Norris FIJI Undergrad Report Published by the Delta Xi Chapter of Phi As My Term Comes to an End I Find Myself Feeling a Variety of Emotions
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NorrisA Publication of the Delta Xi ChapterFIJI of Phi Gamma Delta The University of California, Berkeley • Fall 2011 FRANK NORRIS PIG DINNER - SAN FRANCISCO STYLE It was unknown how this year’s Pig Dinner would be re- the house involving his dad as well as how Fiji had helped ceived being held at John’s Grill in San Francisco instead influence Bill’s life. Next, staying true to his conviction of the chapter house, but of, “being a man of few with roughly 60 gradu- words” Bill politely and ates in attendance and succinctly thanked ev- the undergrads making eryone for their support the trip across the bay our and attendance. Martin private room was packed Smith ’76 followed by to the brim and this year’s sharing how much sup- Pig was another great suc- port Bill provided Delta cess! The doors opened Xi when the group in the at 6pm sharp but a few late 70’s was restarting eager grads couldn’t wait the chapter. Support that and shared a drink or two he has continued to this at the bar downstairs be- day. Bill’s program can be forehand. viewed online along with those of all previous Hall After an excellent cocktail of Fame inductees. hour, dinner was kicked off by the ceremonial “bring- The final piece of the eve- ing in the pig”. Though it ning’s program consisted took a good effort to make of recognizing our Delta Jed Bittner ’79 with his father and latest Hall of Fame a path through the sea of Xi scholarship winners for inductee Bill Bittner ’49, and Martin Smith ’76 Fijis huddled by the bar, both the Bell-Norris and the pig safely found its resting place and thereafter the man Tom Meyersieck awards. Congratulations to our winners, of the night, Bill Bittner ’49, had the honor of being the most whose names are available on our website. senior brother in attendance and made sure the pig was well appreciated. Ivan Chavez ’15 had the distinct pleasure of be- We posted several photos from the event on our website ing the most junior member and the rest of the crowd made (www.CalFiji.org) but are always looking for more. If you sure he appreciated the pig as well. Shortly after everyone were taking photos during the dinner please send copies to was seated Taylor Smith ’04 once again gave his rendition of Taylor Smith ([email protected]) so he can post the Exile’s Toast and glasses were raised to our Cal Bears and to the website. to those who were unable to attend. Many thanks to those who joined us, it certainly was an eve- The main portion of the program for the evening was rec- ning to remember. Our goal is to get over 100 alumni in at- ognizing and honoring this year’s Delta Xi Hall of Fame in- tendance on a consistent basis to the Pig. We hope that you ductee: Bill Bittner ’49. Bill was introduced by his son Jed will join us next year and also call a brother and get them to (Delta Xi ’79) who shared a few anecdotes from his time in join you. This really is an event you don’t want to miss. Norris FIJI UNDERGRAD REPORT Published by the Delta Xi Chapter of Phi As my term comes to an end I find myself feeling a variety of emotions. Gamma Delta, founded in 1886 in This past year has been filled with many highs but also as any former Berkeley, California. Please direct all news president will likely attest to a few struggles for the chapter. However, Norris FIJI for to Phi Gamma Delta, c/o I do not want the struggles to be the focus of my message as I am far Fraternity Management Group, 5055 E more filled with excitement and pride for the chapter as there are many Broadway Blvd Suite C-214, Tucson, AZ 85711 or e-mail accomplishments that we can tout. [email protected] Our accomplishments cover many areas. Scholastics continues to be a major focus for us which is directly evident in our chapter GPA of 3.31 (which bests both the all-Greek and all-men’s average). We also are leading 2011 Undergraduate Officers force in the Greek community’s push to “live greener”. Our sustainability President chair, Chris Ackman, started both a recycling and composting program Max Ronci ’12 at the house that has reduced the number of trash pick-ups needed from Treasurer the city which not only reduces the amount of waste we produce, it Austin Jones ’13 saves the house $3,500 per year in garbage collection costs. In addition, Recording Secretary we hosted a free compact fluorescent light (CFL) exchange for anyone Luke Elder ’13 turning in their old incandescent bulbs. Finally, we also participated Corresponding Secretary in the “Greening the Greeks” competition in which fraternities and Jake Vacek ’13 sororities competed to lower their energy bills the most over a two month Historian span for a $2,000 prize to be used to help make the chapter house even Connor Smith ’13 more energy efficient. Results have yet to be announced, but we went to extreme lengths to win (the house was cold and dark for a while) and feel Delta Xi we have a great shot at taking home the prize. Graduate Association Philanthropy has also been a large focus for the chapter. This past President & Treasurer spring we participated in Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Jog for Jill charity, Martin Smith - Cal ’76 raising $1,305 for cancer research (more than any other fraternity). This Secretary semester we established what we hope will become a marquee event for Steve Lyon - Cal ’63 the chapter in the “Big Game Rivalry Run”. Partnering with Kappa Purple Legionnaire Alpha Theta at Stanford, on the day before the Big Game actives ran a Taylor Smith - Cal ’04 football from Memorial Stadium all the way down to Stanford Stadium Director - Scholarship Chair in Palo Alto. It took an immense amount of planning and full chapter Mark Meredith - Cal ’87 participation but it was a great success and we raised over $2,000 for our Directors local CASA chapter which provides advocates for abused and abandoned Ron Pengilly - UCLA ’56 children. Fritz Schwarz - Cal ’60 Marty Appel - Kentucky ’61 There are many other great things taking place with the chapter and I am Steve Booth - Cal ’64 excited for what lies ahead for the newly elected officers. Moving forward Alan Donner - Cal ’07 we hope to organize more alumni events so that you can see firsthand the quality of character in all of the brothers carrying the torch for Cal Fiji. Erik Bro - Cal ’08 The members of Delta Xi are committed to upholding the values of our Directors Emeritus Fraternity and are working ardently to fulfill our true potential. Ed Bartlett - Cal ’52 Bill Ashton - Cal ’56 Fraternally, Max Ronci ’12 2 GRADUATE REPORT CELEBRATING newsletters and to stay in touch. The “Media” tab routes 125 YEARS OF you to our photo library of past classes and events. We DELTA XI will be adding a photo journal of the 2001 renovation as well as some of the past scrapbooks. The “Scholarship” tab The 125th Anniversary lists all the past scholarship winners who have benefitted for Delta Xi – founded from your donations. The “Donation” tab provides the October 23rd 1886 ability to donate online. Combining our newsletters, – was celebrated this e-mail updates, invites, and website Taylor has done October 21st with great festivity at our Pig Dinner at quite a successful job. A resounding round of clicks well John’s Grill. Over those 125 years, Delta Xi has initiated deserved. over 1,400 brothers and held many pig dinners, and as with all pigs we had a lot of fun. If you didn’t receive the We will be sending out our Graduate Board calendar in email re-cap please visit our website at www.calfiji.org to the near future so any of you who wish to participate in view the pictures and articles. Seeing your lifelong friends, an event are welcome. Please simply let us know. even if only for a few hours, always warms the heart. For me, it was the 35th anniversary of my class. We had a A brief summary of our status: throughout 2011 we great gathering and extended the fun through the rest of continued to execute the Grad Board Business Plan for the weekend. the House. We also continue to preserve the house as close to original as we can. We are maintaining our capital I think you could ask any Graduate Brother and they reserve while holding zero debt. We completed $10,000 would confirm that staying in touch is hugely important, in capital improvements YTD and $25,000 in repairs. All yet most feel they could do a better job at it. To that end, corporate and tax filings are current, and we are reviewing Taylor Smith (’04) has worked diligently to develop and and updating our by-laws thanks to Board member Steve improve a consistent and invaluable Graduate Relations Booth ’64. program. This is the 14th newsletter since 2004. We have a current database that helps us find lost brothers and allows Hi aile you Grads, you lucky Grads - I know der blace, you to update your information so you don’t become Once again, thank you to all the Board members who “lost”. Our e-mail system gets notices and information have helped with project management, council, event out quickly and efficiently and our web page has recently organization, and maintaining the spirit of our 125 year improved dramatically.