THE OMEGARON Chi Phi Fraternity, Omega Chapter The Official Alumni and Friends Newsletter of the Omega Chapter November, 2017 A New Leadership Alumni of the Omega Chapter, Over the past year I ve gotten the unique opportunity to meet many of you and hear some of the amazing stories you have to tell from your time here in Chi Phi. With that being said, after our most recent round of elections, I will now be passing on the role of Zeta to Brother Armando Gonzalez. Joining Br. Gonzalez on the new Executive Council are Br. D Amico (Alpha), Br. Nguyen (Beta), Br. Rosini (Gamma), Br. Rejwan (Delta), Br. Phelps (Epsilon), and Br. Connolly (Eta). Just to bring your attention to a couple of points, we will be hosting a game day tailgate at the chapter house on November 25th for the Georgia game. We also will be holding a Six Pack Swap on Saturday, December 2nd at the chapter house. More details will be coming out shortly. Br. Sean Bills, Zeta Inside This Issue: - Georgia Tech vs. Clemson - Graduating Brother Spotlight - Raising Money for Diabetes Research - Homecoming Week - New Rush Chair Plans for the Future Upcoming Events: georgia @ GT Football Game November 25 Six Pack Swap - December 2 Social Media and Links of Interest: Omega Chapter of Chi Phi: www.gtchiphi.org Chi Phi National Website: www.chiphi.org Chi Phi Omega Facebook: www.facebook.com/chiphiatga Tech Instagram: @gtchiphi Twitter: @chiphi
Georgia Tech vs. Clemson Brother Alex Berlinsky A few weekends ago, my pledge brothers, Jon Russell, Ian Fletcher, Josh Peterson and I made the short drive up to Clemson, SC to see the Yellow Jackets football team take on the Tigers. It was a fun ride up and tailgate, but as kickoff approached the skies opened-up to a torrential downpour that plagued the game. Draped in our $1 ponchos we braved the storm up to the top deck, where we sat and watched the Yellow Jackets play hard, although eventually come up short to the defending national champions. Then, we took the night out to the town, and discovered what Clemson nightlife had to offer. While certainly nothing compared to midtown Atlanta, their quant South Carolina town was inviting and charming, and ultimately led to a fun and, perhaps just as important, dry night. The four of us had a blast on our away weekend, and can t recommend the trip any higher. Hopefully when our brothers go up in two years, they can watch a GT victory!
Graduating Brother Spotlight - Christian Reinhardt What led you to join the Omega Chapter of Chi Phi? Before I started class in August of 2014, I took a short semester of classes as a Summer Freshman. During that time, I had the opportunity to get a head start on Rush by meeting lots of guys from different fraternities on campus. Chi Phi stood out to me because every time I came back I felt welcome and I felt like the brothers actually wanted to get to know me. I gravitated particularly toward one brother named Josh Peterson. He ended up being my big brother in the fraternity, and I can definitely say he was a huge part of why I joined Chi Phi. What have been your favorite memories at Chi Phi? I think gamedays have definitely been some of my favorite times at Chi Phi. I grew up a Georgia Tech fan, so I've always enjoyed Tech football, but it is entirely different being able to cheer on a school that I actually attend. Waking up early in the morning and hanging out with my brothers all day before we cheer on the Jackets is my favorite thing to do on a Saturday.
Graduating Brother Spotlight - Christian Reinhardt What are you involved in on campus outside of the fraternity? I have two jobs at the Student Center on campus: I work as an Information Desk Assistant and a Guest Services Manager. I also serve on the Student Employee Experience Committee, where I am responsible for organizing employee training for all 100 undergraduate employees, recognizing the employee of the month, compiling and sending out a monthly newsletter, and organizing team building events for Student Center Employees. Furthermore, from May 2015 to August 2016 I was a member of the research team in the Streelman lab, where I collected data for papers published in the fields of Developmental Biology, Behavioral Biology, and Stem Cell Biology. What are your plans for after graduation? After I graduate in December, I will be attending Mercer University School of Medicine, starting in August of 2018. Medicine has been a part of my family for a long time, and becoming a doctor has been a lifelong dream of mine. I could not be more excited and humbled to be taking the next step toward realizing that dream. What will you miss most about Georgia Tech? I think what I'll miss the most is the familiarity of Georgia Tech. As I said before, I grew up a Tech fan, and I've been coming to Atlanta and to campus for my whole life essentially, so coming to college here just seemed like a natural next step for me. It is going to be a big change attending a school in a town with which I am not as familiar. Georgia Tech has become a second home to be, and it will be hard to leave. That being said, I'm excited and ready to start this new chapter in my life and take on all the new challenges that it will present.
Raising Money for Diabetes Research Brother Colon Olson With the support of some brothers, I participated in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation s One Walk on October 21. The JDRF works to fund type 1 diabetes research to help find a cure and has raised over $2 billion since the foundation s beginning. My brothers and I played our part in that by raising almost $400 in only a couple weeks. Walking around downtown Atlanta, we had a great morning to go and see the sights. Going through Centennial Park, past Philips Arena, and by the new Mercedes Benz Stadium, we walked about 3 miles with other supporters and diabetics to show our support for the cause. We walked for my little sister, who was diagnosed with type one diabetes my freshman year of college. The support received from brothers and alumni alike is all appreciated by us, and we hope that the actives can continue walking for years to come.
Homecoming Week Brother Max Massella This past semester we competed in the annual Homecoming competition. Our brothers put in a good effort despite big brother campout being the same weekend, causing us to miss some key events. We were in 3rd place overall until the last day. Highlights include a third place finish in Mock Rock, spearheaded by our sweetheart Nikita Samant and brothers Shan Suen and Uche Nkadi. Additionally, we placed in first in Canstruction and Telephone. A third place finish was achieved in Cake Decorating singlehandedly by Br. Sho Sczcepaniuk. We placed in almost half of all events with strong efforts throughout the brotherhood. Our pledges played an important role in our strong showing, managing to allowing us to at least participate in almost every event. As with every year, our first years competed in the Freshman Cake race. Although none of them came even close to finishing in 1st, it was a good time had by all. We now look forward to Greek Week this upcoming spring semester to what should be another strong showing by our brotherhood.
New Rush Chair Plans for the Future Brother Shresttha Dubey When I was voted Rush Chair, I had a clear idea of how I thought spring rush should be handled. Historically, spring rush is much less active than fall rush and I wanted to change that but was in the process of figuring out how. It became obvious to me when we had 2-3 rushees who were friends with many of the current new members, but couldn t join due to financial reasons. Fortunately, they were able to work out the issues with their parents and plan to join in the spring. This led me to believe that many of the new members might have friends that they have made in class, clubs, and dorms that could be interested in joining Chi Phi if they were exposed to us. After all, they are predisposed to upholding our values of truth, honor, and personal integrity because they associate themselves with new members that are currently going through the process of learning what it means to be a brother of the Chi Phi fraternity. Using that intuition, I asked each of the new members to give me the contact information for five potential rushees. Over the course of the past few weeks, me and my rush committee have worked hard to contact them and organize a game day viewing at the house to expose them to our brotherhood and see if they would fit in. We are also currently in the process of improving the setup of lights in the front so we can attract more rushees when it gets dark. This is especially important during spring rush because the hours of daylight during official rush time is scarce. We are excited for this event and hope that it will bring in many new members of value in the spring. I couldn t have done what I am doing without the incredible support of my committee and the brothers of the Chi Phi fraternity. We re looking forward to hit the ground running in the spring. Important Contacts Pat Burke Alpha: pburke7@gatech.edu Sujay Kalathoor Beta: skalathoor6@gatech.edu Dom D Amico Gamma: ddamico6@gatech.edu Thanh Nguyen Delta: thanh.nguyen@gatech.edu Carl Mubarak Epsilon: cmubarak3@gatech.edu Sean Bills Zeta: sbills3@gatech.edu Kendal Perree Eta: kperree3@gatech.edu