Lush, green forests filled with wildlife, streams and snowy peaks fill more than 30 million acres of Oregon’s vast landscape dotted with Douglas firs and ponderosa pines. When the weather is calm, the trees provide a picturesque scene for tourists and outdoors enthusiasts, but when the weather is harsh, the trees become a hazardous reminder that Mother Nature rules our lives. You wouldn’t call their profession a glamorous one. You certainly don’t go into the industry seeking a six-figure salary. And every day, you’re reminded that technology can both help and harm you. This is the life of a logger, a job held by thousands of people in the Pacific Northwest. And this profession—along with two Oregon Alpha brothers—caught the eye of a cable-TV network that wanted to put the blue-collar, nitty-gritty nature of their work in front of a nationwide audience via a show called Ax Men.

Mark (Oregon State ’73) and Clay (Oregon State ’78) Gustafson are the co-owners of Gustafson Logging, a major clear-cut operation that’s existed in Oregon for more than three decades. They share two special brotherly bonds: one as blood brothers and one as brothers in Sigma Alpha Epsilon. They’ve kept logging at the top of their list of passions since they graduated from college. Each of them oversees various operations at work sites throughout the state. At the same time, they face long days and unpredictable conditions in the pursuit of profit. Despite their often-hectic schedules, they’re humble and down-to-earth. They kiss their wives goodbye in the morning and sometimes drive more than an hour between locations where their men are clearing the forest.

“Once it’s in your blood, you have such a passion for it, and you can’t imagine doing anything else,” Mark says. “If I go on vacation for a week, I’m anxious to get back.”

Their father started Gustafson Logging in 1974 and based the operation in the coastal town of Astoria, Oregon. Born out of his desire to have his own logging operation, he employed the assistance of his family. Mark and Clay helped their dad, and even their mother would join him on work sites, toting her own chainsaw.

Mark graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in forest engineering. But instead of working full time with his father right out of school, he took a job on Vancouver Island in British Columbia and returned several years later. He’s been with Gustafson Logging ever since.

Clay, on the other hand, worked summers with the family business during his college years, and it’s still not uncommon for students to work as loggers during academic breaks to make money. But Clay says logging during the 1970s involved a different process.

On the Offense

The Fraternity’s most-honored player of the 2010 college football season was co-captain GREG McELROY who led Alabama to its 10-3 season, including a Capitol One Bowl win over Michigan State. Among his honors were ESPN Academic All-American of the Year, NCAA Top VII Award, National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete and finalist for the Campbell Trophy. He was also named to the North-American Interfraternity Conference All-Fraternity All-American first team. McElroy completed 222 of 313 passes for 2,987 yards and 10 touchdowns, with best games of 27 of 37 for 377 yards, five TDs versus Auburn and 27 of 34 for 315 yards, two scores against South Carolina. ANTHONY DESALVA of Gettysburg won All-Centennial Conference first team honors as a return specialist (33 kickoffs for a 26.0 average), ran 149 times for 626 yards, eight TDs and led the CC with 157.6 all-purpose yards per game. MATT WILLIAMS of Willamette rushed for 244 yards and averaged 20 yards per catch.

Co-captain SCOTTY McKNIGHT led Colorado with 50 receptions for 621 yards, seven TDs; was named to the NIC All-Fraternity All-American first team; and earned All-Big 12 honorable mention. He was the team’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player for the third straight year and was co-winner of the Career Achievement Award. McKnight became Colorado’s career leader with 215 catches and 22 TDs. GREG FINGER was Westminster’s third-leading receiver with 22 for 339 yards and on the All-UMAC third team. Tight end JOSEPH FAURIA of UCLA played every game and caught two touchdown passes. Leading 12-1 Stanford’s offensive line to an Orange Bowl win and number-five ranking was NIC All-Fraternity All-American first-team guard ANDREW PHILLIPS, who also gained All-Pac-10 mention. Other standouts included All-Centennial second team tackle JAMES MONREALE of Gettysburg; All-UMAC first-team tackle WILL LAMKIN, a Westminster co-captain; All-SCAC honorable mention guard WILL PATTERSON of Rhodes and three-year starting center JACK SHEEHAN of Westminster.

On the Defense

The top player was Cal-Berkeley co-captain/linebacker MIKE MOHAMED, an NIC All-Fraternity All-American first-teamer, All-Pac-10 first-team selection, winner of the Pac-10 Scholar-Athlete Award and a National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete. He led the Bears with 95 tackles, forced two fumbles and was Lott Impact Player of the Week versus Colorado after a career-tying 14 tackles and 41-yard interception return for a TD. UCLA linebacker SEAN WESTGATE was second with 90 tackles and gained All- Pac-10 honorable mention. He led with 11 tackles for losses, was co-leader with four sacks and broke up seven passes. Our other first team linebackers included All-Northwest Conference first-teamer HARMON BRUNO, ranking third with 51 tackles, and AUSTIN MARCUM of Rhodes, who was fifth with 44 stops and won All-SCAC mention.

Leading the backfield is NIC Divisions II/III All-Fraternity All-American first-team pick ARLIN TAYLOR of Willamette, who also won All-NWC first team selection. He picked off four passes, ranked fourth with 43 tackles and ran a fumble recovery in for a TD. RYAN BEARD of Western Kentucky ranked second on the squad with 71 tackles, and Willamette’s JEFF KAHLER was a key player. All-SCAC second-teamer PETE BILAN of Rhodes led with three interceptions, ranked second with 80 stops and deflected nine passes. Leading the defensive line is All-NWC first team pick WALTER ROBINSON of Willamette, who had 59 tackles, including team highs of 13 for losses and five sacks. He was also on the NIC DII/III All-Fraternity first team and played in the NCAA DIII All-Star Game in Mexico. Joining him is teammate JUAN ALVARADO, who also on the All-NWC first team. LARRY DELVISCIO of Gettysburg was on the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll and was co-leader with 92 tackles, including 12.5 for losses.

Charles Hodge (Toledo ’64), better known as Chuck, has served as the president of the association for the past 20 years. He says the Toledo group replicated what well-known alumnus Bill Fiscus created for the Detroit Area Alumni Association that seemed to work. After all, the award for the most outstanding alumni association is named for Fiscus, so Hodge says he must have known a recipe for achievement. Its ingredients included a few annual events that took place at the same time in the same location that built a regular, predictable pattern.

“You have to keep it simple by finding one, two or three things that work for your group,” Hodge says. “It doesn’t matter what the events are, but you’ll figure out what works. You’re not out there trying to save the world. You’re just coming together and enjoying that bond you share when you need a break from the rest of your life.”

As examples, they started playing golf more than 30 years ago on the Wednesday after Labor Day and called it Doctor’s Day Off. They’ve conducted a sailboat outing, a cookout for homecoming, a Founders Day event and a Christmas luncheon. A consistent trend developed, and after awhile, association members knew what to expect and looked forward to participating in the group’s various activities.

When Hodge returned from the Army in 1966, he joined the association upon the encouragement of an older gentleman who had been involved for some time. When the Ohio Nu chapter at the University of Toledo started in 1953, alumni were skeptical the group would last since the student body was comprised mostly of commuters. Yet the graduating members remained loyal and engaged, which has benefited the alumni association’s events and outreach to serve as mentors for the undergraduates.

The Toledo Area Alumni Association stays committed to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation as well. Much like the Detroit Area Alumni Association, the Toledo group started a consistent effort to make donations in memory of brothers who’ve passed to the Chapter Eternal. Those gifts benefit the Foundation and are logged in each issue of The Record. Interesting to note, the Toledo Area Alumni Association is recognized as a Founder Member— the second group to earn such recognition behind Detroit. In any given issue, readers likely will see Toledo listed in the In Memory/In Honor section.

“If you look at the guys from Ohio Nu and their giving record with the Foundation, you’ll notice a third of them have always given to the Foundation,” Hodge says. “I’d like to think that’s because we always encouraged them to donate—however small or big the amount—so they got into the habit of giving back.”

We wouldn’t be the same organization without one important, large resource housed inside the walls of the Levere Memorial Temple. We simply couldn’t provide the same level of service to our chapters, our alumni and our visitors without the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation Archives and Collection.

Far from being a mere cabinet of curiosities containing relics and souvenirs, the Archives are a vital resource used daily by staff, brothers and researchers from around the country. From the 19th century to today, we’ve been attuned keenly to the value that this collection brings to the organization.

The Archives have been with us almost since the beginning. The 1870 Memphis Convention realized that much of the 14-year-old Fraternity’s history was “involved in obscurity,” as referenced in records. And the delegates determined that “the members should be intimately acquainted with the past career of the Society and the history of its individual members.” To resolve this problem, the Convention created the office of Public Historian. Each of the chapters also elected a Private Historian for a one-year term. At the turn of the 20th century, Billy Levere took up the mantle of Historian and brought a deep commitment to the role. He began to sniff out, hunt down and acquire the core of the collection we see today. He was the first person to establish a fraternity museum and library in his offices in Evanston—and later both would become key features of the Levere Memorial Temple. With its creation in 1928, the Foundation became the custodian of the Archives.

Through the decades the Archives, as the sum of archival material (paper), photographs, artwork, and artifacts that make up the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation Archives and Collection is called, has grown through donations from chapters, alumni, and friends. The Archives contain more than 462 feet of correspondence, publications, brochures and photographs; more than 650 scrapbooks; about 150 blueprints; and approximately 1,000 artifacts, artwork and framed images. All of this material allows the Foundation to perform part of its mission: to collect, preserve and exhibit materials pertaining to the history of the Fraternity and its members. Today the Archives are the ultimate resource for information about ΣAE, its chapters and membership. This powerful resource is used extensively by three main groups: staff, researchers and Temple visitors.

Staff

In many ways the Archives function just like any other business archive. Staff members use it to research past events, programs and activities. Whether they’re digging up a classic photo from the 1930s or searching for archival material to research the root of a program, our Archives serve as a key resource for understanding out past and explaining how we’ve evolved over the years.

Chapters that open and close are part of the life-cycle of all fraternities and sororities. Recently, Sigma Alpha Epsilon was presented with the opportunity to recolonize Illinois Alpha at Monmouth College. Regional Director Deran Abernathy and Extension Coordinator Aaron Hill used the Archives to understand better the circumstances that lead to the chapter’s closure in 1981. This information allowed them to speak effectively with college officials and interested alumni who hope to see the rebirth of this chapter.

Researchers

The Archives are used frequently by researchers for a variety of projects and publications. This March, Bradley Williams (Cincinnati) spent his spring break at the Temple conducting research in the Archives. He used primary sources as the foundation for his undergraduate thesis about the construction and evolution of the James Gamble Nippert Memorial Lodge, Ohio Epsilon’s chapter house.

Information housed in the Archives is also able to help genealogists make a connection with their SAE ancestors. In February, George Paine, who is not a brother, was conducting research on a SAE brother in his family tree. The only information he had was a photograph and a military-commission certificate. Information in the Archives showed that Paine’s relative, John M. Thompson (Kentucky Military Institute 1872), was a cadet at the Kentucky Military Institute in the early 1870s and provided some biographical information in addition to an early chapter photo in which Thompson was front and center.

Visitors

Every year the Temple hosts thousands of visitors from all over the world who come to tour the building and view the artifacts it contains. Sometimes those visitors are looking to understand something about their SAE relative. Christina Moseley, granddaughter of John O. Moseley (Oklahoma 1916), visited the Temple for the first time when she was 13. As she went through the building, Moseley videotaped rooms and artifacts and then recorded her thoughts about the building where her grandfather had such a direct impact. Through her visit to the Temple, Moseley was able to experience the “schoolhouse” in which her grandfather established the first Leadership School and where he ended his professional career as Eminent Supreme Recorder.

In May, the Temple hosted a reception for the Fraternity Communications Association at the beginning of its Annual Conference. This was the first visit to the Temple for many of the guests, and most were awestruck by the building’s beauty. Guests found something special in the building, whether it was a room or painting or simply their organization’s coat-of-arms in the Panhellenic Room, with which they connected.

PastPerfect

As powerful a tool as the Archives have become, they can still be used more effectively. Until this year, there was no cataloguing system for the Archives. The ability to search for materials and locate information depended upon the familiarity of the Archivist with the collection. This year the Foundation purchased PastPerfect collections-management software. This database allows us to catalogue the contents of the Archives and will provide detailed search capabilities. Data entry began in February through a gift from Jim Mottern (Idaho ’70), who created the Arthur A. Cook Memorial Internship. For the implementation phase, 200 artifacts from the Archives were selected, which include some iconic pieces of the collection along with more recent acquisitions. This initial group of materials is now available online at www.sae.net/archives. New items will be added to the online catalogue as processing continues. Our goal is to bring as much of the Archives and building as possible direct to your computer, but due to the sensitive nature of some portions of the collection, not all material will be available online.

The implementation of PastPerfect and its online component, PastPerfect-Online, is a significant step in the continued development of the Archives and improves the professional standards that are used for its care. Not only does this innovation allow us to complete a long-term goal of providing greater access to the collection, but it improves the long-term health of the Archives through search capabilities that will identify the specific items required for research needs and prevent unnecessary handling of archival materials.

As we move into the future, the Archives will remain an important component of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. In an organization that experiences rapid change and a constant influx of new members, the Archives serve as our collective memory. It provides us with the resources to know the organization’s past and the resources necessary to shape the organization’s future.

The Arthur A. Cook Memorial Internship

The Arthur A. Cook Memorial Internship was made possible by a gift from Jim Mottern (Idaho 1970). Arthur A. Cook (Washington [Washington] 1909) served as Eminent Archon and as Province Lambda Archon from 1915-1923. He was a significant force in the Fraternity’s expansion in the Pacific Northwest, founding the Montana Alpha, Idaho Alpha and Oregon Beta chapters. In recognition of his contribution to the Fraternity, he received the Merit Key Award in 1949.

Your donation of $1,000 to the Arthur A. Cook Memorial Internship will provide 100 hours of time cataloguing material from the donor’s chapter. If the chapter’s material is fully catalogued, then time will be spent cataloguing other material in the Archives. Please contact Nanci Gasiel at ngasiel@sae.net or at (847) 424-3009 to make your donation.

F&H also is excited to announce the hiring of Kuo Diedrich, an architecture firm located in Atlanta, Georgia. After a competitive bid process, the F&H board of directors selected Kuo Diedrich to provide professional design services for its national housing program. The company’s conceptual designs for the future Indiana Gamma and Indiana Sigma homes are shown on this page.

As part of its core mission, F&H remains interested in any project that promotes quality housing for our undergraduate members. Visit www.saefandh.com for more details. Or contact Associate Executive Director Greg Somers at gsomers@sae.net or at (773) 590-1056 to learn more about the many available F&H housing programs and services.

Sometimes the best-laid plans don’t turn out as we’d like—even after multiple attempts. On December 5, 1953, as the Sigma Delta local fraternity became the Ohio Lambda chapter, the members voted to add former Temple artist Mathias Noheimer to the official register of Sigma Delta alumni. Regulations required that non-student initiations only occurred when a chapter was installed and the initiate was an alumnus of the local Fraternity that would become the chapter. But Noheimer was not able to attend the installation. ESR John O. Moseley (Oklahoma ’16) wrote to his friend and indicated that they could perform his initiation at another chapter at a later date.

Two years later, Ohio Epsilon EDA Zeke Hyat (Cincinnati ’56) wrote to ESR Rex A. Smith (Nebraska ’24) to request Noheimer’s initiation again. Smith and Hyat secured the necessary approvals and set the date for Ohio Epsilon to initiate Noheimer on behalf of Ohio Lambda. At the last minute, fate once again intervened, and Noheimer could not attend. Records do not show that any further efforts were made to initiate Noheimer.

He had long been a friend of the Fraternity. Alfred K. Nippert, Chairman of the Temple Building Committee, hired the award-winning artist and instructor to paint various murals and portraits throughout the building. After a long career, Noheimer retired in 1971 and moved to Vermont. He passed away in 1981 at age 72.

When the documents regarding Noheimer’s missed initations were discovered, they were shared with Ohio Epsilon, and its men requested his initiation once again. The Supreme Council approved the request, and this August, Noheimer will be posthumously initiated at the 76th John O. Moseley Leadership School.

Profile
Chester (Don) Donnally

Graduation Stats
Southern Methodist (Texas Delta) ’67

Education
BBA Economics, Southern Methodist; MBA Finance, Cox School of Business

Hometown
Dallas, TX

Family
Wife Carol Donnally; Adult Children Christina, Chet, Caroline and Jodi

Do you have any other family ties to Sigma Alpha Epsilon?
My son, Chet, is also an alumnus from the class of 2009 at Texas Delta. He was rush chairman and Eminent Deputy Archon and a member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society. He’s now a med student at (Brother) Paul Foster School of Medicine in El Paso.

Career Highlights
I’m proud of my involvement with filing a 13D with the SEC in 1990 that detailed open-market purchases for a percentage of Southwest Airlines. And I served on a transition team of Smith Barney for the integration and merger with Shearson/Lehman.

Fondest Fraternity Memory
I was fortunate to see the successful completion and fundraising of a $3.5-million, 46-bed chapter house for Texas Delta. In fact, I selected the site and architect, and I’m humbled the building was dedicated in my honor. Plus, we have some great events at the house for undergraduates, alumni and parents to stay involved. At the same time, I’ll always remember the “Burning the Mortgage” brunch of the old chapter house at 3105 Binkley Avenue during homecoming in 1981.

Fraternity Volunteerism
I’ve been the chapter adviser and house corporation president for Texas Delta from 1972 to today.

What has been your biggest challenge as a housing volunteer?
Each chapter in the Realm is a real business with cash flow. It is imperative to have increased membership and recruitment each year and to have a physical structure that can compete with apartment living as well as the new concepts in university-owned campus housing. If you do not get bigger, you will die. In addition, residency requirements for pledge classes and sophomores are essential to filling our house because they contribute to our yearly rental income.

Ed Fuller (Boston ’68) is proud to say that he and actor George Clooney have a connection of sorts. In the 2009 film Up in the Air, Clooney’s character, Ryan Bingham, was on a mission to accumulate 10 million frequent-flyer miles. Accomplishing that feat offered numerous perks—one of which was having his name painted on a plane’s fuselage.

In the 1990s, Fuller reached the 10-million-mile mark while crossing the globe as president and managing director of international lodging for Marriott International, Inc. And yes, “Ed Fuller, Customer” was actually painted beneath the pilot’s window on a United 747.

For Fuller, the miles and moniker were nice, but they weren’t the goal. Logging miles was simply part of how business should be handled: in person and onsite.

“If you run an operation that’s not in the same town as your office, it’s essential that you get on a plane or get in the car and go see those operations,” said Fuller, who still racks up nearly 400,000 frequent-flyer miles per year. “All too often, the ivory tower syndrome limits the views of someone who is capable of managing but doesn’t have a clear understanding of what’s going on in his or her world.”

With that face-to-face mentality, it comes as no surprise that Fuller chose You Can’t Lead with Your Feet on the Desk: Building Relationships, Breaking Down Barriers, and Delivering Profits as the title of his book, which was released in March 2011.

Fuller wrote the book, he said, to share the lessons he’s learned about developing and tending relationships in dozens of countries over 20 years. “My long experience working outside the United States has convinced me that the best way to gain a better, more complete understanding of people, cultures, beliefs and historical events is to leave my desk behind,” he wrote.

Fuller is no stranger to leaving things behind. As a boy, he dreamed of becoming a pilot, but his poor eyesight kept him out of the cockpit. Undeterred, he set his sights on getting into the aviation industry in some capacity.

After graduating from Boston University in 1968, Fuller entered active duty as a second lieutenant in the Army. When he left the military in 1972, his goal remained the same: to work in the airline industry. At that time, however, the United States was entering a recession, and the industry wasn’t hiring. As a result, Fuller went to work for Marriott’s in-flight food division to maintain his connection with his chosen field. In essence, he was in a holding pattern until he found a more desirable place to land. On his first day, Fuller arrived at work eager and ready to learn. Almost immediately, he knew he had to abort his assignment.

“I was told I would be in the kitchen for the first ten years, which seemed like a lifetime,” he said. “I became somewhat disinterested at that point.”

Fuller then learned about an opening in Marriott’s hotel group that seemed like a perfect fit since it required someone who could “speak military.” Fuller had served as a captain in Germany and Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal, all of which, he said, gave him an edge in his new position of selling group lodging to military bases in the Washington, D.C., area.

The Ritual of Sigma Alpha Epsilon is more than just a set of ceremonies. If nothing else, it is a set of principles and a foundation of values on which our organization is based, and it’s this philosophy that was emphasized to the undergraduate attendees at the DeVotie Ritual Institute.

On April 15 and 16, nearly 60 undergraduates representing 39 chapters from across the Realm traveled to the Levere Memorial Temple in Evanston to take part in the first DeVotie Ritual Institute. These undergraduates experienced an intense weekend of Ritual education designed to enhance and reinforce the values and virtues of our Fraternity.

The purpose of the DeVotie Ritual Institute is to educate undergraduates in the Ritual of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, including its practice, performance, and use in daily chapter operations. By discussing in detail our values and virtues, and how they are really used in our daily life, from chapter operations to our interactions with others, each undergraduate is taught how to improve the quality of the chapters of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

The weekend began on Friday night with dinner in Nippert Hall followed by the opening session in the Panhellenic Room. Throughout the weekend, that room, much like for the original Leadership Schools, would be the main location for most general sessions. After welcoming and reviewing the code of conduct for the weekend, the faculty introduced themselves. They included Eminent Supreme Chronicler Thomas Dement; Ritual Committee Chairman James Irwin, Ritual Committee Member Jason Scott Embry, Former Ritual Committee Chairman Tim Strobl, Director of Educational Programs Zach Rus, Associate Executive Director for Communications Brandon Weghorst and Kerr Regional Director Jeff Hall.

The undergraduates divided into four chapter groups and met with their faculty leaders several times throughout the weekend in smaller sessions. These sessions were used to discuss in greater detail the topics that were presented in the larger general sessions.

What was interesting in some of the early sessions is what many thought the Ritual was. Basically, Ritual = Initiation Only. It was clear at that point there would be many good points of discussion throughout the weekend as this was the concept we wanted to improve upon. The faculty asked the undergraduates why they were attending. One attendee answered with, “We know we don’t have any Ritual in our chapter, and we are here to figure out how to do it.”

Following the opening general session and small-group session, the Institute met as a whole in the Peace Chapel, where Eminent Supreme Chronicler Thomas Dement re-administered the Oath of Initiation. Undergraduates were asked what words jumped out at them during the oath, and a discussion about these words was held later in the weekend.

Following the oath, each chapter went to the Tower Room and held a brief meeting. The Institute reconvened again later that evening when Tim Strobl provided an overview of the History of the Ritual.

Saturday morning began bright and early with breakfast in Nippert Hall. Immediately following a brief paper, rock, scissors tournament that fired up everyone, Strobl led the group in an SAE song session. As a part of our Ritual and history, learning to sing the songs correctly is something that merited attention.

Jason Scott Embry then spoke to the group and led a discussion on the unwritten forms of our Ritual. This led to many interesting discussions and was good to have everyone hear correctly— at the same time.

Arizona

Arizona Alpha just initiated 35 new brothers this spring, and four of the initiates were legacies. In fact, one of the men, Trevor Cohen, is a triple legacy. His father, Russ, is the blood brother of Eminent Supreme Warden Brad Cohen. Their father was an honor California Psi honor initiate in 1988. Alumni assisted in the Initiation Ceremony, and ESW Cohen guided the initiation team through the ceremony so they could perform it flawlessly. Greg Vinikoor (’86), who serves as the alumni adviser and alumni-commission chairman, attended the event as well, which took place at the chapter house. The men enjoyed lunch in the courtyard with the housemother following the ceremony.

Bradley

Illinois Epsilon earned five of its university’s Grand Chapter Awards for the past academic year. They won the Highest Overall GPA Award with a chapter grade-point average of 3.14 and the Four-Star Chapter Award for their public-relations efforts. In addition, Steve MacArtney earned Scholar of the Semester, Lou Waller earned Outstanding IFC New Member and Kevin Davidson was awarded the IFC Unsung Hero Award.

Connecticut

Connecticut Beta brothers partnered with the Child and Family Guidance Center of Bridgeport to raise funds and adopt a family for the holiday season. The members provided two underprivileged children and their single father with everyday essentials and Christmas gifts. Then, a few days before Christmas, 20 brothers went to their home with all the hand-wrapped gifts, dinner and even someone dressed as Santa Claus in tow.

George Mason

The men of Virginia Delta earned many top honors during the Standards of Excellence recognition program and dinner at George Mason University. The accomplishments were even more meaningful for the group since they’ve only been a chapter for one year. Among the awards: Third-Highest Fraternity GPA (Spring 2010); Top Fraternity GPA (Fall 2010); Community Standards Awards for Academics and Scholarship, Organization Growth and Retention, Leadership and Risk Management; and a Chapter Achievement Award for Community Standards. Last fall, Virginia Delta achieved the highest overall GPA out of all 16 fraternities on campus, and a third of the active membership placed on the Dean’s List.

IUPUI

Members of Indiana Iota-Pi earned the highest grade-point average among all Greek-letter organizations on campus this year. In addition, Litha Msikinya, one of the group’s Founding Fathers, was crowned Homecoming King while Trevor Ciboch was crowned Big Man on Campus. In other news, Pich Seekaew organized a fundraising campaign called Be Haiti, which helped to raise funds to construct a new hospital in Haiti. The men raised $7,000 during the benefit.

Louisville

Kentucky Sigma participated in the largest sorority fundraiser on campus, the Chi Omega Chili Cookoff that benefited the Make-a-Wish Foundation. The men earned the award for most participants and received two top-ten finishes in the chili contest out of a field of more than 80 cooks. Furthermore, Kentucky Sigma participated in the University of Louisville’s Dance Marathon, an all-night event that starts at 6 p.m. and ends at noon the next day. The group also earned accolades for most participants as well as an award for raising the most money—this year, $5,100.