Pi Sigma Chi – Sigma Nu

OUR "GIVING" AND "LEGACY FUND"
PAGES HAVE CHANGED

We are continually learning and trying to evolve and improve our website and our communications.  

THE PROBLEM:  We have 2 support needs and 2 separate funds--one need to cover our overhead and expenses for our alumni organization, and one need to allow us to make scholarship grants.  On our website we have had a "GIVING" page for the overhead and expense donations, and a separate "LEGACY FUND" page for the scholarship fund donations.  Unfortunately, there have been a few, only a few, instances where a donation to support our organizational costs ended up as a donation to support our scholarship fund, and vice-versa.

THE FIX: We have almost no ability to undo completed transactions and we apologize to those of you who ended up donating to one fund when you thought you were donating to the other.  But we think we have fixed it going forward.  If you go to the website now you will see:

• A single "GIVING" page, with a brief description of our 2 needs
• There are 2 buttons at the bottom of the page--
• • one takes you to what is now called our "OVERHEAD FUND" page, for which we have a support campaign in the Spring 
  • the other takes you to our "LEGACY FUND", a fund hosted and managed by Sigma Nu Educational Foundation, used only for making grants which our Legacy Fund Committee recommends, and for which we have a campaign at year-end.

OF COURSE WE TRY TO MAKE IT EASY FOR OUR YEAR-END CAMPAIGN  DONORS BY ALLOWING YOU TO BYPASS THE WEBSITE AND ANY LOG IN/PASSWORD ISSUES.  WE DO THAT BY SENDING YOU EMAILS WITH BUTTONS THAT TAKE YOU DIRECTLY TO OUR LEGACY FUND DONATION PAGE

--LIKE THE ONES BELOW 

SO YOU CAN USE THE WEBSITE TO CHECK OUT OUR NEW SETUP, OR JUST CLICK ONE OF THE BUTTONS BELOW TO MAKE A DONATION TO OUR LEGACY FUND AND BE PART OF OUR TEAM TO RE-ESTABLISH KAPPA GAMMA AT CAL POLY POMONA AS THE FIRST AND BEST FRATERNITY EVER AT CAL POLY POMONA. 

NOW--LIKE NEVER BEFORE--IT'S THE TIME FOR LEGACY FUND DONATIONS

Brothers,

Thank you for Celebrating Cesar’s Life with our family. As I reflect on Cesar and my life, I believe that what binds us all together is our LOVE for Family and Friends and the many memories we created. We have shared a special gift, Pi Sigma Chi and Sigma Nu. 

Sigma Nu Kappa Gamma will be back on Campus shortly and I would like to share what we’ve valued and enjoyed with potential future brothers. Shirlene and I will donate a matching gift of a contribution of up to $4,000 contribution in memory of "Cesar Lopez" to our PSC-SN Legacy Scholarship Fund and we ask for your help and support in reaching our goal of raising $10,000 in Cesar’s name. 

Beginning today December 11, 2023, all tax deductible gifts in the amount of $1 to $3,999 in support of our Legacy Fund made in memory of Cesar Lopez will be matched dollar for dollar up to $4,000 by December 29, 2023, or when the match is completed, whichever comes first. Donations in excess will be used to support our 5 principles Sigma Nu-Kappa Gamma Fraternity goals. 

We THANK YOU in advance for your consideration and support.

Appreciatively yours,

Juan and Shirlene Lopez

(Ed. Note:  Whether donating by check or online, please be sure to check the boxes on the form for checks, or on the online form, to make it a tribute gift in memory of Cesar Lopez.)

DONATE BY CHECK

DONATE ONLINE

UGLY SWEATER PUB CRAWL SATURDAY, DEC. 9TH, STARTS AT 5 PM

Robert Walczak (F06) has organized the annual Pub Crawl for this Saturday, December 9, starting at 5 pm at Brewery X in Anaheim.  Details and RSVP are in the e-vite at this link: https://www.evite.com/event/03EBGGVBFTSSAEDBMEPOPIAEHGYNYI?utm_campaign=send_sharable_link&utm_source=evitelink&utm_medium=sharable_invite Robert Walczak (F06) has organized the annual Pub Crawl for this Saturday, December 9, starting at 5 pm at Brewery X in Anaheim.  Details and RSVP are in the e-vite at this link: https://www.evite.com/event/03EBGGVBFTSSAEDBMEPOPIAEHGYNYI?utm_campaign=send_sharable_link&utm_source=evitelink&utm_medium=sharable_invite Everyone is welcome, all eras, bring your friends, but wearers of really, really ugly holiday sweaters are the most welcome of all.   Remember to RSVP. ____________ Photo from 2022 Crawl:  Brothers, L to R: back row-Greg Gomez (F-04), Adam Larsson (F-05), Garret Larsson (S-03), Ryan Carmody (F-03), John Mairs (F-85), Michael Grande (10), Tommy Van Aken, front row-Vinh Dang (S-00), Geoff Law (10.) Everyone is welcome, all eras, bring your friends, but wearers of really, really ugly holiday sweaters are the most welcome of all.   Remember to RSVP. ____________ Photo from 2022 Crawl:  Brothers, L to R: back row-Greg Gomez (F-04), Adam Larsson (F-05), Garret Larsson (S-03), Ryan Carmody (F-03), John Mairs (F-85), Michael Grande (10), Tommy Van Aken, front row-Vinh Dang (S-00), Geoff Law (10.)

LEGACY FUND UPDATE AFTER 2 WEEKS OF OUR "HOMECOMING CAMPAIGN" PLEASE DONATE NOW (ONLY 5 MORE WEEKS BEFORE YEAR- END) OUR 2023 LEGACY FUND "HOMECOMING" CAMPAIGN IS UNDERWAY INCREASE OUR SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS NOW IS THE TIME--LIKE NEVER BEFORE DONATE BY CHECK DONATE ONLINE How are we doing after 2 weeks? A good start!

GOAL #1 RAISE AT LEAST $25,000 UP THIS WEEK TO--$7,690  An OK increase of almost $2K on a busy Thanksgiving week, but we have a long ways to go and need your help.

GOAL #2 ADD AT LEAST 50 NEW/"FIRST TIME" DONORS  Currently we have 5 new donors A start, but we really need more of us to commit--does not have to be a lot, just $25 or $50 will make you part of our team effort and help reach this goal Many thanks to the following new donors: Jake Bailey (F05; EC 09-10) Bill Balas (W76; Hon Chi) Joe Fotheringham (F67) Steve Meline (W68) Wiley Osborne (F86; EC 00-01)

GOAL #3 HAVE AT LEAST 25 RECURRING ANNUAL DONORS We started with 1, and now we have 5  Recurring annual donations, even just $25 or $50, are a great help Online donations can be automatically recurring, monthly, annually--easy for you and a great help to us to plan ahead. To all those who are signed up for recurring donations---"MANY THANKS!!" Bruce Brandenburg (F66) John Mairs (F85) Larry Staliions (12Pack57) John Vandevelde(F65) Jason Wan (F04)

GOAL #4 RAISE PARTICIPATION BY ALL PLEDGE DECADES Participation by % is pretty lopsided historically as shown by green in the chart below.  The gold shows this year's % participation. Time for some eras to step up--. 21 Brothers have donated in this campaign so far Our founding decade leads in % participation, with 1 out of 3 donating--Thanks Larry Stalions (12Pack57) The 60s have the most participation, with 10, amounting to 11% from that decade The 80s and 2000-2009 decade are doing OK The 70s, 90s and 2010+ decades are stuck at zero right now Every SINGLE PLEDGE YEAR AND PLEDGE decade has an interest in re-establishing our fraternity at Cal Poly Every decade has a stake in our success Every former President or Eminent Commander can call, text and email his guys (contact info is on our website directory and available to all; if you need help, just ask us) Every Brother can do the same by reaching out to his own buddies PLEASE network and reach out to help PUSH YOUR DECADE to participate fully.  Any amount, even $25, counts for you to be on the team and increases the percentage for your pledge era. LOTS OF "THANK-YOU'S" SO MANY "THANK- YOU'S" WE NEED A SEPARATE EMAIL FOR ALL WHO HAVE DONATED IN THE PAST HOW CAN YOU DONATE? Easy and tax deductible-- CHECK?--GREEN BUTTON--print and use the form with all info you need to write and send the check (no processing fee on checks); saves us credit card fees, but please SEND US A "REPLY" EMAIL so we know the check is in the mail and can give you credit asap) ONLINE?--BLUE BUTTON--By credit card or debit card (no processing fee for debit cards), can be one-time, or recurring, annual or monthly, "in memoriam" of a Chapter Eternal brother or anyone, or "in honor" of someone. PLEASE CONSIDER A "RECURRING" DONATION ONLINE. DONATE BY CHECK DONATE ONLINE PLEASE MAKE A TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION NOW Donate and be recognized: Red Carnation donors at $200 or more White Rose at $100 or more But every amount helps And an automatic ANNUAL RECURRING credit card contribution makes a huge difference in being able to plan and budget our future scholarship efforts

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MILE SQUARE PARK” FAMILY PICNIC

It was all the work of Director Quang Dang (S02)! He had the idea months ago. He did the planning over these past months. And he put his plan into action almost single-handedly.

The Mile Square Park Family Picnic held on Saturday, October 14, was the first event of its kind we have held, also the first event using our online system for advertising, reserving and paying for an event (a system we can use for any kind of event kind you might have in mind for our group—events at Cal Poly or elsewhere, free or paid events, stag, couples, or families), and by any measure this event was a success. More than 50 people attended, including brothers, wives, family and especially children.

Some of the young men who are interested in pledging in the Spring attended. The candidates all enjoyed themselves and seemed to be even more excited about the chapter after meeting some of our alumni. One of the things we are hearing from our candidates is that none of the other Cal Poly fraternities have a strong, active alumni group like ours. They were amazed that we have stayed connected for so many years. Quang and the other brothers who were at the picnic made a very good impression on these candidates.

There was a “bouncy house” for the kids, face-painting too, lots of other activities, beverages, a taco truck for food, all in a beautiful setting in a large, covered pavilion on what turned out to be a beautiful day.

Quang reports that most of the brothers in attendance expressed their gratitude for the event and shared that they would appreciate more family-friendly events in the future. A handful even started brainstorming ideas on how to get more brothers out next time.

Just like some of our other gatherings, the more interest, the more people who help plan and organize, the more people who support the event by attending, the better. President Jack Carlino (F67) was there to make sure everyone knows that our mantra is: “If it was good (and this event certainly was), it is worth repeating.” 

Those of you who were there and had fun, help Quang to make the family picnic event bigger and even better next year.

Thanks so much Quang! You did a great job!

We lost another brother recently, Cesar Omero Lopez (F83). And we lost him far too soon.Cesar passed away, with his family and close friends at his bedside, on September 27. He was only 59.

Cesar had struggled with alcohol for years. During COVID, when he worked from home, not having the routine of going into the office and interacting with his colleagues, his condition worsened and he died of organ failure.

Cesar came from a family of hard workers looking for a better life for themselves and their kids. His family became part of the great migration west—heading to California.

Cesar graduated from Northview High School in Covina in 1982. He went to Mt. Sac for a year, before transferring to Cal Poly, pledging Sigma Nu as part of the Zeta pledge class in the Fall of 1983.

Cesar worked his way through college, graduating in 1989 as a business major and had a career as a ttax consultant in human resources and workforce management .

Cesar never married and had no children, but he had many friends, including a number of fraternity brothers who he stayed close to all the years since college.

Cesar loved to party and have a good time, but it was not always only fun that Cesar was interested in. Cesar was easy to be friends with because he was a good friend—a good listener, someone who was genuine, who cared, and who stayed connected to many people in many ways.

Cesar’s health was deteriorating in the past few years. At a belated celebration of Cesar’s birthday, Cesar made a comment perhaps suggesting that he knew he was nearing the end, because he said he “Hoped he would be able to have another birthday celebration next year.”

Cesar will be missed!

So, “Here’s to Brother Cesar, he’s with us, he’s with us . . .”

SAVE THE DATE--April 19, 2024 "TOGETHER AGAIN--ON CAMPUS 67 YEARS SINCE WE BEGAN" Founded in 1957, what will be 67 years ago Chartered as the Kappa Gamma Chapter of Sigma Nu in 1982 Reestablishing our fraternity at Cal Poly starting January 2024. Join old friends in April to meet the young men who will have been recruited and will be our brothers.  Hear about our progress, our plans and enjoy a nice lunch in a beautiful setting. Wear your RJs, Letters and other gear.  Celebrate, share a story, update us, and just enjoy some time together.  This is the meeting you will not want to miss!  Don't be left out of the next one of these--

Location:  Collins Center dining room on Kellogg Hill (easy/free parking) Date:   Friday, April 19th, 2024 Timing: 10:30 Reception & social hour 11:45 Lunch service followed by a meeting Ends at 2:00 Mark your calendar, make travel plans now. Tickets will become available in January.

Greetings,

This is the first of a number of reports I, in my capacity as Director of Expansion & Recruitment, will be sending about the reestablishment of the Kappa Gamma chapter at Cal Poly Pomona next semester.

First, I want to thank each of you who took the time to attend our Town Hall virtual meeting this past Monday. I think it was a great opportunity to learn more about the personality and culture of the Kappa Gamma alumni and I think we identified some great next steps going forward. 

I suspect that the recording of the meeting may have saved to Jack Carlino’s profile since it was scheduled under his Zoom account, if this is not the case I will try and figure out what happened to that file. In the interim, with the help of Jordan Wu, we are happy to send any of you the slide deck we used in the meeting.  Just reply to this email, which will go to Jordan Wu, and he can send it to you. Below you will find a recap summary and next steps for some different foundational pieces we are building for the success of this colony. 

General Notes

I will be conducting a site visit to Cal Poly Pomona next week (mainly on campus 10/17-18) to conduct meetings with relevant campus stakeholders. This itinerary includes but is not limited to the following:

A meeting with Michael Iniquez and Jason Liu who oversee the fraternity/sorority life department for the university.

A meeting with the IFC/Panhellenic/Greek Council presidents coordinated by the university staff.

A meeting with the 4-6 interested students in forming the colony, to provide them better information and assess commitment at this point to this opportunity.

I anticipate using my remaining time exploring some different offices and organizations on campus (DEI, Transfer office, registrar, some different clubs) to introduce our organization and solicit for prospective members from these different entities.

The primary project manager for the Kappa Gamma re-establishment will be Chaysen Babcock, our expansion consultant who hails from our Eta Iota Chapter. Chaysen has done a fantastic job overseeing our current re-establishment at San Jose State and our team has the utmost confidence in his ability to get the ball rolling at CPP.

Alumni Engagement

Individuals interested in serving on our Alumni Advisory Board should make their interest known to Jordan Wu. We are looking for 7-10 volunteers to serve in this capacity that will be trained and directly work with specific colony officers. I encourage you to check out this link for an overview of the AAB structure:  https://www.sigmanu.org/alumni-and-volunteers/alumni-advisory-boards/guidelines  

I anticipate the training to occur for the AAB in early to mid-November.

Any alumni engagement opportunities should be communicated to our staff team so that we may incorporate them into our project schedule.

Recruitment

I am going to get the final details from the university. It was previously communicated that they expect a spring recruitment week to take place the week of 1/28 through 2/2.

We will be continuously recruiting throughout the entire semester, this is likely just the week of what would be considered traditional “formal” recruitment.

Please reach out if you have any ideas or traditional events for this recruitment period. We are trying to stay relatively close to campus and be efficient with resources, so any insight on the local area will be greatly appreciated.

Any referral sources from alumni on potential members or resources are welcome. Please encourage alumni to reach out to everybody within their social sphere to assist in identifying potential prospects.

We are facing a few barriers on registration as an organization that our staff team and alumni leadership are working with the university on overcoming.

Colony Development

Chaysen is creating a project schedule for what the semester will look like. This will be communicated closer to the winter once we are able to make a few reservations.

We are currently locating a venue for a new member Candidate Ceremony to take place. Any assistance in locating a suitable spot would be awesome.  

For those who were at the Town Hall, please let me know if there are items I have neglected to include or any questions. 

Thanks for all of you who do what you can to support the return of the Legion of Honor! 

Mac McNeilly

Director of Expansion & Recruitmen

Sigma Nu Fraternity, Inc.

Sigma Nu Strong! The most recent issue of Delta, the SN magazine, has a great infographic showing the size, strength, and vitality of the Fraternity at both the aggregate local levels and the national level. Upshot: Sigma Nu is a positive force for actives, alumni, their schools, and charitable organizations across the country.  When Kappa Gamma is recolonized next spring semester, Cal Poly Pomona will have a new, re-energized chapter ready to join the other chapters as a force for good in the community. As alumni, we can show our support by volunteering for one of the committees being formed to expedite our recolonization efforts. See our Home Page for details about the various committees and directorships needing volunteers.

Also, please update your personal and professional information in our website's Directory. In Brotherhood, Robert Marshall (F '66) Board Member, Pi Sigma Chi / Sigma Nu

Good Day Brothers,
 
I pledged in Fall of 1966 with the Unlucky 13. And after 57 years, I still have relationships with my pledge brothers and brothers that pledged before me and after me.
 
During my last year as an active, I put together all the brothers' names by pledge class and wrote a newsletter giving a commentary on each brother. Steve Frady posted on Facebook. I maintained the informational database until Steve Frady took it over and kept it until he graduated and then we both maintained it for many years. We stayed connected with Brothers either through mail or phone. Yes, this was before email and websites and the Internet and cell phones. When Jordan Wu was president, we started to get PSC and SN back together and Geoff Law was Alumni Chair at that time.
 
Sigma Nu started in '82 with some very smart Pi Sigma Chi brothers knowing we would not last if we did not go national and Pi Sigma Chi / Sigma Nu has been a proud fraternity doing service for CPP since 1957 We all know what happened to Sigma Nu-Kappa Gamma a few years back.

In the early 2000’s one of my Pi Sigma Chi brothers, Mike Pexton, suggested we have a legacy group. Steve Yoss, John Vandevelde, Jack Carlino, and Jordan Wu kept that going for scholarships, which were awarded to the Sigma Nu actives.

We continue to have our events; however, we have had no new active brothers turning into alumni, which was disconcerting to most of us. We all hoped for re-colonization in the fourth or fifth year after we were removed. A couple of years ago, while waiting for the SN National and CPP to allow us to recolonize, Jordan Wu it indicated we should have a website rather than just social media when we are recolonized at CPP.

For the last two years, Robert Marshall, John Vandevelde, John Mairs, and I researched, evaluated, and then implemented our new website. These brothers poured their heart and soul into adding functions and features and contacted brothers to register and update their profiles. Additionally, John Vandevelde ensured we were a legal entity and Robert Marshall wrote/edited all communications.
 
Well brothers, at 76 years old I want to thank Juan and his brothers for taking us national but it’s now time for the SN brothers that pledged in the '80s, '90s and 2000s to pick up the ball and ensure that Sigma Nu Kappa-Gamma, once again, is recolonized and becomes the dominant Fraternal service group at CPP. We have our legal infrastructure in place, operating funds, scholarship funds, and a website that can do events, taking donations, shopping for paraphernalia, includes a new Networking exchange, and the ability to help Brothers that need assistance.

Now that the infrastructure is in place, I am retiring as Membership/Website Chair, along with Robert Marshall, who is retiring as Communication Chair. We will need replacements for those positions and especially for recolonization positions.

The Sigma Nu-Kappa Gamma fraternity will only succeed if the Sigma Nu alumni brothers reengage to have a successful recolonization so that we get new alumni for our Legacy Organization. You now have proof of our recolonization as communicated by Jordan with an extraordinarily successful ‘Meet the Greeks’ event at CPP.
 

I can tell you I am personally thankful not only for my Pi Sigma Chi brothers, but for all the Sigma Nu brothers that I have interacted with over the years.
 
 After all these years I can look back and fully appreciate my experiences in the fraternity during school and after. Also, the fact I can meet a new SN brother and have an instant bond (next week I am having lunch with Tao Portugal, who lives 4 miles from me). I have friends who don't believe that after 57 years we still get together and with SN new brothers.
 
My final request is that every SN brother has the same experiences during and after CPP that I have had by paying it forward now so that we have a successful recolonization.

It is worth it.

Thank You Brothers!
Bruce Brandenburg Fall ‘66

Heart Attack

 P.S. Many of my PSC brothers are passing so it is imperative as an SN brother you reengage at some level including talking to your social circle of brothers as we are only here for so many trips around the sun!