The Gamma Tau Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta at Georgia Tech GAMMA TAUK Fall 2013 A NEW HOUSE, AN OLD TRADITION By: Sean Arnold (2013) - Chapter President The beginning of this fall semester saw the dreams and hard work of so many graduates come to fruition: Landon Nelson Hall, the largest fraternity house on campus, was finally complete. The brothers moved into the house midAugust and the dedication ceremony was held on September 7. Words cannot fully express the impact that Landon Nelson Hall has had on the brotherhood, and Gamma Tau is eternally grateful to every graduate who helped make this dream a reality. Thank you! As our first semester in our new home comes to a close, it is my pleasure to update the brotherhood on the success Gamma Tau has shared this calendar year. This certainly was a unique and challenging year for Gamma Tau, as the brotherhood has been very mobile. In the spring semester, a majority of the brotherhood lived in the North Ave Apartments, Things to Know • Save the Date! Couser Golf Tournament and Pig Dinner - March 29, 2014. • Dean Dull Winners - Third Consecutive Year! • Biggest Pledge Class on Campus. while construction on Landon -Nelson Hall was in full swing. In the summer, as work on the house was being finalized, a number of our brothers kept our presence alive on campus, renting rooms in another fraternity’s house. Finally, at the beginning of the fall semester, the brothers moved into the new facilities with a sense of great pride and excitement. In September, the Chapter officially celebrated its new home with our Dedication Ceremony, attended by several hundred graduates, the undergraduate chapter, and special guests such as Bill Martin, Executive Director of Phi Gamma Delta, and keynote speaker G. Wayne Clough, President Emeritus of Georgia Tech and current Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute. The ceremony highlighted the tremendous amount of time and effort put into this project by the Campaign Committee, Building Committee, House Corporation, Chapter Advisors, and undergraduate leadership. On behalf of the undergraduate chapter, I would like to extend a heartfelt “thank you” to all of the brothers who donated and participated in making this project and this fantastic new house possible; without such outstanding graduate support, we would not be where we are today. The new house truly marks the beginning of a new era in Gamma Tau’s already stellar history. (Continued on page 2) • Run for the Kids was held on November 29. Inside this issue: Keeping Excellence in Athletics 3 Run for the Kids Nov. 29 5 Welcome Pledges 6 We Encourage Service 7 \r\nGAMMA TAUK Page 2 A NEW HOUSE, AN OLD TRADITION continued... (Continued from page 1) Gamma Tau continued its excellence among other FIJI chapters, receiving several recognitions from Phi Gamma Delta’s International Awards. Our chapter placed third in the Condon Cup, given to the chapter with the greatest overall improvement. Also, Gamma Tau received honorable mentions in the Baker Cup and Zerman Trophy, given to chapters with the most outstanding social services and best overall campus involvement, respectively. At Georgia Tech, Gamma Tau also excelled, winning the Dean Dull Award for best overall chapter for the third consecutive year. Our chapter also continued its athletics dominance, winning the IFC intramural trophy. We continue to place a strong emphasis on academics and philanthropy, and our hard work has paid off. For the 30th consecutive year, our chapter received the Certificate of Superior Academic Achievement, with an overall GPA of 3.17, well above the all-men’s average on campus. For our annual fall break service trip, we had 200 brothers and guest travel to Cocoa Beach, Florida, for a Habitat for Humanity site build. Our annual fundraiser, FIJI Run for the Kids, will be held during Thanksgiving break, where brothers from Kappa Deuteron and Gamma Tau team up to run a football relay from Athens to Atlanta to raise money for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Gamma Tau has raised over $50,000 in the past four years, and the even has been publicized on local news networks and the AJC. If you would like to donate your time or money, please contact Darryn Hutchinson and Austin Rose at runforthekids@gtfiji.com. The Chapter hosted an exciting Homecoming this year, with a full breakfast and low-country boil lunch provided by our new food service, UpperCrust. Live music entertainment was provided by graduate brother Bert Reeves (1999) and his band “The Goodbye Machine.” To cap things off, Georgia Tech won an exciting game over Pittsburgh, 21-10. As we look towards 2014, I invite you to take an interest in the chapter and the achievements of its brothers. Your support is always welcomed, encouraged and appreciated at Gamma Tau. Please see the website for more information and explore www.gtfijigrads.com for updates from your fellow graduates. This is a truly exciting time to be a Fiji, and especially a Gamma Tau! \r\nGAMMA TAUK Page 3 KEEPING EXCELLENCE IN ATHLETICS 2013 marked yet another great year in FIJI athletics. We entered this year having won the intramural trophy for 12 years running, but due to changes in the athletic schedule, the IM trophy has not been awarded yet. However, with 11 finals appearances and eight championships under our belts this year, we are confident that the IM trophy will soon be in its rightful place in Landon Nelson Hall. 2013 Gamma Tau Accomplishments Flag Football Fraternity Runner-up Flag Football School Champions Fiji vs. Fiji for the independent championship. Ultimate Frisbee Fraternity Champions Sand Volleyball Fraternity Runner-up Sand Volleyball School Runner-up Soccer Fraternity Runner-up Whiffleball Fraternity Runner-up Whiffleball School Champions Dodgeball Fraternity Runner-up Dodgeball School Champions Cornhole Fraternity Champions Basketball Fraternity Champions Bowling Fraternity Champions Bowling School champions Fellow Fijis look on as Greg O’Neal (2014) and Eric Horn (2016) aim to knock out their opponents. GAMMA TAU AAA SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS Academic Achievement Awards (AAA) are just one benefit the Phi Gamma Delta Educational Foundation provides to undergraduate brothers - a $250 check to new initiates for achieving at least a 3.2 GPA during their pledge terms. Phi Gamma Delta is the only national fraternity or sorority to offer this blanketed scholarship that helps get our new brothers fo- Quinn Dolan Ben Murray Thomas Henderlong Brandon Danzig Eric Hom 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 cused on their academics. Thanks to those donors who support the Phi Gamma Delta Educational Foundation. Since its inception in 1999, AAA scholarships have been awarded to 147 Gamma Tau brothers, including the brothers listed below who received the AAA this calendar year: Alex Raabe Will Kittle Austin Schoech Zach Meyer Xiran Wang 2016 2016 2016 2016 2015 Austin Rose Adam Theisen Jack Diprete Shaun Orr Frazier Woodruff 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 \r\nGAMMA TAUK Page 4 LOST BROTHERS We have lost contact with the brothers below and we need your help. If you know the home address or email address of a brother below, please send the details to address@phigam.org so we can update our information. James D. Hedges 1929 James P. Silver 1959 Ray P. Flowers, III 1977 Allen S. Lin 2002 Walter Krueger , Jr. 1930 Jerry M. Figgins 1960 Joseph C. Harrison 1977 Lucas Gangone 2003 Kenneth D. Foster 1931 John A. Parker 1960 Steven M. Andrews, USA 1982 Michael A. Bartolo 2004 Peter H. Buckley 1933 Richard E. Hazlett 1961 Charles E. Potts 1982 Kurt S. Rowland 2004 Robert B. Caterson 1934 Ben H. Holcomb 1961 William L. Yeager 1982 N. Inchull Lee 2005 John B. Hale 1934 Thomas J. Beaird 1962 Kevin D. Ryan 1983 Kesler A. Pollard 2005 Robert A. Carson 1935 Lloyd D. Bird, Jr. 1963 Russell L. Carter 1984 Frederick H. Tull, III 2005 Charles H. Reed 1935 Michael M. Larrowe 1963 Miles Mercer 1984 Russell D. Blatt 2006 William C. Park , Jr. 1936 John B. Marbury, Jr. 1963 Sidney A. Brown 1986 Justin P. DeMeester 2006 Anthony L. Kocsis 1937 Robert P. Murray , Jr. 1964 Carlos E. Caceres 1987 Raheel A. Goheer 2006 Edward C. Guilford 1938 Greg A. Potter 1964 Alfred L. Christianson 1987 Ryan N. Swingruber 2006 Erich Weissenberger 1940 Stephen A. Rinehart 1964 Jon M. Jenkins 1987 Christopher M. Bair 2007 Daniel B. Williams 1940 Mario J. Torre 1965 Ronald F. Kirk, Jr. 1987 Brent T. Baxley 2007 Stanleigh F. Elam 1941 Ben H. Mitchell 1966 Jack W. McDaniel, Jr. 1988 William J. Bridges 2007 Franklyn H. John 1941 Jimmy L. Woods 1966 Thomas F. Sieja 1988 Ryan J. Doherty 2007 Franklin B. VanValkenburgh 1941 Richard M. Hill 1967 Joel K. Wood 1988 Christopher F. Fehn 2007 Wallace L. Paton , Jr. 1967 Jeffrey L. Crumley 1989 Graham R. Neff 2007 Eric A. Borges 1968 Kirby C. Pruett , Jr. 1989 Daniel M. Knopp 2008 G. Patrick Putnam 1969 John W. Drury 1990 Auroop M. Roy 2008 Sherman D. O'Brien 1970 Derrick R. Duell 1990 James C. Waring, III 2008 Michael T. Woodall 1970 Thomas J. Bryant 1993 Perry E. Williams 2008 George L. Smith, Jr. 1971 Jason A. Hill 1994 Mateo Garcia 2009 Ronald H. Benson 1972 Scott F. Oran 1994 Andrew Kohrs 2009 Stephen J. Farrell 1972 Stephen J. DeLancey 1996 Paul M. Sansom 2009 Stanley W. Lowe, Jr. 1973 Fredrik J. de Geer 1997 Stephen J. Hench 2010 Robert D. Blythe, Jr. 1974 Steven Zachok, III 1998 John M. Hoffer 2010 Foster E. Brown 1974 C. Shane Carver 1999 Kristofer J. Johnson 2010 Robert W. Hooper 1974 Michael A. Gibbs 1999 Akira Matsuzawa 2010 J. Wesley King, Jr. 1974 Anthony C. Watson 1999 Benjamin E. Reyes 2010 William R. McLellan 1974 Lovett G. Young 1999 Austin M. Lynch 2011 James T. Voglino 1975 Nicholas D. Johnson 2000 Mohsin J. Zuberi 2011 John H. Clark 1976 Justin M. Witty 2000 Philip J. O'Brien 2012 Charles E. Harrell, Jr. 1976 Charles T. Martin, III 2001 Brian Sprague 2012 A. Mc Kinley King 1976 J. Kenneth Morgan, III 2001 James K. Quina 1976 Michael W. Swift 2001 Robert O. Dodd , Jr. 1943 Lionell H. Nelson 1944 James C. Brooks 1945 Cleaborn S. O'Kelley 1946 William L. Peel 1946 Richard C. George 1947 Billy W. Williams 1947 Wayne G. Shear 1948 William K. Melton 1951 Samuel H. Scott , Jr. 1951 Adrian D. Bolch, Jr. 1953 Jan Bundsen 1953 Orlando J. Caluff 1953 Martin J. Kaiser 1954 David B. Donald 1955 James W. Thompson 1955 Hugh E. White 1955 Russell D. Jessee 1957 Jerry R. Mitchell 1959 \r\nGAMMA TAUK Page 5 RUN FOR THE KIDS - NOV. 29 Since 1998, the Gamma Tau Chapter at Georgia Tech and the Kappa Deuteron Chapter at the University of Georgia have hosted the annual FIJI Run For The Kids fundraising event. Both chapters collaborate to run a football between Athens, Georgia, and Atlanta, Georgia, for the Georgia-Georgia Tech football game on Thanksgiving weekend. This year, the 2013 FIJI Run For The Kids event was held on November 29. With the help of over 90 brothers at both chapters, alongside generous dona- tion from friends and family, we were able to raise nearly $9,000. Our goal is to raise $10,000 with the help of friends, family, and corporate sponsorships. 100% of the money raised is donated to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Children’s mission is to become the leading voice for the health of Georgia’s children as they provide treatment and enhance the lives of children with illnesses in Atlanta. Although the Run is over, it is not too late to donate. If you would like to sup- FIJI Run For the Kids Route port our chapters and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, you can donate online at the following website: http:// www.helpmakemiracles.org/. If you prefer to send a check, please mail your check to: Darryn Hutchinson 841 Fowler Street NW Atlanta, GA 30313 \r\nGAMMA TAUK Page 6 DEAN DULL: THREE CONSECUTIVE YEARS! This past fall, the Gamma Tau Chapter won the Dean Dull Award for the third year in a row! The award goes to the best overall fraternity at Georgia Tech and is based on scholarship, athletics, leadership, philanthropy, Homecoming, Greek Week, educational programming, and other aspects of Greek life. The award was announced last fall at the Georgia Tech Homecoming game against BYU. Winning Dean Dull has always been one of the foremost goals of the chapter, and the brothers have worked hard to excel in all aspects of Greek life in order to be the best fraternity on campus for three years running. The Dean Dull Trophy continues to motivate the brothers, and we will strive to keep it at Landon Nelson Hall for years to come. “The brothers have worked hard to excel in all aspects of Greek life in order to be the best fraternity on campus for three years running.” WELCOME PLEDGES With a whirlwind of enthusiasm surrounding the new house, the fall semester began with an extremely strong recruitment, which brought in a pledge class of 25 men, largest on campus. These new recruits have already shown a great deal of promise and have done an outstanding job learning about the chapter, growing together as a pledge class, and becoming increasingly acclimated to the traditions and expectations of our brotherhood. We look forward to seeing their contributions to the house in the near future. Thank you to all those who gave us rush contacts or helped us in the rush process this past year; please continue to submit names to the rush chairmen at rush@gtfiji.com and help us continue to build upon our recruitment success. NEW INITIATES Jack Anderson (2013) Darryn Hutchinson (2015) Ziran Wang (2015) Kyle Chrzanowski (2016) Brandon Danzig (2016) Quinn Dolan (2016) Carter Eaton (2016) Thomas Henderlong (2016) Eric Hom (2016) Will Kittle (2016) Zach Meyer (2016) Ben Murray (2016) Alex Raabe (2016) Austin Rose (2016) Austin Schoech (2016) Kyle Seebohn (2016) Adam Theisen (2016) FALL PLEDGE CLASS Brooks Doyle (2016) Adrian Kramer (2016) Alec Padgette (2016) Justin Reichling (2016) Anish Sharma (2016) Jake Anderson (2016) Zach Bailey (2016) Brian Bradley (2017) Palmer Brasher (2017) Jeffrey Chang (2017) Ford Croft (2017) Sarin Devraj (2017) Ryan Dwyer (2017) Zach Flegle (2017) Josh Horton (2017) James Karle (2017) Colin Kirkpatrick (2017) Andrew Kurowski (2017) Shane Mudrinich (2017) Luke Newman (2017) Brent Rosseland (2017) Jai Sharma (2017) Will Somers (2017) Casey Wright (2017) \r\nGAMMA TAUK Page 7 WE ENCOURAGE SERVICE This year, Gamma Tau has participated in multiple philanthropy events and has amassed over 1500 total philanthropy hours. For our biggest philanthropy trip over fall break, 200+ brothers and guests traveled to Cocoa Beach, Florida, to assist in a Habitat for Humanity Build. The fraternity has been involved in several IFC sponsored events including Campus Beautification and Sting Hunger. Biggest among these is GOALS, an organization founded and sponsored by FIJI brothers, that is dedicated to playing soccer with mentally handicapped children. If there are any additional philanthropic organizations you think would be a good idea for the Gamma Tau Chapter to get involved with, please contact our Philanthropy chairmen: Austin Schoech (2016) – aschoech@gatech.edu or Ben Murray (2016) – bmurray31@gatech.edu. Brothers volunteering at GOALS soccer. SAVE THE DATE! PIG DINNER AND COUSER GOLF TOURNAMENT MARCH 29, 2014 This year we will be bringing back the old tradition of holding the Couser Golf Tournament and Pig Dinner on the same day. In doing so, we hope to increase attendance and create a memorable event that lasts for the entire day. Pig Dinner will be held in Landon Nelson Hall for the first time, and we are still working on finding a location for Couser. The brotherhood is already very excited and we look forward to seeing everyone back in Landon Nelson Hall! \r\nNonprofit Org Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity 1201 Red Mile Road Lexington, KY 40504 US Postage Paid Lexington, KY Permit # 540 STAY CONNECTED - Chapter Website: gtfiji.com - Grad Website: gtfijigrads.com 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. Name________________________________________________ School/year__________________________ Address_________________________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip_____________________________________________________________________________ Phone (H)______________________________________(W)_______________________________________ E-mail__________________________________________________________________________________ News to share with classmates: _________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ Occupation ___________________________________ Employer ____________________________________ Spouse’s name __________________________________ Anniversary Date ______________________________ Children/Grandchildren Names and Ages: __________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ DONATE I am pleased to make a contribution to Gamma Tau of : $1,000 $500 $250 $100 $50 $25 Other ________ I would like my donation to be used in the following area: _______________________________________________ Donations can be sent to: Gamma Tau Chapter, 841 Fowler St NW, Atlanta, GA 30313. 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