Pig Dinner April 28, 2018 The April 28, 2018 Pig Dinner will be an exciting event for both the graduate and undergraduate Fiji brothers. As we did last year, we are planning interesting events Friday-Sunday, including a Friday night gathering at a local bar and grill with food, Saturday networking sessions, a House Corporation afternoon meeting, the Norris Pig Dinner and a Sunday breakfast. All the Fiji graduate brothers who pre-register for the dinner will receive the schedule before the weekend of April 27-29. “Bring Back a Brother” is the theme this year. We encourage all graduate brothers to contact another Fiji that they have not seen for a while and encourage that brother to return with them to Pig Dinner. Contact your Fiji brothers that were your best friends in college and plan a great weekend with them in Oxford, away from the pressures of work and home life. Spend the Pig Dinner weekend with your Fiji brothers. The cost of the Miami University Norris Pig Dinner weekend of events for FIJI grads is $80. Register for the dinner at www.phigam.org/mupigdinner and see who else is coming. The $80 fee has remained the same for the last three years for this breakeven event to encourage more FIJI brothers to attend. Because of the great interest in Pig Dinner this year, the 50 rooms in Elms Hotel for 4/28/18 in the PGD block were all sold out by January 15. To find Oxford accommodations, try the Sycamore Best Western, Hampton Inn, Comfort Inn or the Miami University Marcum Center. Last year, a group of Fiji grads rented a cabin at Hueston Woods! Or contact a brother who lives near Oxford for more housing options and advice. We hope that you will join us at the Pig Dinner weekend on April 27-29 for a great time with your FIJI brothers! Warren Soare (1970) Pig Dinner Co-Chairperson wsoaremu70@hotmail.com See who’s speaking at the Pig Dinner on page 4. \r\nNew Officers Name: Neil Shaw (2019) Position: President Hometown: Liberty Township, OH Grade: Junior Major: Finance Minor: Business analytics Hobbies: Basketball, baseball, euchre Favorite Phi Gam Memory: Champions of fraternity intramural softball my freshman year. Name: Michael Brigeman (2020) Name: Justin Sadler (2019) Position: Treasurer Position: Recording Secretary Hometown: Hometown: Chagrin Falls, OH New Albany, OH Grade: Sophomore Grade: Junior Major: Finance Major: Marketing Minor: Computer science Minor: Analytics Hobbies: Watching sports, Hobbies: Hockey, baseball, exercising, coding bowling Favorite Phi Gam Memory: Favorite Phi Gam Memory: Watching FIJI win the Drop the Winning our main Puck charity hockey philanthropy event, Drop the tournament in the spring of Puck on Cancer, for two my freshman year. years in a row. Name: Graham DeLaney (2019) Position: Corresponding Secretary Hometown: Chatham, NJ Grade: Junior Major: Finance Minor: Spanish Hobbies: Basketball, soccer, golf Favorite Phi Gam Memory: Living in the brand new FIJI chapter house with my fellow brothers. A Letter From the President The past year for the brothers of Mu Upsilon Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta has been tremendous. There continues to be great leaders within our own chapter as well as involvement in outside organizations. As our sights are focused on the upcoming year, we look forward to continue to be leaders within our Greek community at Miami. The brothers of Mu Upsilon strived for greatness in the past, and we plan to continue on this path moving forward. This past semester has had a lot of work from our recruitment team as well as the rest of our brothers for the selection in our upcoming 2 class of Phi Gams. We want to continue to grow our chapter with young men that value what FIJI stands for and will be great leaders within the community. We value how important it is to choose the right men this upcoming spring as they have the great privilege to live at 130 East High. As I speak for all of our undergrads that have experienced living here, it has brought close bonds and memories that our brothers will cherish for the rest of their lives. The walk up slant walk gives a perfect view of the house. We cherish the house on the corner of... Continued on page 3. Name: Will Poston (2019) Position: Historian Hometown: Chevy Chase, MD Grade: Junior Major: Political science Minor: Business legal studies Hobbies: Fishing, hunting, bowling Favorite Phi Gam Memory: Coaching the hockey team to a magnificent championship win in the annual Drop The Puck philanthropy event. \r\nContinued from page 2. High St. and we appreciate all the alumni that have came before to make that happen. Ever since my time as a Fiji, we have continued to brand ourselves in the utmost way. Philanthropy events have continued to grow each year to raise money for great causes. I feel confident that this will continue into the new year with our bright leaders. As for athletics, we continue on the path of being a competitive group of young men that work great together. Everything from basketball, softball, hockey, football, soccer, and volleyball. The desire for excellence is seen in the passion our brothers show at these events. As all of the brothers of Mu Upsilon Chapter move forward this year, I am confident in saying that we are a committed group of men that have the ambition to maintain, as well as improve, the standing of the Chapter. Neil Shaw (2019) Perge! Letter from the Outgoing President I still remember the first time I saw the FIJI chapter house at Miami University. It was fall of 2014, and reconstruction had begun. Looking at that house, I wondered what type of lucky students had the pleasure of living on High Street. As I went through the recruitment process, I quickly learned that men of the highest quality earned the privilege of calling 130 East High Street home. I was honored to receive my bid. And accepting the bid has been the best decision I have made at Miami. Over the past three and a half years, we have built on our reputation as one of (if not the) the best fraternity on campus. FIJI began two of the largest annual philanthropy events on campus: Strike Out Diabetes and Drop the Puck on Cancer. Between these events and several other philanthropy activities, our chapter raises $10,000+ per semester for medical research. The continued efforts of Thatcher Creber (2018) and Chris Lane (2019) ensured the success of these events. We continue to dominate on the field, court and ice, as most brothers play on a team that competes for a championship every semester. Our intramural hockey team has had their way with the competition since I was a freshman. Once again, they brought home the intramural championship this fall and won the Drop the Puck tournament in the spring. Brotherhood, one of the cornerstones and best parts of FIJI, brings nearly all of us to the games. Just like when I was a freshman, our brotherhood remains the best on campus. Elsewhere, we have brothers operating as the president of three different on-campus organizations (Dave Andrews (2018), Hunter O’Hare (2018), and Patrick Young (2019)). While we have been accomplishing these feats, we have managed to be hold a chapter GPA in the top 10 on campus and have risen as a model chapter at Miami University in the face of a changing attitude towards the Greek community. These accomplishments have come from the dedication and hard work of all our brothers, and I am immensely proud of how the whole chapter has progressed. Dave Andrews, and Billy Bauder (2018) for leading with enthusiasm as part of the cabinet. Without them, we would not be where we are today. I’d also like to thank Allan Payne (1968), our Purple Legionnaire, whose support and dedication for our chapter demonstrates that FIJI is “Not for College Days Alone”. It has been a privilege to serve as Chapter President of the Mu Upsilon Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta and to represent the gentlemen that I admired as a freshman. Thank you to past executive cabinets for setting a standard of excellence and to all my friends and brothers for your support over the past three and half years. The future of FIJI at Miami is as bright as it has ever been, and I have the utmost faith in our new cabinet to lead us onward. Proud to be a FIJI, Thomas Staley III (2018) Chapter President Perge! I’d like to recognize Jakob Hicks (2018), Thatcher Creber, 3 \r\nA Letter from the Purple Legionnaire Brothers: I am now working with the 5th undergraduate cabinet since I accepted the position of Purple Legionnaire. Each cabinet has been uniquely talented. Each has been very involved. Each has been a pleasure. Much will be going on this year. On Saturday morning, February 10, we will again be doing a leadership development session, going over house & risk management, pledge initiation, new active onboarding, scholarship, processes and more. Our tagline is “Building Courageous Leaders,” and the three sub-components of that are Vision (begin with the end in mind), Alignment (create the structure, processes & relationships to get there) and Execution (be intentional and meticulous to ensure the best results). Every activity and process at 130 E. High St. fits under one of these three headers. I have just returned from the annual Fiji Academy in St. Louis, where 706 brothers attended from around the world. Phi Gamma Delta is truly international, and it was inspirational to see what the most outstanding chapters are doing. I always come back with a host of ideas. We’re going to take the top three-four and move Mu Upsilon forward. By the time this Slant reaches you, we will have the next pledge class. I am told it will be a large one. Please consider Pig Dinner on April 28! Recent grad twins, Sam (2017) and Ben Hicks (2017), will be the featured speakers. Let’s see what these millennials are all about! Brothers–come make it a special Fiji weekend on April 27-28! Allan Payne (1969) Purple Legionnaire Perge! The Hicks Brothers Featured at Pig Dinner Sam Hicks (2017) attended high school at Upper Canada College in Toronto, Canada before transferring to the Lawrenceville School, in New Jersey, for hockey. After graduating from Lawrenceville in 2011, he played two years of Junior A Hockey, one in Philadelphia and one in Atlanta, where he won a National Championship. Miami was a last minute decision for him, but he is confident his enrollment there is one of the best decisions he has ever made. Ben Hicks (2017) graduated from the Lawrenceville School, a boarding school in Lawrenceville, NJ, before pursuing a junior hockey career in Atlanta and Philadelphia. Washed up after two years, he applied late to Miami on a whim and enrolled soon thereafter. Rushing Mu Upsilon was a no-brainer and remains among his all-time best decisions. After four great years, the same number of FIJI intramural hockey championships and half as many OESCR hearing victories, Ben graduated in 2017 and moved to Chicago, IL, where he currently lives with Eric “Ellen DeGeneres” Eschliman (2015) and sees other Phi Gams regularly. He has a twin brother, Sam Hicks and a younger brother, Jake Hicks (2018). 4 He couldn’t have asked for more out of his four years, or a better group of friends in his fraternity. He now resides in Cincinnati, OH and rooms with a member of his pledge class–some things never change. He has a twin brother, who was the President of Mu Upsilon, and a younger brother, who succeeded him as Chapter Treasurer. Hometown: Toronto, Canada Roles in FIJI: Social Chairman, Treasurer Major: Finance | minor in English literature Current Occupation: Business Analyst at Deloitte Consulting Favorite FIJI Memory: It’s really tough to pick just one. Winning the Dropping the Puck charity hockey tournament against SAE two years in a row is something I’ll always remember. There were too many fun moments to count, but I loved all the time spent hanging around the chapter house, and eventually my off-campus house with such a great group guys–those little moments are something I’ll never forget. Hometown: Toronto, Canada Roles in FIJI: President, Recording Secretary Major: Finance | minor in English literature Current Occupation: Investment Banking Analyst at Brown Gibbons Lang & Company Favorite FIJI Memory: Too many to choose. I enjoyed every day. Co-hosting Gammies (Phi Gam Awards) senior year is up there. \r\nBuilding the Wall Across the nation, including Miami of late, fraternities are targeted as a source of negative media attention. A single “rotten” house can turn a school’s greek system upside-down, all while one good house is just as easily overlooked. Without a doubt, 130 E. High Street is the pinnacle of attention in uptown Oxford, given its location at the intersection of campus and uptown. At all times during the day, there is at least one person completely unassociated with the Fraternity on or near the property. As the house is now, a complete stranger has the ability to walk in front, behind or even through our property. A large wall in the back of 130 would allow Mu Upsilon brothers a sense of privacy and help to protect the house itself. In the past, our grills have been beaten beyond use, several windows have been shattered and unaffiliated, over-served students have slept and been arrested in our back yard. These are just a few of the legitimate concerns that active brothers have been struggling to manage. The installation of a wall would allow brothers sole access to our backyard, rather than having to share it with the rest of the town. We would be able to live our lives outside of the vantage point of the rest of Oxford and easily avoid vandalism. We need another $15,000 dollars to complete the fence, as we have already raised $10,000. We plan on hosting another fundraiser this month during Moms' Weekend, and anything leftover we will raise during Pig Dinner by selling t-shirts. The fence will be 60 ft. long, around 7 ft. high with a gate opening to the parking lot. It will be mos,tly constructed with brick and have iron fencing incorporated. Brothers, please consider making a donation to the Porch Club to help with this project. You can do it easily by going online to www.phigam.org/miamidonation. FIJI Philantrophy After boasting the highest philanthropy numbers on campus last year, the Phi Gams started off the year strong by hosting the second annual Strike Out Diabetes softball event in September. We cohosted the event with Theta Chi and also included Sigma Pi and SAE this year to play in front of six different sororities to benefit the American Diabetes Association. Both games were a great success, drawing hundreds of fans as well as a few local sponsors under the lights at the Miami softball field. We lost the game 11-9 to SAE, but raised $2,600 and got in some good swings in the process. Going forward, Strike Out Diabetes will be our annual fall philanthropy event and we hope to make it even bigger next year. As outgoing philanthropy chair Chris Lane (2019) passes the torch to Tristan LeMon (2020), we look ahead to April 2018, when we host the biggest philanthropy event on campus, Drop the Puck on Cancer. As always, we are pairing with Bloomington, IN based Collegiate Charities to host the 8-team, full-contact hockey tournament at Goggin Ice Arena. Last year’s event was FIJI a tremendous success, as we beat SAE in double OT to win the tournament and raised $12,000 for various causes. The hockey team is looking to three-peat as DTP champions this year with six core senior members of the team are graduating in the spring. With another successful event, FIJI is poised to retain the top spot for philanthropy across campus. DTP Champions! 5 \r\nFrom the Mu Upsilon House Corporation Dear Fiji Brothers, The fraternity system on our college campuses is in turmoil. Many things that were accepted as normal when you attended Miami are no longer allowed. Your fraternity needs your help to address many of these issues. Think about stepping forward and sharing your time, talent and treasures. Your board of trustees meets monthly to address these needs and to assure your FIJI House at 130 East High Street remains strong and in good hands. But we cannot do it without your support. The board consists of Chuck Goodwill (1959), Ted Goble (1968), Al Molina (1980), Matt Deevers (1994), John Fountain (1985) and Joe Takacs (1970) from the Cleveland area, Jud Simms (1994), Steve Unger (1975) and Mike Bevis (1970) from southwest Ohio, Clay Barnard (1969) from Hilton Head, Mike McGurk (1970) from Milwaukee, Michael Wagner (2010) from Chicago, Dick Hutchinson (1969) from Connecticut, and Greg Smith (1971) from Indianapolis. They’ve worked their butts off to keep the house vibrant and in great shape. Rebuilding the house where you lived seems like an easy task compared to maintaining it and working with the undergrads. Just read the news about the many fraternity problems across America. Today’s message is to solicit your assistance with helping lead the MU Fijis from the front. Remember how you felt when you went active or moved into the house? We need your same passion to continue Phi Gamma Delta’s strength at Miami. If you have not been back to the house since the rebuild, please consider coming back for Pig Dinner on April 28, 2018. Call and bring back another brother with you. We may even be able to allow you to kiss the pig. If you were unable to support the reinvestment campaign after the fire, perhaps now would be a better time to step forward. While the campaign raised about $1.4 million, there are always additional needs in the house. Toilets, furnaces, washers and dryers and air conditioners do not work forever. That is why we are working to rebuild the “Porch Club” funds to cover many of these items. Please think about assisting these efforts even if just with a small donation. At least tell us where you are, how you are doing and send a photo now and then for the "End of the Slant" publication. Many of your Fiji brothers want to see how you have aged since your last Fiji Island. We are not getting any younger, so make this the year the year to return in April. Brothers, the house is full and we have another excellent class of Fijis coming aboard in February. Please help us remain FIJI strong at Miami and remember “Not for College Days Alone!” There’s about 1,500 of you out there and your house needs your support. Call me or email. You can help. Mike Bevis (1970) Mu Upsilon House Corporation President Mike@strategicsalesmp.com 937-609-8457 New Board of Chapter Advisors Takes Shape While your Board of Trustees protects the property at 130 East Street, the new Board of Chapter Advisors will play a major role in assuring that Phi Gamma Delta remains strong and vibrant on Miami’s campus. So why do we need a Board of Chapter Advisors (BCA) you might ask? Many of your board members live pretty far away from Oxford and might only make it back for Pig Dinner or Miami’s Alumni Weekend. We need more on-site assistance frequently. Allan Payne (1968) does an excellent job as your Purple Legionnaire and is on campus weekly. The BCA will assist Alphonse and advise the Chapter on specific areas like Pig Dinner, 6 housing contracts and other committee areas. They will also meet with Jim Menninger our life coach at the house. Our new BCA will be made of the following brothers: Chris Anderson (Rose Hulman 1999) West Chester, OH Brian Gravitt (1991) – Mason, OH Sam Hicks (2017) – Cincinnati, OH Ian Huron (2017) – Cincinnati, OH Matt Kuchers (1982) – Delaware, OH Nick Melluzzo (1992) - Springboro, OH Other areas where the BCA may be of assistance would include admin, operations, finances, graduate relations, pledge assistance, public relations, Ritual, scholarship and goal setting. Hopefully they will also assist in Section Chief visits and help with risk management. So far, Brian has stepped up to assist Warren Soare (1970) with Pig Dinner, and Chris and Nick will help Mike Wagner (2010) with new housing agreements for the undergrads. This is excellent news as we need the assistance. The new BCA met in mid-January to address the issues at hand. While the BCA members are not members of the board, they serve as an excellent breeding ground for future board members. You will probably see most of the new BCA at Pig Dinner in April. Please give them a strong FIJI welcome and offer your assistance as they assume their new duties. Thank you to these brothers for stepping up. \r\nBuilding Courageous Leaders Over “J” Term at Miami, I found myself enroute to Manila, Philippines, where CPIC University President Arnel Sarmiento invited me to lecture, evaluate curriculum and coach undergraduates. On the Cincinnati/Detroit leg of the journey, I was surprised to see Sam Hicks (2017), a recent Miami graduate. We sat together on the flight and discussed the future of Phi Gamma Delta at Miami. I was impressed with his level of maturity, excellent character insight and practical advice for FIJI undergraduates. Needless to say, I was quite proud of Sam, and his accomplishments, and was grateful to play a very small role in his life success. Purple Legionnaire Allan Payne (1968) was a major mentor to Sam during his Miami career. My hope is that Allan and I can continue to invest our time, energy and leadership experience into the lives of FIJI undergraduates at Miami. We want to witness more FIJI graduates that possess the character, integrity and good success similar to Sam Hicks. Miami University President Greg Crawford is highly supportive of the proactive role that Phi Gamma Delta has implemented to build courageous FIJI leaders at Miami. In continuing personal conversations with President Crawford, he believes that life coaching can have a significant positive impact on Greek life at Miami and the university-atlarge. The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as "an ongoing intentional conversation that empowers a person or a group to fully live out their potential.” The next "Slant" article will discuss personal development within the context of life coaching and how this process is implemented in the lives of FIJI undergraduates at Miami. Dr. James Menninger Gallery New executive team Fiji grads and undergrads ask for your “Porch Club” donations Chuck Shrader (1969) "Chuck-E-Boy" Chuck attended Pig Dinner forever and endeared himself to generations of Fijis with his mustache. Surely Chuck is in Fiji Heaven. Rest In Peace Brother. You will be missed. Fiji brothers gathering on the lawn in August 7 \r\nPhi Gamma Delta Fraternity Mu Upsilon at Miami University 1201 Red Mile Road P.O. Box 4599 Lexington, KY 40544 Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Lexington, KY Permit # 540 THE END OF THE SLANT WINTER 2018 MU UPSILON CHAPTER AT MIAMI UNIVERSITY