Sigma Chi Colony at the University of Southern California THE TROJAN FIJI Fall 2010 SIGMA CHI IS BACK! By: Walker Hollrah (2013), Graduate Relations Chairman At long last, a purple flag is flying the letters of the Sigma Chi Colony of Phi Gamma Delta again in front of the house on 28th Street. Fiji at USC is once again established. With 34 members occupying the house, 17 others living elsewhere, and 14 new pledges, the population of Fijiland at USC is quickly growing. Word is spreading and people are realizing that Fiji is a force to be reckoned with. As I am sure all of you must remember, competition within the Greek world of USC is fierce. Yet we continue to climb the ranks and proceed with remarkable speed. Over the past 11 months, we have achieved much: highest GPA on the row first semester, 2nd highest GPA on the row second semester, initiation of 44 brothers, recruitment of 14 current pledges, money raised and hours logged from philanthropic endeavors, several social events with sororities, an award for the highest fresh- CABINET President - Austin Hay austinha@usc.edu Treasurer - Erik Suddath suddath@usc.edu Historian Gregory Lehrman lehrman@usc.edu Recording Secretary Adam Laufer alaufer@usc.edu men GPA on the row, and perhaps most importantly, reoccupation of the Fiji house. Our accomplishments so far stand as a testament to how fast we are progressing, how much we are learning, and what a great time we are having. On one playing field, however, we (and those in the past) have not played the best we can. This field is that of the graduate brothers. We realize that Fiji at USC has not been a reality for many years and that many may have lost interest. As the Graduate Relations Chairman, I am here to tell you that we are sincerely interested in reestablishing relations with the graduate brothers. Now is the time to knock loudly on the door of the Fiji house and ask for a tour through the familiar halls. Now is the time to come back for Trojan football and experience a real Fiji tailgate. Now is the time to come back for Pig Dinner and reunite with brothers of the old and the new. Now is the time to be a Fiji and a Trojan and share in all that brotherhood means. Corresponding Secretary Jay Todd Max jmax@usc.edu Recruitment Chairman Stephen Dempsey spdempse@usc.edu Graduate Relations Walker Hollrah whollrah@usc.edu House Wish List • Air conditioning • Television • New inside paint A NOTE FROM THE PURPLE LEGIONNAIRE • Soda machine By: Tyson Beem (1997), Purple Legionnaire • Purified water It is with great enthusiasm and expectations that I pen this column. The colony has been operating for nearly a year now and experiences daily challenges and successes which you can read about in other newsletter columns. I am enthusiastic because I’m starting to see more involvement from graduate brothers, which means you are visiting the house for dinner, donating, responding to the written communications of the colony and starting to return to the shining white star at USC. I’m enthusiastic after attending Ekklesia in Phoenix, Arizona, and listen(Continued on page 2) dispenser • Purple exterior house lighting • New composite • Outside cameras \r\nTHE TROJAN FIJI Page 2 WELCOME PLEDGES We began the year by diving straight into fall recruitment. After a week of golf, billiards, go-carting and fine dining, we extended bids to 14 soon-to-be Fiji pledges, holding a combined GPA of 3.54. They are: • Andrew Borba - Computer Engineering and Computer Science - Chino, CA • Vinay Joshi - Business Administration - Coto de Caza, CA • Rick Davey - Environmental Engineering - Palos Hills, IL • Aaron Bass - International Relations - Paris, France • Dhanur Damodar - Biological Sciences - Louisville, KY • Greg Freehling - Accounting - Portola Valley, CA • Peter Briskey - English - Orinda, CA • Steven Covelman - Print Journalism - Irvine, CA • Evan Loshin - Industrial & Systems Engineering - Bellevue, WA • Alex Bronson - International Relations and Global Business - Stockton, CA • Jacob Copman - Mechanical Engineering and International Relations - Edina, MN • Chris Daskalos - Policy, Planning and Development Albuquerque, NM • John Martello - Undeclared - Orinda, CA • Kye Sarpelleh - Biological Sciences - Woodland Hills, CA FIJI KIDS FOR THE FUTURE PHILANTHROPY Last April we held our first internal philanthropic event, Fiji Kids for the Future. This event raised money and brightened the day for the children of Hillsides, a foster home located in Pasadena. All of the children at this foster home have been either emotionally, mentally or physically abused. We invited the kids to USC, providing them with a barbecue and viewing of the USC vs. Oregon State baseball game. We ended up raising around $2,000 (pictured) for this organization thanks to contributing sororities. All in all, it was a great success! A Note from the Purple Legionnaire continued... (Continued from page 1) ing to Arizona State graduate brother and owner of the Minnesota Twins, Robert Pohlad (1976), speak about how Phi Gamma Delta has had a profound influence on his success. I’m enthusiastic about Dave Todd’s (1967) acknowledgement for Distinguished Service in the Coulter Cup (awarded to a graduate brother for service to an undergraduate chapter). I expect the graduate brothers to attend Homecoming and Pig Dinner and to continually support the undergraduates in their effort to ascend the competitive fraternal ladder “This Fraternity is still yours; continue to positively influence these young men and represent our Fraternity as she rightfully deserves.” at USC. I expect you to live the mantra “Phi Gamma Delta is not for college days alone.” As this newsletter and the Sigma Chi Fiji website continues to develop, you will see that our focus turns away from the undergraduates and more toward graduate brother acknowledgement, recognition and updates. This Fraternity is still yours; continue to positively influence these young men and represent our Fraternity as she rightfully deserves. \r\nPage 3 DAVE TODD (1967) HONORED WITH COULTER CUP On July 31, hundreds of Phi Gamma Delta brothers in a packed room burst into applause when the Fraternity presented David M. Todd as an honoree of the Coulter Cup for Distinguished Service. The setting was the 162nd Ekklesia of Phi Gamma Delta, and the Fraternity was recognizing Dave Todd for his extraordinary service to Phi Gamma Delta as a graduate brother. Even though USC is his alma mater, he was actually awarded for his service to the chapter at Chapman Uni- versity. While Brother Todd contributes to Fiji at USC, he had a big hand in the chartering and impressive development of Fiji at Chapman. He continues to attend the OX Chapter’s rush events and continues to inspire brothers with his passion and zeal for this great Fraternity. Dave Todd truly embodies the phrase “Not for college days alone.” Because of this, the Sigma Chi Colony thanks him for all he has done for Phi Gamma Delta. WEBSITE SPOTLIGHT - WWW.SCFIJI.COM While our website is still under construction, we hope to have it fully up and running soon. Owing to the rather large cost of producing newsletters, in the future we hope to implement a dues system for graduate brothers who wish to keep receiving a hard copy of the newsletter (if not, we can send it via email). Graduate brothers will have the ability to pay these dues on our website, as well as make donations to the colony. The dues we collect will go towards paying for the newsletter and other graduate amenities. FIJI EXCELLENCE Out of 44 brothers and 14 pledges we have: • 2 Club Soccer Members • 3 Varsity Football Managers • 3 Resident Advisors • 3 Honors Engineers • Countless Presidential and Trustee Scholars • Numerous Honor Society Members • 1 Club Volleyball Member • 3 Trojan Knights • 2 Club Rugby Members • 1 Club Water Polo Member • 2 Spirit of Troy Band Members • 2 Trojan Real Estate Assoc. Members SAVE THE DATE! HOME GAMES - For all home games we will have a tailgate set up on campus. Feel free to stop by! October 2 - vs. Washington State October 16 - vs. California October 30 : 9:30 am - Homecoming Brunch at the Fiji House in preparation for the Oregon football game followed by the 11th annual Fiji Alumni Tailgate Party on campus starting at 12 noon. Please RSVP to Jeff Ingram for both events: ingramj1@att.net. November 6 - vs. Arizona State November 27 - vs. Notre Dame Spring - Pig Dinner - Details to come. WHENEVER - We welcome graduate brothers to stop by the house whenever they are in the area! Graduate Brother Jim Glenny (Idaho 1960) visiting the Colony to donate a portrait of Gamma Owl. Thank you Jim! \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. Return to: Sigma Chi Colony of Phi Gamma Delta, 716 W 28th St, Los Angeles, CA 90007. Name________________________________________________ School/year__________________________ Address_________________________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip_____________________________________________________________________________ Phone (H)______________________________________(W)_______________________________________ E-mail__________________________________________________________________________________ News to share with brothers: ___________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ Occupation ___________________________________ Employer ____________________________________ Spouse’s name _____________________________________________________________________________ Suggestions? We would like to add another graduate event either this semester or next such as a golf tournament, poker tournament, scholarship dinner, or other such event. Please direct feedback, comments, ideas and questions to Walker Hollrah, Graduate Relations Chairman. Email - wlkhollrah@gmail.com, Phone - 970.519.1341. Design, printing and mailing services provided by the International Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta.