The Golden Eagle Fiji V O L U M E 3 4 , I S S U E 2 F A L L 2 0 1 2 Presidential Pumpkins Preside at Fiji House This fall Tech bid farewell to President Bob Bell and welcomed our 9th university president, Philip B. Oldham. Many students had the opportunity to meet Dr. Oldham at events such as Dancing on Dixie and Convocation. However, the brothers of Phi Gamma Delta were given the honor of having him and his family over at the house one evening a few weeks into the semester. While they were over we had activities prepared such as volleyball, corn hole, and pumpkin carving. The pumpkin carving was particularly enjoyed by Mrs. Oldham and daughter Audrey. We had a great time with the Oldham's and await all the great things they are sure to bring to the university. You can follow the President at his official blog at http://blogs.tntech.edu/president/author/ poldham/ A PUBLICATION OF THE THETA TAU CHAPTER OF PHI GAMMA DELTA “I’m not trying to brag, but it was the best pumpkin I’ve ever seen ” -Jesse Lilligren \r\nPAGE 2 Can A Brother Get Some Scholarship? This fall semester, in an effort to continue improving our scholarship, we have started a competition between the pledges and brothers. The goal is to achieve the highest grade point average and the most library hours. The old adage “to the victor go the spoils” rings true in this case with the victorious group being promised a full three course meal to be served by the losing side. This competition has led to many a long study sessions in the library with the brothers and pledges sitting near one another and often refusing to leave until the announcement comes that the library doors will soon be locked. This has led to absolute exhaustion on both sides; with brothers barely able to drag themselves to Bob’s on a Thursday night. However, that must surely be counted another stroke towards victory in the battle for higher GPA’s. House Improvements “I’m not trying to let the house fall down right now.”Seth Bradley This summer we got the air conditioner fixed and had a great brotherhood workday. We were able to get a lot of maintenance and cleaning done. We want to thank Billy Leslie and Mickey Williams for all the help they gave us that day. We really enjoyed spending time with them hanging around the house. We have some plans for fixing some of the structural problems in the near future, but overall the house is still in pretty good shape and running smoothly. — Seth Bradley Fiji Islander “That fire was This year we had Fiji Islander at Golden Mountain Campground in Sparta, TN. The weekend started with threat of rain looming, but it held off for most of the weekend except during Saturday night. In spite of the weath- too hot, I’m not trying to get burned.”Jesse Lilligren THE GOLDEN EAGLE FIJI er we all had a great time camping. Everyone enjoyed encouraging and helping the pledges build a bonfire. It took awhile to start with all the damp wood, but once it got going we all had a great time relieving the chill of the night air with its heat. Many great memories came out of this island. We had brothers steal- ing each others panda bears, pumpkins being hidden all over the place, and one brother even found and gave a good home to a dog that had been hanging around the park this fall. It was a great weekend and we all look forward to another one next year. \r\nVOLUME 34, ISSUE 2 PAGE Rush This fall we began our recruitment with the goal of finding the best young men we could to constitute our final Beta Pledge Class, Beta Omega. We began the semester with our South Patio Party on September 6th. We had another great turnout this year with Brother Dustin Smith rushing to feed all of the Setting up hungry freshmen. Our next pre-rush for South Patio Party event was the third annual Fiji Rave hosted by DJ Snapple (identity purposefully withheld.) Those events helped kick off a very successful rush week. On Monday we replaced the usual golf night with a throwback Fiji Olympics night. It was a ton of fun with some of the most hysterical moments being the speed walking races around the volleyball court. Other competitions included a coconut shot-put and no-holds-barred fruit holding. On Tuesday we held the crowd favorite County Fair Night. That nights main attraction was our very own band featuring brothers Nathan Brown, Justin Foster, Matt Mercer, Ben Higgins, and William Galloway Scheibe IV. We also had the pleasure of tasting the culinary stylings of brother Joey Laine. His various fried foods were a huge hit. Wednesday was Island Night which featured the always good Island Chicken. We ended the week with Gentleman’s Night at the BCM where we had the pleasure of hearing graduate brother Isaac Keebler tell about his experiences in Phi Gamma Delta. You can see bios of our new pledge brothers on pages 8-11. 3 \r\nPAGE 4 Letter From the President Parent's Organization to start getting more parental inThis Fall has been volvement in our Chapter, a great time for Theta Tau, whether it be in advisory poas it always is in Cookeville! sitions, or just to come around and see the good As always, we got off to a that we do around campus great start with our South Patio Party, this year it was and the Cookeville communisponsored by several local ty. We would like to invite restaurants and businesses. any Graduate Brothers who Recruitment came up soon would like to help to get inafter that, and now our Beta volved with this, we think it could be a great thing for our Omega Pledge Class is chapter. nearing the end of their pledge semester. We have participated in several As I’m writing this we are in philanthropies already this the middle of preparations for year, most recently winning homecoming. We are looking Alpha Delta Pi's Diamond forward to having everyone Heist for Ronald McDonald in town for the products of House. We also put on a our hard work. Parent's Appreciation Dinner that was thoroughly enI hope that this year joyed by the parents of Un- is going as well for you as it dergraduate Brothers and is for us. Of course, our Pledges alike. This is just house is always open to you the beginning of a campaign and your family if you ever we are starting to have a want to drop in for a visit. We Graduate Brothers, I wish you all the best in the coming holidays, and look for more updates coming soon! Fraternally, Nathan D. Brown P! Congrats to Our Brothers “Congratulations is what I’m trying to say.” - Jesse Lilligren THE would love to have more graduates come around any time! We would like to congratulate several brothers who have recently been married.  Kyle and Laura Bush  Dan and Kayla Kennedy  Christopher and Rachel Baldwin  James and Kim Leeper  Joseph and Kelly Wigington  Jason Hunter and Christy Hunter  Matt and Tiffany Brocato  Luke and Jill Denney  Daniel and Lauren Bouch GOLDEN EAGLE FIJI  Ryan and Tia Rios  Anthony and Chelsey Campbell  Isaac Keebler and Taren Brown \r\nVOLUME 34, ISSUE 2 PAGE 5 Parents Day ! ‘How Did It Go?’ Parents Day this semester went great! The events kicked off early as some of the parents attended the Rugby Game, which was a blast! After the rugby game we all slowly gathered at the fraternity house for some sensational conversations. It was a long and awkward two hours for those of us who’s parents could not make it. But for the most part everyone was in a great mood and everyone got to meet new brothers and their parents. After the house tours and the “Meet & Greet” everyone headed over to the Tech Pride Room located in the University Center. We ate a dinner and our Recording Secretary William Galloway Schiebe IV spoke about what the fraternity is valued upon [Friendship, Knowledge, Service, Morality, and Excellence] and what kind of men that we strive to be everyday here at Tennessee Tech. After Will’s speech our President Nathan Brown spoke about the upcoming events for this semes- ter which included Homecoming Week [Nov.3] and our philanthropy supporting Multiple Sclerosis known as MS Island. He incorporated many great pictures that delicately described to the parents what we are all about Service wise. He also touched on the idea of forming a Parents Association on how the parents can get more involved in the chapter if they so choose. The day as a whole was a success and we would like to thank all the parents that were a part of this day! - Justin Foster “ Thank You Parents For Creating All Of My Best Friends ” - William Galloway Schiebe IV Fiji Bicycle Gang... \r\nPAGE 6 Homecoming 2012 The homecoming theme this year was television shows. We took advantage of the opportunity to build the pirate ship from the Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything by the Veggie Tales. The preparations were difficult as always, however we pulled through and managed to have a good time in the process. Many of the brothers were practicing long hours for the pep rally, in which we placed third, and the rest were “I’m just trying to make the kids happy.” Jesse Lilligren THE GOLDEN EAGLE FIJI busily working on the float. In the meantime we were all eagerly making preparations for the annual Kazoo Band, which was definitely the highlight of our homecoming. We were led into the fray by our fearless leader, Nintendo Man, and managed to only make a few of the children cry this year. It will surely be counted as a successful parade. \r\nVOLUME 34, ISSUE 2 PAGE M.S. Island This year during MS Island we raised over $7000 towards the South East branch of Multiple Sclerosis Research. We started the Philanthropy week off with FIJI Olympic Night, with fun and games for the Sororities to compete in. Phi Mu won most of the games taking an early lead. The second night, we brought back the Brotherhood Auction. This year we auctioned off 8 brothers and 2 sets of pledges, with nearly every bid exceeding $125. The lovely ladies of Kappa Delta, won the night winning 6 out of 10 possible bids. Overall, Kappa Delta won MS Island week, as we once again exceeded the goal set for Island. We will continue to raise the bar on MS Island week, and look to raise the most money in chapter history for MS Research. “I’m just trying to help find a cure for multiple sclerosis.” Jesse Lilligren The Lovely Ladies of Kappa Delta won M.S. Island this year. Oink Oink Don’t Forget Pig Dinner This Fall has flown by and next spring will too. Make sure to go ahead and make your plans to attend the annual Frank Norris Pig Dinner on April 20, 2013. We look forward to seeing all of you then. 7 \r\nPAGE 8 2012 Fall Pledge Class - Beta Omega Jacob Austin Carson Major: Basic Engineering Estimated Graduation: Spring 2016 Hometown: Winchester, TN Why did you pledge Fiji: I am pledging Fiji because I believe it is a great fraternity. Fiji’s standard will help me develop into a productive man after college, along with creating lifelong brotherly bonds with the brothers. What is your favorite thing about the fraternity thus far?: Pledging Fiji has already been a success for me. I have created brotherly bonds with my pledge brothers. I have really gotten to know them over the past few weeks. THE GOLDEN EAGLE FIJI \r\nVOLUME 34, ISSUE 2 PAGE Chris Allen Charlton Major: General Curriculum Estimated Graduation: Spring 2016 Hometown: Mt. Juliet, TN Why did you pledge Fiji: The reason I chose to pledge Phi Gamma Delta is to form lasting friendships with the brothers and better myself as a person. What is your favorite thing about the fraternity thus far?: My favorite thing about pledging FIJI thus far is caving and all the outdoors activities we have done. Chris Douglas Wilson Major: Chemistry (Pre-Pharmacy) Estimated Graduation: May 2016 Hometown: Gallatin, TN Why did you pledge Fiji? I decided to pledge because everyone seemed friendly and easy to get along with. I also respect that scholarship is such a high priority to this Fraternity. What is your favorite thing about the fraternity thus far? Fiji Islander was my favorite thing so far. I enjoyed the bonding time with the brothers and my pledge brothers. Leland Todd Hasty Major: Political Science Estimated Graduation: May 2016 Hometown: Smithville, TN Why did you pledge Fiji? I am pledging Fiji because from what I have seen so far it is the best Fraternity on campus. It is full of men that set goals and exceed them and it is based on values that I respect and admire. What is your favorite thing about the fraternity thus far? My favorite things about Fiji so far are the values that are exemplified by the brothers. 9 \r\nPAGE 10 Caleb Harrison Thomas Blackwell Major: Chemical Engineering Estimated Graduation: May 2016 Hometown: Smithville, TN Why did you pledge Fiji? I pledged Fiji because the brothers I met at rush seemed like guys I would want to be around. What is your favorite thing about the fraternity thus far? Meeting and getting to know all of the brothers has been the best part so far. David Josh Merritt Major: International Business Estimated Graduation: May 2016 Hometown: Eagleville, TN Why did you pledge Fiji? I was originally attracted to Fiji because of my brother-inlaw James Leeper. Getting to know the brothers is the reason I have continued pledging. What is your favorite thing about the fraternity thus far? Meeting and becoming friends with the brothers and my pledge brothers is my favorite thing so far. Trevor Drew Nicely Major: Pre-Nursing Estimated Graduation: May 2016 Hometown: Knoxville, TN Why did you pledge Fiji? The brotherhood I saw on display at the Fiji house seemed very strong. I really wanted to be a part of that. What is your favorite thing about the fraternity thus far? Participating in outdoor activities around Cookeville with everyone has been my favorite thing so far. THE GOLDEN EAGLE FIJI \r\nPAGE 11 Patrick Dhansukhbhai Patel Major: Pre-Pharmacy Estimated Graduation: May 2016 Hometown: Cleveland, TN Why did you pledge Fiji? I pledged Fiji because the values of the Fraternity fit my own values. What is your favorite thing about the fraternity thus far? All of the activities I have participated in with my pledge brothers such as baking pancakes, making chili, and decorating the house for Christmas. Denison Lee Dreaden Major: Sociology (Criminal Justice) Estimated Graduation: May 2016 Hometown: Pegram, TN Why did you pledge Fiji? I decided to pledge Fiji because of the character of the brothers. I wanted to have the opportunity to experience the close friendships that the Fraternity seemed to foster. What is your favorite thing about the fraternity thus far? The friendships I’ve developed have been my favorite part so far. Joshua Stephen Woodward Major: History Estimated Graduation: Dec. 2013 Hometown: Kingston, TN Why did you pledge Fiji? I pledged to improve myself and to be a part of something bigger than myself. What is your favorite thing about the fraternity thus far? Meeting all of my pledge brothers and making new long term friendships. THE GOLDEN EAGLE FIJI \r\nNonprofit Org US Postage Paid Lexington, KY Permit # 540 Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity 1201 Red Mile Road Lexington, KY 40504 Full Color Golden Eagle Fijis are available online at www.ttufiji.com/tfi/gefiji/ If you have any comments or suggestions about the Golden Eagle Fiji or would like to be featured in an upcoming issue, please contact: Tyler Cosby Graduate Relations Chairman jtcosby42@students.tntech.edu 931-309-6538 (cell) Important Dates: Pig Dinner April 20th, 2012 Visit Us Online at www.ttufiji.com Christmas at the House PERGE!