Ee. Yew \r\nThe Tau News Contents Letter to the grads .................... 3 Welcome to the church ............ 4 Tau Nu in the Polytechnic .......... 5 Graduate responses ................. 6 Undergraduate responses ....... 8 Housing plans ......................... 10 Community service ................ 11 Intramural Sports .................. 13 Pg. 2 / Fall 2014 \r\nThe Tau News Pg. 3 / Fall 2014 Letter to the Grads I would like to start out by saying thank you to all of our grads. You guys have been fantastic throughout this whole process, and none of this would have been possible if we didn’t have such an amazing group of graduate brothers. You’ve shown us how Fiji is truly “not for college days alone” and how much of an impact alumni can have on an undergraduate chapter. I think I speak for all of the undergraduate members when I say that we are excited to pay it forward and help out future Fijis in the same way you have helped us. At this point, we have all successfully moved into the new house and are slowly adjusting and moving the rest of our things out of storage and finding a place for them. If you haven’t gotten the chance to get a tour of the house yet, I would highly recommend taking a trip to Troy at some point in the near future. We would be happy to host, and we have a guest bedroom waiting for you if you’d like to stay a night. Just send an email to president@taunufiji.com, and we can make arrangements. Although the past few months have been pretty crazy, I feel privileged to have been a part of this process, and I am glad I could play a role in making the dream of owning a chapter house into a reality. I have gotten to work with some great men on the housing corporation and the board of chapter advisors, and I can only hope to live up to their standard for graduate involvement one day. You all make me mighty proud to be a Tau Nu Fiji! Garrett Mitchell Szafman President, Tau Nu Phi Gamma Delta \r\nThe Tau News Pg. 4 / Fall 2014 Welcome to the New House 82 3rd Street stands next to historic Barker Park in downtown Troy. At 22,445 square feet, it is one of the largest fraternity houses on the east coast. Its most defining feature, the white steeple of the former church, can be seen all the way from the RPI campus, rising distinctively from its surroundings. The front door, situated between six impressive columns, leads up to a spacious main room with highrising ceilings and stained glass windows. In the back of the room proudly hangs the flag of Tau Nu Fiji. Underneath the former chapel sits a recreational room, as well as a kitchen. Attached to the church is the former schoolhouse, which has been converted into a residential area. There are 20 rooms with a general minimum of 100 square feet per occupant, for a total maximum occupancy of 37 brothers. The building also boasts a smaller recreational room, the Bob Pringle Library, and a kitchenette. Find more photos, news, and much more on our Facebook: www.facebook.com/taunufiji \r\nThe Tau News Pg. 5 / Fall 2014 Tau Nu FIJI in The Polytechnic The October 15th issue of The Rensselaer Polytechnic (run and partially staffed by Tau Nu brothers) ran an article summarizing our history with the purchase and renovation of the church. It included the expected facility accomodations, living spaces per brother, and community service plans. As it turns out, our living spaces are better than originally thought—the article’s listed average of 100 square feet per brother has turned into an approximate minimum, with many brothers receiving over 150 square feet in their rooms. Great! You can read their full article online at poly.rpi.edu/89317. \r\nThe Tau News Pg. 6 What do the grads think? This was a weekend that I will not soon forget! I felt very, very proud to be a FIJI as brothers from the initial colonization efforts through today’s pledges came together with family, friends and some of our new neighbors to celebrate 30 years of Tau Nu FIJI. And what a celebration. A beautiful new house, long in dreams of the brotherhood, but now a reality. I hope for many happy years in this new home, for undergrads and alumni alike. And undergrads remember, this great legacy is being entrusted to you. Strive to make this home a better place every year. I am humbled by the warm greeting that Tau Nu FIJIs have given me. Though I am from another chapter, my two sons have called Tau Nu FIJI home. And now they are both sons and brothers to me. I could not ask for a greater gift! / Fall 2014 We asked grads from classes throughout Tau Nu’s history what their responses were to the church and 30th Anniversary Weekend. Here’s what they had to say! I think the entire weekend was outstanding but I think the most memorable part had to be hosting a grand opening dinner while you guys were all moving into the building! That is the clearest example of ‘being part of history’ that I can imagine. In terms of advice, keep the place spotless. I’m aware that coming from the RAHPs there was no way a work party could ever get those places clean, 30 years of accumulated soap scum is a tough opponent. Fortunately, that’s not the case here. Keep the toilets safe for use by the opposite sex, and the common spaces worth being shown, you’re likely to get graduate visitors wanting to check the place out in the least expected times. And my personal highlight was the standing ovation for Edna. Loved their thank you note as well. I’ll see you and the chapter in April. Perge! Perge! Bob Pringle Penn ‘83 William Brand ‘87 \r\nThe Tau News Pg. 7 / Fall 2014 What do the grads think? (continued) It was an honor to participate in the ceremonies and witness Tau Nu history in the making. I was pleased and impressed to see the community participation and urge our undergraduate (and graduate) brothers to always remember that we need to earn that community support by our actions every day if we are to keep our new house. It was great to see so many graduates made the effort to attend and I especially enjoyed the roll call of brothers spanning three decades. And I smiled to realize that our House banquet hall will easily seat all of our graduates now and when Tau Nu celebrates its centennial! Perge! Mike Keats ‘87 Advice: Don’t forget what a privilege it is for our chapter to own our house. While I am confident the guys moving in now “get-it”, soon there will many who never knew RAHPs. Set the right precedent and teach those who come after you to respect and protect the house. Perge! Keith Downes ‘91 Be heard! Whether you’re a recent grad living in Troy or an old-timer enjoying a Hawaii vacation, we want to connect with you. Reach out at any time via email or on our Facebook page—we love hearing from you! www.facebook.com/taunufiji \r\nThe Tau News Pg. 8 / Fall 2014 ...and the undergrads! It’s amazing to see what a group of brothers set on a single goal can accomplish. It was not easy to get where we are now and it will not get easier as we strive for further greatness. Only through our constant persistence may we may finally call this amazing church our own. -Patrick Hesselbach (Class of 2017, PCF14 Pledge) “It’s a really nice house! It’s big; everything’s all spiffy and well done. I can’t wait to stay in it next year! This house means a lot to us, and we’ll do our best to maintain it and keep it as nice as it was when the first brother moved in.” - Aniket Mitra (Class of 2017, PCS14) “As someone who’s never lived in Greek housing before, I can’t think of a better way to spend the next three years of my life. I hope to see the new house usher in a prosperous era for Tau Nu.” - Nicholas Seguljic (Class of 2017, PCF13) \r\n9 / Fall 2014 The Tau News ...and the undergrads! (continued) Pg. “I’m really excited. It’s really awesome to actually have a house. For years, brothers of our chapter have hoped to live in a chapter house as an undergrad, and we’re lucky enough to be the ones who finally get to do so. And it’s awesome that grads have done so much to make this a reality.” - Zachary Shute (Class of 2016, PCS13) “The church marks a truly exciting time not only for our chapter, but for the RPI and Troy communities as a whole. This strengthens us as a fraternity chapter and helps bridge the gap between the university and the local communities. Enjoy Troy!” - Terrance McGovern (Class of 2015, PCF12) “Fiji is full of go-getters, motivators, future millionaires, jokesters, artists, and people finding their way. But best of all, it’s full of people I can call my brothers. The church, our new home, is full of history that will only grow with us here.” - David Vanderzee (Class of 2015, PCS12) \r\nThe Tau News Pg. 10 / Fall 2014 Plans for the New House Persistence prevails. Beautifying and maintaining the new house will require as much persistence and determination as obtaining it did in the first place. We pledge to cherish and maintain this property in honor of the generous contributions of all our graduate and undergraduate brothers. Phase One (COMPLETE!) • Buy the property! • General paint/usage renovations • Kitchen smokehood, appliances • Sanctuary sprinklers Phase Two • Paint the steeple • Walk-in facilities (fridge, freezer) • First floor bathroom(s) for social functions Phase Three • Extending the fire escape, staircase to fenced rooftop • Revamp kitchen • Replace windows, panes with double / heat retaining glass \r\nThe Tau News Pg. 11 / Fall 2014 Community Service Barker Park Cleanups With the acquisition of our new chapter house in downtown Troy, we have aspired to integrate our chapter as contributing citizens of our local community. It just so happens that we neighbor Barker Park, a small but key piece of the community. We made contact with the park early in the church negoations and planned ways we could assist the park’s efforts. We have already held numerous chapter service events, including involving our graduate brothers during Grad Weekend for a park cleanup, yardwork during the summer, and event set-ups. We plan on continuing our great relationship with the park and hope to further our integration into the community through our efforts. Bicycles for Humanity On September 17th and 18th, 2014, our chapter hosted a bicycle collection to support Bicycles for Humanity (B4H). Tau Nu partnered with the local Adirondack chapter of B4H to help fundraise their second Bicycles Empowerment Center (BEC)—a bicycle shopin-a-box. Our two-day collection was geared to bridge the gap of our transition to the new chapter house. The first day was held on campus at the Student Union, while the second day was held at our church. With the combined efforts of the B4H chapter, our brothers, and nearby organizations, we collected enough bikes to send the BEC to a developing community in South Africa. \r\n12 / Fall 2014 The Tau News Community Service (continued) Pg. FIJI/AOE Blood Drive Teaching Technology Every Wednesday from 2-4 pm, we have been leading teaching sessions with the RPI Computer Science Club at the local Shaker High School for their Coding Club. of about 20-30 members. The Python-centered lessons have ranged from the basics of coding, to simulated website “hacking”, to puzzle activities similar to real life situations. Soon, the program will be extended to at least two other schools in the Troy area, so we’ll be sustaining this program over the coming years. We feel very lucky to have this opportunity to get teenagers interested in computers and give the other RPI students experience teaching. On Tuesday, October 7th, 2014, we partnered with the sisters of Alpha Omega Epsilon to co-host an American Red Cross Blood Drive on campus. Together, we spent the week prior to postering and tabling efforts, and manning the registrationand canteen tables during the drive. outstanding 106% of our goal! In addition, and potentially more significantly, we took in 28 first-time donors. By participating in this simple service event, we not only got the opportunity to strengthen our relationship with other organizations on campus, in this case the sisters of AOE, but we made a direct impact on 77 lives—77 people who will be eternally grateful for our efforts. Do good! Have a good deed for us to do? Email our dedicated community service chair any time at commserve@taunufiji. com! We’re always looking for ways to give back to the communities around us. \r\nThe Tau News Pg. 13 / Fall 2014 Intramural Sports Ultimate Frisbee Ultimate Frisbee has been and continues to be Fiji’s strongest sport. We have won the Engineer’s league Division 2 championship for the past two fall seasons and have put up strong performances against even the best of the IFC teams in the spring. This season’s team looks to be strong, if not stronger, than any team in the past two years and we will try to continue the winning tradition. Halfway through the season we are sitting at 2-1, with the only loss coming on a sudden death point against Skeleton Kru in a game where many of our key players were missing. The players’ enthusiasm for the game, and the support from the sidelines every game has never been better. Hopefully, we will soon be able to close out the season strong and meet up with Skeleton Kru again in the playoffs for a chance to win the division a third time. \r\n14 / Fall 2014 The Tau News Intramural Sports (continued) Pg. Outdoor Soccer Unfortunately, the season has been tough, with the first four games against RSE, Pikes, LXA, and Zeta Psi, all teams in the top 5 of the IFC rankings. Despite the tough competition, the Fiji squad has played very well, being tied or within one goal in the last ten minutes of 3 of the 4 games. The last ten minutes, however, became an issue and the games started to slip away, resulting in losses of 1-5, 0-4, 1-4, and 2-4. The last game of the season was against a very good Chi Phi team. A rough start led to a 0-3 deficit early in the second half. However, two quick goals turned the game around, giving us the momentum and setting up rookie pledge Albert Chen ’18 to score the game tying goal with less than a minute to go. There were a couple more close shots in the closing seconds, but the game ended in a 3-3 tie. Although the results won’t show it, this has been a great season for the development of the team. Indoor Soccer Indoor soccer has been significantly more successful in the past year. The Spring 2014 team breezed through the regular season with a 6-0 record, the closest game being a 4-2 win, before the season came to a disappointing end in the semifinals against the eventual champions. Since the last season, we have added more talent and will look to come back for revenge against the team that beat us last year. Some members of the team recently placed second in an “Armory After Dark” tournament, losing one game to two in a close best of three series for the championship. The fall season kicks off in the next week and is looking to be a successful one. \r\nThe Tau News Pg. 15 / Fall 2014 Thanks Again, many thanks to the generous graduate brothers who have contributed to the Tau Nu chapter of Phi Gamma Delta. Without your hard work and generosity, especially considering the work of the House Corporation, neither this article nor its contents would have been possible. Additional thanks to Joshua Goldberg, Cassie Murray, and Geoffrey Rosenthal for providing photography services, and Andrew Geary, Javier Camino, Brendan Cazier, Joshua Goldberg, Tyler Gumina, Christopher Leong, Terrance McGovern, Spencer Pilcher, Joseph Pringle, Geoffrey Rosenthal, Anthony Ronda, Kirk Smith, Garrett Szafman, and Harrison Tarr for providing content inception, writing, and editing services. The Tau News Official Graduate Brother Newsletter - Tau Nu Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta Volume AC, Issue 1 Wednesday, October 29, 2014 82 3rd Street, Troy, NY \r\n