Newsletter Title Rho Phi of Phi Gamma Delta 2013 Fall Edition Letter from the President Brothers and Parents, My name is Ryan Landwehr, and as the current chapter president of the Rho Phi Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta it is my honor to give you an update on what we’ve been up to during this Fall Quarter. We’ve kept the ball rolling coming off of a strong year last year, where we soared to #1 in average GPA out of all Greek chapters while maintaining leadership positions in extracurricular activities throughout campus. Dates to Remember:  Christmas Break, December 21-January 4  Fiji Academy, January 3-6  Winter Career Fair Ryan Landwehr, Chapter President January 22  Pig Dinner and Rho Phi Open, May 10 In this issue: Letter from the President 1 2013 Pledge Class 2-3 Homecoming 2013 4 This year’s rush was another success. It was truly remarkable to see our chapter come together and put together a strong effort in recruiting the future leadership of the Rho Phi Chapter. The hard work was reflected in our Fall 2013 pledge class, which is made up of 37 of the best men on campus. There’s a great variety among them, as they’re comprised of baseball, football, and track athletes. I can personally vouch for the character of these young men who embody our five values of Friendship, Knowledge, Service, Morality, and Excellence. They are eager to get involved with Fiji. The year has just begun, yet we’ve already seen success from Phi Gams on the athletic field. We swept the Intramural Football A and B league championships for the second year in a row, and look to have strong showings in both basketball and volleyball this winter. As for varsity sports, the cross country team placed second at the conference meet with brothers taking all-conference honors. The team went on to place 11th at the NCAA regional meet. Additionally, we’ve received much recognition on the football field as well, with multiple brothers earning Conference Player of the Week awards, all-conference selections, and, most importantly, a share of the HCAC conference title. I’m proud to say that Fiji has maintained dominance in the leadership positions on the football field (3of 4 team captains, starting center and quarterback). Homecoming was a great success this year. Through a huge effort by our Section Chief, Joe Weist, we were able to display photo albums organized by year that brought back some great Fiji memories from all the graduate brothers that attended. The class of 1983 was back in numbers celebrating their 30 year reunion. Additionally, I had a great time visiting with a group of 2003 grads upstairs in the guest room. I want to personally thank everyone who helped make this year’s homecoming a success, especially all of the graduate brothers that came back to the House and Oasis after the game. It was a clear representation that Phi Gamma Delta is, indeed, “Not for college days alone”. I look forward to continued success of the Rho Phi Chapter throughout the rest of this year, and I want encourage all brothers to come back for Pig Dinner and the Rho Phi Open on May 10th. We always look forward to seeing our regular attendees, as well as those returning for the first time. Fraternally, Ryan Landwehr ‘14 Chapter President Football Run follow-up 4 Indianapolis Hosts the 166th Ekklesia Fall Sports recap 5 Football IM Champs 5 Graduate Updates 6-7 Brothers! Save the date for the 166th Ekklesia, which is to be held in Indianapolis in July. More details to come in the coming months. July 24 - 27, 2014 \r\nRose Fiji 2 2013 PLEDGE CLASS FALL RUSH 2013 Written By Tim Harlan, Purple Legionnaire From New York to Oregon, from Minnesota to Texas, the 2013 Rho Phi pledge class spans the continent, reflecting the changing face of RoseHulman which this year is 70% out-of-state/international with 30% hailing from Indiana. For many of you reading this, these statistics reflect a huge shift from the demographics you enrolled in a few years ago. This year, we issued 43 bids and 37 men signed with us; of those, 5 were upperclassmen. We have continued to see more sophomores—and some juniors—who are attracted to our strong campus presence and brotherhood. Our upperclassmen include; sophomores Patrick Klima, Mitchell Orzech, Evan Witsken and juniors Derek Repking and Austin Schulthies. We also continue to pledge legacies; this fall, we took 6 legacies: 3 brothers, a nephew and 2 cousins. Our legacies include Jack Eichenberger: uncle from Purdue; Chase Stutsman and Ross Canada: cousins who are currently active Rho Phis; Andrew Okruch: brother Matt a graduate of U. of Kentucky and Austin and Lucas Schulthies, who have TWO Rho Phi brothers: P.J., a recent graduate brother and Blake, a junior. We believe 4 Rho Phi BROTHER brothers is a record! “Active, academic and involved” would be the three words that best sum up the pledge class. High school activities included class officers, community service, volunteer organizations, science fair winners and club officers. Eight were either on the prom or homecoming courts; several were in drama or music organizations. Many were varsity sports participants including basketball, baseball, football, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and soccer. Several were all-district, all-conference or all-state. Three were Eli Lilly Scholars, others won Kiwanis and Optimist Scholarships, a Nestle Waters scholarship, the Vonderschmitt Scholarship; others were awarded various state and county financial awards or Rose-Hulman Merit Scholarships. Four were valedictorians; one was salutatorian and nearly all were in the top 10% of their classes. At Rose, the new pledges are involved in activities including SA positions, IM sports, volunteer organizations, student government, Alpha Lambda Delta, FCA, ASCE, ASME, scuba club and others. Varsity athletes include involvement in football, baseball, track and field, tennis, club volleyball and club badminton. This is an amazingly-talented and diverse class, and we are MIGHTY PROUD to call them Rho Phi brothers. You should be proud, too, of the hard work put in by our rush chairs Spencer Chestnut and Alex White and the whole group of Rush Committee brothers whose hard work allowed the strong continuation of your Rho Phi chapter. We would, also, like to offer a special thanks to graduate brother Nate Richter who was kind enough to speak at our final rush event, our CELEBRATION OF BROTHERHOOD dinner. Brothers Austin and Lucas Schulthies Rush Chairs, Spencer Chestnut and Alex White \r\nRose Fiji 3 2013 PLEDGE CLASS FALL RUSH 2013 RHO PHI 2013 PLEDGE CLASS with MAJOR(S) and HOME STATES CRAIG AYERS Civil ILLINOIS BRANDON BENEDICT ME INDIANA KYLE BREWER ME INDIANA ROSS CANADA Civil INDIANA KOBY CLOSE Bio Med COLORADO JACK EICHENBERGER ME, MA KENTUCKY JAMES (J. T.) ERNST Chem E INDIANA ALEC FISHER ME OHIO SCOTT GARDNER CPE INDIANA NATHAN GREEN ME INDIANA BRIAN GREENBLATT ME ILLINOIS STEVEN GRUSZKOWSKI ME ILLINOIS JORDAN HARR Civil ILLINOIS JORDAN IRVIN Civil OHIO NICHOLAS (NIC) KELLER Bio Med INDIANA PAT KLIMA ME INDIANA NATHAN KOLB ME OHIO LUCAS KOPECKY Chem E OREGON ARIK LOKENSGARD Civil MINNESOTA SHAWN MCCOWN Civil ILLINOIS KEVIN NOWAK Civil ILLINOIS MARLIN O’NEAL Chem E TEXAS ANDREW OKRUCH ME KENTUCKY MITCHELL ORZECH MA, CPLS INDIANA TRENT PUNT SE, CS INDIANA BENJAMIN QUALTERS ME NEW YORK DEREK REPKING Civil ILLINOIS DREW SCHNITZ ME INDIANA AUSTIN SCHULTHIES ME INDIANA LUCAS SCHULTHIES EE INDIANA CHASE STUTSMAN Bio Med INDIANA CODY SUNDERHAUS Civil INDIANA AUSTIN SWENSON Civil ILLINOIS ZACHARY TRUSK Civil INDIANA BENJAMIN WEWE Chem E INDIANA JACOB WHITACRE ME ILLINOIS EVAN WITSKEN ME INDIANA \r\nRose Fiji 4 Homecoming 2013 Written By Michael Bush Homecoming is one of our favorite times of the year at the Rho Phi chapter. Each year this is an opportunity for us as an undergraduate chapter to show our respect for those who have gone before us. The festivities start off Friday night with the annual Pep Rally, Queen Coronation, and Bonfire. This year, the homecoming queen was Katherine Moravec. Similar to last year, the annual Bonfire was less than enjoyable, due to rainy weather. The following day was filled with many festivities, including the homecoming football game in which the Engineers topped Defiance College 23-19. Eighteen of the Engineer’s points were scored by current Rho Phi members Ryan Landwehr, Aaron Abbott and Danya Francis, all within the third quarter of the game. Prior to and during the football game, food and refreshments were served by current Rho Phi members at the Fiji tent along the sidelines. Games such as corn hole and hillbilly golf were also provided. The atmosphere was one of enjoyment, and pride in the fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. We are proud to say there were an enormous amount of graduate and undergraduate brothers at this event; the entire sideline was filled with Rho Phi members ranging from the current sophomores to the class of ’75. This made for a fantastic time of story-telling and camaraderie. Following the game, a small reception was held at the Chapter House for all graduate and undergraduate brothers. The chapter house was decorated with memoirs of times past, allowing for much reminiscing. Countless photos, records, and chapter newsletters from over the years were presented in binders and available for viewing which many graduates enjoyed looking through. Outside the house Can Jam, Corn Hole, and pickup basketball games were enjoyed by brothers. Joining us at Homecoming included these four Rho Phi pledge brothers from the Class of 2003, L-R: Scott Green, Clayton Buchner, Tim Swan, and Dan Lessing. We at the Rho Phi chapter of Phi Gamma Delta are proud to host and entertain our graduate brothers every year at Homecoming. This year, we had approximately 150 graduate brothers attend, and look forward to receiving more and more each year. The office of Graduate Relations is preparing in earnest for our annual Pig Dinner on May 10th, and further experiencing the notion of “Not for college days alone.” Fiji Football Run Follow -up Brothers from the class of 1983 return for homecoming Written by Andrew Thompson 2013 marked the fourth running of the annual Fiji Football Run for The Red Cross. The game ball covered the 150 mile distance from Hanover to Rose-Hulman with time to spare, and the Brothers of the Tau and Rho-Phi chapters were able to help the community as only Fijis can. The Rho-Phi chapter alone was able to raise nearly $2500 for the Vigo County Chapter of the Red Cross. The funds will go towards helping local Indiana residents suffering due to fire, flooding, or other disasters to get back on their feet and rebuild. Dean Varvel, Spencer Chestnut and Phil Koranteng, this year’s chairman, said “it was great to see all the support that we received from brothers, our families, and our community. This event would not have been possible without so many generous donors.” Ryan Dick running the Football. Despite the success of this year’s event, the work is not over. Donations can still be made through PayPal by going to rosefiji.com/fiji-football-run and clicking on the link. However, work will soon begin on making next year’s event bigger and better than ever, as we will be looking to take the Fiji Football Run to the next level. Thank you to all who donated!!! Brothers from the Hanover and Rose Chapters with Dale from The Red Cross \r\nRose Fiji 5 FALL ATHLETICS Fa l l S e a s o n S p o r t s W r a p U p This fall sports season, many brothers were actively involved with Cross Country and Football. Lead by a new head coach, Geoffrey Wayton, the Engineers competed at the HCAC placed eleventh. This is their best finish at the regional meet in 25 years. Addison Williams was injured during the majority of the season but looks to make a strong return for the indoor and conference meet held at Defiance College. On a cold and rainy day, Ryan outdoor track seasons. Meyer and Andrew Thompson were huge contributors to the success of the Cross Country team, finishing second in the conference to Manchester. Ryan Meyer earned all-conference honors by placing 11th and Andrew Thompson was just outside the Honorable Mention AllConference placing 24th. The team went on to compete at the NCAA Regional Meet held at Calvin College, where they The Fighting Engineers Football team ended the season with a winning record of 7-3 to match the most wins in a season since 1988. They also shared the conference championship with Franklin College which has not been done since 1988. Fiji’s named First-team allconference were Kie Bates, Dean Griffing, and Ryan Landwehr. Fiji’s named second-team awards were Zac Erba, Danya Francis, Kevin Nowak, and Eric Schaible. Cody Rivers was named honorable mention all-conference. Injured for a majority of the season, but still large contributors to the team were Aaron Abbott, Andrew Strebing and Jacob Dye. Ryan Landwehr handing the ball off to Danya Francis Dean Griffing making a tackle on Defiance College’s quarterback Meyer (left) and Thompson (right) competing at the Great Lakes Regional Meet. F i j i Fo o t b a l l I M C h a m p s Written by Tim Harlan Both the Rho Phi A and B IM football teams were victorious in the IM final fall Football Championship Games. The “A” team defeated the Pterodactyls, an independent league team, and the “B” team defeated Triangles in that final. “A” team members, pictured right, include: FRONT ROW (KNEELING): Michael Bush, Blake Schulthies, Spencer Chestnut and Caleb Comstock BACK ROW (STANDING or CROUCHING): Joel Stiffler, Josh Cribelar, Todd Clapp, Ethan Kroh, Gunnar Hutchison and Matt Palla \r\nRose Fiji 6 GRADUATE UPDATES Wes Bolson ‘00 Recently moved to Denver, Colorado from his home on Palo Alto, CA to start a new job. He took a leadership role at Cool Planet, an agricultural waste to gasoline, jet, and diesel fuel company. The second largest shareholder is Google, alongside BP, ConocoPhillips, GE, and NRG Energy. When brothers are coming through Denver to ski, he would love to host you. He and his wife Rebecca just bought a 5 bedroom home on the South side of Denver. Wes and wife Rebecca James D. Tribble ‘74 After 8 years in Richmond, Virginia James has been paroled on good behavior back to Brazil Indiana and Tredegar Terre Haute moving from Product Development to a new position in the plant. This gets him back home to his wife who kept her job at SMWC and their youngest in the same schools and did not move to Virginia. Glad to be “Back Home Again in Indiana” It has been a busy fall season with 3 Notre Dame games attended and four St. Louis Cardinals playoff games attended plus several regular season games. James at the October 26th Cardinals game James attended Homecoming this year and also attended the Rosewood Breakfast. He was pleased at the state of the house and recommends attending future Rosewood events. In November, Judy, daughter Mary Beth and James traveled to San Francisco for a Thanksgiving Holiday vacation. They saw Dennis and Peggy Paustenbach and they all went to the ND vs. Stanford game together. Their elder daughter Theresa just had her second child, Anne Marie Ferrara, on Labor Day. She joins older brother Victor pictured left. Their elder son Philip has two children, Andrew (4) and Lucy Elizabeth (2). Their younger son Matthew has a daughter Katelyn Margaret (1) and another due any day now. James’ s Grandchildren Victor (right) and Anne Marie (left). Bob Froetscher ‘80 Bob’s daughter, Lynn, was honored as senior co-captain of Colorado College's Women's soccer team, which has just one the Conference USA Women's soccer title for the second year in a row. Colorado College Women's Soccer competes in Division I, despite having only 2,000 total students and the Colorado College Women's soccer program is currently ranked 35th out of over 320 Division I women's soccer programs in the country. They are hoping to earn an NCAA tournament bid. Me, my wife, Janet and my daughter, Lynn are pictured at the ceremony. Bob, wife Janet, and daughter Lynn receiving Honors as a co-captian of Colorado’s Women’s soccer team \r\nRose Fiji 7 GRADUATE UPDATES Mike Nisbet ‘75 Several brothers from the class of ‘75 and ‘76 and their spouses have met fro the past 12 years for a long weekend at Cumberland Lake, Kentucky. This year the crew was (left to right): John Weaver '75, David'75 & Barbara Steinbock, Dave '75 & Robin Myers, Mike '75 & Karen Huhnke, Mark '76 & Cindia Ress, Mike '75 & Janet Nisbet. Fiji Brothers with their wives at Cumberland Lake in July (photo courtesy of David Steinbock) Michael Collins ‘73 Michael Collins and a group met for dinner with other Rose Fiji graduate brothers on September 9th. They exchanged stories and memories of the house, Rose professors, the crawl space excavation, other brothers, and the first HP35 calculator. They also shared their own accomplishments, families and current evnets. They hope to do this again and include wives and/or significant others (From right to left) Bruce Schmidt, Michael Popagain, Ed Zdankiewicz, Micheal Schipper, and Michael Collins Michael Ray Lawrence ‘94 January 29, 1972 - November 10, 2013 Brother Lawrence passed ad astra on November 10, 2013 in an automobile accident. He is survived by his wife of 16 years, Mindy and children Caplin (19), Riley (8), Luke (7), and Maysa (5). Mike was a graduate of F. J. Reitz High School, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (class of 1994) where he played basketball for the Fighting Engineers, and earned his MBA at the University of Southern Indiana. He was a talented and loyal employee to Berry Plastics for 18 years where he held numerous leadership positions in the areas of engineering, marketing, quality, and most recently the Product Manager for healthcare bottles in the Rigid Closed Top Division. He was a member of the Christian Fellowship Church and was associated with numerous fundraising activities for organizations such as the United Way of Southwestern Indiana and the Boys and Girls Club of Evansville. Mike had an intense love for his family and friends. He loved life, horse racing, and the Duke Blue Devils. Mike cherished every moment he had watching his children participate in athletics and donated his time as a coach for his son’s basketball team. He will be forever remembered as a loving, upbeat, and unselfish son, husband, father, and friend. Mike Lawrence , who recently passed in an automobile accident \r\nRho Phi of Phi Gamma Delta Rho Phi Chapter Phi Gamma Delta PO Box 3047 Terre Haute, IN 47803 Mailing Address Line 1 Mailing Address Line 2 Mailing Address Line 3 Mailing Address Line 4 Mailing Address Line 5 NOT FOR COLLEGE DAYS ALONE Find us Online! rosefiji.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 or email RMeyer@rosefiji.com for your information to be published. Name: _____________________________________________________________ School/year: ______________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ City / State / Zip: _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone: Home :_______________________ Work: ________________________ Cell: ___________________________ Email: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ News to share: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Occupation:____________________________________________ Employer:_______________________________________________ CONTRIBUTE TO THE RHO PHI CHAPTER I am pleased to make a contribution to Rho Phi of: $1000 $500 $250 $100 $50 $25 Other: $______________ I would like my donation to be used in the following area:____________________________________________________________________________. Donations can be made online at www.phigam.org/netcommunity/rosedonations or send checks payable to PhiGamma Delta—Rho Phi Chapter/RoseHulman Donations, PO Box 4599, Lexington, KY 40544 and include this form