The SIGMA OMICRONICLE Sigma Omicron Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT G reetings all Phi Gams! It is with great pleasure I introduce to you the newly elected cabinet members: Treasurer Sam Kreutzer (2017), Corresponding Secretary Chase Holderman (2019), Recording Secretary Chandler Cook (2018) and Historian Connor Drake (2018). As we settle into the spring semester, the cabinet is excited to bring new ambitions to an already highly regarded Greek house. Our current focus is on competing for national awards, strengthening graduate relations and making the housing transition as smooth as possible. If you have not seen the progress of the new house, it is worth a trip to Stillwater. It is going up quickly and the newest pledge class – Delta Tritons – are anxiously awaiting its completion. The DT’s have been a great addition to our house, and the members are eagerly waiting to welcome them as our brothers. Composed of 39 men, The DT’s won the annual NUJI philanthropy basketball game against the Sigma Nu’s, with a score of 58-46. Also, they hosted their own philanthropy, “Delta Triton Christmastime Kickoff,” benefitting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Association. They raised $3,278. Led by directors Trent Taber, Sam Hammer, Corey Hill, Nick Hrdlicka and Ty Herring, the DT’s paired with the women of Chi Omega and placed third in Freshman Follies. Currently, the brothers are paired with Zeta Tau Alpha for Varsity Review and are working hard to continue our show success under head director John Howard. Performances are February 24-27. FIJI placed third in grades for the fall semester, with a GPA of 3.279. While we are happy with the results, it has become a house motto to always strive to do better, no matter the circumstance. Setting high goals is the best way for improvement. One of Sigma Omicron’s biggest allies has been our Academic Advisor, Brother Richard Buchanan (Graduate Initiate 2014).This January, during Fiji Academy in St. Louis, the cabinet accepted the Crowder Cup on Buchanan’s behalf. The Crowder Cup is the the Winter 2015-2016 award given by the International Headquarters to the most deserving faculty advisor. Buchanan has been a joy to have around. His help with the new house and college advising, as well as his presence with the brotherhood has been a blessing. Other involvement this semester will include Jake Mosslander (2017) heading the Food Bank committee with Brother Buchanan every Monday morning, a blood drive held at the house in a week organized by Billy Popoff, and recruitment chair elections within the next month. If you have not seen our website, Jacob Arnold (2018) has redesigned it. Give it a look at okstatefiji.org. As we progress through the spring semester, every brother awaits the end of the cold weather and a chance to get back outside and enjoy the end of a hard semester. Some of our best friends will graduate and move on and some will say a temporary goodbye for the summer months, before reconvening in the fall. Many of us often forget to live in the moment and enjoy the present time. The best college memories will be the ones we have shared with our brothers, so I encourage anyone reading this message to reminisce a little and do not let too much time go by without thinking of the happiness we have all experienced from the friendships of our fraternity youth. We hope you are able to join us for the Annual Frank Norris Pig Dinner on March 5! Please register at www.phigam. org/okstatepigdinnerregistration. We wish you all the best in 2016! Stephen Cochran (2018) Chapter President Perge! Table of Contents SOHA UPDATE............. 2-3 PURPLE LEGIONNAIRE Q&A...... 3 FUNDRAISING UPDATE............................ 4 GALLERY.......................... 5 \r\nTHE ANNUAL FRANK NORRIS PIG DINNER is March 5, 2016 in the SU Ballroom at 6:30 pm. Schedule of Events 3:30 pm-4:30 pm Chapter House tour: please come visit this historic undertaking! 5:00 pm Graduate Reception in the French Lounge of the Student Union 6:30 pm Pig Dinner in the SU Ballroom 8:30 pm Post Pig Party at Eskimo Joes Silver & Gold Owls will be presented, Chapter house fundraising update & awards presentationcall a brother & bring him with you! For additional information, please contact Ryan Bebee at 405-394-6707 or ryanbebee@cox.net https://www.phigam.org/okstatepigdinnerregistration SIGMA OMICRON HOUSING ASSOCIATION UPDATE I t was a busy and productive 2015 for SOHA and Sigma Omicron! As we enter 2016, the campaign and construction activity is moving forward at a steady pace. The real action started the first week of August, when new pledges and their parents attended orientation. They were joined by scores of undergrads and graduate brothers, as we watched “Big Huey” bring down our beloved 1123 University. It was an emotional day filled with fond memories of life in our first home away from home and the promise of many more decades of building life-long friendships for future Fiji brothers. From the demo rubble rises the new FIJI house in which these bonds will form. At the time I am writting this, the metal beams (bearing the names of those who were able to attend the beam signing) have been placed, all floors are down, framing is done, and the roof is installed. The dry-in will be completed in time for a tour at Pig Dinner. The construction process has had no major problems. The Construction Committee (Scott Aneshansley (1995), Kim Cunningham (1975) and Jim Quigley (1979)) have done a thorough job of monitoring the progress and presenting several options to the General Contractor that have helped control costs and enhanced the design and functionality of the new house. The Executive Committee (Chris Neurohr (2003), Michael Martin (2005) and Randall Whittaker (1970)) have worked with the Construction Committee and have been involved in financing, site visits, conference calls, tours of other recently constructed houses, and numerous other related activities. By working together, these graduate broth- 2 ers have utilized their time, energy, and skills to assist the contractor in delivering the best house possible within our budget. We are currently monitoring the electrical design, finalizing the interior finish, gathering bids for security and data equipment, and looking at kitchen and furniture vendors. Due to the various delays, such as satisfying rigorous financing requirements, review of major submittals, sub-contractor scheduling, and mother nature the completion date has been extended into the fall of 2016. More on this below. Our campaign is well into year five with commitments totaling $2.4 million and a participation rate of 20.98%. We have received 67% of pledges paid in full. Many brothers met the challenge goal by adding a sixth year to their initial pledge. These pledges, and those that were made later in the campaign, make-up the balance of donations due. We worked with the PGD Educational Foundation and were able to distribute $1.2M; which has been used for construction expense up to this date. Our next construction draw will require we “start the meter” on the construction loan. As we go forward, we will be permitted to distribute campaign funds toward construction expenses, thus reducing the amount needed for the permanent mortgage. This makes it critical that those who have not made a pledge do so. It also makes it critical that all pledge installments be remitted on time. Most imporBrothers watch as the demolition begins. \r\nSOHA Update Continued.... tantly, it is critical that those Brothers who have made a pledge and are on the past due list; some having made $0 payments toward their pledged dollars, honor their pledge and remit. The past due summary shows that in the 90 days and over we have $180,726 delinquent. If you have any questions regarding your pledge, please contact me (316) 259-7906. As noted above, circumstances dictate that the project timeline be extended. Knowing that this was a possibility, discussions were started with the Phi Delt Housing Corp about extending our current lease of their property. After it became evident the August 2016 completion was not possible, negotiations were started with PDT. The extension of our lease proved to be a benefit to both houses and the amendment to the lease was formalized with the assistance of Academic Advisor Richard Buchanan (2014), SOHA Treasurer Michael Martin (2005), and CP Steve Cochran (2018). FIJI can remain in the PDT property through December, 2016. This will allow the new house to be totally ready to occupy, avoid any disruption of the undergrads’ academic semester, and give time to do a thorough move in before start of the spring 2017 semester. The final topic of my report is a call to arms for new purple blood on the SOHA Board of Directors and Board of Chapter Advisors. Several SOHA Directors are due to term out; having served their current term, and in some cases, more than one term. It is imperative after we occupy our new 1123 University the undergrads are given guidance, assistance, and fraternal support from our graduate brothers. There is no better way to do so than by serving Sigma Omicron as a Director or Chapter Advisor as we move into the new era of FIJI at OSU. Fraternally, Randall Whittaker (1970) PERGE! SHANE HATFIELD (2004), PURPLE LEGIONNAIRE Q&A Tell us where you went to HS and grew-up. I grew up in Coweta, OK, and went to Coweta High School. Tell us why you chose OSU and FIJI. I chose Fiji because they were the best house on campus and I liked the Christian presence in the chapter. In hindsight, I am pretty lucky to be a Fiji. When did you pledge and get initiated? I pledged in the Fall of 2000 (Beta Deuteron), and we got initiated in Jan. 2001. When you reflect on your days as an undergraduate, what did you like about your experience that made you want to be PL? I really enjoyed the diversity of experiences I had in the house (intramurals campus life, philanthropy, rush, homecoming, etc.) and I enjoyed the diversity of friends I made while participating. Hopefully, that diversity gives me a lot of resources from which to draw when I help the undergrads. And, my PL Ryan Bebee (1995), wasn’t half-bad. It looked like he didn’t totally hate us or his job. How do you think you can help the chapter and its members? The cabinet would like to see Fiji improve as a house. They don’t want to be complacent and they want to limit their risk management issues. I think I can help them by helping them focus on maintaining our Five Values, I think I can help them by drawing on my diversity of experiences as an undergrad and now a graduate. If another graduate was thinking about giving back some time to volunteer, how would you encourage them to do so? I would encourage them to talk to their family about carving out some time in the year to attend Pig Dinner, SOHA, and/ or BCA meetings. It takes sacrifice. But it’s worth it. These young men need graduate brothers involved in the fraternity to help maintain the vision and quality of our fraternity. Can you tell of a funny or monumental memory you have as an undergrad? Well, I was famous for my nickname Flex or F2K. Chris Walters gave me that nickname because I wore a sleeveless sweater vest with no undershirt and a gold chain to a party our freshman year. Let’s just say that I didn’t possess the muscles to pull that off (and still don’t). Everyone called me Flex or F2K for the next 5 years. It was so bad that one of my own pledge brothers (Jon Goolsby) once called the house and I answered “Phi Gamma Delta, Shane speaking.” He said, “Shane who?” I said, “Shane Hatfield.” He said, “Oh Flex, yea...” 3 \r\nFUNDRAISING UPDATE: W e are extremely thankful for all the donations received so far which have allowed us to proceed with construction of the new house! The fact remains that we are financing a significant portion of the cost of this new building and our fundraising campaign remains incomplete. • • • • We have received pledges of $2.416 million toward the new house through the “Honoring our Past, Ensuring our Future” campaign We have collected $1.614 million of those pledges, leaving $802,000 in unpaid commitments We have over 850 Graduate Brothers who have not made a donation We have PAST DUES on pledge installments of $233,000 One major positive: After our final plans were decided and the educative square footage calculated, we have been blessed with the fact that our tax deductibility increased from 42% to 55.38% of the cost of construction. This means that on the Guaranteed Maximum Construction Cost of $4.5 million we are approved for tax deductible funding of $2.49 million. Existing tax deductible pledges total $1.72 million leaving up to $770,000 in additional tax deductible funds that we can raise! New Phase of Fundraising: MAX THE TAX BENEFIT Seizing this opportunity to raise more capital and allow a tax benefit for all new donors, we are moving into a new phase of fundraising to MAX THE TAX BENEFIT. This will be done by allowing a 100% tax deduction for all new fundraising pledges of $1,000 and up until we reach our maximum allowable tax deductible percentage of construction cost. In addition, if you are still making payments on a previous pledge that was not tax deductible, we will convert your unpaid balance due to 100% tax deductibility in exchange for an additional pledge of $1,000 or more paid by December 15, 2016. Total contributions of $2,500 and up will still be recognized in a permanent fashion within the new house. To qualify for recognition on the donor wall your new pledge must be received by April 1, 2016. In order to have the GREATEST POSITIVE IMPACT for Sigma Omicron and MINIMIZE THE AMOUNT OF DEBT carried for the new house please send all proceeds by December 15, 2016. 4 New Chapter House under construction. To summarize: NEW DONORS will be eligible for a 100% tax deduction on all new pledges over $1,000 paid to the PGD Educational Foundation. Pledge deadline of April 1, 2016 and payment deadline of December 15, 2016. EXISTING DONORS with a balance due on a previous pledge who make an additional pledge of $1,000 or more will be eligible for a 100% tax deduction on the new pledge plus the remaining balance due on their original pledge. Updated pledge deadline of April 1, 2016 and payment deadline of December 15, 2016. Moving Forward: Please remit your pledge payment installments. Please make a new pledge of $1,000 or more to help us MAX THE TAX BENEFIT benefit. If you are in the last few installments of your pledge; please consider paying it off to capture the 100% tax deduction this year and help fund construction costs now rather than pay off the debt later. If you are past due, especially if you have not made any payments, please honor your pledge and remit your donation ASAP. If you have any questions, please contact any of the following: Randall L. Whittaker President 316-259-7906 Ryan Bebee 405-394-6707 Chris Neurohr Treasurer 918-230-9004 Michael Martin Secretary 405-880-2915 \r\nFor more pictures and a time lapse video of demolition and construction please visit www.okstatefiji.org and the Sigma Omicron Fijis Group page on Facebook Sigma Omicron’s 2015 Homecoming deck. Demo Day House Construction Demo Day Front Elevation Drawing. On December 3rd we celebrated Fiji Family Christmas by gathering at the house to exchange gifts, enjoy mama Rena’s homemade Christmas treats, and hangout one last time before the stress of finals week came. 5 \r\nNonprofit Org U.S. Postage Paid Lexington, KY Permit # 540 Sigma Omicron Chapter of PHI GAMMA DELTA OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY 1201 Red Mile Rd P.O. Box 4599 Lexington, KY 40544-4599 Sigma Omicron Housing Association, Inc. Board of Chapter Advisors President: Randall Whittaker (1970) rwhittaker@pixius.net (316) 259-7906 BCA Chairman: Eric Knam (1993) eric.d.knam@gmail.com (918) 576-4317 Risk Management: Michael Bass (LSU 1982) michael.bass@verisonbusiness.com (918) 808-3959 Treasurer: Chris Neurohr (2003) crneurohr@hotmail.com (918) 230-9004 Secretary: Michael Martin (2005) michaelpaulmartin@yahoo.com (405) 880-2915 Directors & Members: Terry Potts (1968), Kim Cunningham (1975), Scott Aneshansley (1995), Jim Quigley (1979), Chris Day (1980), Michael Knam (1994), Aaron Wilson (2008), and Taylor Venus (2011) Rush: Logan Thomas (2013) logan.thomas@edmondschools.net (405) 609-4227 Grad Relations: Shane Rasch shane.rasch@stumo.org (316) 641-6853 Historian & Rec Sec: Tyler Davis tyler.l.davis@gmail.com (405) 206-1129 Purple Legionnaire: Shane Hatfield (2004) shane.hatfield@ruf.org (918) 906-2325 THE ANNUAL FRANK NORRIS PIG DINNER March 5, 2016 Register at: https://www.phigam.org/okstatepigdinnerregistration