BETA SIGMA BRIEF Phi Gamma Delta • Ball State University Dear Brothers of the Beta Sigma Chapter, It has been another busy fall semester for our chapter. The brothers have participated in many of the classic fall activities, as well developed new traditions for the future. Utilizing our Black Diamond Scholarship program and dynamic recruitment techniques, Beta Sigma welcomed the Alpha Lambda pledge class consisting of 25 pledge brothers. These pledge brothers secured the award for Best Greek Float in the Homecoming Parade for the third year in a row as well as winning Best Float Overall. Additionally, we were able to initiate 15 brothers of the Alpha Iota and Alpha Kappa pledge classes this semester; bringing our total membership to 80 brothers. A new tradition began this semester with the chapter’s inaugural Mile to the Isle. The Mile is a one mile nearly naked fun run where participants started at the bell tower on Ball State’s campus, stripped their clothes to be donated to Goodwill, and then ran to the Fiji house to meet various vendors and more. The event took place the day before the chapter’s annual Fiji Isle and the hope is to create a week of Fiji Isle themed philanthropic events for years to come. Along with Mile to the Isle, regular events such as the Ride Across the Purple Valley, Capture the Flag with Sigma Kappa, and the second annual Hog Roast with College Mentors for Kids raised a total of $10,500 to be donated to the United Service Organization and the Muscular Dystrophy Association in honor of Brother William Kuhn. As you can see by the amount of awards listed, we had a successful summer at the 166th Ekklesia in Indianapolis. Highlights from the summer include winning the Brightman Trophy for best graduate relations, third place for the William Zerman trophy for campus involvement, Brother Sean Ratkus winning the Wilkinson Award (best Graduating Senior), Brother Mike Ashman winning the Marvin Durrance Award (best Purple Legionnaire), and Brother Chris Kurts winning the Hayne’s Award (best Section Chief). Of course, to top it all off we were able to bring home the Cheney Cup for the first time in our chapter’s history as the best Fiji Chapter Internationally. Lastly, I would like to thank all Graduate Brothers who came back to golf in the Beta Sigma Classic, speak at Purple Pride Night, tailgate at the Homecoming game, and eat at the Thanksgiving dinner this holiday season. Beta Sigma appreciates all of your contributions to and participation with our chapter. Our chapter would not be where it is today, in experiencing all of the current success we are, without all of the hard work which came before us. If anyone has any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me using the methods below. Jacob D. Cash Chapter President Contact Jacob: 724-316-1478 jdcash234@gmail.com \r\nAwards Phi Gamma Delta • Ball State University Awards • The Cheney Cup (Most Outstanding FIJI Chapter Internationally) • The Horace I. Brightman Trophy (Most Outstanding Graduate Relations) • Superior Academic Achievement Award (11th straight years) • Sean Ratkus (2014) was won the Wilkinson Award (Most Outstanding Graduate Brother) • Purple Leigonnaire Mike Ashman won the Francis Marvin Durrance award (Most Outstanding Purple Leigonnaire) • Graduate Brother Chris Kurtz won the Hayne’s Award (Most Outstanding Section Chief) • Graduate Brother Dave Harben received Honorable Mention for the Durrance award (Most Outstanding Purple • The John Templeton McCarty Chapter Proficiency Award Legionnaire) (13th straight years) Graduate Brother Words of Wisdom Eric Maroun (2009) This past summer, the Beta Sigma Chapter experienced its highest point in its 16 year history. When the chapter was awarded the Cheney Cup at the 166th Ekklesia, just a short drive south in Indianapolis no less, it was a testament to the hard work that brothers have put in over the course of the last decade and a half. This was an accomplishment not just for the current brothers in the chapter, but for everyone from the newest pledge to the Alpha Class brothers who laid the groundwork for the great fraternity that we have become. In some ways, it was the end of our journey to become the best FIJI chapter in the nation, but in other ways, it was just the beginning. At Purple Pride Night, I told the chapter that as a huge basketball fan, there were certain teams that stuck out in my mind as being great namely the 90’s Bulls, 00’s Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs. The reason those teams are regarded so highly in my mind is that they did not simply reach the mountain top known as winning a championship once. They did repeatedly over the course of a number of years. In short, these teams became near dynasties because of their relentless commitment to excellence year in and year out. Hmmm…excellence…doesn’t that ring a bell with regards to Phi Gamma Delta? Make no mistake, we do not live our lives in pursuit of awards and recognition. Rather, those awards come as a result of living the values every single day. In order to remain on top, all of us must continue to embody the values we learned so long ago in our daily lives. Go out of our way to not only be a friend to those close to us, but befriend those who we may not know as well. Seek knowledge at every opportunity and continually strive to broaden the topics in which you can be conversant. Self-sacrifice for others by getting involved in the community and doing service. Do the right thing, even when no one is watching, in the name of morality. If we, as undergraduates and graduates alike, can do that consistently, not only will we reap the benefits of some incredible awards, but we will all become better men as well. And that, to me, is the true sign of excellence. \r\nService Phi Gamma Delta • Ball State University For the Fall semester of 2014, our chapter set separate goals for both Ball State’s voluntary service program (OSL) and for our International Headquarters of Phi Gamma Delta (IHQ). The goals we agreed upon for each brother were 20 hours and 30 hours a semester, respectively. So far, we have recorded 750 for OSL and 1438 for IHQ with time still left in the semester. With 63 of our 79 brothers contributing toward this total, we believe this semester has been very successful in terms of service. We are shooting to reach 1000 hours for OSL by the end of this semester and for zero brothers to have zero service hours. This past semester, we have worked very closely with Minnetrista Cultural Center and other charitable organizations. Organizations include Second Harvest Food Bank, Feed My Sheep, and Muncie Rotary Club. Brothers helped out at the Rotary Park to clear trees and brush for a nature trail. The Haunted Forest of Muncie also hosted several events during October where brothers were able to give Muncie citizens a fright. We have an event with Habitat for Humanity coming up soon where we will work to help repair and build homes for Muncie locals. We built a close relationship with this organization last semester and hope to continue to stay involved with them. Multiple Fall philanthropies make up the bulk of our IHQ hours. Brothers attended events sponsored by other Greek organizations on campus, including Chi Omega, Kappa Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Alpha Gamma Delta, and Delta Tau Delta. Many brothers also made generous canned food donations to Feed My Sheep to provide meals for families in need during the holidays. Overall, we believe we have recorded a high amount of service hours this semester for our chapter and we hope to continue to see a rise in outreach for the Beta Sigma Chapter. -Austin Zehr and Jason Conn, Outreach Chairmen Interfraternity Council Update IFC this year has been quite eventful, we started this year off with Alec Immordino holding the VP of Academics chair. He introduced a few new events and expanded on pr evious ones. He has started a professor of the year award that recognizes a professor who stands out. Alec is finishing up his term this semester; he has served the IFC community well. IFC held their elections for new council members, where Riley Holkan was elected VP of Recruitment. Riley has a lot planned for this position and his goal is to boost the overall greek presence on campus. With that being said, Ball State saw an increase this past year from 12.5% to 14% in greek undergraduate students. IFC has welcomed a new full member to the community, Pi Kappa Phi chartered early this fall. A focal point this year was to create and expand relationships. IFC has been working really hard trying to pair with other organizations through service events and socials. One relationship that is in the works is with the athletic community. There are a lot of great ideas that will be introduced next academic year. Overall this has been a positive year for the IFC community, we are seeing a constant positive growth in membership as well as community relationships. This group of newly elected council members bring a lot of new and great ideas to the table, so look for this positive growth to continue. - Tyler Cahill, IFC Delegate \r\nRecruitment and Pledge Education Phi Gamma Delta • Ball State University Recruitment for the Fall 2014 semester was a huge success. The Alpha Lambda pledge class is currently made up of twenty-two outstanding members, boaring an average GPA of 3.34, that the entire chapter is extremely excited to see get initiated. The Recruitment Chairmen Jim Zheng and Riley Holkan worked diligently day and night in order to secure that the pledge class would succeed. As a pledge class they are constantly shattering the expectations we put in front of them; for example, they have created a fundraiser to a scale we have never seen before by marketing “Greek Nation” apparel to the entire greek community here at Ball State, as this fundraiser begins to wrap up we can’t wait to see what the final total comes to. Within pledge education we understand the importance of pledge class unity and we believe it is important to develop lifelong relationships with your pledge brothers; however, we are pushing they immediately join our brotherhood and contribute to more than just things on a pledge class scale. We have ensured the success of this idea by organizing brotherhood events specifically designed for the pledges to meet the brothers. We not only want to see these new members become successful within the chapter but as an individual after college, this is why we have incorporated career building activates into pledge education. It has already become apparent that these new members are going to grow into gentlemen of quality and I cannot wait to see what they can do as brothers in Phi Gamma Delta. - Riley Holkan, Co-Recruitment Chairman Alec Immordino, Head Pledge Educator Donate to the Chapter Yes! I want to invest in the future of the Beta Sigma Chapter! Name Phone Address Email Signature Send form with check to: Phi Gamma Delta 900 W. Riverside Ave. Muncie, IN 47303