reputation and our visibility is continuously increasing, particularly through our involvement in a multitude of campus clubs and groups. Here is a sampling of the men who compose the Alpha and Beta classes at a glance: • Many are involved in CC athletics. Several members are on the Varsity Swim Team, the Club Ultimate Frisbee team, the Club Rugby team, as well as a number of intramural sports. • Many have been New Student Orientation Leaders and have led outdoor trips through the Outdoor Recreation Club. • Several are members of the student • • • government, and are heavily involved in other on-campus groups and clubs, such as the Black Student Union, the Carnivore Club, QueerStraight Alliance, the Salsa Club and Empty Bowls. Several men have started their own student groups, such as Breckenridge Adaptive Ski, the CC Golf Club and the Investment Club. Some are involved in music and theater, including two members of the a capella group The Back Row and one member has been involved in a number of on-campus and community theater productions and has directed a play. Three of the men have worked on campus as Residential Advisors. In regards to social events, the Chi Sigma Colony has collaborated with a local bowling alley and laser tag company. Moreover, we have also collaborated with the Colorado College's Center for Service and Learning for a philanthropic event "Empty Bowls" and raised $4,000 in four hours. Currently, the Beta Class is efficiently planning its own ser- vice event that will occur in the Colorado Springs community in collaboration with park rangers at the Garden of the Gods. This Beta class definitely has a driving force of their own as they continue along with the learning of our Fraternity's morals and values. In the process of taking things a step further, the Chi Sigma Colony has also established a close relationship with the administration. Now, having established a solidified foundation, our goal and largest priority is to charter by the end of this year and continue growing in quality and not quantity, however, it seems that the initial Alpha and Beta classes have had both. The tradition of Chi Sigma FIJI is one of excellence, and has provided the bedrock on which we are building now. In just a year, the colony has risen to become the top fraternity on the Colorado College campus and we all are entirely dedicated to restoring the Chi Sigma tradition. In short, it is an honor to inform you of our current accomplishments and at the same time it is also an honor to, once again, be the Chi Sigma Colony of Phi Gamma Delta. \r\nThe Tiger Fiji Page 3 WE ENCOURAGE SERVICE continued... and brings volunteers together to prepare a meal for up to 200 homeless guests. It is an honor for us to take part in preparation, serving and cleaning up at the Kitchen. The gratitude of each guest served is ample reward for the few hours of our weekend it takes to help put a hot meal on the serving table. During the overnight hours of April 29-30, brothers Brother Nathan Lee (2013) (center) running will keep at least one man walking out of the water at Polar Plunge. laps on the Colorado College track at all times during the Relay For (Continued from page 1) Life. With the sponsorship and support of friends and family, brothers are raising nated by students, college staff, and local money at CCRelay.org for the American businesses. This was Empty Bowls' most Cancer Society. Many groups on campus successful year yet, with over 350 guests participate in Relay for Life, and FIJI is and more than $3,800 raised for Comproud to demonstrate our solidarity with munity Kitchen. FIJI is excited to conthose affected by cancer and those other tinue its involvement with Empty Bowls students walking in support of the Ameriin the years to come. can Cancer Society. Chi Sigma has also committed As the Philanthropy Chairman Sunday mornings and afternoons to the of Chi Sigma, the student manager of the Community Kitchen all year. Every Community Kitchen, and a regular weekweek, CC's own soup kitchen gathers end and block break service trip leader, I donations from businesses around town am proud of the personal commitment I have seen from the new Fiji brothers to the betterment of the community and the world. I have a lot of faith in the brothers of Chi Sigma, and I am extremely excited to watch this fraternity grow and maintain its strong commitment to community service. As the brothers continue to exceed my expectations, I am constantly reminded of how proud I am to be a Fiji. Brothers Adam Meek (2013) and Dan Eppstein (2013) setting up for Empty Bowls. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE By: Kai Ory (2012), Chartering and Fundraising chair We are very excited to be bringing back Chi Sigma at Colorado College. In just five short months, we have already made a very large impact on campus. Already, FIJI has become the largest fraternity on campus and we have carried out several philanthropy events that benefit both Colorado College and our community. Our latest event was hosting psychedelic bowling, an event attended by over 500 students where we raised money for our Relay For Life Team. It comes as no surprise that we are already well on our way to chartering. The Chi Sigma Colony is on track to charter in late October of 2011 but will likely wait until early January of 2012 when many of our brothers will return from studying abroad. Having just become initiated brothers in late December of 2010, this is right around the one-year mark of being an established colony. The chartering ceremony is an all day event including receptions, ceremonies, and ritual. For ritual materials, International Headquarters’ fees, room rentals for banquets and catering, the typical chartering ceremony typically costs around $20,000. Obviously, this is a big task for fundraising. As a colony, we have already raised a fair amount of money to go towards chartering through various events. One particularly fun event we planned was a laserquest outing with the Delta Gamma sorority. FIJI was able to keep a percentage of the profits from this outing to go towards chartering. We have several other fundraising events and ideas that will be coming in the future, however, we are still a long way from our fundraising goals. We are still confident, however, that we will have no problem chartering in one year and thus continuing to establish ourselves as a true outstanding colony. \r\nPhi Gamma Delta Fraternity 1201 Red Mile Road Lexington, KY 40504 Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Lexington, KY Permit # 540 Information Update - Tell us about you! Please detach and return with your contact information so we can update our records. We will feature graduate updates in upcoming newsletters. If you want to share your recent news, fill in the news section for your information to be published. 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