The Chartering Petition For Chi Alpha Colony at Clemson University Phi Gamma Delta
PRESIDENT S LETTER To the Brothers of Phi Gamma Delta, In October 2015, the Chi Alpha Colony of Phi Gamma Delta was recolonized at Clemson University. From the day the Alpha class was pledged by the brothers at the University of South Carolina to the day that our brothers welcomed our most recent Gamma class, our journey has been a rewarding and lesson-filled experience. Every brother has played a crucial role in the development of Phi Gamma Delta at Clemson University. I am honored to be the President of this colony and to see each of our members grow in our five core values: friendship, knowledge, service, morality and excellence. It truly has been an honor to lead with, and for, my brothers. I am also very excited that I have been elected by the Colony to serve another term as Colony President. Each semester, we improve and grow closer as a brotherhood, and it has been a great journey for me to witness. I am ecstatic to take you on the journey of our colony through this petition. The Colony has excelled in all aspects of fraternal life, as evidenced by the following. Some highlights that I am personally proud of are acquiring a hall on the Greek housing quad, earning first place in Alpha Delta Pi s King of the Rock philanthropy, third place in Intramural Football and Basketball leagues, having a finalist in Zeta Tau Alpha s Big Man on Campus, while continuing to make many of our own impacts on the community. The brothers of Chi Alpha have worked hard to put our colony in a successful position and will continue to strive to reach higher goals. On behalf of my brothers, it is with great honor that we present our petition to charter the Chi Alpha Colony of Phi Gamma Delta at Clemson University. Tyler Reid Chi Alpha - Colony President Clemson University 2019
RECRUITMENT Percentage of Total Membership Alpha Beta Gamma 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Alpha Beta Gamma Pledged Initiated 73 Total Members Currently RECRUITMENT AT CLEMSON UNIVERSITY Fraternity Recruitment at Clemson University is similar to universities around the country. Informal rush is allowed year round, which allows for us to excel in our dynamic recruitment approach. Formal Recruitment is a period of usually five days. Our final invite dinner from this fall is shown to the left. After final dinner is bid day. CHI ALPHA RECRUITMENT This fall, we utilized dynamic recruitment to the best of our ability. We reached out to over 200 potential new members before formal recruitment from a list provided by FSL. For those new members, we did things, such as taking them to lunch, playing golf, taking them bowling and going to professional sporting events. We found that these tactics worked very well for us and allowed us to meet and develop strong connections and bonds with potential new members. We also require new members to have above a 2.7 GPA to pledge if they have credit hours at the University.
RECRUITMENT 120 100 80 60 40 20 Brothers Projected 0 We currently have 73 brothers as of Fall 2016 The Future of Chi Alpha Our spring pledge class is looking very promising. There are a few young men that delayed acceptance of their bid from Fall 2016 for various reasons but plan to accept their bid in Spring 2016 to join the Delta Class. Our ideal size is about 10 men to add to our 73 brothers. Epsilon class in Fall 2017 will have a target size of about 30 men. Newly Initiated Gamma Class
FINANCES OVERVIEW The Chi Alpha Colony has been using a semester dues schedule since its colonization. At the beginning of each semester, we vote on the budget and member dues. The treasurer then issues dues, which are due two weeks in full or brothers have the option of a payment plan to make it more affordable. This fall, dues were set at $800. CHARTERING We have been fundraising and saving money from our dues with the hopes of our chartering weekend approaching soon. Right now, we currently have $15,000 allotted specifically for our chartering ceremonies. We also have budgeted to take $3,000 more from our Spring 2017 budget, putting our total savings for chartering at $18,000. FUNDRAISING Our biggest fundraiser has been our online donation page, where we have raised over $4,000. We have also had personal contributions that total up over $5,500. Recently, we made a group effort and worked in the concession stands for the Clemson football home opener and raised about $3,000. Our total fundraised amount towards chartering currently sits at $10,852. We have just started a fundraiser with The Discount Card, where each of our members will be selling cards that give discounts to local restaurants. We expect to make exactly $3,500 from this effort. BALANCES OWED The Colony is owed by brothers currently on a payment plan The Colony has a $0.00 balance owed to IHQ The Colony has a $0.00 balance owed to the Interfraternity Council The Colony has a $69.40 balance owed by graduate brothers FINANCES
SCHOLARSHIP FALL 2015 SPRING 2016 Projections 3 3.1 3.4 2.98 3.05 3.3 2.96 2.94 2.92 2.9 IFC AFA AMA Chi Alpha 3 2.95 2.9 IFC AFA AMA Chi Alpha 3.2 3.1 3 2.9 Gamma Colony GPA: 2.981 New Member GPA: 2.981 Colony GPA: 3.096 New Member GPA: 2.832 Last Semester 7 Brothers on Clemson s Presidents List (4.0) 11 Brothers on Clemson s Deans List (3.5+, <4.0) Projected Gamma Class GPA: 3.304 Bryan Barker, Scholarship Chair confirms these are their projections at the time of petition We are proud to show that for the last two semesters, the brothers of Chi Alpha Colony boasted higher grade averages than both IFC and all-men at Clemson University. However, after seeing that in Spring 2016, our new member average was below the active member GPA, the Colony decided that more focus was needed on promoting high scholastic achievement for all members, but especially our new members. We allotted $2,000 to our scholarship committee, which is the first time we have given money towards scholarship from our budget. With this budget, the committee has implemented new rewards programs to incentivize not only new members, but also brothers to set higher goals for themselves and achieve those goals. Semi-Annual Scholarship Dinner - Every member above a 3.2 GPA each semester will be invited to a celebratory dinner. This will encourage all brothers to achieve at a high level even after their pledging semester. Outstanding Achievement Award Every member above a 3.7 GPA each semester will receive a $50 discount on their dues for the next semester Persistence Award Every brother that improves from academic probation standing (2.7 or below) to a 3.2 GPA in continuous semester will receive a $100 discount on their dues the next semester.
PHILANTHROPY Philanthropy and community service are both strong areas of focus for the Chi Alpha Colony. Our brothers have participated in 1,831 service hours, and we have raised $4,112.48 dollars to donate to our two main philanthropies The United Services Organization and Safe Harbor, to prevent domestic abuse, along with other philanthropies. FIJI Puppy Run- $1,500+ raised to benefit the USO, Safe Harbor & CARE Animal Shelter Pictured to the right: Zach Wyman (philanthropy chair) explains the logistics of the Puppy Run to each sorority competing FIJI-A Golf Tournament- $701.96 raised to benefit the USO Pictured to the left: Four of our participants after finishing one of the holes at the Walker Course. Six teams competed for best score as well as longest drive and closest to the pin. Relay For Life- $1,000+ raised for the American Cancer Society Pictured to the right: Chi Alpha Colony partnered with Gamma Phi Beta sorority. We raised money online and walked throughout the night to spread awareness for the American Cancer Society.
PHILANTHROPY Our brother Bryce Conti represented Alpha Delta Pi in Zeta Tau Alpha s Big Man on Campus and raised over $1200 to support the fight against Breast Cancer. Bryce competed in a variety of events including a dance competition, fundraising campaign and talent show. Bryce was a finalist and made all of the Chi Alpha Colony proud! Pictured above: Bryce Conti (center) competing in the dance competition accompanied by brothers: Ben Rosenthal (left) and Braeden Gazdag (right). Our brother Weston Gilreath led the brothers of the Chi Alpha Colony to a first place finish in Alpha Delta Pi s King of the Rock competition to support the battle against childhood cancer. Our team scored points for involvement, attendance, fundraising and most importantly, Weston s boxing skills. Pictured to the left: Weston Gilreath (red) after his punishing victory over his opponent. Over 30 Chi Alpha brothers came out to support Weston during his bout.
SERVING THE COMMUNITY Colony members often volunteer at the CARE Animal Rescue, by providing physical labor that is necessary for them to keep rescuing animals and decrease pet euthanasia rates. Pictured to the left: (L to R) Brothers Javy Martinez, Eli Lamb and Evan Keating SERVING THE COMMUNITY In Spring 2016, the Chi Alpha Colony logged 923 hours of community service. We pushed each other to reach 20 hours of service per brother. There was a required minimum of 15 hours for each brother and 8 hours for each new member but many brothers ended up far exceeding this minimum. We averaged 17.89 hours of service per member and we want to continue to improve that number each semester as we continue to be a positive impact in the community. As of the beginning of November, the Chi Alpha Colony has logged 908 hours of service. Common volunteering events for our men are: Clemson Botanical Gardens Habitat for Humanity CARE Animal Shelter Welcome Leader for Clemson Clemson LIFE Program Safe Harbor for Domestic Abuse Brothers at our annual work day at the Safe Harbor Home to prevent domestic abuse. Brothers painted the inside of the house, landscaped the outside and pressure washed the exterior of the house.
INVOLVEMENT Intramural Sports Chi Alpha participates heavily in Clemson s intramural sports program. We have a team in almost every sport. Last year, we made it to the finals in ultimate frisbee and semi finals in 5v5 basketball. We finished third place in 7v7 flag football this fall and made it to the semi finals in indoor soccer. Homecoming Our brothers participated in Clemson s annual tradition of building floats for the week before the football game. We partnered with Gamma Phi Beta Sorority and Beta Upsilon Chi Fraternity. Our three organizations built the entire float. Greek Week Chi Alpha annually participates in the spring campus-wide Greek Week. There are a series of competitions that we all participate in, and last spring, we came in 3 rd place! We are aiming to win this year. We partnered with Alpha Sigma Phi, Beta Upsilon Chi and Kappa Alpha Theta.
INVOLVEMENT The brothers of Chi Alpha are not only heavily involved within the Greek community, but are also active in many different aspects of the Clemson culture outside of Greek Life. Here are a few organizations our brothers are involved in outside of the Chi Alpha Colony: The Chief of Staff has been a Chi Alpha brother for back-toback years now 3 floor senators Members of different branches as well Clemson IFC Brother Baxley is the VP of Risk Management Student Government Brother Conti is the Chief Of Staff Grassroots Racing Club Brother Galpin is the Founder Club Basketball Team Brother McCormick is the Treasurer Order of Omega Brother Wyman is the VP of Programming Design and Entrepreneurship Network Club Clemson LIFE CyberSecurity Club Residence Hall Association Community Council Senator Construction Guild Habitat for Humanity Central Spirit Alpha Lambda Delta AIAS Architecture Society AED Medical Fraternity Phi Kappa Phi Honors Fraternity Clemson Agriculture Committee Agribusiness Club Clemson Moms Club CUSG Agriculture Committee Student Advisory Board UPIC Intern Outdoor Game Club Dixon Fellows Data Analytics Team No Labels Political Bipartisanship Ag Mech and Business Club Camp Carefree: For special needs children Clemson Wesley Ministry Fly Fishing Club Engineers Without Borders Concession Stands at Sporting Events Biological Sciences Society And more
November 22, 2016 Dear Phi Gamma Delta National Fraternity, In serving as the Interfraternity Council president at Clemson University this past year, it has been my pleasure to work with your new colony here. I have been extremely impressed with their growth and progress as a chapter and contributor to Clemson s campus. In just a short period of time the chapter has already been making an impact in the local community. The members are actively engaged with Safe Harbor in the Clemson area to support to those who have been affected by domestic violence, while also utilizing their time to educate youth about domestic violence. The members have also put on events to raise money for USO. Additionally, the FIJIs paired up with another IFC organization and a Panhellenic organization to partake in their first ever Homecoming Float Build this fall. The Homecoming Build is a huge tradition for both Greeks and non-greeks at Clemson University and FIJI s participation shows me that they have taken the time to learn about the history of Greek Life at Clemson and that they fit well within our culture. The chapter has also integrated with the community socially far better than many new chapters I have seen throughout my time as a Greek at Clemson and they are already recruiting at a level comparable to well established chapters. The chapter has members who are involved all over campus and members of character who represent both your fraternity and Clemson University well. The leadership of the chapter has contributed to each of our IFC meetings with ideas and relevant inquiries. Overall, the development of the chapter and immediate impact at Clemson University has been exciting and has not gone unnoticed. The chapter has shown to me that they can be a sustainable, contributing chapter on this campus and for that reason I wholeheartedly recommend that their colony be officially chartered at Clemson University. Best Regards, Austin McCadden IFC President amccadd@clemson.edu
November 22 nd, 2016 Dear Phi Gamma Delta International Headquarters, My name is David Walthius and I am the Associate Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at Clemson University. I am writing to you today in order to voice my support for the Clemson Colony of Phi Gamma Delta to receive their charter. The colony has been very successful over the past year. Their colonization process has gone smoothly except for a few risk management errors. However, I do not believe these incidents are an overall reflection of the quality of the men of the chapter and their drive to promote a values based experience at Clemson University. The colony has hosted several philanthropic events over the past year and have representatives in key leadership positions throughout campus. They have shown a dedication to not only improving the campus community but the communities outside of the university. I believe that as the colony continues to grow and they continue to have leaders within the Clemson community that they will become one of the strongest chapters in our fraternity and sorority life community. They have shown a dedication to getting to know our staff and have utilized our resources throughout the past year. Not every chapter utilizes our office to the fullest extent but I believe the FIJI colony has attempted to form lasting and meaningful relationships with our office. As long as this continues, I believe they will be extremely successful. My contact information is below. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions! Sincerely, David Walthius Associate Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Clemson University 103 Norris Hall Clemson, SC 29634 Phone: 864-656-6253 DWalthi@clemson.edu
November 29 th, 2016 Dear Brothers of Phi Gamma Delta, In serving as the Purple Legionnaire for the Chi Alpha Colony at Clemson University it has been my pleasure getting to know these men and to work with them as they strive to make a difference within the Clemson South Carolina community. Over the past year we ve had some stellar conversations and even a few not so stellar which provided valuable learning opportunities for these young men and as well as myself to grow. As you can see from their petition they are actively involved in the community both on campus as well as off campus in ways which demonstrate their commitment to the values of the fraternity. Is there room for continued growth and development? The answer to that question is absolutely, however rest assured these men will continue to strive to improve in all areas of their lives just as every brother does the same in their own lives. I believe they have earned the privilege to move forward with their nomination for chartering. Fraternally, Chris Stoecklein, Chi Alpha Colony Purple Legionnaire Perge! 903-456-1716 stoeckleinconsulting@gmail.com