THE FIJI FORUM The Delta Colony of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta at the University of South Carolina A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT Friends, family and brothers, Throughout this newsletter, I hope you are able to identify the progress the Delta Colony at the University of South Carolina has made in the previous semester. Over the course of the year, we have experienced a number of positive events that we hope will put us well on our way towards Chartering. The Delta Colony has continued academic and community excellence over the past semester. For the Fall 2015 semester, the Colony was second in grades amongst all Fraternities, registering a grade point average of 3.30 and brothers of the fraternity have averaged close to 15 hours of service per member. The Colony is looking to continue this success in the future, and continue to put scholars- SERVICE In the spring of 2015 I signed up on the National Bone Marrow Registry to be a bone marrow donor. The chances of actually getting called to donate to someone are very small, so I never expected to hear anything about it ever again; however, in the late summer I got a call from the registry. I had been a preliminary match with someone who needed a transplant, and they wanted my permission to continue testing to see if I would be a suitable candidate for a marrow harvest. hip first among all our priorities. This spring the Colony initiated 10 men that hope to take on leadership roles and help the fraternity excel in the future. If anyone has any input on ways to improve our newsletter, please do not hesitate to contact us with any ideas or suggestions. I look forward to seeing our Colony continue to grow, and I am excited to share all our future accomplishments with you all. I hope you enjoy the newsletter, Daniel Shaw (2017) Colony President deshaw@email.sc.edu TABLE OF CONTENTS SERVICE..............................................................................2-3 The Story of one Brother’s Spring Break Adventure UMATTR.............................................................................3 A Local Philanthropy a Chapter Brother Helps Run GREEK WEEK.....................................................................4 SCHOLARSHIP....................................................................4 PHILANTHROPY...............................................................4 RECRUITMENT..................................................................4 \r\nSRING 2016 SERVICE Cont In January 2016 I got another call saying that I was a clear match with a young boy who had cancer and needed a bone marrow transplant. I told them I was willing to continue the process, and things began moving very fast. That same week I received infectious disease testing on my blood. In early February, I went to the Medical University of South Carolina for a full physical, EKG, and, X-rays. My surgery was scheduled for Wednesday, March 9, right in the middle of spring break. The surgery went through with no problems. I was pretty much back to normal the very next day. While my spring break experience was definitely very different from that of most people, it will definitely be one I never forget. I have yet to hear anything from the registry about how my recipient is doing, but transplants have a good success rate, and everyone involved seemed optimistic, so I am too. -Stephen Corbitt (2018) UMATTR Umttr (You Matter) is a community of young adults leading a movement to change the story of bullying, depression and suicide to a compassionate culture where every person matters. Umttr was founded by the students and families of Winston Churchill High School of Montgomery County, Maryland in response to the tragic suicide of a fellow student-athlete, and friend. Umttr empowers schools and youth athletic organizations with the funds, information, and tools they need to create a compassionate culture where every person matters and aims to place mental well-being and caring support at the forefront of daily interactions. It was very difficult for me after Evan took his own life because he left with no goodbye. I watched as every parent, friend and staff member suffered equally, as I did. It was May 20, 2013 when I watched an entire community hold candles as one. What could I have done? While there is no answer, it was Evan that inspired me to spread awareness. It was not until Umttr had been established that I developed a knowledge and passion for mental health. Evan was never bullied and never an outcast; in fact, he was a sophomore on the varsity basketball team an a popular guy in school. As the Umttr Team of Champions often reminisces Evan’s death, we know that he is smiling down on us. Evan never would have wanted anyone to go through the pain he experienced. His passing brought light to the devastating issues surrounding mental health for the communities of the Washington, D.C area. Therefore I have made it my mission to ensure that people will not have to suffer from such an experience. I spread mental health awareness by sharing the 5 signs of mental health suffering: personality change, agitation, acting withdrawn, poor self-care, sense of hopelessness, along with the unspoken message that you matter. I strive to create a compassionate culture where every person matters. A culture, where no human, community or society experiences or witnesses the suffering from mental health issues. There are no words to describe it. -Andrew Cashmere (2019) \r\nGREEK WEEK VICTORY Greek Week at the University of South Carolina is a series of events in late march in which various fraternities and sororities compete. This year through dedication and hard work from our Colony and our Greek Week partners, Alpha Gamma Delta and Sigma Nu, we were able to win Greek Week. This victory allowed us, as an organization, to show USC what truly makes us honorable, kind, and intelligent individuals. Our team demonstrated compassion by volunteering to clean up run-down areas of Columbia, as well as collecting the most canned food for the food drive. As an organization, we also conveyed our strong brotherhood and sense of comradery through the participation, and strong representation of our organization in Greek Week. As an organization we conveyed our intelligence as individuals through our ability to problem solve and plan with other organizations. Greek Week undoubtedly allowed us to grow as an organization but also allowed us to show the community what it really means to be a gentleman of Phi Gamma Delta. -Owen Kefallinos (2019) SCHOLARSHIP GOALS One of the things I introduced to the fraternity as Scholarship Chairman is the usage of incentives to boost the brotherhood GPA. We did this in the form of cash prizes from drawings and taking brothers with a 4.0 last semester to a nice dinner. I also proposed multiple bylaws to improve the GPA of brothers struggling academically. Brothers not able to meet a certain semester GPA will be put on a point system that could be met by attending SI sessions, meeting with their professor, studying in the library, or attending other various academic success workshops offered throughout the university. Lastly, a scholarship was offered to brothers with a high GPA and high involvement in both the fraternity and on campus. Hopefully after the first semester of incentives our Colony will see an improvement in our already excellent overall GPA. -Jacob Kirkland (2018) PHILANTHROPY This past semester has been full of opportunities for the University of South Carolina’s Colony to give back to our community financially. In February, a team of about a dozen brothers participated in a polar plunge for the Special Olympics of South Carolina and raised $675. Here in April, a team for Relay for Life has already eclipsed $1,000 in fundraising with a few days still before the event. All money raised will go to the American Cancer Society to hopefully find a cure for a disease that touches so many of us. Percentage nights have been held to benefit both the Red Cross and the USO, with another one set up for next week at a Columbia favorite, Groucho’s Deli. Finally, a basketball tournament for the USO is actively being planned and getting ready to put on to educate the campus about the organization’s efforts for the troops and raise a substantial amount of money for those serving our country. -Jacob Nave (2017) RECRUITMENT This past semester served as our first experience in participating in spring recruitment. While this proved to be a learning experience, we were excited to initiate 10 new brothers in our Colony. We feel that these men will serve as a strong representation of the fraternity and will make positive contributions to Phi Gamma Delta as well as the community. With summer rapidly approaching, we look forward to continue meeting quality men and preparing for fall recruitment shortly after we get back. With chartering in our sights, fall recruitment will certainly prove to be important to us. Our goal is to bring in approximately 25-30 gentlemen to push the colony size just over 100 members. -Tyler Micieli (2017) \r\nNonprofit Org US Postage Paid Lexington, KY Permit # 540 PHI GAMMA DELTA The University of South Carolina Delta Colony 1201 Red Mile Rd. Lexington. Ky 40544 COMMUNITY SERVICE In Spring 2016, we have sought to develop new relationships with service organizations such as Boys and Girls Club and Adopt-a-Highway. After doing safety training for Adopt-ahighway we gained access to clean up the Two Notch and Olympia Avenue sections, which totals almost 3 miles on of road. The Boys and Girls Club has been more difficult to forge a relationship with, however we are confident moving forward. As of right now we have 15 brothers who have been processed through the Boys and Girls Club’s system and can help out at our local stations. Though this has been a slow process, the future payoffs are endless. Another association that we are proud to be a part of is Relay for Life. At least fifteen brothers will participate and give 12 hours of their time in one night in order to raise money for cancer research for the American Cancer Society. Finally, our brothers have demonstrated their individual want to do more for the community by going out on their own and finding local organizations, such as Harvest Hope and the Humane Society, to donate their free time. As of April 11th, 2016 our brothers have spent more than 200 hours this semester giving to others. By the end of the semester, we are looking to have more than 1,200 hours given by our brothers. Giving to others is truly valued here at University of South Carolina’s Delta Colony. -Chance Harper (2018) STRONG RESULTS START WITH YOUR SUPPORT! Dear Graduate Brothers of Phi Gamma Delta, The Delta Colony at the University of South Carolina is raising funds to ensure a strong future for the Colony and to accomplish the goal of becoming chartered in the next academic year. In order to reach these goals, we ask for the support of our brothers. If you are willing and able to make a financial contribution to the future prosperity of the Delta Colony at the University of South Carolina, please contact the Fundraising Chair, Tyler Kenny (tkenny@email.sc.edu) for more information. Thank you, Delta Colony at University of South Carolina