December 2018 Newsletter
Brothers - Featured in this newsletter are updates about the fraternity's status and what we can do to support the active brothers, alumni scholarship fund, and the alumni association.
On a personal note, I've been lucky enough to attend the alumni event in the last few years. I still get that feeling of pride when I'm on the grounds, in the house, and seeing guys that I haven't seen in a long time. Regardless of when you pledged or were in school, I'm guessing that your memories of Sig Tau are among the best you have.
Please take a look at the various updates in the newsletter and contact us if you have any questions or comments. Please do what you can to help Sig Tau.
Yours in Brotherhood -
Louie Clark (F '72)
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From Howard Botting, President, ΣΤΧ Alumni Association
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Dear Brothers-
Greetings from Upstate New York and the Sigma Tau Chi Alumni Association (STCAA)! Hoping all Brothers and their families are having a great 2018 holiday season and best wishes for positive things in 2019.
Speaking of positive things, there is light at the end of the tunnel regarding our one-year suspension imposed by SUNY Oswego.
The STCAA has been working with both the college and the actives to fulfill college President Deborah Stanley’s requirements when she intervened and changed our expulsion to a suspension.
For anyone who is not in the loop as to what happened, I’ll present the short story. The actives received a deferred suspension for having an “illegal” switch day in 2016. They were then caught pledging several first semester freshmen in fall of 2017. The combination of these events was exponential, the second infraction causing the first infraction to become an active “suspension” and then the second infraction then deemed to have occurred while the organization was “suspended”.
The result was that these events gave the college enough grounds, at a hearing with the Dean of Students, to expel the fraternity. Clearly the rules for organizations on campus have changed drastically since many of us were undergraduates. Back in the 1980’s, neither a switch day nor first semester freshmen pledging would have raised an eyebrow.
Welcome to 2018 where colleges have responded to risk management issues with quite restrictive rules, where almost anything we did “back in the day” – even requiring a pledge pin to be worn - would bring us up on hazing charges today. Thanks to the efforts of alumni who both wrote letters and contacted college officials personally, we were able to persuade President Stanley to change the expulsion to a 12-month suspension. This in itself is a huge victory.
So, we are at the point where we can bitch and complain and lament the days of old, or we can be proactive and learn how to play the game by a new set of the rules. I’ve expressed this to our active community as an “evolve or die” situation. We can either change our methods of operation or dig our heels in waiting for the next infraction to see an expulsion that wouldn’t be overturned.
To this end we have two groups of alumni volunteers working to codify all aspects of the Brotherhood. Our goal is to put in place guidelines and rules to help our active members be successful in navigating the college rules, increasing membership, and ensuring that many of the positive traditions either survive or return.
The first group is the school-mandated Advisory Board (AB), whose members are required to meet with the actives twice a semester to make sure they comply with the suspension. We have decided to have the AB meet more frequently than required, codify officer responsibilities, and return traditions that will strengthen the active brotherhood.
The second group is a newly formed Board of Directors who will work to revise our pledging program to ensure we avoid charges of hazing but still develop a strong brotherhood for the 21st century. We have explored Sigma Tau Gamma’s new member orientation program and possible adoption of components of that program that would benefit our actives.
Both the AB and the Board of Directors will assist the current Alumni Association Executive Council in creating all documents necessary to successfully meet the college’s Greek organization expansion process.
What we need from you is your continued support, both spiritually and financially. Due to three semesters without pledges and 25 seniors graduating in May 2019, we will be down to approximately six brothers to start fall 2019. We are attempting to gain new members before the Spring 2019 semester is over, but it’s unclear whether we’ll be allowed to do so. So we will be very underfunded from the standpoint of collecting house rent as well as from a manpower standpoint.
We need financial support from all alumni to survive as we move into the precarious situation of having only a few brothers as we go into our rebuilding period.
Please remember the alumni association as we move into 2019. Your financial support of the house and brotherhood is essential as we move forward.
I would like to have our house at 8 Montcalm forever, but just as the actives need to work together to grow membership and continue traditions, your contributions are critical to our success.
Yours in Brotherhood-
Howard Botting S’86
President STCAA
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From Dave Morgan, Treasurer, ΣΤΧ Alumni Association
Dear Brothers,
First, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the ongoing well-being of Sigma Tau Chi Fraternity and the STCAA through yearly dues and generous donations of time and money! Every contribution to the alumni treasury goes directly to major capital improvements to our house and is greatly appreciated!
Alumni dues and donations have helped pay for a much needed new roof, as well as restoration of the main stairs, commercial-grade flooring throughout the first floor, along with many other repairs and improvements to our house. These major projects could not be accomplished without alumni association funding, as well as skilled and knowledgeable Brothers.
In order to support these types of projects, STCAA asks that each member pay minimum annual dues of $100.
However, please consider making a larger donation if you are able. We have successfully run a window replacement program and also raised funds in a very short time to purchase badly needed new furnaces. Please reach out to your fellow pledge brothers, family tree, and friends to challenge them to make an individual or group donation.
I have met many of you at our annual alumni weekends, which in recent years have be scheduled in early June to coordinate with the full college alumni weekend. Please note that for a number of reasons we are considering moving the alumni weekend to early fall. Please check our website, sigmatauchi.org, for more detailed information regarding the 2019 STCAA alumni weekend and to provide helpful feedback and ideas.
I look forward to seeing you all when we gather at the House of Blue!
Yours in Brotherhood,
Dave Morgan, (Fall ’82) STCAA Alumni treasurer
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From Jim Reber, Chairman, ΣΤΧ Advisory Board
Holiday Greetings to all Brothers. The ΣΤΧ Advisory Board (AB) consists of Brothers Bob Bebak, Jim Bernardone, Jim Patridge (also an Oswego State Computer Science Professor), Brother Mike Caldwell in a “counselor” role, and me.
The Advisory Board was formed to help meet SUNY Oswego's terms for the fraternity to be re-recognized. The Board must meet with Active Brothers Leadership (President Nick Derbabian) twice per semester.
In addition, the AB is to promote Sigma Tau Chi Traditions and History to active brothers.
Our team met with Nick Derbabian and active members twice this semester. We also met with an assistant to SUNY Oswego President Stanley. I am happy to report that President Stanley's assistant acknowledged we are on track to be re-recognized by the college in early April. The current actives have been doing a great job behaving and adhering to the stringent restrictions that are required to have us be re-recognized.
As long as we continue on this trajectory, we should have no problems being re-recognized, with a one-year probation period to follow.
In my opinion there are a couple of issues: 1) A significant Spring 2019 graduating senior class, and 2) Fall 2018 Pledging was cancelled. A Spring 2019 pledge class currently cannot be scheduled due to timing: being re-recognized in April 2019 does not allow for the required four-week pledging period.
We are discussing possible fast-track pledging possibilities with SUNY Oswego administration. Our pledging program is being reconfigured by Brother Gary Maher, as SUNY’s no-hazing policy requires changes to our historic pledging activities. We need to have solid pledge numbers to sustain our membership. Our next Alumni Advisory meeting at The House is scheduled for Sunday Feb 10, 2019. All Brothers are welcome.
Please contact me if you have any questions or feedback: jim.reber9@gmail.com 585 750 8974.
Thanks to Howard Botting and Brothers Bebak, Bernardone, Caldwell, & Patridge for their support of the actives in this Advisory Role.
YIB Jim Reber S’79
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From Mike Caldwell -
ΣΤΧ Memorial Scholarship
Here is some updated information for the ΣΤΧ Memorial Scholarship. With twenty donors, we are nearing $12,000. We need to get to $25,000 for the scholarship to be endowed, which means it goes on for eternity.
Brother Nick Abraham is donating $1,000 per year until we reach that point. Our $1,000 scholarship starts this coming September.
DKK has donated $42,000 to their scholarship fund and Beta has donated $140,000 to theirs. Let's get fifty donors by February 1st.
Every donation, no matter how small or how large, adds up. Remember that your contributions to the scholarship fund are tax-deductible.
Sig Tau has meant a lot to to many of the guys who have left us. Think of the countless hours Wes Proctor put in at the house when he retired. His love of the house can be seen when you visit it. The neighbors thought the world of Wes, who without asking for help redid the outside and inside of the house. Many alumni helped Wes in his endeavors but he worked alone time after time. Imagine if everyone donated. Wes and the others who have passed away would be humbled.
Please make your checks out to “Oswego College Foundation, Inc.” and mail them to:
Mike Caldwell
45 Meaney Circle
Oswego, NY 13126
Making the checks payable to the Foundation enables us to be sure the money goes to the scholarship, and I will personally bring the checks to the college. The scholarship committee will be made up of three people: two from the college and one ΣΤΧ alumni member.
The actives have been notified about the scholarship and were told to apply for it in January.
Remember to give the name of the brother you are remembering, as his name will go on a plaque to be displayed at the House of Blue once the fund is endowed.
If everyone donated $25 - $100, the ΣΤΧ Scholarship fund would be endowed. Thank you in advance.
Sig Tau Christmas Party
On December 8, Deb Proctor (Wes’s wife) and I held our annual Sig Tau Christmas Party in Oswego.
Some of the alumni took a ride by the house before coming to the party. Many memories were shared about our times in Sig Tau and about the many alumni weekends that Sig Tau has had over the years.
Attendees were the Ramsdens, Muranos, Hendershots, Carnevales, Owens, Molinaris, Rory Carrigan, Al Feldman, Schneiders and the hosts. A great time was had by all.
In lieu of exchanging gifts, everyone donated to the Sig Tau Memorial Scholarship. Total donations were $2,155.
Wes, Satchel Paige, DJ, Mike Loeffert and other brothers who have passed away were remembered. It is with great appreciation from Deb and me for these awesome donations. For the first time, no one took pictures as everyone was enjoying the evening.
YIB
Mike (Whitey) Caldwell
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From Joe DiLuca, ΣΤΧ House Treasurer
As treasurer I am responsible for:
- Budgeting semester finances, including but not limited to: Brother events (Genny dates, Tnac, extra kegs & Gibbys), House supplies, and pledging expenses. I tend to leave a little wiggle room for plowing and unforeseen expenditures.
- Collecting semester dues.
- Collecting semester cable and internet dues.
- Collecting any fundraising moneys which are forwarded to the beneficiaries.
- Contacting our cable company about any interruptions in service.
I saw a real need for safeguards against fraud in this position. One of the first things I did as treasurer was to move all the money into our bank account and create a separate account for our social budget (for formals and mixers). In the past, socials used to have thousands of dollars in their rooms with no trail to show brothers where or how the money was spent.
I see many challenges moving forward in this position. I find that my authority is limited a lot more than it once was. The brothers are more inclined to disagree with my financial decisions because of the amount in the account. Having a few terms under my belt I know better than anyone else that unforeseen expenditures pop up often and that not planning for them can lead to disaster. I think that telling the brothers the amount in the account just leads to more disagreements.
My main goal moving forward is for the treasurer to have more power over financial decision making. I also want to have a co-treasurer or some other position watch over what the treasurer is doing to make sure there is no misappropriation of funds.
Yours in Brotherhood,
Joe DiLuca
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