P HI G AMMA D ELTA T HE B LUEGRASS F IJI N EWS A P UBLICATION OF THE B ROTHERS OF THE U PSILON K APPA C HAPTER OF P HI G AMMA D ELTA Spring 2010 Not for college days alone... Thank you to all graduates who sent an update. We hope you enjoy reading through them. Barrett Gough, UK „05: Barrett is currently a PhD candidate in American Studies at the University of Iowa. He is currently serving on the BCA of the Mu Deuteron Colony at Iowa. Vince Tortora, UK „09: I'm currently entering my second of four rotations for United Technologies finance program. I will be working in Stratford, CT at Sikorsky Helicopters for 6 months in general accounting; then moving on to the next assignment in August. Mike Wesley, UK „69: I'm enjoying retirement after 33 yrs in Education. I retired from Fairfax County Va. schools. Enjoying being a Tom Scovic, UK ‟07: I live in Tempe, AZ and am finishing up my grandpa. Living outside of Washington D.C. You can email at MBA in Sports Business at Arizona State in May. Still no job as of yet, Vapaddington@yahoo.com so if anyone works, or has contacts, in the sports industry and is hiring, I'm your guy. Chris Disponette: I'm in my 13th year with Altec Industries. I have 2 children: my daughter, Taylor is 11, my son, Logan, is 6. I Dan Howarth, UK ‟09: I work for Total Quality Logistics in Cincinstill reside in Frankfort, KY. In my spare time (when not at basket- nati, OH. I am Logistics Account Executive. Besides from work ball and volleyball games), I am a Master Vintner who enjoys making (which takes up 90% of my life) I watch a lot of tv, play in a basketball all blends of fruit wines. I continue to be an avid scuba diver, and league, hype up UK's national title hopes, and bro out in Cincinnati and operate Bluegrass Underwater Recovery (www.bgrecovery.com) as a occasionally Lexington, whenever I get awesome basketball tickets. hobby. Dustin Smith, UK ‟09: I'm a Financial Analyst for the Department of Max Jerrell, UK „64: Lived at Flagstaff, Arizona for the past 30 Defense. I live in Indianapolis, Indiana. I am getting my MBA from years; Lt Col USAF Reserves (ret); Professor Emeritus of Economics, Anderson University. Northern Arizona University; Member, Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors; Past Commander, Post 2000, Scottish Ameri- Chris Muryn, UK „07: Chris now lives in Charlotte, NC. Attending can Military Society. You can see some of my current interests at UNC at Charlotte getting my masters of urban design. Graduating in maxjerrell.smugmug.com December. Watch every game on Tuesday in the back of my law class on ESPN 360. Cont’d page 4 Purple Legionnaire‟s Letter President‟s Letter Brothers, I wanted to take some time to update you on what the Upsilon Kappa Chapter has accomplished this semester. I am quite proud of the areas where we have excelled, and am not blind to the areas where we have struggled. Regardless of the result, we have adjusted our goals to strive for more, or to adjust the situation to be better prepared to meet the original goals. In my first message I addressed four focus areas for the next year: Scholarship, Brotherhood, Recruitment/Retention, and Campus/ Community Involvement. As a Chapter we are exceeding in several of these areas, but in my opinion are struggling with Recruitment/ Retention. Scholarship is the most important aspect of the Fraternity, and is why we are all in college. We have redeveloped our Greetings Brothers At last, March is upon us here in the Bluegrass, with the final snow melted and the gray, bitter sky of winter faded into the cleaner, bluer one of spring. The birds have returned, and the days of grunting over snow shovels and salty driveways have been replaced by the relaxing, carefree afternoons of backyard barbecues and Keeneland. Ah, Lexington. Spring always reminds me of Pig Dinner, of joining fellow graduates to catch up and share the old, unusually inappropriate stories of drunken adventures and other mischief's common to our younger kin. This year, we plan to celebrate on April 24, in the Hyatt as always. Mac Wall, a local graduate from Mississippi State and the recently-retired Executive Director of KET, will be the Keynote. Mac has been a fixture in both public broadcasting, education, and community ser- Continued next page \r\nP HI G AMMA D ELTA P AGE 2 PL’s letter, cont’d President’s letter, cont’d current scholarship plan to meet more of the needs that fit the Chapter currently. To further help, we updated our Study File to have more recent notes, quizzes, and exams from the more common classes. We have asked the Brothers to volunteer their help if the exceed in an academic area. In addition, we have identified Brothers who are struggling and have provided them contact information for CARES, a tutoring service on campus. The reason I hope we are all in FIJI is the Brotherhood it offers. I firmly believe that it is our most observable aspect and what sells our Fraternity to others. Brothers had expressed concerns that organized Brotherhood had been lacking in the past semester and they wanted to more organized events. We took this concern very seriously, and decided that we needed an organized, dedicated chair. Josh Pascua has exceeded all expectations that I had for the committee and has put forth countless hours of effort in planning and executing to make this a successful semester for Brotherhood. Last Thursday we had an event to watch Tom Wilson perform his stand up routine at Comedy off Broadway. Campus and Community Involvement is the best way for us to promote the good name of the Fraternity and to educate others on what it means to us to be a FIJI. We have been active in getting Brothers involved in organizations on campus outside of FIJI that they are interested in being a member of. In the upcoming Student Government Election we have a Brother and Pledge running for senator on the Smith/Hayes ticket. Kelsie Willett a junior is running for Senator of Gatton College of Business and Economics. Eli Edwards, freshmen is running for Senator of College of Education. Dance Blue was held from March 5-6, 2010, and raised $636,638.58 for pediatric oncology research. I would like to formally recognize James Chapman and Matt Dempsey for being overall chairs and to recognize their efforts in the planning of Dance Blue. We were the only organization on campus that had more than one member as an overall chair. As a Fraternity we had seven Brothers participate in the 24 hour dance marathon. We also had several Brothers volunteer at the event. We recently as a Chapter participated in two Philanthropy events Greek Madness and KET‟s Spring Phonathon. As a Chapter we want to grow. We have decided that we would like to be an 80 man Chapter in the next year. Unfortunately, we have struggled with recruitment and retention this semester. This has forced us to change our mindset on recruitment and come up with new strategies to accomplish our goal. We are currently looking in to creating a Recruitment Team that will be active recruiters for the Chapter all summer and will be in charge of getting out early bids. We would like to have a 25-30 man pledge class in the fall and are working on planning summer events and a recruitment workshop for the Chapter as well. As President, I am proud of the accomplishments we have made in a short time, and am aware of our short comings. We have an active plan to address our problem areas, and discussion with Brothers has generated lots of ideas that we have implemented or are working with. I highly encourage any feedback that you may have for the Fraternity, my email is rmcoy2@gmail.com. Murphey Coy, UK „11 vice, a man who demonstrates the Five Values to the nth degree. We look forward to his commentary and presence. The last time I wrote, I discussed my first impressions of chapter life since returning as PL, how Phi Gamma Delta felt so different since my days of being an undergraduate. Part of my reaction was due to my age and a shift in priorities, part of it was due to the PL role I've had to play. What's surprised me, though, is that the more time I spend with these young men, the more I find we have in common we like to drink beer, we like to work hard for the fraternity, we like to stay up late and talk about girls and parents and where we'll be in five years. We all share a common dream, to make the fraternity better, to leave a legacy others will remember. As men, I have to believe the Immortal Six saw the fraternity as such. Brilliant men, no doubt, who understood the value of the legacy and worked to keep it sacred. They provided for our future and a place for you and me, an opportunity for us to gather and say, "Yes, I played a part her development." So I ask you, wherever you are, be it California or Seattle, the still-cold streets of New York or the warmer beaches of Florida, how do you celebrate your legacy? How do you celebrate your fraternity? Do you gather with friends at the local watering hole, do you skip work on a Friday afternoon and head out to the driving range together? Do you watch the Cats on ESPN, or call up a pledge brother and discuss how so-and-so's granddaughter is doing? Because I believe that no matter where we are, no matter who we are with, we find the time and place to celebrate our legacy of Phi Gamma Delta, and the memories we made together. Brotherhood in the purest sense, calling us back home. I hope you hear that call, and feel a little tug inside. Maybe it will pull you back to Lexington, to sit in a room full of brothers and drink a bourbon and smile and laugh about the 'good ol' days.' Perhaps you'll see a few friends, a pledge brother or a roommate from long ago. Whatever the outcome, I'm certain you'll be glad you made the journey. Until then, stay healthy and happy, and be safe in all your travels. Fraternally, Ben Simmons Campus Activities Update The chapter will be defending our title as Fraternity Winners in the Alpha Phi Alpha & Kappa Alpha Theta sponsored Stomp-a-Palooza on March 31st in the Singletary Center for the Arts. We have won this event for the past three years and are expecting a strong showing again this year. Proceeds from this event will benefit the Martin Luther King National Memorial as well as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). We will also be competing in Pi-Athlon sponsored by Alpha Omicron Pi and Phi Kappa Tau on April 7th where we will compete in a Wheelbarrow Race, Pie-Making Contest, Cherry Hunt and Pie Eating Contest. Proceeds from PiAthlon will benefit Arthritis Research and The Hole in the Wall Gang Camps. — Bryce Moffett, UK „12 \r\nP HI G AMMA D ELTA P AGE 3 Pledge Education Update Philanthropy Update As we all have probably experienced, becoming a pledge of FIJI is fun, exciting, and even a little scary. For the new pledges of the Upsilon Kappa chapter they are slowly becoming acquainted with the high standards that a FIJI must keep. Each one of them has shown a strong desire and dedication to FIJI during their short time as pledges. They have done everything that has been asked of them, along with going above and beyond their initial expectations. Right now we are really focused on learning the traditions and expectations of being a FIJI. But that is not all, as a group their goal The chapter has been very active so far in philanthropy so far this semester. Two of the most important philanthropy events we will take part in took place in the last month. On Sunday, February 28, we teamed up with Alpha Phi, Delta Tau Delta, and Delta Gamma to host Greek Madness, a five-on-five basketball tournament. Nine fraternities and six sororities entered teams, and a portion of the proceeds will go to our international philanthropy, the Red Cross. GPA for their pledging semester is a 3.3 and grades seem to be the utmost priority. They also seem to be interested in philanthropy as they have began to plan their pledge class event. The pledges of the Alpha Xi pledge class seem to be well rounded, (unfortunately no Michael Jordan‟s in this class, but we can‟t win them all) motivated and willing. Overall, we as a chapter seem to be really high on these kids. Hopefully they will show themselves to be true FIJI men and will work hard, sacrifice for their brothers, and make us all proud. — Matt Barbiea, UK „11 Also, on Saturday, March 6, a group of brothers worked the phone bank at the KET Spring TeleFund. The brothers spent the morning answering phones to help raise money for educational television in Kentucky. As a result of our efforts, over $5000 was raised for KET. — Deron Johnson, UK „13 DanceBlue Update The Upsilon Kappa chapter participated in the University of Kentucky‟s 24-hour, no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon, DanceBlue on March 5th and 6th. The event, which raises money for cancer research and the University of Kentucky‟s pediatric oncology clinic, is the culmination of a year-long fundraising effort. The chapter was able to sponsor four dancers Justin Bowling ‟11, Travers Manley ‟11, Robert Bergeron ‟11, and Seth Kirk ‟10. The chapter was also paired with a family from the clinic. Mason Pontrich, who is 6 and has acute lymphoblastic lymphoma, was Phi Gamma Delta‟s adopt-a-family and it was a great experience for the brothers to meet and get to know him and his family over the past year. Mason‟s mom wrote, “Thank Phi Gamma Delta for spending the time at this wonderful event with us and for sponsoring our little man.” The chapter also had two chairs, Matt Dempsey ‟11 and James Chapman ‟11, leading the event, as well as two members on committee, Jacob Wallingford ‟11 and Nick Bluhm ‟11. Many members of the chapter also volunteered at the event. Thanks to all of the graduates who supported dancers with donations and we hope to have your support again next year. Overall the event raised $636,638.58. For more information on the event go to: www.DanceBlue.org. Mason performing during the Talent Hour. He really had the whole place rocking! Coach Cal even showed up to support us, but Mason could match his dance moves! The final result: $636,638.58 For The Kids! All the Phi Gams in attendance: volunteers, dancers, committee members, and chairs. \r\nP HI G AMMA D ELTA P AGE 4 Section Chief Update: Section XVII Chapters Shine A few reminders… The four chapters comprising Section XVII are all back in action and making their presence known on their respective campuses. Upsilon Kappa is building on last year‟s selection as outstanding fraternity on the UK campus by utilizing its strengths in chapter administration, campus involvement, improved academic performance, recruitment and its emphasis on philanthropy. Sigma of Wittenberg has met the challenge of replacing 19 graduating seniors by already recruiting 21 new brothers this year, had 30 brothers equal or surpass a 3.0 GPA in the spring of 2009 and dominates campus leadership and athletic teams. Chi Omicron at the University of Cincinnati is pushing ahead in its second year back on campus with a strong emphasis on recruitment, establishing a new physical home on campus and  reigniting local graduate support. Mu Upsilon at Miami University resumed chapter operations with the onset of the 2009-2010 academic year and is focused on rebuilding the chapter‟s reputation on  campus and has already more than doubled its membership roster through dynamic recruitment. Each chapter is fortunate to have active, experienced graduate leadership in place. I am confident that Phi Gamma Delta can look forward to good news from the four chapters of Section XVII in the next few years. If you do not receive emails from our graduate listserve, please send an email to jtchap2@gmail.com, and we will get you added to the list. It‟s a great way to stay in touch with your fellow graduates and stay up-to-date on the latest happenings. If you know any quality high school seniors who will matriculate to the University of Kentucky in the Fall 2010 semester, and who you think might be interested in pledging a fraternity, please let us know as well. We are looking for as many recruitment recommendations as possible. Fraternally, David Prescott (Sigma 1977) Chief, Section XVII Graduate updates, cont’d Brad Heil, UK „08: I will be graduating in May with a MS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Kentucky. Upon graduation, I will be pursuing a career in orthopedic devices. Eric A. Ludwig, UK '97: and Raquel Vazquez were married on December 22, 2009 in a small ceremony in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. The pictures are from their wedding and sailboat reception. They reside in Atlanta, Georgia. Professionally, Eric is employed as an attorney with the law firm of Hawkins & Parnell LLP, an Atlantabased law firm with offices in Charleston, Dallas, Los Angeles and St. Louis. He was named by Super Lawyers magazine to the 2010 Rising Stars list, an award distinguished upon the top 2.5% of lawyers in the state of Georgia. In addition to his practice in Georgia, Eric represents clients in environmental and product liability cases throughout Kentucky. A senior associate with Hawkins & Parnell, Eric is admitted to practice in Georgia, Kentucky and Indiana. Scott Gurney: My wife and I have recently moved to Odessa, Florida, which is just a few miles north of Tampa. I am working for a small software company specializing in grocery applications, particularly “Fresh Item Management” and perishable item production planning (for all grocery-produced items like cakes, rotisserie chickens, etc.). My expertise is in integrating our company‟s system with grocery-chain enterprise systems, such as SAP. On the weekends I still take my motorcycle out on the Florida back roads and try to drag knees with my friends. Invitations to the 2010 Pig Dinner have been sent via email. We hope you‟ve received yours! Please keep in mind it is 6:30 pm, April 24, at the Hyatt in downtown Lexington. Please remember also Russ’ plaque dedication on campus at 3 pm on April 23. Dale Abernathy, UK „63: I retired from Fayette county Schools as a director of orchestra and bands. I now play trumpet in my church orchestra (Immanuel Baptist) and with an 18 piece jazz band, Young At Heart. We raise money to provide music instruments for needy students and school music programs. My wife, Phyllis, and I have two married daughters: Lauren, who runs triathlons, and Amy in New Orleans who has our nine-month-old grandson whom we visit every two months. My other love is flying my Cessna. Mike Brown, UK ‟06: Brothers can still find me in Louisville where I have been for the past several years. I stay busy these days coaching soccer at Barret Middle School with Brother Pat Billig and at Sawyer Park with Brother Billig and Jonathan Perri.