Making a Name for Ourselves in Philanthropy and Service

by Thomas Scully, Alpha



This semester has been great in terms of the development and growth of our chapter. We had a very successful spring rush, which resulted in 11 new members who will soon be initiated into our ranks. This is our largest class, not counting the Founding Father’s class, since the reopening of the house. With our two graduating seniors, this will put our number of brothers at 46 for the start of the fall semester. Going forward, we have a great group of men who are devoted to restoring our fraternity to its former glory.



We enjoyed our first THON as a fraternity. Throughout the weekend, we had brothers and new members standing together in the Bryce Jordan Center holding up our letters. As a fraternity, we raised $14,218 to donate to the Four Diamonds Fund and, as a result, two of our brothers were able to dance for the full 46 hours on the floor. It was a great experience for all of us, and we fully expect to raise even more donations next year. Partnering with the sorority Phi Mu, we also hosted a blood drive this April in which brothers along with others donated blood to the American Red Cross. In addition, we held a bake sale to raise money for our national philanthropy, the Boys and Girls Club. We have participated in other Greek philanthropy events such as Sigma Kappa’s broomball tournament and Delta Zeta’s tug of war competition. As a fraternity, we have done an excellent job of getting involved in philanthropy and community service.



We have all enjoyed living in the Kingdom this year and are grateful to the alumni for all the support. Around the Kingdom, we have taken on some small projects, such as risers for the tube room so the couches can be set up like theater seating. Also in the tube room, we have added a ping pong table, which was donated by the family of one of our brothers. In addition, we have constructed benches for the front porch of the house, giving us a place to relax when the weather is nice. The fire pit we constructed last spring for the backyard has been used frequently now that the weather is warmer; it has been a great addition to our yard. Through the involvement of brothers with these projects, we have all really begun to feel like the house is our home.



From a social aspect, we have been meeting as many different sororities as possible, primarily by participating in their philanthropy and community service events and being active in as many events on campus as possible. We have held a cookout with the women of the engineering sorority, Phi Sigma Rho, who were our partners for Greek Sing last semester. Additionally, we have begun planning similar events with other sororities for the fall. This April, we will be participating in Greek Week, and we have been placed in a quad with Delta Tau Delta, Sigma Kappa and Mu Sigma Upsilon. We are looking forward to an exciting week and meeting more of the Greek community.



Last fall, we passed the Chi Phi national accreditation program. If we pass this spring, we will transition from a colony to a chartered chapter of Chi Phi. We have been making a great effort to pass and become a chapter again.



Overall, we have made great strides as a fraternity from where we were a year ago, and with the addition of great new men and experience going forward, we will continue to make strides toward becoming an excellent chapter of the Chi Phi Fraternity.