PHI GAMMA DELTA – MU UPSILON CHAPTER ______________________________________________________________________________ THE END OF THE SLANT A New Year, Limitless Possibilities Brothers look back on a successful 2013 and push for continued improvement in 2014 CALLING ALL GRADUATE BROTHERS: As we move through the winter months and the new spring semester, we take a look back at what has been a successful year and look forward to a promising future. The heart of the brother of the Mu Upsilon chapter has truly been put to the test over the past year following the loss of our home at 130 East High. Since the tragedy, the brothers have been operating and thriving out of the formerly vacant Sigma Chi house, rented to us until the completion of our new home. The fraternity’s goals to better itself in all facets of the organization have not been shaken however; and substantial progress in being made, exhibiting the persistence we all pride ourselves on. We are currently in the process of continuing to build a graduate/undergraduate network and we need all of your help! If you have changed residency or are planning to move, please let us know where we can contact you. In the future we would like to increase the number of events we have planned for grad-relations in addition to Pig Dinner. Also, if you could please provide information about your profession, as we would like to create a communication chain for brother in the same areas of study/profession. Please relay communication to our Corresponding Secretary (Andrew Karle). Contact information will be provided at the end of this publication. Thank You! This success has amplified a push back to Greek excellence. New brothers are eager to positively influence the chapter and bring prosperity into the future. Between all of the recent successes, the displayed enthusiasm, and the promising future, it’s hard to contain the excitement we have for this chapter. Page 1 \r\nPHI GAMMA DELTA – MU UPSILON CHAPTER ______________________________________________________________________________ Index Page: Section: Page 1………………………………...Status of the Chapter Page 2,3…………………………………State of the House Page 3…………………………………………Philanthropy Page 4………………………………………….Recruitment Page 5……………………………..57th Annual PIG Dinner Page 6,7…………………………..Letter from the President Page 7………………………………..Like us on Facebook! Page 8………...………….Thanks Grads! And Contact Info STATE OF THE HOUSE We regret to inform you that early on Saturday morning, May 25th 2013, 130 E. High Street was lost to a massive house fire, which has since been declared an act of arson. Though losing the house was an absolute tragedy, we can only be grateful that no one was injured. There is still an ongoing investigation surrounding the event and we hope that it concludes soon, giving the chapter it’s much desired closure. We are in need of funds and will be fundraising for renovations/projects. Any donations are greatly appreciated. Thank You! Since the incident we have made great progress towards making a full recovery. To start, we have secured temporary arrangements for a chapter house located at 401 East Sycamore St. It is our intention to occupy this property and operate as business as usual until we are able to move back to 130. Page 2 \r\nPHI GAMMA DELTA – MU UPSILON CHAPTER ______________________________________________________________________________ With the rebuild process comes a lot of exciting news as well. The city of Oxford has approved 130 E. High as a historical building allowing us to keep the façade of the old building and rebuild the rest. Additional space will be added to the West end of the building extending it to within a few feet of Dubois Bookstore. This supplemental space will allow for an additional family, social/gathering space and beneath will be an official chapter room in the basement. The new house will accommodate around 40 brothers, most being able to live in either single or double rooms. The house will also feature a fully functional kitchen allowing for an in house meal service. Our chapter hopes to see the first group of brothers move back in the fall of 2015 and we are excited about the great opportunities to come with these new beginnings. Philanthropy The newly elected philanthropy chairs have been hard at work this past semester organizing and planning yet another great series of charitable events. The project that highlights the efforts of the committee the most this fall would be the Canned Food drive the brothers put on in unison with the Sigma Pi fraternity It was truly a pleasure to be able to reach across the table and work with another proud group of men to do good for the community. Students all over campus, Greek and non-Greek, helped in the success of the campaign, donating generously to the cause. Thanks to everyone’s fine efforts we were able to collect over 800 pounds of canned goods to help make the Thanksgiving holiday more accessible and more enjoyable for the needy families of Oxford. We are very pleased to have three strong and active brothers at the helm of our philanthropic branch and are very eager to see what new, innovative tactics these men can use to help lead the Mu Upsilon chapter in giving back to the community which has given us so much. Philanthropy Chairs Brian Ballard (Left) Teddy Wellington (Middle) Drake Powers (Right) Page 3 \r\nPHI GAMMA DELTA – MU UPSILON CHAPTER ______________________________________________________________________________ Recruitment Coming off another strong year on campus, Phi Gamma Delta is anxious to continue the strong efforts put forth by the upper classmen in last year’s rush. It was clear from the get go that incoming freshmen were eager to see what the FIJI brothers were all about. Our first recruitment event was the, now annual, Phi Gamma Delta Fall Recruitment Cookout, which has been a hit since it was first implemented. We were pleased with the event, drawing over one hundred freshmen in attendance and the feedback we received remained positive. They had a chance to take tours throughout the house and enjoy burgers cook on the grill. Overall we believe the freshmen, as well as the brothers of Phi Gamma Delta, had a great experience getting to know each other. Greek Mega Fair sustained the excitement for upcoming rush in the spring semester. Students displayed more enthusiasm by introducing themselves and expressing their interest in the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Our whole chapter has put in the work and it has surely paid off as we are pleased to announce that 38 great gentlemen, with a cumulative 3.22 GPA, have accepted bids and are currently pledging. Among the class are Honor Students and Varsity Athletes alike. Most importantly however, they are men whose values coincide with that of the Phi Gam’s and they exemplify exactly the men we hope to become valuable new members of the Mu Upsilon Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta. Recruitment Chair Nate Flahive Not pictured: Mark Bennett, Kyle Sheahan Page 4 \r\nPHI GAMMA DELTA – MU UPSILON CHAPTER ______________________________________________________________________________ PIG Dinner 2014: 57th Reunion This New Year will mark the 57th anniversary of the founding of the Mu Upsilon Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta. We hope that all Graduate brothers can return to the end of the slant for the 57th annual Big Pig Dinner on April 26th, 2013! This is your chance to return to beautiful Oxford this spring to experience the fun and brotherhood that we all know and love! The festivities will begin on Friday, April 25th and conclude on April 27th. Feel free to come a night early (Thursday night, April 24th) to stop by the house and speak with current brothers etc., while later a dinner at Mac N’ Joe’s is planned. On Friday the 25th, we will be having cocktails with the members of the Porch Club at the Elms Hotel in Oxford. The Pig Dinner will be held on the night of Saturday, April 26th at the Elms. In 2007, over 500 graduate brothers attended this great event, a number that stands as the record for our international fraternity. We plan on beating that mark this year. We hope that through a successful Pig Dinner we not only will generate donations to go towards the rebuilding of our 130 E. High home & the betterment of the chapter, but also to spark stronger relationships through networking between both Grads and Undergrad brothers. Most of our activities will take place right at the Elms so you might want to book your rooms now if you would like to stay in the hotel. We have a black of 50 rooms reserved under “Phi Gamma Delta” so all you have to do is call the hotel direct at 513-524-202 and tell them you are with the PGD group and they will take excellent care of you. Finally, we encourage all Grads to visit the official website of the Mu Upsilon FIJI Brotherhood, www.phigam.org/miamigraduates, to get in contact with their classmates via LinkedIn, and to join the group “Mu Upsilon of Phi Gamma Delta”. Also don’t forget to like our Facebook page “Phi Gamma Delta Mu Upsilon Chapter – Miami University”. Come join our brothers for what promises to be a memorable weekend! Perge! Corresponding Secretary Andrew Karle (left) Strategy Manager and Pig Dinner Chair Jack Onulak (right) Page 5 \r\nPHI GAMMA DELTA – MU UPSILON CHAPTER ______________________________________________________________________________ Letter from the President Brothers, My name is Andrew Bell and I am the new Chapter President of Mu Upsilon. I am very grateful to be given this opportunity to leave a lasting impact on this chapter as I believe in the positive influence the values and brotherhood of Phi Gamma Delta adds to the individual and the Oxford community. Certainly this past year has proven to be one of the most trying times for Mu Upsilon, losing our house to a fire, but I am proud to say that this chapter fully exemplifies the saying “what does not kill you makes you stronger”. I have truly been inspired by efforts of both our alumni and undergraduate members to battle through adversity and ensure that Phi Gamma Delta remains as a top performing fraternity on Miami University’s campus. We closed out 2013 with many great successes to look back on and appreciate as FIJI at Miami University continues to become stronger and grow as an organization. In the spring we initiated one of the largest pledge classes in recent history, welcoming 30 new brothers to the Chapter. In April, we enjoyed our alumni returning for a weekend of reminiscing and brotherhood at our 56th Pig Dinner. We then closed out the semester by hosting two philanthropies. Monday Night Football, a flag football tournament with Alpha Chi Omega Sorority and Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity and Kappa dog night, where we sold hot dogs with Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Both raised funds for a Cleveland based ALS research foundation called Bright Side of the Road. Coming back for Fall semester our chapter was determined to return without missing a beat ensuring that losing our house would not hinder the great momentum of our past successes. Through the tireless efforts of many brothers, we were able to secure a provisional chapter house under an extremely short timeline allowing for 30 men to move into our temporary “home base”. FIJI continued into the semester with a strong presence in the Greek and Oxford Community participating in Greek Week, and hosting a canned food drive with Sigma Pi Fraternity. Bobby Bodner, a junior FIJI who is also heavily involved with Nourish International, actively recruited many brothers to participate in a 5k obstacle course that helped raise money to eradicate poverty globally. Though temporarily losing 130 may have knocked us down, I am 100 percent confident that FIJI is poised to take advantage of all the great opportunities at our hands. This is mainly because I believe we have strong talent in our younger and new members. In November, we elected a fresh executive board consisting of myself, Eric Eschliman (Treasurer), Matt Smith (Recording Secretary), Andrew Karle (Corresponding Secretary), and Ian Huron (Historian). I am fully confident that these individuals have the drive and desire to see FIJI continue to be successful at Miami University. Looking back on 2013 I am extremely fulfilled by what has been accomplished by our brothers. I see great direction in the chapter and I am delighted to see each brother step up and do his part. This spring we look forward to initiating another strong pledge with the aspirations to continue to advance FIJI at Miami University, as well as the celebration of our fraternity at the 57th Pig Dinner in April. Page 6 \r\nPHI GAMMA DELTA – MU UPSILON CHAPTER ______________________________________________________________________________ On behalf of the brothers of Mu Upsilon Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta, I thank you for all the dedication and support and I hope to see you in Oxford this spring! Fraternally, Andrew M. Bell Perge! Page 7 \r\nPhi Gamma Delta Fraternity 1201 Red Mile Road Lexington, KY 40504 Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Lexington, KY Permit # 540