PHI GAMMA DELTA IMPORTANT DATES: Ace of Diamonds S U M M E R Golf Scramble August 21, 2010 2 0 1 0 J U N E 1 5 , 2 0 1 0 Epsilon Iota Celebrates Ten Years as a Chapter What do you get when you combine 10 years of ups and downs, a year of diligent work by the undergrads, over 100 FIJI‟s, and three full days of events? You get a weekend that reminds us of the power of our shared experiences and reaffirms our friendships. A process that began in March 2009 culminated in the successful ten-year chartering anniversary of the Epsilon Iota chapter on April 1618, 2010. As founding fathers met new initiates, and as graduates from Wabash and IU mingled with their EI counterparts, it was truly heartening to see how far we have come in the last decade. The weekend kicked off on Friday, April 16, at Kipplee‟s party house. There, the undergraduates greeted graduates as they arrived from out-of-town. Many grads brought their wives, and some had their small children in tow as well. Young Mr. Braden Riley and Ms. Chloe Epperson hit it off very well, to the “ahhh‟s” of all in attendance. Catching up continued at the Gerst Haus, where a group of twenty plus FIJI‟s stayed until last call. The following day, a dozen Phi Gam‟s hit the links at Eagle Valley golf course, where three teams of golfers casually played 18 holes, while FIJI tag-alongs bet on, for instance, how many Continued on Page 2 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: E.I. Celebrates Ten Years as a Chapter 1 Graduate Dues 3 Announcements 3 State of the Chapter 4 FIJI Golf Classic 4 Jeremy Tarr (EI 1998), Sean Riley (EI 2005), Ray Baker (EI 2008), and Tom Topper (EI 2004) check out old composites. \r\nPAGE 2 balls would get hit into a particular water trap. Several other grads stayed on the University of Evansville campus to watch the annual Bike Race. Sadly, the FIJI team suffered a wreck, knocking them out of a placed finish, but they valiantly rode on to finish fourth. All who attended were very proud of our racers, and their persistent spirit. The main event of the weekend was that night at Cambridge Country Club. Pig Dinner chairman Tyler Condrey (EI 2011) had spent the day setting up the banquet hall for the evening. The end result was a room fully decked out in FIJI memorabilia, including composites dating back to colonization and more than a decade worth of pictures. Attendees were very impressed upon arrival. In addition to the nearly 50 EI grads, we also had the best turnout of area grads in five years. The undergrads were honored to have them, and the pig was certainly honored to be kissed on the snout by John H. Schroeder (Wabash 1942). After dinner, all settled in for the keynote speaker of the evening, Jeff Fettig (Indiana 1979), CEO of Whirlpool Corporation. Brother Fettig gave a well-written and wellspoken speech about the need for principle in all organizations, be they fraternal, corporate, or national, as well as the valuable lessons he learned from his time in the Zeta chapter. Following Brother Fettig‟s address, the chapter awarded Rob Smith (EI 2003) with the Graduate of the Year award for his dedication in serving as the chapter‟s PL. They also awarded Joe Weist (Rose Hulman 1987, EI 2000) with the Graduate of the Decade award, for his tireless promotion, sage advice, and constant generosity, dating back to the formation of the colony. After singing „Where College Songs and College Lays,‟ all said their goodbyes, except for those who adjourned to the bars Stockwell‟s or RiRa, where the frivolity continued long into the night. Special thanks go to Chris Rafferty (EI 2001) for emceeing the dinner, to Todd Ebright (EI 2008), who designed the logo for the tenth anniversary, and to all the brothers who generously donated to the chapter in lieu of attending. Speaking personally, it was great to see and catch up with brothers I hadn‟t seen in years, as well as to meet new brothers who are just starting their FIJI careers. I cannot wait to see what the next decade brings all of us who are so damn proud. John C. Schroeder (Wabash 1969) and Jordan Stoltz (EI 2013) debate when it’s appropriate to wear a suit jacket. ACE OF DIAMONDS \r\nSUMMER 2010 PAGE 2010 Graduate Dues Campaign Graduate dues for 2011 have been reduced to a suggested donation $15. As always, there is no penalty for not donating. Dues go to defray the operating costs of the GAB, such as newsletters, invites, etc. As we raise more and more money from our graduate base, we will eventually no longer need to pay for GAB expenses with undergraduate housing surplus dollars. Several generous grads have already paid their suggested dues at Pig Dinner, and the Graduate Advisory Board offers them their sincere thanks. If you'd like to join these grads, send checks made out to Phi Gamma Delta to Chris Rafferty at 1450 W Olive Ave # 1, Chicago, IL 60660. You can also donate online at PayPal.com using the e-mail address clrafferty@gmail.com. Please consider contributing this year. Announcements Matt Snodgrass (EI 2005) and his wife Dria celebrated the birth of their son, Alexander, on May 14th. Joe Kroeger (EI 2001) and his wife Jamie welcomed their new son, Austin, on April 15 th. Matt Korn (EI 2005)‟s family grew by one in May, when his wife Kim gave birth to their son, Andrew. Congratulations to Chris Childers, Ryan Ebersole, Peter Hanscom, Jesse Miller, Dan Purdy, Jared Thompson, Brandon Uzarek, and Chris Watkins, the newest EI graduates. Having had enough of the big city living of New York, Alex Kramer (EI 2005) has moved to Chicago. Jeff Bennett (EI 2008) graduated from the University of Evansville with a doctorate in physical therapy. Ben Wolowski (EI 2007) graduated from Indiana University Law School. Phil Love (EI 2005) is now engaged to his fiancé Stephanie Grassman. Matt Snodgrass (EI 2005) gets to know his son, Alexander. 3 \r\nState of the Chapter Brothers, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and the rest of our newly elected cabinet and let you know what we have been up to over the last semester. My name is Ben Deutsch and I am very excited to be serving the chapter in my new role as chapter President. Wesley Bishop is our newly elected Treasurer, Brennan Girdler is the new Recording Secretary, Ryan Cramer is our Corresponding Secretary and Brad Kastrup is our Historian. We are five people with different ideas for the chapter, but we all are determined to be a unified cabinet that will accomplish their goals. As a cabinet, we hope to reinvigorate the chapter‟s enthusiasm by going back to the basics and getting in touch with our five values. We are very excited about EI‟s future as we look with eager anticipation to the following year. The last month of the semester was among the busiest of the year. In April, we had a successful Bike Race, Pig Dinner, HotTub-a-Thon and FIJI Isle. This year‟s bike race team worked extremely hard and earned us a fourth place finish at this year‟s race. Later that evening we enjoyed our much anticipated Pig Dinner. This year‟s Pig Dinner was a very special event which celebrated Epsilon Iota‟s tenth anniversary since its chartering. We saw very high attendance in both EI graduate brothers as well as area FIJIs from other chapters and were honored to have Jeff Fettig (Indiana 1979) as our guest speaker. The next weekend brought Hot -Tub-a-Thon and FIJI Isle. HTOT got off to a rough start when we had issues with our generator, but brothers and the rest in attendance didn‟t let that stop them from letting it be a successful event. Later that evening, we were able to repair the generator and everything was back to normal. This year, we raised over $9,000 for Easter Seals. The following night, after wrapping HTOT up, we prepared for FIJI Isle. Unfortunately due to rain, we weren‟t able to have all of the outside decorations that we had planned on, but we adjusted accordingly and still made it the best party on campus. This summer will provide an excellent time to plan and recharge for the upcoming year. We are looking forward to our recruitment retreat which is set to take place on July 16th17th. With no brothers studying abroad, we plan on having a strong year in recruitment and adding an exceptional group of men to our brotherhood in the fall. As we look forward to planning for the next year feel free to contact me if you have any questions or ideas. I can be reached by phone at (812) 361-5064 or by email at bd102@evansville.edu. Fraternally, Fraternity President Ben Deutsch Ben Deutsch Evansville „12 Perge! Sign Up for the 5th Annual FIJI Golf Classic Phi Gamma Delta 227 S. Lincoln Park Dr. Evansville, IN 47714 Visit Epsilon Iota on the web at www.fiji.evansville.edu “Not for college days alone.” The fifth annual FIJI Golf Classic is on the horizon! On August 21, teams of Phi Gam golfers will gather at Clearcrest Pines golf course to battle it out for supremacy, prizes, and a year‟s worth of bragging rights. Full details are included with this newsletter. All proceeds from hole sponsorships goes directly to Epsilon Iota, so if you were planning on financially supporting the chapter, this is a great way to do it. A team consisting of a combination of Jeremy Tarr (EI 1998), Chris Rafferty (EI 2001), Scott Newman (EI 2000), Jim Moryl (EI 2000), and Blaire Birge (EI 2000) has won three of the four previous years, and they are currently the reigning champions. Are there any golfers brave enough to challenge them?