PL Report Dear Brothers, It was an interesting year to be in my inaugural year as Purple Legionnaire. The newly remodeled house has been a great asset to the continued growth of our undergraduate numbers. This y ear’s pledge class of 32 helped add to the depth and strength of the Lambda Nu chapter, creating a full house of live-ins. The brothers did a fantastic job of educating and mentoring this class during the past year. The chapter participated in many philanthropic events, improved their GPA substantially, and of course held many successful social activities. I really want to say thank you to the members of the Junior and Senior classes that continue to live or frequently visit the house for their leadership. Without their effort we wouldn’t be having the success we are currently having. We look forward to another strong rush year with our new house and continued improvement of Lambda Nu. Of course, graduate input for potential rush candidates is always welcomed. LAMBDA NU TODAY Lambda Nu Graduate Brothers Mike Rulhman (2001) and Joe Andreasen (2001) are part of the ESPN GameDay family. On October 1, 2011 Nebraska v. Wisconsin game in Madison, Wisconsin. Several Lambda Nu graduate brothers were able to visit the College GameDay set and have their photo taken (based on the smiles – before the game). Lambda Nu Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta Chapter House Remodel Complete MARK YOUR CALENDARS 2012 FIJI Golf Outing Tara Hills GC, Omaha Saturday July 21st 1:00 Start e-mail foursomes to wdcraig@cox.net John Schuele ‘86 Perge’ Lambda Nu Brothers work ESPN College GameDay Pig Dinner Firday September 28th Chez Hay 14th & P Street, Lincoln Social Hour-6 Dinner-7 Our undergraduate brothers are moving out of their first full year living in a safe, modern chapter house. While many of the improvements are not immediately noticed, such as fire sprinklers and new fire alarm system, they did appreciate the central air conditioning, new bathrooms and suite-style room layout. This remodel project reflects nearly a decade of planning, fundraising and construction. Thank you to the Graduate Brothers who donated their time and money to make this project a reality and helped ensure Phi Gamma Delta’s position on campus for the next generation. Phi Gamma Delta is now one of a handful of fraternity houses that has fire sprinklers. These sprinklers will automatically release water in the event of a fire and dramatically increase the likelihood of survival in the event of a fire. The University of Nebraska Board of Regents required all student-approved housing to be sprinkled by 2017 in response to a tragic student death at Nebraska Wesleyan University’s Phi Kappa Tau chapter house fire in 2006. In addition to the fire sprinklers, a new monitored fire alarm, emergency exit doors on each floor, fire-rated windows by the fire escape and hard wired smoke detectors were installed to make the FIJI hut one of the safest fraternity properties on campus. chapter – with plumbing leaking inside walls and between floors. Now, the plumbing issues have been resolved. The old gang-style showers were replaced with two private stalls and each toilet is separated by an individual stall. New Corian countertops with built-in sinks were installed for years of trouble free wear. The new student rooms feature a modern suitestyle floor plan, with two or three bedrooms off a shared study room. This new floor plan is similar to housing options offered by the University and is in line with current student housing needs and desires. Each room comes complete with a new bunk beds, dressers, wardrobes and desks. Most bedrooms house two students. There are a few three-man bedrooms and three single rooms – including a private presidential suite on the 4th floor. All rooms are individually air conditioned by a 40 ton cooling tower located in the parking lot. The green building movement has not missed FIJI. The project replaced all 91 original single-pane windows with new double-paned low-E Martin windows. All exterior walls in the 1931 building were insulated and the entire roofing structure was filled with spray foam insulation. The attic space in the 1964 addition was filled with fiber insulation. Last fall a 97% efficient 399,000 BTU hot water All bathrooms were remodeled – not only the heater was installed and the current boiler physical items such as new toilets, showers and was retrofitted to use a lower temperature to sinks – but also all the underlying electrical, heat the building in the winter. All of these plumbing and wastewater systems are all new. improvements will significantly reduce the Before the remodel, plumbing issues were a utility costs of the chapter house and make significant repair cost to the undergraduate Lambda Nu’s carbon footprint a little smaller. Address Correction Requested Lambda Nu Graduate Association of Phi Gamma Delta P.O. Box 81893 Lincoln, NE 68501-1893 \r\nCont. of Completed Remodel Not everything is new. The project included refinishing the 1931 wood floors in the living room, maintaining the original wrought iron railing and slate floors in the foyer. The dining room tables were rebuilt and refinished. The balcony floor was sealed and the exterior trim was painted. Capital Campaign Report Undergraduates are commonly found studying at the large conference table by the fire place on first floor or in the new Anderson Conference Room in the basement where B1 use to be located. The Harkson Study Center has become a popular quite place for students to work or use the new network printer that students can print to from any location on campus. The entire chapter house now has access to the University’s wireless internet system. The living room includes new leather furniture, end tables, lighting and an upright piano. The chapter’s grandfather clock was repaired and now keeps perfect time. The basement is now home to a home theater system and pool table, complete with purple felt. Pool Table The house corporation kept a blog of the entire project. To read about the weekly progress, visit thisoldfijihouse.org. Pig Dinner Paddles Andersen Room Bathroom Hallway Dear Brothers, undergraduate leaders emerging. Five years ago this month, with a committee of eight other graduate brothers, we began a capital campaign to raise the funds necessary to renovate our chapter house. As I look back over our five-year journey, I am amazed and excited by the major accomplishments that have occurred at Lambda Nu. Thank you to all of you whose financial contribution has made this a reality. First and foremost, 275 graduate brothers stepped forward with time and money for this project. Our House Corporation Board, led by John Osterholm, donated countless hours overseeing the renovation project. Our chapter house is now a modern facility of which we can all be proud. We have an active Board of Chapter Advisors with several new members, including John Schuele as Purple Legionnaire. Finally, our undergraduate brothers have a renewed sense of pride in Phi Gamma Delta. We have a full house, an overall GPA of 3.1, and a large number of Showers The campaign has raised $1.3 million of our $1.5 million goal. This year, we need $150,000 in new pledges to meet our financial obligations. These new pledges will be 100% tax deductible when given through the NU Foundation. Please consider being a part of the final push in this campaign. It has been an honor to be a part of so many positive changes at Lambda Nu and to witness the influence graduate involvement has on the lives of our undergraduate brothers. I am confident we will raise the remaining $150,000 and I look forward to talking with many of you as we close out this campaign. Fraternally yours, Joseph L. Skradski, D.D.S. Campaign Chairman \r\nCapital Campaign Report Brothers, Your House Corporation has concluded “year one” in the refurbished chapter house and by most standards it has been a complete success. At this time last year we were in the middle of construction and planning for a rushed opening and developing a property management plan. As with any project of this size, there were some challenges with construction and workers were on-site after the first days of classes. The undergraduates handled it well and the finish project is incredible. Library Living Room Donor Wall Dinning Room As promised to all of you, the House Corporation Board of Directors developed a comprehensive plan to maintain your investment. A formal check-in/check-out procedure was developed (complete with the photographing of each room condition at the start and end of the academic year). The Undergrads are held to a strict “as new” condition report – meaning the rooms must be as presented to them at the start of the school year when they checkout. Damage deposits were increased to ensure that enough money is available to do any needed repairs. The chapter house continues to be closed during the summer. This allows the Corporation to have the building cleaned, repainted and make other general repairs. The House Corporation also holds a “graduate work-day” which allows the board to finish repairs to certain areas of the chapter house that are not open to our general maintenance crews. The Undergraduate house manager works closely with Eric Drumheller (Nebraska 1998) through the year to identify problems and make repairs as needed. Gone are the days of doing massive repairs over the summer. The result of this close interaction with the undergraduates has worked well! They appreciate the effort the House Corporation put in and have made great steps in taking care of the building. Now that they have a first-class property, they want to keep it that way! In other news, our second year of food service with Upper Crust is about to begin. Upper Crust is a food service provider based out Columbia, MO focuses on greek chapters. After a few bumps in the road, we have a food service that the undergrads have come to enjoy. All food is still cooked on-site, but kitchen management is handled by this company. This has given us an overall reduction in costs and still provides high quality food. At present, we are exploring adding a convection oven to the kitchen to help with food preparation. Also, I would like to welcome Scott Oman (Nebraska 1982) to the House Corporation Board. Scott comes to us brining a background in property management and facility operation. Finally, I want to provide the results of your investment – three years of 30+ men pledge classes, an increased chapter GPA and more involvement on campus and pride that had been lacking at 1425 R Street for a number of years. Definitely a GREAT time to be a FIJI! Fraternally, John Osterholm (Nebraska 1995) Perge! \r\nSeeking Delta Sigma Lambda memorabilia Lambda Nu has a unique Phi Gamma Delta history. With the 1936 purchase of the chapter house from the Epsilon chapter of Delta Sigma Lambda at 1425 R Street, their members had the opportunity to be released from their national organization and become members of Phi Gamma Delta. This has only happened a handful time times in all of FIJI’s history. More Phi Gam, Less Self During the construction demolition, the construction crews found a “More Phi Gam, Less Self” plaque inside one of the walls. The origination of this plaque was a mystery to the undergraduate chapter, other than it was assumed it must have been hung somewhere at one time due to the purple paint on one side. Thankfully Walter Gerlach (Nebraska 1958) solved the mystery by emailing the chapter with the story of the brass plaque. Brother Gerlach made two of these plaques (one for each door of the second and third floor bathroom) at the foundry located in the basement of Richards Hall during the 1956-57 academic year. Brother Gerlach explained that since few engineers were Greek, the most overheard comment was, “What are you going to do with that!?” The museum at Phi Gamma Delta International Headquarters has a display of other fraternities that became FIJI chapters. If you were a member of Delta Sigma Lambda and would be willing to donate any of your memorabilia (such as membership certificates, fraternity pin, newsletters, etc), please send it to the Lambda Nu House Corporation (PO Box 81893, Lincoln, NE 68501) so it can be included in the fraternity museum. The found plaque has been mounted to an exterior column for the Undergraduate Brothers to see as they leave the house and to remind them of this fraternity creed. Thank you again Brother Gerlach for helping solve this mystery. A note from the Chapter President As president of the undergrauate chapter I can say hands down this past year was the most successful I have been a part of in my three plus years in Phi Gamma Delta. This year was a turning point in our chapter’s sucess. The undergrads were handed the keys to a brand new house, our GPA rose from a 2.7 to above 3.0, we initiated 27 new brothers and expected to initiate 4 more in August. We have reached the point where every single member is contributing to making our chapter better, and that is something that could not be said the last couple of years. Due to the hard work of brother like Ethan Blackledge and Buck Stanek, Phi Gamma Delta had its first successful philanthropy in over 3 years known as “Phi Gamma Fry and Jam.” At this point in the year our main focus is recruiting the new great pledge class of Lambda Nu. If you have our main focus is recommendations or wish to assist recruitment in any way I urge you to contact our rush chairs through Fiji.org. William Grubb Chapter President Perge’ 2011 Pig Dinner attracts over 200 Over 200 Graduate Brothers, undergraduate Brothers and Pledges gathered on Friday, October 7, 2011 to celebrate Lambda Nu’s 106th Annual Frank Norris Pig Dinner and the rededication of the chapter house. The highlight of the evening was the keynote address by former United States Senator and Governor of Nebraska J. Robert Kerrey (Nebraska 1965) who provided important advice on integrity. The evening ended with a keynote address by Senator Kerrey (Nebraska 1965) whose message highlighted the important of integrity and ethics. The House Corporation started the event by holding a reception at 4 p.m. in the Chapter House’s dining room. At 4.45 Brothers and Pledges gathered in the living room to celebration the completion of the chapter houses $1.9 million renovation. The highlight of the event was Capital Campaign Chairman Dr. Joe Skradski (Nebraska 1983) presenting undergraduate President William Grubb (Nebraska 2013) the official key to the chapter house. In addition, House Corporation President John Osterholm (Nebraska 1995) thanked all Graduate Brothers for their project support. Willam Grubb (2013) recieves key from Dr. Joe Skradski (1983) Following dinner, emcee Nick Benner (Nebraska 2012), started the program by recognizing Brother Luby and Brother Kerrey as the furthest traveled – both reside in New York City. Board of Chapter Advisors Chairman, J. Cody Larson (Nebraska 2003), provided an overview of the BCA’s current progress in refining the chapter’s operations and processes to ensure Lambda Nu continues to be a strong and vibrant for years to come. Following Larson’s update, John Osterholm (Nebraska 1995), Lambda Nu’s House Corporation President provided a brief update and then presented Dr. Joe Skradski (Nebraska 1983) a framed Lambda Nu Graduate Association stock certificate from the early 1900’s as a thank you for his leadership during the capital campaign. Lambda Nu’s annual awards were given to: Benjamin A. Silverstein Outstanding Freshman – Mike Maenner (Nebraska 2014) John H. Binning Scholarship Award – highest GPA – Nick Benner (Nebraska 2012) N.W. “Jerry” Solomon Brotherhood Award – Artie Goll (Nebraska 2014) William S. Zerman Lambda Nu Leadership Award – William Grubb (Nebraska 2013) Clement L. Waldron (Nebraska 1941), the most senior FIJI in attendance with his son John Waldron (Lawrence, 1977)