Beta Alpha Crescent
Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity
Fall 2009 Southern Illinois
Beta Alpha Re-Charged!
“We can all Get Involved”, the Meaning of Beta Alpha’s Recharge Get-Together
It was September 12th and 13th 2009, two days of energy with around 90 brothers in attendance. A lot of history came together, as it has been 47 years since this Fraternity got started, 39 since becoming Alpha Gamma Rho.
The Goal of this weekend was to enjoy fellowship and learn something along the way. On Friday evening a dinner was held at Bogeys. The food was outstanding. Brother Greg Webb gave some direction to the weekend with comments on what AGR means to all of us and how we together can capture the moment.
Saturday morning began with a short presentation by our Dean, Dr. Minish, on the vitality that is being generated in the College of Agriculture at Carbondale.
This was followed by a panel of Brothers spanning the history of the Fraternity. It was appropriately call “Viewpoints over Time” and was moderated by our Alumni President Don Knepp. It was a real success that allowed participation of all in attendance.
Past AGR Grand President Mike Jackson then did the wrap-up. One of the things that he said was the fraternity is more than a house; it is a fellowship of brothers and there is no question that a house makes it much easier to attain those fellowship goals. He also said we need to set priorities for working together and launch a game plan for long-term initiatives.
At the Directors meeting following the DeCrane Memorial Golf outing, which I might add had great weather and the biggest attendance in years, an agenda of goals that all Brothers can help us to achieve in the coming year was decided: 1) A short-term rental house or houses for the 2010-2012 period will be put in place; 2) The District Program will be established; 3) The “Mentor Program” will be established; 4) The Communications Initiative with the two websites will be strengthened; and 5) “The New House Project” is the long term goal that follows in the footsteps of this work that all of us provide.
The Saturday session was recorded and a DVD of it will be shown at the various District meetings in January.
- Don Knepp, Alumni Board President and Scott James, Chapter Reporter
3rd Annual Shoot for a Cure Sporting Clay Shoot
April 10th will be the 3rd annual Alpha Gamma Rho Shoot for a Cure sporting clay shoot. The proceeds of the shoot go to the American Cancer Society and the Beta Alpha Scholarship Fund. The Scholarship is awarded to an incoming student entering the College of Agricultural Sciences, the College of Applied Sciences and Arts, or the College of Science in the fall.
This year we will be giving awards to the HOA shooter, HOA female shooter, and HOA shooter under 18. We will be raffling off a gun the day of the shoot. You do not have to be present to win and we will be selling tickets starting February 1st. We will also be having a surprise guest speaker this year. Be sure to check out our website at www.siuagr.com for more information and updates.
Other 2010 Events
February 23-- SIU vs. rival Creighton basketball game (last home game of season)
February 27-- Founders celebration (see next page)
March 4-7-- Missouri Valley Conference basketball tournament
May 14 or 15 (TBA)-- Spring Commencement
Fall 2010-- All Greek Reunion (visit www.siualumni.com for more information)
Advisor Report
He’s Back!!! After an 8 year hiatus, I’m back serving as advisor to Beta Alpha Chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho at Southern Illinois University. Since “retiring” the last time as advisor, I’ve moved up the ranks and I am currently serving as the Associate Dean for the College of Agricultural Sciences. For those of you that don’t know, I’m a Sigma brother from Washington State University.
I’m happy to say that after some struggles last Spring, the Chapter is healthy even without having a chapter house. I’m impressed with the leadership and the perseverance of the brothers in maintaining Alpha Gamma Rho on the SIUC campus. The men are finishing up on re-establishing a small fraternity house a block or so off campus. I think this is a great start until we can re-establish a larger house on or off the proposed “new” Greek Row. The fraternity needs your support in making dreams come to a reality.
The College of Agricultural Sciences is doing well despite the lack of funding from the state of Illinois. We’ve increased in enrollment by 7% each of the last three years, while campus enrollment has decreased. With regret, I do have to let you know that AGR brother and Dean Gary Minish will be retiring from his role as leader of the College on Dec. 31. An internal search for his replacement is currently underway.
Lastly, I’d like to let everyone know that Mom Winters says “hello,” and although has slowed down a bit, is doing well and stays active in the community.
If you have any questions or concerns about the Chapter or the College of Agricultural Sciences, please don’t hesitate to send me a note at tw3a@siu.edu.
Fraternally,
Todd A. Winters, Ph.D.
Advisor, Beta Alpha Chapter
Alumni Relations Report
This year has been moving along nicely. We performed a sporting clays philanthropy and ended up donating a nice amount of funds to the American Cancer Society this last spring. We had a nice turn out to the event which was held at the Rend Lake Shooting Complex on April 18th. Thanks to all that helped with the donations to the event. Something that we would like to see you all at is the 40th founders anniversary. It will take place on February 27th to be held at the Holiday Inn in Carbondale. Rooms have already been reserved for alumni that would like to go. Alumni will receive more information on this event in the near future. The active chapter would love to see you there. Lastly, I must regretfully inform you of the loss of a recent alumnus, Thomas Pigg, PIN #643. He passed July 11 in an automobile accident in Breese, IL. He was a 2000 graduate of Carlyle High School and a law enforcement and conservation management major at SIU. Employed with the Army Corps of Engineers at the Chester, IL lock and dam upon his passing, Tom was also an avid outdoorsman. A golf outing was held in his memory this fall, and he will be missed.
Sean Morgan, VNR- Alumni Relations
Recruitment Report
The fall recruitment for the Beta Alpha Chapter at Southern Illinois has come to a close. The fraternity initially recruited 15 new initiate members into the Gamma Delta class. The recruiting started late last spring semester by sending out letters to admitted students and letters to junior colleges. The fraternity held a recruitment weekend and welcomed a few members to the Ag Industry Day on Friday and then to the sporting clay shoot on Saturday. The fall semester started off with a big hit with rush week September 8th through September 11th. Rush week consisted of roller skating with the Sigma Alpha Sorority, dinner at Bottoms Up in Neunert, a cook out with the Student Nutrition Academic Council and finally candidate interviews. We are already pushing along to get the recruitment process started for the spring semester.
Austin Edwards, VNR- Recruitment
Membership Development Report
Hello, I am Andrew Gunther and I am proud to be V.N.R. of Membership Development. We currently have ten new members in the Gamma Delta new member class. They are:
- Justin Britton, Forestry, Potomac, IL
- Cole Brownfield, Ag. Economics, New Holland, IL
- Bill Caps, Technical Resource Management, Terre Haute, IN
- Eric Bohle, Ag. Systems, Maryville, IL
- Ross Ferrill, Forestry, Oreana, IL
- Travis Kelle, Automotive Technology and Accounting, Quincy, IL
- Max Morrison, Ag. Education, Bunker Hill, IL
- Matt Osborne, Forestry, Trenton, IL
- Gary Reavis, Ag. Business, New Balm, IL
- Geoff Roden, Architecture, Chicago, IL
With the help of the whole active body, I put together a semester of various fun activities helping them develop the morals and qualities of an Alpha Gamma Rho brother. The Gamma Delta class bonded together as a class and had a memorable and rewarding semester. These eleven new members are fine examples of the gentlemen that we as brothers of Alpha Gamma Rho try to recruit. I would like to thank Austin Edwards, V.N.R. Recruitment, and his board for recruiting these gentlemen into our fraternity, and also I would like to thank the active body for their support.
Andrew Gunther, VNR- Membership Development
Beta Alpha
