NYX Chi Times - Full Year 2015 Newsletter

Brothers,

The the 2015 NYX Chi Times Full Year Newsletter has been mailed out to those Alumni who have replied with their current mailing address. I would like to thank our AVC President Kenneth J. Rushing for all the work he put in to make sure that this was distributed.

If you still would like to receive a copy of this Newsletter in a physical format - then please email sigep.nyx.avc@gmail.com. For those of you who prefer a digital format, we offer this link for this newsletter in a digital format.

Please let us know if you have any ideas for the upcoming newsletters!

Thanks!

Ryan Stephens

NYX AVC VP Communications

 





Info
Comment
Written by Peter-John On

54th Sigma Phi Epsilon Conclave Report & Scholarship

Brother Matt Fox

Dear Alumni Brothers,

You give time and money back to the Chapter and we thank you for this. It has allowed us to open the door to another leadership opportunity for an undergraduate member. And that's only the beginning of the story:

While attending a 'SigEp 1901' event in Boston (held monthly on the 3rd Thursday for all SigEp Alumni, hint, hint), I heard of other Chapters providing scholarships for several undergrads to attend Conclave because of its importance in building future leaders within the Chapter. So with a tight timeline in late May the AVC took action and created a NYX Conclave Scholarship. Brothers entering their Sophomore year were allowed to apply by means of any form of media which communicated in regards to both SigEp and the Balanced Man: what SigEp represents to them and their vision for their future as a Brother of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity.

I had the great privilege to attended the 54th Sigma Phi Epsilon Conclave in Nashville, TN (August 12-15, 2015) with the NYX Conclave Scholarship winner (Lucas Carter) and two Undergraduate Chapter delegates (Mike Naber, President and James Toolen, VP Programming) and I can confirm that the new scholarship as well as the Conclave experience in general was a resounding success. The added dimension of a NYX neophyte's view provided better discussions each day and contributed to a NYX vision which, in my humble opinion, can make our Chapter the best on campus.

The insight years ago by Brother Jason Keleher was instrumental in balancing the Chapter's early view of greatness often quoting something similar to "You cannot just build a castle in the sky, you must first build a stable foundation for which it resides and build upwards from there." (forgive me Jason if I f'd that up...send in an editorial change request)

During the course of the event, the three Brothers came up with a substantial vision for the Undergraduate Chapter which includes substantially increasing the minimum Chapter GPA over the coming semesters and bumping the minimum 2nd Semester Freshmen GPA requirements as both are trailing behind ALL of the other Chapters' we met at Conclave. Once the our Undergraduate brothers agree to their plan/vision, I support it's sharing on the SigEp NYX website for all to see and encourage Brothers to be actively involved in supporting it.

There are plenty more stories to be told, and once again Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry didn't disappoint. As part of fundraising for the newly founded Phillip A. Cox Volunteer Institute, I witnessed an auction where one brother paid $25,000 for a bottle of wine worth $1,200...and he donated it himself...while the final evening's Conclave banner auctioned for $200,000 with proceeds to the Volunteer Institute.

We're looking forward to hearing from more Alumni before the next CHI Times issue. The next Conclave is in Orlando, and I'm going...will I see you there?

HFF,

Brother Fox, '03

I can be reached at foxmkelly@gmail.com

Info
Comment
Written by Peter-John On

NYX Alumni Weekend: Texas Edition

Editors note: This event that our Texas based Alumni are using to get together is a very successful model and should be considered in your local area to keep the connection to our fraternity and the many friendships that we made because of it. Please consider duplicating what Nick shares below and let the AVC know either prior or after the event occurs  (or post it on the Alumni Facebook page).

It's funny how quickly our lives "complicate" once we leave college.  I don't mean that in a negative way; but our lives just have a way of getting very busy!  For some of us, our jobs take us to far away places.  Others of us marry, have kids and quickly learn how precious a lazy weekend on the couch can be.  I remember naively thinking, back when I was at Clarkson, that I would always return to Potsdam to celebrate New York Chi Alumni weekend with my brothers- no matter what.  But then life gets in the way.  Last year I found myself regretting the fact that I missed another alumni weekend, and that in the ten since I graduated, I  have made it to only three Alumni Weekends.  Although it was great to see all of the pictures that brothers were posting on Facebook after last year's event, it left me feeling sad that once again, I was missing out.

But then I had and idea: why not plan a "mini alumni weekend" in Houston (where I currently live) and open it up to everybody, especially those living in the region?  The response I got was tremendous considering there was only around 8 weeks notice and most everybody had to travel at least a few hours to Houston.

The inaugural "NYX Alumni Weekend: Texas Edition" was last July in Houston and six brothers were in attendance.  The weekend kicked off with Happy Hour on Friday afternoon.  It was great catching up with everybody over dinners and drinks and of course, two “hangover curing” brunches!  Adam Dimas's stories from his days as a founding father were hilarious and the group even had time to take in a Houston Astros game together.  By the end of the weekend, we all agreed this type of "mini" Alumni event needed to be an annual occurrence.

This year, the torch passed to Adam Martin who volunteered to organize the event in 2015.  It will be held in New Braunfels, Texas- a small town on the outskirts of San Antonio, most famous for its summertime tradition of camping, as-well-as groups of people lazily floating down the Guadalupe River in large inner-tubes with coolers full of cold beer.

Nothing can fully replace the fun filled festivities of an actual NYX Alumni Weekend in Potsdam considering the large number of alumni and undergrads typically in attendance.  But what we've started doing here in Texas may be the next best thing; especially for those of us who can't consistently make it back to Potsdam each spring.  So if you find that you and a bunch of brothers living in your area aren't able to consistently make it to the official Alumni Weekend, then I encourage you to bring a small slice of Alumni Weekend to your area!

 

Nick Saunders

Spring 2002

Info
Comment
Written by Peter-John On

2015 Alumni Weekend Recap

Potsdam, NY

Saturday 4/11/2015:

AVC meeting (Student Center)

Softball  - Alumni 11 - Undergrads 6

MVP:  Cameron Bourbeau

Dinner Reception (Barben Rooms)

Opening Remarks by David Roman and Kate Mikel

Uploaded by atticus7377a on 2015-07-31.

Please view this PowerPoint Presentation that was given by President of the AVC, Ken Rushing

Highlights were:

  • 100 Brother Challenge are picking up momentum due to the hard work of Matt Fox and Jon Banz
  • 2014 Stats
    • Total Members: 45
    • New Members: 9
    • Spring 2014 GPA: 2.97
    • Fall 2014 GPA: 2.86
    • Service Hours: 600 over 2 years
    • Fundraising: $1250 donated to Shephards
  • Scholarships Awarded:
    • Balanced Man Scholarship: Hunter Secor
    • Jason Dunn Memorial Scholarship: Sebastian Marra
Info
Comment
Written by Peter-John On

Letter from the President

Sunday 8/2/2015

 

Dear Fellow Alumni and Friends of Sigma Phi Epsilon,

It is a pleasure and a privilege to serve as the President of the Alumni & Volunteer Corporation for the New York Chi chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon.  I follow in a line of exemplary leadership and only hope to exceed their accomplishments and help pave the way for the future of our organization.  While we have made leaps and bounds in our progress as an organization, there are several areas that have been addressed as deficient when talking with other alumni and the undergraduate brothers.  Below, I have identified the areas I wish to tackle during my time as president and with the help of the executive board for the AVC, the undergraduate chapter, and all active volunteers and alumni.

In an effort to help streamline communication from the AVC to all Brothers, we have established two separate emails that will be kept universally for the AVC and are to be used as a central means of communication amongst all members, volunteers, and friends of New York Chi.  For financial purposes, sigepnyxfoundation@gmail.com has been established as a central email for fundraising and donations.  Currently, the Treasurer of the AVC, Matt Fox, has been readily using this email and contacting brothers about the ‘100 Brother Challenge.’  For communication from the AVC to all alumni, volunteers, and friends, we have established a separate email; sigep.nyx.avc@gmail.com that can be used to contact the AVC President or any of the Executive Board members.  I encourage everyone to reach out to either email addresses to get an update or become active within the organization.

Discussing communication, it has lacked over recent years with releasing newsletters and upkeep of the website and we are finding it more difficult with the over 200 current alumni and the continuous addition of new alumni.  It will be my goal to ensure that regular communication with all members through multiple means.  We will be using the universal email addresses described above, newsletters and flyers, our website (www.sigepnyx.org), and eventually transitioning to 3rd party communications to ensure professional and timely communications.   These aspects of communication will help fuel additional involvement and further promote our organization across all members and volunteers.  While this goal of communication is attainable, to aid in the continual communication, I am challenging every alumni and volunteer to submit stories to share with everyone in the New York Chi family.

Talking about new members to the alumni association, as of May 2015, we added 12 new members into our alumni ranks and I wish to extend an invitation for them to stay active within the organization. The newest members are:  Nathan Gonser, Matt Bankaitis, Pablo Colon, Kerly Urbano, Jonathan Dobbs, Mitchell Spink, Nick Pietricola, Beau Johnson, Taylor Friant, James Papia, Richard Canull, and James Claremont.  To the new members and to all members of the alumni association, I encourage everyone to reach out to the AVC Executive Board, the Undergraduate President or our Chapter Counselor Kate Mikel to reconnect or volunteer their time and services with the organization.  Additionally, if anyone has parents or other volunteers that would like to aid in the organization they can gladly reach any member of the AVC or contact them through the provided emails above. 

As a final note, I would like to thank all members of the executive board of the AVC and Kate Mikel for their dedication to the organization.  Their support and involvement has kept the chapter progressing forward and aiding in the preservation of the undergraduate chapter at Clarkson University.  Lastly, as a token of their commitment and involvement, I would like to thank Jon Banz, Matt Fox and the committee for fundraising, as their work on the ‘100 Brother Challenge’ has help maintain a steady stream of donations that aid in the operations of the chapter and the AVC.  I welcome all feedback and encourage everyone to contact me or the AVC executive board via sigep.nyx.avc@gmail.com.

 

Fraternally,

Ken Rushing

New York Chi AVC President

Info
Comment
Written by Peter-John On