Red Door Reader (Sp 2012)

SFERed Door ReaderSD - Alpha Chapter

Spring 2012 Edition

Inside this issue:

New Recruitment Objectives

SD-Alpha Current Officers

Founder’s Day Awards

Fantasy GPA

New Member Spotlight

15th Year Anniversary of SD-Alpha

State of the Alumni Board Address

GraduatingSeniors

Current Members

Chapter Awards

Reminders and Events

This past semester has been falling into place quite nicely for the Sigma Phi Epsilon undergraduate chapter of South Dakota Alpha. Some of our greatest achievements this Spring range from being the highest G.P.A. on campus to introducing a new Founders’ Day scholarship. Undergraduate coordination and drive is making many things possible and opening doors for this fraternity.

When I speak of having the highest G.P.A. on campus, I mean above the all-campus average and the all-Greek average. Our latest chapter average G.P.A. is 3.315, with our new members averaging just below Dean’s List! Collectively, we are 0.28 points ahead of the all-campus and all-Greek averages. Yet, the excitement does not end there; we have held this title for 11 consecutive semesters! May our studies be fruitful and minds humbled by these figures so as not to be boastful but to continue doing our absolute best.

Founder’s Day has always been an event both the alumni and undergraduate members look forward to attending. This year was even more extraordinary because the donation towards scholarships was doubled from $600 to $1200! With that came a decision on whether the present awards of Brother of the Year and Balanced Man of the Year would simply increase. Low and behold, a new scholarship was introduced, New Member of the Year, and the donation is now split evenly among the three. On behalf of the undergraduate chapter, we are ever grateful to our alumni for paving the way for success. We appreciate all your efforts.

Looking toward the future of South Dakota Alpha, I can promise many great things to come. Our spirits are high, our values virtuous, and our brotherhood is strong. These next few semesters will hopefully be known for our outstanding recruitment and retention, new house fundraising, and improved AVC-undergraduate chapter communication. With these cumulatively profound, there is no reason South Dakota Alpha should not bring home a Buchanan Cup! This would be the ultimate prize for all of our hard work.

In my final note, I would like to conclude with a quote that has made a significant impact on my way of thinking. It originates from the message of our founders of Sigma Phi Epsilon: “This Fraternity will be Different.”“Don’t focus on doing things better, focus on doing them differently.” –Anonymous

HFFTyler AldrenPresident

Greetings Alumni, Brothers, Faculty, and Friends

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SD-Alpha ChapterUndergraduate Officers

President:Tyler Aldren

VP of Programming:Trey Van MaanenVP of Finance:Anthony Wacholz

VP of Membership Development:Casey Janisch

VP of Recruitment:Levi Jensen

VP of Communications:Jordan SerckChaplain:

Matthew Neff

SD-Alpha ChapterAlumni and Volunteer

Corporation

President:Dusty Roed

VP of Programming:Dana Green

VP of Finance:Brad Ludens

VP of Membership Development:Adam Lewis

VP of Recruitment:Bryce Bunkers

VP of Communications:Nathan Bylander

Chapter Counselor:Dana Green

VP of Housing:Justin Peterson

Chapter Steward:Nathan BylanderFaculty Fellow:

Laurie NicholsChapter Advisor:

Tim Nichols

SigEp - Red Door Reader - Spring 2012

In preparation of Fall Rush, I am working on purchasing a new recruitment display board and stand. I have also taken a new approach to recruitment workshops as well. One aspect of recruitment we are working diligently on is the “art of selling.” I feel that when our members learn how to tie together

their passion for Sigma Phi Epsilon with the “art of selling” the fraternity, we can become a sixty man chapter with ease.

My goals for the Fall 2012 semester are to have a fifteen man rush and to have overall twenty new members by the end of Fall 2012. I do not feel that this is a lofty goal because Sigma Phi Epsilon is a life changing adventure. I believe that even though dues are required, the intangibles that SigEp offers far outweigh tangible items like money. Leadership opportunities, amazing brotherhood, and life-changing experiences are just a few of the things this fraternity provides.

In closing, all things are on track to have an amazing recruitment year. I believe that our men have all of the right tools to make this fraternity more than anyone could imagine it would ever be. Next year will be record breaking.

HFF,Levi Zachary JensenVP of Recruitment

New Recruitment Objectives

Founder’s Day AwardsNew Member of the Year:

Levi JensenBalanced Man of the Year:

Tyler AldrenBrother of the Year:

Jamie BeckmanAthlete of the Year:

Greg Miller

Big & Little Brothers of the Year:

Tony Wacholz & Jeff LangNovotny

Scholarship Recipient:Tyler Aldren

President’s Choice:Chris McGaw


Don’t forget to visit our website at:http://www.sdstatesigep.chapterspot.com/

This year a new concept of grouping members together was experimented with. Instead of continuing to follow the traditional method of grouping members together in families for Friday night family time, the concept of building fantasy GPA teams was conceived.

Fantasy GPA teams are much like fantasy football teams with the captains being six of the graduating seniors who then held a draft to select their teams from the rest of the members. Teams would then compete throughout the semester to earn the most amounts of points, with points coming from grade checks and workout hours. The more credits a class is worth, the higher the level of the class, and the higher the grade earned in the class, the more points it is worth. Points are then added at the end of the semester, with the winning team’s captain receiving a certificate to purchase new professional clothes and the losing team’s captain receiving a loser’s award (yet to be determined).

This new idea to build GPA teams, instead of using the current families, was to make sure teams were the same size and have an almost even distribution of newer to older members. GPA teams have also allowed for group activities, along with cooking and cleaning responsibilities, to be fairer and evenly distributed throughout all the members.

Fantasy GPA teams were not designed to replace the Families, but to assist all members in meeting members of different ages and families, along with pushing each other to strive toward the ideals of sound mind and sound body. Overall, I feel that having strong ties to both family members and team members will help reinforce the principles of brotherly love and diligence through competition and camaraderie.

HFF,Casey JanischVP of Membership Development

Fantasy GPA


New Member Spotlight

My name is Eric Dzurisin and I am a sophomore from Dallas, Texas. I am majoring in Business Economics with a minor in Accounting. When I was looking into joining a Fraternity, the main thing that people would tell me was that it was the best decision they ever made in college. So far, I couldn’t agree more. Whether it is intramurals, socials, or other chapter events it is a great way to get involved on campus and make lasting friendships.

We recently had our etiquette dinner in which we learned many new things in regards to how to act in a formal setting. Another great thing is the opportunity to get involved within the Fraternity. I recently have been named chapter controller and have been working under Tony Wacholz with the finances and I am looking forward to the possibility of running for VP of Finance in the future.

Proud to be a SigEp,Eric Dzurisin

This semester began with a great start with the Black Light Dance: Dub-step Edition. We worked with UPC to bring in a dub-step D.J. to perform at the dance. Attendance was superb considering the winter conditions. Around 900 people showed up, even though the temperature falling below zero on the night of the dance. This year’s Founders Day was a blast. It was the biggest Founder’s day to date in terms of attendance, making it a spectacular 15th anniversary. This year, challenge coins were given out to commemorate the 15 years that South Dakota Alpha has been around. If you would like to purchase a challenge coin for $10, please feel free to contact me at 712-470-5960 and we can work out how to get a coin to you. Otherwise, be sure to bring your coin with you to chapter events, or you could end up paying for many, many drinks!

Michael Dendinger was our social chair this semester and set up two great socials; one with Alpha Xi Delta, and one with Chi Omega. The social with Alpha Xi Delta was a cake decorating social. The presidents of AXiD and SigEp

judged all of the cakes. Although many of the cakes were already missing loads of frosting by the time the judges were ready to grade them! The social with Chi Omega was a scavenger hunt throughout Brookings followed by a grill out.

This year, our newer member, Heath Eischens has stepped up to be our Philanthropy chair. He has some great ideas on how to improve our charity work. Hopefully his ideas will put us one step closer to the coveted Buchanan Cup!

HFF,Trey Van MaanenVP of Programming

15th Year Anniversary of SD-Alpha


Graduating SeniorsJamie Beckman

Tom Drummond

Derek Kramer

Jeff Lang Greg Miller Daniel Woodward

Philip RozeboomJacob Lueders Elliot Strand

Hopefully , this article finds everyone in between busy activities of gardening, mowing, camping, fishing, base-balling, soft-balling, <take your pick of your child’s summer sport>-ing, or at least making plans to do these things and enjoy the summer season. The AVC has been continuing to work with the undergraduate chapter of SigEp at SDSU on improving operations to compete for a “Buc” cup award at the next SigEp Conclave.

The chapter is coming to the end of their first year in the house at 710 13th Ave in Brookings, and as with all things in a first iteration, the men have identified some things that could improve their experience in the facility and the AVC is helping them to make plans to implement some minor improvements. Do not be surprised if somebody contacts you over the summer to ask for your expertise with some simple home improvement projects.

I would also like to update you with the progress that has been made in the area of future housing. The Housing Steering Committee has done wonderful work in helping to decide how to proceed with our future housing plans. Since the proposed lot reserved for SigEp is different than the one used in 2007 to model initial housing designs it was decided to create a new design. With respect to that process, various architectural firms were considered and Perspective Architecture of Sioux Falls, SD was chosen to design and provide architectural services for the project. The committee also identified and put together a funding campaign with the help of Ryan Howlett from the SDSU Foundation, who also served as facilitator for the committee meetings. The final piece of the puzzle was financing of the project. After coming up with anticipated project and operations costs with the help of SigEp National Headquarters, we were unable to find attractive financing for the project that would allow the chapter and AVC to successfully operate based on the funding that could be raised. Short story, our alumni base is not large enough and the chapter does not have enough members at this time. However, a tremendous amount of work has gone into this process and an equal amount of knowledge gained, so that when conditions are favorable, a housing project can be quickly kicked-off. In the meantime, both the AVC and the chapter will work together to set up plans to speed up the timeline.

It is also noteworthy to mention that throughout all of the meetings the Housing Steering Committee had, three men stood out as brothers who were instrumental early on in housing project, and truly displayed the Cardinal Principals of Sigma Phi Epsilon. For that, they received the Volunteer of Excellence award at the Founder’s Day celebration, as a small way in which the members of the AVC could express their gratitude. Those men are Brad Ludens, Dana Green, and Justin Petersen, and I encourage you to congratulate them when you next see them, if you have not already.

HFF,Dusty RoedAlumni Board President

State of the Alumni Board Address


Current Members

Tyler AldrenAdam AndersonJamie Beckman

Ross BerryAlan Chau

Mike CollinsMichael DendingerAndrew DeVaney

Joe DonahoeTom Drummond

Eric DzurisinHeath Eischens

Dave FriedelCasey Janisch

Levi JensenJustin Klock

Derek KramerJudge KellyJeff Lang

Troy LambertJake LuedersWyatt Mack

Fernando MarsanChris McGraw

Grant MillerGreg Miller

Mark NassenMatt Neff

Zachary ReynoldsPhilip Rozeboom

Sam SauerRyan Sandberg

Nick SchiltzNathan SchulteJacob SellersJordan SerckElliot Strand

Trey Van MaanenAnthony WacholzDan Woodward

Cody Zarn

Chapter AwardsGreek Week Champions (Back-to-Back)

Scholarship Excellence Award at Carlson Leadership AcademyHIGHEST GPA on Campus (For the 12th Semester in a row)

Educational Foundation

Michael Hart, PresidentMike Harstad, Vice President/ Secretary

Mike Ehlers, TreasurerJeremy Braun, Member at Large

Brian Schnieder, Member at Large

Reminders and Events


JIM NOVOTNY GOLF TOURNAMENTAUG. 11th, 2012 @ 11amLocated at the Willow Run Golf Course in Sioux Falls

For more information contact a member of theEducational Foundation

HOBO DAYOCT. 27TH, 2012

SDSU Jackrabbits vs Youngstown State Penguins

SFERed Door ReaderSD - Alpha Chapter

Spring 2012 Edition

Sigma Phi EpsilonSouth Dakota Alpha710 13th AveBrookings, SD 57006

Documents

Red Door Reader (Sp 2012)