Greek Life Alumni Newsletter Fall 2013

Introduction to the new Assistant community to an audience of alumni Jason Biggs Dean of Students for Greek Life, members. You are truly a large part of Assistant Dean of Students Jason Biggs: the foundation of Greek Life at UNT, you Director of Greek Life provided a history that our current mem- University of North Texas Greetings, I wanted to take this opportu- bers want to know, you are also a link to life 1155 Union Circle, BOX 310728 nity to say hello and to provide you with after undergraduate days and this aspect Denton, TX 76203 a little information about myself and of your interactions with our students Phone: 940-369-8465 the direction I see the UNT Greek com- could really shape their future success. Fax: 940-369-8425 munity moving toward. There are a few Greek life is founded in the values ex- greeklife.unt.edu things that are very important to me that pressed in our initiation ceremonies and [email protected] I feel translate well when discussing the displayed on national organization web- Greek community. Those three things sites; however the foundation of a strong are Family, Foundation, and Future. My Greek campus lies also on the shoulders personal family life is full and rich. I am of its alumni members. You are where this married to a wonderful wife Stephani, community came from; you are the histo- and we have been blessed with two ry and traditions. I want you to know that outstanding children, a four year old boy it is my desire to have you be a part of the and an eleven month daughter. Family is present Greek community. The University a very important aspect of Greek life as of North Texas Greek Center opens in the well. We call each other brothers and sis- spring and I hope if you are able you visit ters, these terms bring with them a sense us and say hello, until that time please feel of commitment, an obligation to keep free to contact me personally with ques- each other safe as well as the desire to tions or comments. see the family grow and be successful as The Greek Life Center is a wonderful individuals and as an organization. A strong foundation is vital to success! Future. I would like you to know that the I began my journey into Greek Life as future of the UNT Greek Life community an undergraduate member of Pi Kappa is strong! The administration has come to Phi fraternity at Texas State University - of its kind stand-alone structure for Greek grad, and continued my fraternal experi- life has begun. This building will be a ence as an alumni volunteer traveling the physical manifestation of the spirit of country talking with chapters about risk Greek life on campus. It represents one management and member education. I place for all, which feeds into our goal of started advising fraternities in 2002 as a graduate assistant at Midwestern State men and women are darn proud to repre- University in Wichita Falls Texas. Most sent not only individual organizations but recently I served Texas Tech as a Greek Life the entire Greek community. The future is professional for the past seven years. indeed bright, and in the near future I These experiences have led me to the hope that I can meet and talk with as UNT and have provided me with the knowledge and ability to lead a Greek Greek life can be of service to you please let me know. undergraduates. It is wonderful to be able to write about the foundation of the UNT Greek – Jason Biggs

greeklife.unt.edu Greek Life Fall 2013

IFC Recruitment: This fall, the number of students registering men registered for recruitment and the IFC Creation of GAMMA for Inter-Fraternity Council recruitment on-line distributed 192 bids. IFC held Bid Day at continued to increase. Council leaders contin- Apogee Stadium and the excitement was un- brothers and sisters to make paralleled. The IFC continues to encourage educated decisions regard- raise awareness about chapters’ philanthropy open bidding and more men are expected ing alcohol, members of such as including community service as a part to receive bids throughout the fall semester. Greek Life are planning to of recruitment week activities. A total of 338 implement a GAMMA (Greeks Advocating the Mature Man- agement of Alcohol) chapter at UNT. GAMMA is about mo- tivated fraternity and soror- ity members forming a peer education group that works as a team to identify high-risk student behavior and then creatively develops ways to educate members so that they can succeed at college and contribute in positive ways to the chapter. Our goal is to have a fully functioning GAMMA chapter by Fall 2014.

When Great Women go Greek!

new members. Chapter total remains at 100 Texas is proud to announce the success of this for now but the council is looking towards year’s fall recruitment. After many long days increasing to align with the greater inter- of hard work put in by the Panhellenic Execu- est in Greek Life. Chapters are now ranging tive members and the recruitment team, the anywhere from 100-122! Greek Life at the University of North Texas is continuously recruitments to date. On September 3rd, 319 growing. Just 2 years ago, Chapter total potential new members pledged to their new consisted of 85 members. We are pleased to homes. It was because of the large increase see this growth in our Greek community and in potential new members this fall that each chapter was blessed to welcome at least 38 years to come.

greeklife.unt.edu When men join a fraternity Most say they joined because they wanted to What makes Journey of Hope special is not be part of something greater than themselves. just the physical challenges, but getting the For a , that opportunity not only opportunity to meet people with disabilities comes from the fraternity experience, but through what we call Friendship Visits. Through from Journey of Hope. This event is a 4000 mile these visits we get to spend time dancing, cycling event organized by our philanthropy, singing, cheering, talking, or simply just sitting Push America. As a team we travel the country quietly with some of the most amazing and with brothers from across the nation to spread able-minded people we will ever meet. I will acceptance for people with disabilities. My always remember meeting Nicki in Virginia and team traveled from Long Beach, California to Washington D.C. over about 2 months. from Alabama and him crying as the cyclist left, or Martha from Snyder, Texas, and her phone calls every Monday until we got to D.C., just to make sure we were safe. Through this experience, I got to see the nation from a whole new perspective with fraternity brothers from across the nation, but it is so much more than that. I got to see what it truly means to be a Fraternity man, and more so, what it truly means to be a Pi Kappa Phi.

Moore, Oklahoma Trip In the summer of 2013 many of the MGC Following this assignment the students were organizations felt the need to go to Moore, assigned address to walk to and assist residents Oklahoma after the devastating tornadoes. with cleanups of their home. At this time the The organizations included Kappa , organizations walked through the neighbor- Omega , , Sigma hoods that were hit the hardest of the storm. Lambda Beta, and Sigma Lambda Gamma. They went to several houses and talked to Upon arriving the organizations went to a many residents about what happened. They volunteer location and were given places to moved out the ruined furniture and cleared out all the debris and trash. they picked up debris left over from the This experience impacted the lives of the vol- storm. They then went back to the volunteer unteers who went to help. It was a time when location and were bused out to the neighbor- the Multicultural Greek Council felt the need to hoods. During this time they went knocking unite and give back to the community. door to door to have residents sign waivers of permission to work on their homes.

greeklife.unt.edu U.S. POSTAGE PAID Denton, Texas 76201 Permit 455 Greek Life 1155 Union Circle #305069 Denton, TX 76203-5017

This past spring the UNT National Pan-Hel- lenic Council (NPHC) began a new initiative of bringing new members together to unify and educate them within the council. The council hosted the inaugural Neo Nights program geared for all NPHC new members com- monly referred to as neophytes. This evening was spent educating the new members on the 3 other Greek councils and building collaboration. The main focus on the night was to unify the new members through highlighting the pur- pose and foundation of NPHC. Alumni mem- bers spoke to the new members about challenges and success they encountered as students and challenged them with expectations of being a Greek leader within their council, Greek g a traditionally smaller council has to every member organization and the historical aspect. The council has already begun planning for this year’s Neo Night with plans to continue to grow the program each year as an annual event for new members. PDS_130838-11/13L755