So you've decided to rush a fraternity, but you're not sure which one to pick. Or maybe you feel all of the choices on campus would suit you fine. Maybe you're not sure why Sigma Chi is any different than the others.

As Sigma Chis, we pride ourselves on our diversity. And I don't just mean our skin color; I'm talking about the array of backgrounds and interests that comprise us. Walk through our house and you'll find that each of our brothers is unlike any other, but each holds true to the beliefs and ideals of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. And that's no coincidence: We actively recruit members of different temperaments, talents and convictions, who also, at the same time, strive toward our demanding morals.

The Jordan Standard, proposed by one of our founders, Isaac M. Jordan, is the document by which we judge all potential brothers-to-be. If you visit our house during Rush Week, your name will come up during chapter deliberations--and, should you meet the measures of the Jordan Standard, you'll receive
an invitation to join our brotherhood.

If you accept, you'll join other great men: Mike Ditka, David Letterman, Drew Brees, John Wayne, Sean Payton, Woody Harrelson, Mark DeRosa, Ben Savage, Rip Torn and President Grover Cleveland.

By joining Sigma Chi, you'll become an essential part of our rich legacy as one of the best-known and most prestigious fraternities in the world. You'll become part of an extensive alumni network, complete with job offers and guidance. An individual among a group of 40 quality gentlemen.

In our brotherhood, you will not just go through the Sigma Chi experience, but you'll also grow through the experience. You'll gain a place to study, work and relax--and people to study, work and relax with. An opportunity to attend the best fraternity leadership conferences in the world and gain leadership within the chapter itself. Access to scholarships and other kinds of support. Cheaper housing. Friends of lifelong duration. Pride.

And, above all, a family away from home unlike any you've ever experienced.

On November 21, Iota Pi celebrated its 20th anniversary. More than 40 Marquette Sigma Chi alumni attended the event, which was catered by Joey Buona's and featured an address by Consul Ryan Liskey and a photo slideshow that Historian Sean Halley put together. You can view the slideshow below, or download it here (115mb).

We are in the process of planning our spring alumni event, which will be even bigger and better than this one, and will be sending out information this January.

Thanks to everyone who attended, and we hope to see you in the spring.

Iota Pi has been impressively busy over the past month-and-a-half, and it seems like midterms have just taken us all by surprise. As our brothers are spending hours on end in the library, setting up their living situations for next year and looking forward to seeing their families during Fall Break, our chapter has reached an important point in our pledge program.

We have four strong pledges this semester, and being their Magister has been an extraordinary experience for me, even though I'm only a few weeks into the process. Not only have I enhanced my management skills by working with all 36 active brothers over the past few weeks, but I've grown closer to our Ritual. Imparting just about all I know about Sigma Chi on our soon-to-be brothers has given me the opportunity to reexamine our basic tenets and see how they fit in the big picture of Sigma Chi.

Last week, we had our long-awaited Big Brother Ceremony, which was one of the most enlightening experiences of the semester for me. I'd been through the ceremony three times, but this time I was running the show. It brought me back simultaneously to when I became a Big Brother last year and when I got my Big Brother the year before.

Midterm Week means more than just endless exams; it's the halfway point through pledgeship. In the next few weeks, everything our pledges have learned will come full circle. As the Magister, I can't wait.

As our spring semester draws to a close, Sigma Chi is finishing strong and reflecting upon an incredibly successful semester and year as a whole. In the midst of Greek Week and preparing for finals, everyone is busy making the most of the few weeks we have left.

Elections of our new officers will be held this Sunday, and these new officers will be installed immediately. Earlier in the day, we will be hosting our first annual Parents' Brunch during which our parents will be visiting, enjoying a brunch and touring the house and campus. We are eager to show appreciation to our parents and help them get to know more about our chapter and our activities away from home. If the event is as successful, as we anticipate it will be, we hope to create the first "Parents' Club" of our chapter. Any parents who need information or directions for this event, or would like any more information regarding how to get involved, are more than welcome to contact the coordinator of the event: Jon Ramberger, (313)-303-9364.

There are some accomplishments from this last semester that deserve special recognition. We are proud to welcome 14 new initiates to the Iota Pi Chapter, and we congratulate them on such an impressive pledgeship. We also had an incredible semester of programming, including an excellent philanthropy week (in addition to Derby Days in the fall), an informative scholarship workshop, and many enjoyable social events. Congratulations to Brother Henry Thomas for being elected as President of Marquette University Student Government for the next academic year--an amazing feat and great representation of our chapter. I would finally like to recognize and thank our graduating seniors for the years of dedication and leadership they have given us; you will be missed, but we wish you the best of luck in the coming years.

There are countless individuals who have contributed to our success this semester and this past academic year. So to all who I have not named, including each and every one of our members, I offer my most sincere thanks.

If you have any questions about our chapter or are a Marquette student interested in joining our chapter, please contact me or visit our Recruitment page.

Next week, Sigma Chi will be hosting its first Spring Philanthropy Week--with three cookouts. On Tuesday, April 14, the new members will be selling hot dogs, brats and burgers to raise money for Sigma Chi's primary philanthropy, Children's Miracle Network. On Thursday, April 16, Sigma Chi will team up with Alpha Chi Omega to cook up some funds for Sojourner's Truth House and Children's Miracle Network. On Friday, April 17, as part of Testicular Cancer Awareness Week, Sigma Chi's third event of the week will benefit the Huntsman Cancer Institute.

"With Derby Days in the fall from now on," said Philanthropy Chair Guillermo Contreras, a sophomore in the College of Health Sciences, "I felt that something should be planned for second semester to show our presence on campus and benefit our philanthropies. I feel strongly about the event as a whole and hope to raise a substantial amount to help out CMN and the Huntsman Institute."

"I'm excited to see what the newly initiated brothers will do with the opportunity" to plan a philanthropy event on their own, said Contreras. "They actually came to me asking to put on an event this week. They helped me come up with the idea, and they've been really involved in helping me plan it. They're a solid group of individuals--they were very close and involved throughout pledging--and I'm excited to see them so eager to work for our philanthropy."

Add Sigma Chi Philanthropy Week to your Facebook Events.

New Member Cookout
Tuesday, 11am-3 p.m.
Central Mall

Chi Cookout
Thursday, 2:30-5:30 p.m.
Central Mall

Testicular Cancer Awareness Cookout
Friday, 12-4 p.m.
Central Mall

The Alpha Tau pledge class has been hard at work learning what it means to be a brother in Sigma Chi. The pledges seem to have a good grasp on concepts and have been on top of getting to know each of the brothers. All the brothers are anticipating initiation which is going to be held on April 4th. It would be great to see some Alumni at Initiation. For more information please contact Magister, Steve Austin.

In other news, brother Nick Rinaldi was recently elected to the position of Recruitment Chairman. The chapter is expecting big things out of Nick after the huge success of this semester's Rush.

As far as upcoming events, next Saturday, March 7, marks our annual Pig Roast. We are looking for a large alumni turnout for this event. Marquette is playing Syracuse in the last game before the post-season so get your tickets to the game then head on over to the house for some food. Later in the month, on March 21, Iota Pi will be having its formal. To RSVP, please contact our Formal Chair, Ryan Liskey.

In Hoc,
Bil Doerrer
Tribune

I hope this month's Good of the Chapter update finds you all well.

Last month, The Iota Pi chapter focused on one thing: Recruitment. We hosted Sigma Chi's RUSH 365 workshop. Brother Rick Lewandowski (Ripon) led the brothers through a variety of exercises and examples that led to one of the most successful Recruitments to date. The workshop also served as a great brotherhood event and made each of us remember why we joined Sigma Chi in the first place.

The brothers of Iota Pi then took what Brother Rick taught us and sprung into action during Recruitment week. Events included our open house featuring Buffalo Wild Wings, poker night at the house, a trip to the Golf Dome, Steak and Cigar Night, and Brothers Austin Guenther (Marquette '07), Andy Plewa (Marquette '08) and Karl Dauenhauer (Marquette '09) helped out the chapter by talking to the recruitment class on Alumni Inspiration Night. Overall, the week was a success. Brother Ryan Liskey served as Recruitment Chairman for the chapter.

Our Recruitment week culminated with Bid Dinner at Yaffa and a few days later we pinned 14 pledges. Brother Paul Owens (Marquette '03) attended our annual pin night and took part in the activities.

Iota Pi's Annual Pig Roast is coming up on March 7th at the chapter house. We are hoping for a large showing from those Alumni living in Milwaukee.

Iota Pi's formal will be held on March 28th. For more information contact Ryan Liskey.

In Hoc,

Bill Doerrer
Tribune

Brothers Rilott, Liskey, Muth, Jacobson and Austin (l to r) at the Derby Dogs event

The Sigma Chi Fraternity at Marquette raised over $1,000 for charity last week in its annual, weeklong Derby Days program. The program, which ran from Monday, Oct. 20, to Friday, Oct. 24, this year, included public daytime events and nighttime competitions between Marquette's sororities.
    
This year's daytime events included the popular "Pie a Sigma Chi," the "Derby Dogs" cookout and the Dunk Tank, in which passers-by had a chance to make their favorite--or least favorite--Sig soaking wet and freezing cold. "Everyone loves 'Pie a Sigma Chi,'" said Brother Guillermo Contreras, a sophomore in the College of Health Sciences. "There's just something about shoving a pie in someone's face."

This year's nighttime events included the Sorority Olympic Games, a chili cook-off, a dessert bake-off and wall painting.
 
Derby Days began in 1933 at the Alpha Beta Chapter at the University of California-Berkely as a series of comical skits, where it was called the "Channingway Derby" and became renowned as "California's most amusing tradition." In the years to follow, Derby Days developed into a competition between the sorority pledge classes, and has since evolved into a week of charity fundraising.
    
Today, every Sigma Chi chapter does Derby Days differently, but at Marquette it is primarily a competition among the sororities, although anyone is welcome to participate in the daytime events. Throughout the week, each sorority gains points by donating money at the daytime events, winning nighttime activities and stealing derby hats from Sigma Chis on the street.
    
At the end of the week, whichever sorority has the most points wins half of the donations to give to a charity of their choice. That, and the bragging rights that go along with winning Derby Days. This year, Pi Beta Phi Sorority took the cake.
    
This year marked the first year in which Marquette Cash was accepted at Derby Days events. "A lot of people don't carry cash around to class," said Brother Adam Jaroszkiewicz, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences. "But when they see we take Marquette Cash, they're really eager to donate. It's so convenient."
 
This year also marked the first time in recent memory that Derby Days has been held in the fall semester. For the past several years, it has taken place in the spring. "There's just too much going on in the spring," said Brother William Waychunas, a senior in the College of Education. "Moving Derby Days to the fall allowed us to take advantage of the last of the year's nice weather and clear up our spring schedules a bit."
    
The change to the fall semester did bring a few problems, though. Friday's events, for example, were cancelled due to inclement weather. "Even though we had to cancel the Bags Challenge and the Scavenger Hunt, I think the week went really well," said Derby Days Chairman Jacob Schlater, a junior in the College of Communication. "We raised over $1,000 not counting the Marquette Cash transactions, so that's a lot better than we did last year. I couldn't have done it alone, though."
    
Photos from this year's Derby Days can be found in our Derby Days set on Flickr.

We will certainly be very busy this fall. We have decided to move our annual Derby Days philanthropy week to the fall in an attempt to improve its success and our Derby Days chair, Jake Schlater, is taking on this project full force. Our scholarship chair, David Miller, is in the process of organizing a Resume workshop as well as study hours at the library. We also hope to have a brotherhood retreat and a ritual workshop. There are also plans for social, recruitment, and alumni events to be better than ever. Please refer to the upcoming events listed to the right for updated notices on our scheduled functions.

I would finally like to address a few questions and concerns that may arise with prospective members. First and most importantly, please forget any stereotypes that you may hold about fraternities in general or specifically fraternities on Marquette's campus. Greek Life at Marquette and especially our chapter of Sigma Chi are great organizations of which to be a part. Collectively, Greeks at Marquette have a higher overall GPA than the All-University average. In addition, Fraternities and Sororities raise thousands of dollars towards philanthropy and log countless hours of community service each year. Sigma Chi in particular has earned the Outstanding Philanthropy of the Year Award the last two years running. In addition, we have great social events. We have both semi-formal and formal events, host parties at our house, and participate in exchanges with other sororities. Please feel free to see for yourself what we are all about at our Rush/Recruitment events or contact Patricio Gonzalez for more information on joining Sigma Chi.

Looking forward to an eventful semester,

Charlie Doolittle
(816)-868-2113

This Spring semester promises to be an especially busy and productive one. In April, we will again be having a memorable Formal Dance and Cancun party, in addition to our annual Derby Days philanthropy week. On Saturday, March 1st we will be hosting a Pig Roast after the Marquette/Georgetown game for active brothers and alumni. For more information about this event, contact our Tribune Ryan Liskey. Some other events that we are planning this semester include a Risk Management program, a Ritual Workshop, and we are looking into hosting a speaker to address the dangers and consequences of drunk driving.

Rush is coming up in a couple of weeks and I would like to address a few questions that potential members might have. First off, I would ask you to throw out all of the stereotypes that you hold about fraternities. Greek Life at Marquette is not the "Animal House" image that is often portrayed in the media. Collectively, Greeks at Marquette have a higher overall GPA than the All-University average. Fraternities and Sororities raise thousands of dollars for charities and log countless hours of community service each year. That being said, we do know how to have our fun. We host parties and go on exchanges with sororities. I would be lying if I told you that alcohol isn't a part of fraternity life, but I can tell you that it is far from being the most important part.

My advice is to come out to a few Rush/Recruitment events and at see how Marquette Greek Life is different and what we have to offer. I myself only came around to the Rush events for the free food and stayed for more reasons than I can list.

Here's to a great semester,

Bill Waychunas