Summer 2022 Edition The Rho Phi FIJI Newsletter Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Phi Gama Delta Fraternity A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Grad Brothers, ◊ My name is Phillip Noblitt, class of 2023. I have the pleasure of serving as our Chapter’s President until the spring. While it has been a couple of years since the chapter has sent out a newsletter, we are beyond excited to continue to provide updates to you all on the activities and welfare of this chapter. With Covid hopefully in the rearview mirror, we are looking forward to restarting traditions that we were not able to continue during the pandemic. We are also looking to create new traditions that help engage both the undergraduate and graduate brothers in new ways. Please reach out to us if you have any ideas that you think we should implement! ◊ Our chapter has become more diverse in-campus participation the last few years. While we have plenty of football and baseball players, we have been able to branch out and get some of the best swimmers, cross country athletes, track and field athletes, basketball, and soccer players. We also have a large footprint within the Grand Prix Engineering (GPE or racecar) team, having several technical leads as leaders in our chapter. We are also within all sorts of other clubs in varying capacities, including but not limited to ASME, ASCE, NSBE, FCA, and SHPE. ◊ A rather important decision will be made by the International Fraternity at Ekklesia later this summer. Due to the severe mistreatment of alcohol by several chapters in the past, our insurance will not cover the fraternity if we do not make policy wide changes. This is mainly targeted at pledgeship. As it is currently proposed, we must initiate those who received a bid within four days of their acceptance of the bid. The Rho Phi chapter is planning to adopt this policy this coming school year, due to the fact that IHQ will be providing financial incentives and that we feel this will not majorly affect how we operate. With such a long rush process, we get to know who we are bringing into our chapter, and as such, it is rare for us to eliminate a pledge during pledgeship. It is also a consensus that the pledges feel equal to brothers during their pledging process. ◊ The chapter wishes you and your families all the best, and we would love to be able to get to meet you at homecoming or any other time of the year. The house we live in is as much yours as it is ours. Fraternally, Phillip Noblitt (2023) Perge! \r\nFIJI Newsletter Pledge Class of 2022 This fall we were able to recruit a pledge class of thirty-seven, initiating thirty-two members into our fold, and adding another three pledges in the spring. We hope to initiate the remaining pledges in the fall. These brothers come from a wide variety of backgrounds and hold together what will be considered an all-time-great class: these members represent six varsity sports, a countless number of clubs on campus, make up ⅖ of cabinet, and eleven have been elected to lead committees inside Rho Phi. Beyond that, this class has a cumulative GPA of 3.28, and has had four members complete all three quarters with a perfect 4.0! Easy to say that these young men have made a big splash with their first year in the books here at Rose-Hulman. Philanthropy and Service Campus Cleanup Campus cleanup occurred during the fall quarter of 2021. We had roughly 45 brothers come to campus on an early weekend morning to do multiple tasks and activities with the goal of helping preserve RoseHulman’s campus grounds. Brothers could be found landscaping, trimming, and cleaning up all around campus. The campus cleanup resulted in being a fantastic way to continue and start our service events once again after the global pandemic prevented us from doing so in prior years. Happiness Bag Christmas Celebration Our annual tradition of the Happiness Bag was finally brought back on December 9, 2021. Over 150 individuals, consisting of eager brothers partnered by the Chi Omega Sorority from Rose, came to aid in bringing joy and happiness during the holiday season to individuals with disabilities. The event started off with brothers setting the tables and striking conversations with those who participated in the event. Dinner proceeded, followed by gift sharing, in which brothers, as well as our proud Santa and elf combination, handed out gifts. The event ended all the brothers singing Christmas Carols, which could be heard from a mile away…. unfortunately for anyone in earshot. \r\nSummer 2022 Edition Bikes for Tykes Nearly sixty brothers gathered in Rose-Hulman’s SRC to participate in the annual “Bikes for Tykes” campuswide service event. Brothers woke up on an early Saturday morning, December 5th, 2021, to assemble bicycles for deserving local children in need. Brothers had tons of fun assembling the bikes, and we look forward to doing the event for years to come! Community Clean-Up In April, over 70 brothers partnered with residents of Farrington’s Grove to aid in a community clean-up as well as planting trees and doing odd jobs for residents. The brothers took donations from residents and raised over $500 for the Red Cross. Free T-shirts and a cook-out for volunteers were provided. The event gave brothers an opportunity to meet and interact with residents, which was embraced wholeheartedly. Pie-a-Phi Our new philanthropy event, “Pie-a-Phi”, occurred late in the spring quarter on May 15th, 2022. The event took place in the backyard of the Main House and was streamed on Instagram and Facebook. Anyone from anywhere could donate $5 through Venmo to “pie smash” any brother...with no limits. All the proceeds went to the Happiness Bag, and we proudly raised $1000 from the event itself! We look forward to this being a staple annual philanthropy event from now onwards! \r\nFIJI Newsletter Storm the Valley Triathlon More than thirty brothers showed up to a service event in which brothers participated in a variety of volunteering activities that occurred at a triathlon in Hawthorn Park. There, you could find brothers helping with parking, in kayaks watching over swimmers, helping time at various stages, guiding individuals throughout the triathlon, and much more. If you remember any community traditions that you would like to see come back in action at Rho Phi, please reach out! Find the information below. Athletics With the graduated class of 2022, the Rho Phi chapter consisted of fourteen student-athletes, with several earning numerous regional and national All-American honors. Every captain on the Rose football team during the 2021-2022 season was a member of the Rho Phi chapter, along with many other brothers who played crucial roles in the starting lineup to lead the team to the national playoffs for the second time in school history, with Michael Stevens earning Defensive Player of the Year, Noah Thomas earning Offensive Player of the Year, and Brett Tuttle earning a COSIDA First Team All-American honor. For baseball, many brothers helped lead the team to the HCAC championship final, with brothers Andy Krajecki and Brett Tuttle earning HCAC All-Tournament honors. This year for Men’s Outdoor Track and Field, Tim Wilson earned an HCAC Academic All-American bid, with many brothers helping the team to 2nd overall in the HCAC. This past year has brought two new brothers onto the Men’s Swimming and Diving Team, both brothers being in the class of 2025, helping the team to win the HCAC Championship. Gage Smith, for Men’s Golf, earned all-HCAC honors with a 7th place finish in the HCAC tournament. For Intramural sports on campus, our chapter has obtained numerous championships, including flag football, basketball, and kickball. This year, our brothers are represented among 8 different varsity athletics, earning many academic and athletic awards, only furthering the involvement and excellence in athletics for the Rho Phi chapter. Cabinet Updates With the year coming to a close, our cabinet has been updated (with lots of familiar faces). Phillip Noblitt, class of 2023, has been elected as our current chapter president after serving the previous year as Rho Phi’s Historian. Andy Krajecki, class of 2023, has been elected as our chapter’s treasurer, working as the Corresponding Secretary as a sophomore during the 2021-2022 school year. Michael Noack, class of 2025, has been elected as Recording Secretary. Aaron Greve has been elected as Corresponding Secretary. Kyle Hyong, the current Chapter’s Historian, has not served on cabinet before, but has been active in the chapter working as the athletics committee head the previous year. Andy, Michael, and Aaron all went to IHQ’s Academy together this winter to learn more about the leadership positions that makeup Cabinet before they were elected. \r\nSummer 2022 Edition Homecoming Homecoming was back in the month of October this year, with an astounding turnout from our g rad brothers! Brothers enjoyed tailgating at the game, enjoying the food, and the win of our brothers playing on the field! Pig Dinner This year, our Rho Phi chapter celebrated our 53rd annual Frank Norris Pig Dinner, in person! It was a great night, filled with story sharing among brothers during dinner. We wanted to thank all attending Grad-brothers, especially speakers Tim Pulliam (RHIT 2008) and Ryan Robinson (RHIT 2007) for sharing fond memories of their late pledge-classmate Luis Pettengill, who passed away during this year. They focused on FRIENDSHIP, perhaps our most important value, making the point that even in tragedy, memories of a lost brother reunited a pledge class and rekindled memories of brotherly love. \r\nFIJI Newsletter Upcoming Events Fall 2022 Rush As fall approaches, the chapter goes into “RUSH MODE” as you all can remember! After last year’s amazing class, we’re all pumped for a repeat. Part of our success comes from our grad brothers who have honored the chapter by speaking at our Rush Dinner and from those who have recommended young men to us, some friends and neighbors and others as legacies. Six of our Fall Class came from grad recommendations and three more came from legacy recs. Those 3 legacies included two sons of brothers and a sibling of a brother. If you would like to pass on a name, we will absolutely give that young man our attention: a Fiji recognizes our values in action. Please email any names to our two Rush Chairs: Senior Blake Deckard (deckarbm@rose-hulman.edu) and Sophomore James Morehouse (morehojm@rose-hulman.edu) 2022 Homecoming 2022 Homecoming Weekend will occur this year from October 4th through October 9th. Not only will Brothers tailgate to the game, but there will also be week-long events that consist of but are not limited to resume builders, networking events, dinners, house tours, philanthropy events and much more! We look forward to the week-long Homecoming celebration, and we hope to see you there! Information about the week’s schedule will be sent out via email, as well as posted on our social media accounts. Please Reach Out Please reach out to Corresponding Secretary Aaron Greve by emailing grevead@rose-hulman.edu for any grad-relation matters Follow Along Online Website: www.rosefiji.com Instagram: @phigrammadelta Facebook: Rose Fiji Save the Date Homecoming Pig Dinner October 8th, 2022 May 13th, 2023