Autumn Newsletter

Worthy Brothers,

This school year has gotten off to a busy start and we've had a
packed first month for Sigma Chi. Between our Social, Recruitment and
Brotherhood events, we have already had tremendous amounts of fun in
the House.
Our Brothers have done a great job already of building up our
reputation for the current year and we will continue to build on that as the
year progresses so that more students at Harvard and around Boston will
know about Kappa Eta Sigma Chi. We've had an amazing social calendar so
far, successfully mixing with the three sororities on campus, several other
groups at Harvard and sororities from other local schools. "Are you going
to Sigma Chi tonight?" is a question being heard more often around
campus. We're even having two community service mixers to benefit
different charities and make new friends. We are still planning our
biannual Habitat for Humanity trip and preparing for our Thanksgiving
Food Drive.
Recruitment has gone very well and we have had a great group of
guys come out to Rush our Fraternity. These last two weeks have provided
us with a great base, but as Pledgeship gets underway we will learn the
true character of those attempting to join our Fraternity.
Our Brotherhood events this semester have also started off
well. The longstanding tradition of Monday Night Festivities has continued
and we have added to it with bi-weekly Brotherhood Dinners cooked at the
House, when different Brothers treat us to the varied cultures of food our
Chapter has to offer. Overall the Semester has started off well and the
outlook for the next few months is great.
We're extremely excited about the Harvard-Yale festivities this
year and the 20th anniversary of our chapter's founding. We're pumped
about the dinner at the Faculty Club and the epic tailgate that is going to
occur. We will also have the only tailgate that is open after The Game starts
at noon due to the laws of Boston, as enforced by the Boston police, by
moving over to the American Legion to continue the festivities. And of
course we will end the weekend with an awesome Alumni Chapter meeting
Sunday morning. Talk to your pledge brothers and coordinate coming
back.

-Matt Vollenweider, Magister, 2011

For more from this newsletter click here.

June Newsletter

Worthy Brothers,

We finished the year with a bang after a rushed and packed semester due to the academic calendar change. Everyone felt like the semester flew by, especially for our thirteen seniors.

We initiated the Alpha Sigma pledge class, consisting of ten dedicated and awesome brothers. They got initiated in time to take part in the new chapter tradition of jumping off Week's Footbridge into the Charles following the final chapter of the semester.

Our community service efforts went well over the remainder of the semester. With the help of some of our alumni and the dedicated fundraising of the undergraduates, we helped the Harvard Greeks Relay for Life team raise $23,538.38. This constituted approximately one quarter of the total $88,000 raised, two-thirds of Harvard's fundraising, and was easily the largest amount raised by a team, with the next closest raising $4,296. It was an awesome night for the Greek community as well as Sigma Chi as we took a leading role in both the planning and execution of the event.

Our Derby Days was also wildly successful this spring as we raised over $1,000 through a beer pong tournament, date auction and a karaoke night at Uno's, which contributed 15% of their proceeds when people used our coupon. We also had a Greek Letters Day during this week to increase our collective presence on campus.

There have been several major improvements in the House since I last wrote. Brandon Molina, with the help of numerous undergraduates, completely renovated the third floor bathroom of the House. It looks spectacular and is a huge improvement in our quality of living for the guys on the third floor. A plumber also came in and made the first floor bathroom completely functional for the first time since I was initiated in the chapter and fixed several other plumbing issues. The House Corporation also replaced the broken washing machine, which was greatly appreciated.

Thank you for helping this come to fruition. The Housing Corporation will be sending out our plan of action for improving other parts in the near future.

Harvard-Yale planning is coming together nicely and we expect to get you invitations and the calendar of events in the immediate future. 

If you would like to be added to the Kappa Eta Alumni Google Calendar to stay abreast of the major events of the chapter, please contact either me or Madison and we'll add you. We're working on developing the functionality to include it on our website.

I would like to wish all of our new graduates good luck, and I hope you enjoy your first alumni newsletter.

Guard Well,

Kyle Martin

consul@harvardsigmachi.com

March Newsletter: Consul's Corner

Worthy Brothers,

First off, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Kyle Martin and I was elected Consul shortly before the Harvard-Yale game this past semester. I'm a junior Neurobiology concentrator and have previously held the offices of Proconsul, Rush Chair and Community Service Chair.

I want to apologize for the lack of communication over the past several months. After The Game, the semester was essentially over for the chapter and, with the new academic calendar, we had nearly the entire month of January off. However, we're back now, reinvigorated and off to a fast start.

We got to work repainting the House after the electrical repairs were complete, and finished the job just in time for rush. Our recruitment process has been producing solid and dedicated classes in the recent past and we hope to continue this strong trend.

We continue to seek financial stability and long-term viability with our newly revised financial bylaws, promoting a very high collection rate through firm measures and the work of a dedicated Financial Committee. We are in the clear with International for the first time in three years and are working closely with the House Corporation to improve the House and prevent the chapter from failing to meet its obligations.

The chapter is the largest it has ever been, but we're working hard to keep our relationships close and personal through an active community service program and prominent social brotherhood events. The brothers living in the House are always hanging out and guys swing by every single evening; we appreciate the improvements that have been made to enhance our quality of life. We have you to thank for this, and I cannot thank you enough.

I cannot be more excited about the direction the chapter is moving in. Our presence on campus is increasing and our brotherhood grows ever closer.

If you ever have questions or concerns, or if you’re in the area and just want to catch up, please contact me.

In Hoc,

Kyle

Harvard Yale Weekend

If you are attending our Harvard Yale Tailgate this year, please RSVP to our Evite at the following web address:

http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=JJDMHICOWPDROVXWGONL

Please pay the $120 fee (and any guest fees) ahead of time by going to www.paypal.com and do the following:

1. Click the "Send Money" link.

2. Send money to: kappaetasigmachi@gmail.com

3. The amount is $120.00; this is a purchase of Goods. Click "Continue."

4. Fill out the necessary information to create your PayPal account.

Thanks and we are looking forward to an exciting weekend.

The Alpha Rho pledge class, October fun

The Alpha Rho pledge class

Michael Hinojosa '13. Dallas, TX. Passionate about philosophy and government; his big brother Bobby Yu attests that Michael has "read about many philosophies and governments".

Patrick Jolicoeur '13. Brockton, MA. Cousin of brother Patrick Jean-Baptiste. I'm predicting it now - he'll break out his standup comedy career with a vengeance in 2014.

Nick Kogl '13. South Africa. There is nothing uncool about Nick. He lives hard. Intriguing fact: he is taking Chinese and is interested in China's political ties to South Africa.

Veselin Kulev '11. Varna, Bulgaria. In the words of his big brother Nick Wage, Vesko is "a baller and a champ". Case in point: Vesko spent last summer living in a Vegas hotel working on a tech startup and rubbing shoulders with some of the world's best poker players.

Peter Knudson '13. Minneapolis, MN. Peter looks eerily similar to brother Tony Fazio, who he spends a lot of time with as a member of the rugby team. Generous and humble to a fault, and never unexciting.

Nick Moore '13. New York, NY. Though he claims to hail from the Upper West Side of Manhattan, many suspect that he was actually raised by Richard Pryor and Sarah Silverman, as he is too funny and has too much street cred to have grown up below 128th street.

Brian Plancher '13. Greenwich, CT. Brian has been 100% committed to Sigma Chi; he has blazed through pledge meals, homework, and memorizations, and he is often at the house hanging out with brothers.

Andrew Spielvogel '13. Lexington, MA. Andrew comes to us by way of the ski team. Brothers Alec Boardman and Chris Kinner brought him out to rush and we haven't regretted it. Like the eminent Calvin Coolidge, Andrew says much in saying little.

Siva Sundaram '13. Rockford, IL. Siva has a heart of gold. He is an active CityStep volunteer and he impresses all at our parties with his sweet dance moves.

Stanley Zheng '13. Garrett Hill, PA. Stanley is the rising star of the Sigma Chi North contingent (i.e. Currier). His 6 blockmates are all Sigs and we look forward to welcoming him into our brotherhood despite his love of the Eagles.

This pledge class has been amazing. Many thanks go to Magister Madison Klein and Assistant Magister Brandon Silverman. The Alpha Rhos threw their party on October 24th; the theme was a Communist Party. At their pledge dinner, they managed served an edible (and some report, even mildly delicious) spaghetti dinner. Moreover, their skits and jokes were spot on. As I write this, they're living it up on their pledge trip to Columbia University.

Chapter

Five brothers are currently attending Province chapter, which is taking place at the MIT and BU houses in Boston. Also, we are in the process of rewriting our bylaws for greater relevance, clarity, and sustainability. The effort has begun with Matt Vollenweider's proposed revision of the financial bylaws to maintain higher and more rapid dues collection.

House

Historian Devon Long and chapter advisor Dan Craig dug up a partial ownership history of 1124 Mass Ave that goes back as far as 1872. Nick Wage is helping them to catalog 19th century books that have been found in the house. House chair Mitch Denti has been documenting and photographing parts of the house in need of repair. Magister Madison Klein has implemented a post-party cleanup plan in which pledges and their big brothers are responsible for cleaning up before and after parties.

Community Service

On October 4th, Chris Kinner, Patrick Jean-Baptiste, and Tom Wang volunteered at a Patriots game selling towels to support breast cancer research:

Left to right: Friend, Chris Kinner, Patrick Jean-Baptiste, Tom Wang

On October 31st, community service chair Osman Shawkat led a Habitat for Humanity build. A good time was had by all and definite progress was made on the build:

Top, left to right: Matt Vollenweider, Teddy Coleman, Friend, Osman Shawkat, Friends.
Bottom, left to right: Pat Li, Nick Wage, Devon Long, Erik Kuld, Chris Kinner, Friends

Community service opportunities on the horizon include working at the Harvard Square homeless shelter, building neighborhood playgrounds with Kaboom, and mentoring elementary school students in a partnership through the Harvard Youth Leadership Initiative led by our very own Tom Wang.

Social

Brothers have been hanging out in record numbers this semester. Just a taste of what's happened: I organized an outing to a Macallan scotch tasting, various brothers have been frequenting the MIT chapter's Wednesday night teas, Nick Wage continues to preserve Monday Night Festivities (Football) as a time-honored tradition, and a contingent tore it up at the Zac Brown concert. Social brothers chair Tony Huang has done great work organizing weekly brotherhood dinners, a movie outing, and the indispensable Man's Day, which was won by Papa Chakravarthy. Lastly, I have been throwing pretty banging parties.

Alumni happenings

This news is a little late, but better than never - Irwin Chen got married at the end of September.

Also a little late - the Ali and Hadi Partovi's company iLike was sold to MySpace. Ali probably never thought his first assignment as a Myspace VP would ever come to surface in the Kappa Eta Sigma Chi circle, but I'm awesome with Google. Here's a link to Ali's embarassing video.

Lastly, please join us on November 21st for Harvard-Yale. Here's the Evite.