THE KAPPA PHI The Kappa Phi Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta Fall 2016 THE KAPPA PHI CHAPTER RISES ONCE AGAIN! About a week before the initiation ceremony for the Kappa Phi Colony of Phi Gamma Delta, Duke Murphy, Director of Chapter Development at IHQ, told me I was chosen to be the Legate by the Colony Brothers. I looked it up and found out that Legate is like an emissary of the Pope or, in this case, an emissary from Phi Gamma Delta HQ. Talk about having a Purple Moment! This is one I’ll share often. There’s none more proud than I was being selected as the Colonies Legate! My assignment, was to deliver the charter to the new Chapter President, Lucas Fritz (2016). Fast forward to Saturday morning October 1st 2016. At an unnamed Tampa location, 41 FIJI Colony Brothers are waiting in an anteroom. All are wondering what it’s going to be like to become a Brother in Phi Gamma Delta. They know initiation is a special event and their commitment is forever binding. Their excitement is evident in their eyes. The anteroom is dead quiet. What they don’t know is that what they are about to experience will bond them together for life and with every FIJI Brother around the globe. Waiting nearby in another room are a mix of Phi Gam HQ VIP’s and Brothers from local universities all of whom will participate in the initiation ceremony. The initiation begins and as the Legate, I had a role to play as well. I thought my part would be easy. But as the moment approached I felt a flood of emotion. Unexpectedly I got misty for a few seconds and stopped my speech in mid-sentence to re-focus. It happened a second time when I spoke to the next group of initiates. The rush of emotion could not be stopped. A few days before I had actually daydreamed about the Kappa Phi Charter raising from ashes or a fog on the wings of Gamma the Owl. I extrapolated that vision to be the spirits of the original Phi Gamma Delta - Kappa Phi Brothers holding up the charter to this new group of Kappa Phi Brothers. And then later that night, following the presentation of the Charter to Lucas Fritz, President of the Kappa Phi Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta, and our new Kappa Phi Brothers, the charter was raised and the Legate’s job was done. Or is it? My new Kappa Phi FIJI Brothers I’m thinking this is only the beginning. Fraternally, Giff Clegg (1977) IN THIS EDITION: Epsilon Pledge Class....................... 2 Getting to Know Our Purple Legionnaire...................................... 3 A Letter From A New Member..... 4 CABINET George Lucin (2018)- President Shaahil Patel (2018)- Treasurer Daniel Krug (2019)- Recording Secretary johnathan Dejesus (2018) - Corresponding Secretary Kelly Paffel (2019)- Historian MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS New Member Initiation-November 6 Mountain Weekend-November 11-13 Brotherhood Retreat- November 20-22 ACHIEVEMENTS First Pig Dinner Chartering Rodeo for USO Highest G.P.A on Campus \r\nEPSILON PLEDGE CLASS As part of the their pledge assignments, the Epsilon class was asked to fill out information about themselves, including their name, hometown, major, hobbies, and what they look to gain from Phi Gamma Delta. 1) Kyle Griffin • New Port Richey (FL) • Analytical and statistical information systems • Technology, videogames, scuba diving, anything on the water and getting into working out currently. • I'm looking to join FIJI for a good brotherhood of guys who can help me better myself. 2) Devan Ortiz • Riverview, FL • Medical sciences • Watching/sports • I look to gain and tight brotherhood and to make FIJI a name that is respected on campus. 3) Jeff Normann Sejr • Herning, Denmark • Physics B.S. • Sport, weightlifting, ps4 and basically anything that'll get my heart pumping. • Since my family is back home I am looking for a new "family", and I hope to find it here by joining the Brotherhood. 4) Samuel Florez (Sam Florez) • Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia • Global business • I enjoy watching WWE, Soccer, being there for my friends whenever they need me. • I would like to get tight brotherhood from Fiji while also better myself as a gentlemen. Learn to eloquently speak and obtain the qualities that a successful man has. 5) Matthew LeRette • Virginia Beach, VA • Civil engineering • Surfing, fishing, soccer, exploring new places • I look forward to making lifelong friends and memories with the Kappa Phi Colony (Soon to be a chapter) at USF. I also look to better myself as a man. I want to be more confident in every aspect in my life and learn how to be an effective leader and positive role model. 6) Danny Schreiber • Fleming Island, FL • Finance • I enjoy lacrosse, wakeboarding and hanging out with friends. • Through FIJI i want to gain lifelong friendships. I also want to gain experience with having a lot to do so that I can learn to manage my time. I look forward to having specific jobs in the fraternity so that i can gain experience with having to be responsible for something or a group of people other than myself. 7)Mohamed Akkouche • Louisiana • Biomedical science • Water polo, soccer, pathology • I look to gain a strong brotherhood and friendship with memories that will last throughout my life time and a bond that can never be broken. 8)Adam Wortman • Jacksonville, FL • Finance • Lacrosse, golf, hiking, skiing, watching good movies and tv shows, traveling • Through FIJI, I hope to gain lifelong brothers and friendships that I can always depend on and have fun with. 9)Christian Morales • Elizabeth, NJ • Chemical engineering • Rollerblading, racquetball, video games, math • look to gain a brotherhood and opportunities to meet other people through FIJI. 10) Karl Abraham Wundschock • Perkasie, PA • Mechanical engineering • Outdoor stuff- hiking, kayaking, camping, track, volleyball, baseball, frisbee, woodworking, cars • What I want to gain: personal development, gain confidence and more social skills (Epsilon Pledge Class Continued on Page 3) 2 \r\nEPSILON PLEDGE CLASS CONT. 11)Austin roberts • Chattanooga, TN • Finance • Guitar, football, lifting, soccer • I hope to gain friendships that will go beyond college. I want to be pushed towards becoming the best individual in the classroom and as a gentleman. I look forward to having fun and grow together as men. 12)Suraj Chandiramani • Born in Florida, raised in Curacao • Finance major • Soccer, swimming, basketball and chilling • I look to gain brothers that I can really count on and become more of a gentlemen. GETTING TO KNOW OUR PURPLE LEGIONNAIRE When Zach Foster (2010), agreed to become the Purple Legionnaire for our Kappa Phi Colony back in spring of 2016, we were ecstatic to have him on. Now that we have chartered, Zach looks forward to building a close relationship with our chapter and guide is the process of becoming true Fiji Gentlemen. I asked Zach a few questions about his fraternal experience and where he sees Kappa Phi going in the future. 1. What inspired you to rush FIJI at UF? I met a few of the brothers through mutual friends during my freshman summer semester. They struck me as extremely genuine and down to earth. We became friends quickly and remained in touch until rush. Once rush week rolled around, I really clicked with some of my future pledge brothers and accepted as soon as I had a bid in hand. People join people, not fraternities. I’ve found that developing close one-on-one relationships with potential new members before rush week is the best way to build a strong pledge class. 2. How has FIJI prepared you for the job you have now? My time in FIJI provided me with numerous opportunities for formal and informal leadership roles. Those opportunities allowed me to strengthen my interpersonal skills and grow as a leader. Conflict resolution, organizational management, and team building are all skills that I’ve carried into my career thanks to my time in the fraternity. Greg Garcia. He was my pledge educator and a member of Upsilon Phi’s Alpha class. He is devoted and caring brother who was key to the Chapter’s growth. Greg was a true role model to countless brothers at Upsilon Phi. 4. If you could do anything differently in your experience, what would it be? I would have gotten move involved in campus activities outside of the Chapter. Campus involvement not only benefits the chapter by raising the Fraternity’s profile on campus and opening up additional recruitment pipelines, but it also helps your growth professionally. 5. As PL, you’ve gotten the opportunity to meet with the brothers here at USF. Now that we have chartered, what expectations do you have of us? I expect the chapter to build on its tremendous initial success. This includes growing chapter numbers while maintaining a high standard of excellence for each new member and developing attainable long terms goals for the chapter. Further, a key to sustained success will be to develop and document the best practices of the chapter. An enormous amount of valuable institutional chapter knowledge can be lost between generations of chapter leaders if chapter successes are not written down and passed on to future generations. 3. Who is your role model within the Fraternity that inspires you to make the name proud? 3 \r\nA LETTER FROM A NEW MEMBER Even though as I write this I am still undergoing the pledging process of Phi Gamma Delta, I can definitely say that my experiences with Fiji have been outstanding so far. At the start of recruitment this fall, I had a couple of friends at USF and I believed that I could gain some friendships through Phi Gamma Delta. As an extremely family oriented person, kinship is something that I hold valuable and it has been something that I try to protect and so the title of pledge brothers is something that I took to heart. As we learned about our values the one that resonated most with me was friendship. During the weeks that followed, I began to get closer and closer to my pledge brothers, we ate together, started meeting outside of mandatory events, and quickly found out that we could rely on each other. Never before had so many people gotten that close to me in that short of a period and that is one of the reasons why I have enjoyed Phi Gamma Delta; it stands by its values. With all that however, I have to say that my favorite aspect of Fiji to this point has been the big brother/little brother relationship that started about two weeks ago. Having someone to look out for me and genuinely care about my success validates the meaning of brotherhood to me and has made me feel as an integrated member of the Fraternity. That being said, every brother in Phi Gamma Delta has impressed me with their commitment and involvement to the fraternity. I can only hope to grow in order to one day improve the Fraternity, so that future brothers can enjoy FIJI the way that the Founding Father’s work gave me one of the best experiences of my life. Mighty proud to be a Fiji to be! -Sam Florez MAKE YOURSELF IMMORTAL! Phi Gamma Delta is teaming up with Donate Life to increase the number of organ donors across North America. This joint venture is called the Immortal Phi Gam project. There are more than 125,000 people waiting for an organ transplant in the United States and Canada, with approximately 150 names added to the waiting list every day. About 79 organ transplants take place every day, but sadly, approximately 22 people die every day because they did not receive an organ in time. The good news is that together Phi Gams can make a tremendous difference. One organ donor can save or improve the lives of up to 50 other people! Making yourself immortal is an easy 3-step process. 1. Go to www.phigam.org/immortalphigam and register at the bottom of the web page. 2. Click on the link on the same web page that will take you to Donate Life’s map page. Click on the state or province where you are licensed to drive or live and register to become an organ donor. This step is unnecessary if your driver’s license in the U.S. or insurance card in Canada already shows that you are an organ donor, but register again if you are uncertain. 3. Tell your parents, spouse, family members, and loved ones that you want to donate your organs when you die. If you are already a registered donor through your state or province, please register with the Fraternity as well at www.phigam.org/immortalphigam to help track the number of brothers who have made this life-saving decision. 4 \r\nKappa Phi Colony of PHI GAMMA DELTA UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA Nonprofit Org U.S. Postage Paid Lexington, KY Permit # 540 1201 Red Mile Rd P.O. Box 4599 Lexington, KY 40544-4599 Design, printing and mailing services provided by the International Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. 5