Memorial Day 2008 Progress Report"It’s truly a great time to be an Alpha Sig at Penn State!"
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Dear Brother,As Jeff Reyes ’10 says in his Philanthropy Chair Report below, "It’s truly a great time to be an Alpha Sig at Penn State!" All the hard work by our alumni and undergraduates is clearly paying off in a big way. In just 2 years since our re-chartering, Alpha Sig is once again one of the top fraternities on the Penn State campus and we have the men and plans in place to keep us there. As the Director of Fundraising and Communications, I have volunteered for the Alumni Corporation as the individual responsible for getting the word out and encouraging contributions to our Annual Fund. The Annual Fund is an important source of funding for the cost of all things associated with being an Alpha Sig alum. The largest use of the Annual Fund is textbook ‘scholarships’ to current undergrads living in-house, but it is also used to support all aspects of fraternity life – Website and Communication costs, Rush Programs, House Maintenance, and much more. The Annual Fund is a long-standing and wonderful tradition that links current undergrads to alumni through the support provided. I am a supporter of the Annual Fund, and I believe that it is an important use of my charitable dollars. It's hard to argue against improving students' quality of life at college. Please consider a gift to the Annual Fund in 2008. If you have any questions, please contact me. Our volunteers on the Alumni Corporation have also made themselves available for questions. Thanks for your support and have a great summer! In phi, Photos from Blue/White Weekend...
Parents Weekend is a huge successOn April 19th, the undergraduate brothers opened the doors of the Old Gal up to their families. The weekend was very successful thanks to Parent’s Weekend chairs Kevin MacIntosh ’10 and Sean Heinle ’08. The night started with a meet and greet at the house. Parents brought appetizers and drinks to share with all. After a few hours of mingling we all piled in our cars and headed to Damon’s for dinner. After dinner all the families came back to the house to enjoy each other’s company and see what their children have been up to for the past year. Brothers Martin Guttmann ’08 and Greg Core’08 performed while the parents relived their own college experience. Fun was had by all and everyone is looking forward to the next Parents’ Weekend.
National sponsors Chapter Advance"there was a great sense of our common goals to better our community and our brotherhood"March 29th, the undergrads participated in a Chapter Advance administered by Alex Bauer (Purdue ’05) from the national headquarters and Mike Band ’06. Chapter Advance is a new program developed by Fraternity Headquarters, much like a chapter retreat that was designed to assist our Brothers in becoming better men. Chapter Advance is made possible by a grant from the Alpha Sigma Phi Educational Foundation. Chapter Advance is our members' opportunity to develop a more cohesive Brotherhood - not through a boring lecture, but through a fun, interactive experience. Our undergraduates cultivate new ideas, discover how to build upon their strengths and the strengths of others, and make possible a future that is relevant for today’s undergraduate men. Chapter Advance ranges from the participation of an entire Brotherhood to just the Prudential Committee and/or "H" Officers. A Chapter Advance requires 80% attendance by all undergraduate Brothers. A Chapter Advance for the Prudential Committee or "H" Officers requires all officers attend. For a group to be eligible, all members must be current with all national fees. Additionally, the chapter must be current with chapter fees, assessments, and reporting.
Brothers discussed and brainstormed ideas for improvement within the chapter. There was a lot of focus on accountability and responsibility as well as productive and destructive criticism. The event lasted about five hours where we participated in various team building activities and were able to openly discuss the dilemmas we thought were plaguing our brotherhood. After the advance there was a great sense of our common goals to better our community and our brotherhood.
Visit from Dr. Roy Baker – Director of Greek Life and AdvancementInforms chapter about his plans for the PSU Greek communityDirectly from the Penn State ‘Center of Fraternity and Sorority Life’ website, “The purpose of Fraternity and Sorority Life is to strengthen the Scholarship of our members, to promote Brotherhood and Sisterhood, to develop Leadership, to engage State College with Community Service, to support the Philanthropic efforts of our organizations, Penn State and the community, to build the Character and Integrity of our members, to affirm personal and organizational Responsibility, and to support the Mission and Goals of The Pennsylvania State University.” The undergrads recently invited Dr. Roy Baker, the newly appointed Director of Greek Life and Advancement, into the Old Gal to speak about his plans for the PSU Greek community. Dr. Baker has been involved in fraternity and sorority affairs during the past 25 years, served as Dean of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs at Bucknell University and Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs at Syracuse University, and has been nationally recognized for his programs and initiatives. Dr. Baker discussed risk management issues as well as the responsibility of fraternity members at Penn State to act like Fraternity men, not “frat boys”. Baker also talked about bringing PSU from 11% Greek to 30% Greek which he accomplished at Syracuse University. He talked about the recent Greek awards and what a fraternity needs to accomplish to win these prestigious awards. Look for the undergrads to be collecting a lot of hardware next year at the awards ceremony. We welcome Dr. Baker to the Penn State community and are excited to see positive changes within the Greek community. A copy of “The Pennsylvania State University Greek Pride: A Return to Glory- Pledge of Commitment” document can be seen by clicking here...
Philanthropy Chair Report"The spring semester was full of service opportunities that the entire chapter took on with great pride"By Jeff Reyes ’10, Philanthropy chair Upsilon participated in the first annual ‘Shamrock Showdown,’ an event hosted by the sisters of Kappa Delta that benefits the charity ‘Prevent Child Abuse America’. Forming a formidable team of ten, our brothers placed 3rd overall! We were involved in a marathon of events including dodge ball, tug-of-war, and yet again an eating contest. Upsilon also participated in the 3rd annual ‘We Are…Curing Autism Now 5K Race/3K Walk,’ hosted by the sororities Pi Beta Phi and Sigma Delta Tau, as well as the brothers of Beta Sigma Beta. This is the second largest philanthropy at Penn State, a runner-up to Thon. Twenty-five of our undergraduate brothers came out to support the charity ‘Autism Speaks’ which contributes significantly to finding a cure for autism. Alpha Sigma Phi placed 2nd among fraternities for most money raised! With only one short week to fundraise, we amazingly were able to raise over $1500! Donations can still be made www.psuautismspeaks.org.
Our philanthropic efforts for the spring semester ended with an Alpha Sig sponsored blood drive. Undergraduate brothers volunteered to run the event as well as donate blood. Overall, we collected 123 units of blood which potentially saved 369 lives. A great big ‘thank you’ goes out to all of our friends and brothers who came and supported our blood drive. The spring semester was full of service opportunities that the entire chapter took on with great pride. We hope that our ongoing service participation will become a tradition. It’s truly a great time to be an Alpha Sig at Penn State!
Plans underway for THON 2009This year the brothers of Alpha Sigma Phi raised $44,000 which is twice what we raised the previous year. Our enthusiasm has grown with the addition of our new Thon family, the Bosch’s. Recently the brothers pooled their money and were able to get our THON child, Jason Bosch a Wii for his birthday. We’ve been told that Wii golf is Jason’s favorite because he absolutely loves everything about golf. We look forward to spending more time and getting to know Jason next year. As a brotherhood, we have challenged ourselves to break $100,000 next year and continue the great tradition of Alpha Sig and Dance Marathon. With the help and encouragement of the Bosch family, we are sure to reach our organization goal! If you’d like to learn more about Jason’s condition or show support, please visit his ‘carepage’ at www.carepages.com (his personal carepage is: JasonWbosch8). Read up on his recent Make-A-Wish trip to Florida with his family. Welcome to our future Leaders from our
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