Happy Holidays from House Corporation
As this time of year is upon us once again, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our brothers and their families a safe and enjoyable holiday season. With 2002 having both it’s highlights and unfortunately, unavoidable tragedies, it has been a memorable year and one that reminds us of the strength in the bonds of our brotherhood and the underlying purpose of Sigma Chi
The loss of Brother Ryan Donley earlier this year reminded us that we are not resistant to loss and far from impervious to the tragic circumstances that usually happen to ‘the other guy’. While we as a chapter shared the loss with Daphne and Ryan’s family in a way that seemed to feel natural to us, they were overwhelmed at the support and generosity brought forth by the chapter and individual friends and Brothers who knew Ryan personally and those of you who had never met him.
I had a chance to attend the Alumni Spaghetti Dinner at the house this past fall and Daphne was present as she has been in previous semesters to help out with our obvious inability to cook a decent dinner and speak of her experiences as a past Sweetheart.
This time however, was clearly different as she captured the attention of everyone in attendance as she described her time with Ryan and her experiences with the chapter following his passing. They were, by far, the most meaningful and heart-felt thoughts and reflections of our brotherhood and our bonds that I think I have ever heard spoken at the house.
Other challenges, much less critical in the overall picture, faced us as well over the course of the year. With the aviation industry seeing a reduced work force, many of our brothers have found themselves facing challenging career decisions and some dealing with unemployment.
Eta Iota’s insurance premiums continue to increase at record paces with no relief expected in the immediate future. The overall economy has turned south, making fund raising considerably more difficult as everyone feels the pain of a recessed economy.
With all of these challenges on our proverbial plate, some brothers have asked “How is House Corp doing?” My answer is that House Corp has never been better! We have proven in the past that challenges encourage us to focus on those issues that are most important and to pull together whatever loose ends need to be brought in to achieve our goals and overcome the obstacles.
With dedicated brothers at the helm of the executive positions in House Corp and at the undergraduate level, I am confident that we are heading in the right direction and are prudently planning a course of action to deal with each of these challenges.
On November 23rd, Brian Lojko, Julio Varela and myself met in Daytona with Mike Gehman joining us via conference call. Along with the undergraduates, we reviewed the purpose and responsibilities of House Corp, current insurance issues, alumni communications, a high-level review of future housing, and specific house projects that we would like to address. I was personally very impressed with the level of interest and participation shown by the actives over the weekend as they joined us to better understand our operation and to review possible solutions to the challenges we face.
Many alumni brothers have also stepped forward with a renewed level of commitment to the chapter. We continue to add new members to the 1855 Club and receive renewal memberships as well, for which we are incredibly grateful. We also realize full well however that not everyone is in a position allowing him to take part financially…and they have come forward with alternative support. I have received several calls from our brothers with ideas and suggestions and the underlying statement that “I want to be more involved”. This is the type of support that will be invaluable as we continue to grow.
This level of cooperation and commitment leads me to sincerely believe that we are in a great position and heading in the right direction for 2003 and beyond. Stay tuned to our updates and our newsletters as we keep you posted on our progress. The years to come hold many opportunities for us as a chapter to look forward to.
New Undergraduate Newsletter
The undergraduates recently mailed out their latest Winged Sig Newsletter to those of you who are signed up to receive paper copies. For everyone who did not receive one in the mail, your electronic version is available for your reading pleasure. Don’t forget that copies of all newsletters and monthly emails are available online at etaiota.org/newsletters.
Not sure if you are signed up to receive paper copies??? Check out your online profile:
- Visit the Eta Iota Online Database
- Enter your last name and the dog’s last name as a password
- If you’re already receiving paper newsletters, it will indicate that under the address column
- To update your preference, click on Edit
.
Newest Initiates
On November 23rd, the undergraduates initiated the Beta Phi pledge class capping off another successful I-Period. Congratulations to the undergraduate chapter for all of their hard work and welcome aboard to our newest Brothers:
Robert Tetrault
Jason Morang
Brad Bennett
Scott Bacon
Tyler Carlson
Pat McGrath
Andrew Fletcher
Mac Netto
Dave Elert
Thank You Brother Ebbe
Latest thanks goes out to Rod Ebbe, who just this past month renewed his annual membership in The 1855 Club. Thank you Rod and everyone else for your continuing support! Joining is easy – Check out www.etaiota.org/1855club right now for more info including the various levels and great gifts for members!
Guard Well,
John Banta
Eta Iota House Corp President
December Birthdays
As always, Happy Birthday to those Eta Iota Brothers celebrating this month:
12/01 Doug Trommer ’84
12/01 James Ahrens “Gassi ” ’90
12/01 Bryant Jones ’92
12/01 William Cannon “Gopher ” ’98
12/01 Duncan Copeland “Bull ” ’93
12/01 William Jones “Nomad ” ’99
12/01 Lee Jordan Lanford “Snoozer ” ’01
12/02 John Feliu ’71
12/04 Murdock MacGregor III “Malcolm ” ’91
12/04 Glen Wilkinson ’91
12/04 Jim DeForest “Muscles ” ’94
12/05 Harold Belcher Jr “Ray ” ’73
12/06 Tom Santurri ’72
12/07 Scott Kropp ’87
12/07 Brett Reasner “Ashley ” ’87
12/08 Robert Johnson ’74
12/08 James Bull “Jamie ” ’76
12/10 Tom Reed ’71
12/10 Graham Crippin “Crip ” ’87
12/10 Kieran Sullivan J. “Kerry ” ’88
12/11 Jerome Nichols “Jerry ” ’72
12/12 Brian Jones “Chatty Cathy ” ’02
12/14 Tony Kralich ’77
12/14 Rich Kiever ’77
12/14 Greg Maltese ’77
12/15 Michael S. Plantz “Mike ” ’72
12/15 Robby Long ’00
12/15 Curt Kienast “Agent 99 ” ’01
12/15 Bryan Stevens “altarboy ” ’04
12/16 Tim Woleben ’72
12/16 Bill Isakson ’87
12/16 Gregg Dudzinski “Dudz ” ’89
12/16 John-Paul Maydak “J.P. ” ’99
12/17 Chris Thiel ’87
12/18 Joseph Gamarano III “Joe ” ’72
12/19 Ryan Carson ’99
12/20 Stephen Woerz ’75
12/23 Douglas Phillips “Doug ” ’73
12/24 Gerald Hayman ’72
12/24 Ed Vogel ’72
12/24 Ted Branscomb ’79
12/24 Frank Gangichiodo ’04
12/24 Bradly Vomacka “Door Jam ” ’05
12/25 Howard Trimble ’73
12/26 Steve Goldman ’83
12/28 Mark Eberle ’77
12/28 Danny Shellhouse ’82
12/30 Mark Becker ’80
12/30 John Bruns ’83
12/31 Kevin Parker “Ghost ” ’97
12/31 Ryan Wakefield “houdini ” ’01