As Phi Sigma Kappa continues to grow in membership, the fraternity hopes to grow in fame as well.

At the grand chapter convention in August, IU’s Phi Sigma Kappa was named the best chapter in the nation for the third time in a row. They are the first chapter to accomplish this in the fraternity’s history.

“I think that this chapter has an overall sense of enthusiasm to continue to grow and raise the level of accomplishments,” said Brian Skram, chapter president.

The competition for best chapter is based on an application explaining the chapter’s philanthropy, scholarship, recruitment and campus and community involvement.

Chapter Vice President Craig Creek said recruitment has really set the chapter apart from the pack. He said it has grown by 30 to 40 members each of the past several years.

Although there are many members, they all still contribute to the fraternity, which is impressive, Creek said.

Skram said the fraternity raised more than $15,000 for IU Dance Marathon last year, and that active members averaged 19 hours of community service per year.

“We’ve recruited so many motivated and eager gentlemen into the house (who are) taking active roles and making the house better, not only that but on campus,” Creek said.

The chapter is only six years old. This freshness allows members to be “selfish” and decide what responsibilities to carve out for themselves, which makes members more participatory, Skram said.

Skram said a “sense of hunger” to reach high goals is what has made and will make Phi Sigma Kappa go from a “great” chapter to an “amazing” one.

To stay on the top of the heap, the chapter can’t stop setting and reaching goals, he said.

This year, one of those goals is to become more involved in “smaller service projects in the Bloomington area,” Skram said.

He also said the fraternity hopes to get its very own philanthropic event: a softball tournament to raise money for the Special Olympics.

Phi Sigma Kappa members are positive these efforts will lead them to another win next year.

“We’re absolutely going to go for it,” Creek said. “We don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t get it a fourth time.”

Senior Matt Beaulieu taking a exchange from senior Jeff Schwab during the teams successful 2^nd attempt at qualifying. 
 

The Little 500 Team preparing to go on a ride in Gainesville, FL.  Riders (from left to right) are sophomore Corey Fogel, freshman Evan Tomlinson, sophomore Benji Ellis, sophomore Chad Timmerman, senior Matt Beaulieu, and senior captain Jeff Schwab. 

On a beautiful Saturday morning in late March, the Phi Sig Little 500 team took the track.  The team took a new approach to qualifying this year.  While the team consisted of 6 riders, they decided to use three during qualifications.  Seniors Jeff Schwab and Matt Beaulieu, along with freshman Evan Tomlinson, faulted on their first attempt.  In order to insure that the team would be participating in the race this year, the 3 riders decided that this was their chance.  The three of them performed well and finished with a near guarantee of being in the race.  As the day went along, the beautiful weather helped many teams but still kept Phi Sigma Kappa on the board.  While initially a little disappointed with their position, senior Jeff Schwab will be starting the race on the outside, which will allow him to move up and regroup with the leaders.  Throughout the next 2 weeks, the 6 members of the cycling team took part in the 3 Spring Series events.  The three events were a individual time trial, a elimination race (Missin’ Out), and a team time trial.  They finished the series with a strong performance and a 12^th place finish to show for it. 

As school begun, there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the team.  With only two riders, both of which were seniors, competing over the summer, questions arose about the status of our Little 500 team.  The amount of effort that Matt Beaulieu and Jeff Schwab put into growing the Sigma Triton chapter, was now put into the Little 500 team.  The two seniors were able to recruit 4 new riders.  Sophomores Corey Fogel, Benji Ellis, and Chad Timmerman all dedicated themselves to the cause.  A new brother, freshman Evan Tomlinson also became extremely involved in the team.  With six riders dedicated to giving Sigma Triton a competitive team, they all began the winter training season.  Each member of the team trained for 2-3 hours a day 5-6 days a week from November to February.  In February, the team took to the track and began becoming comfortable with exchanges and pack riding. 

In March, the 6 members of the team headed to Gainesville, Florida for an intense week of training.  The team stayed with Grand Council member Doug Diekow.  Diekow provided the team with a great atmosphere to relax in between rides, and a lot of the team’s success is due his hospitality, which allowed the team to train.  The team put on 330+ miles in 5 days of hard riding.  Each member of the team gave it their all and everyone showed impressive signs of improvement. 

The future is extremely bright for Sigma Triton’s cycling team.  While the team will be loosing two key riders, seniors Jeff Schwab and Matt Beaulieu, at the end of this year, the team still showcases a foundation of 3 sophomores and 1 freshman.  Senior Matt Beaulieu plans on becoming the official coach of the team, after the race this year.  This will allow the riders to focus solely on training.  If anyone would like to become involved with the Sigma Triton cycling team or has any questions regarding the Little 500 team, please contact Matt Beaulieu at mbeaulie@indiana.edu.  The team is looking forward to chasing a top 10 finish this year and enjoying the bright future this team has.

Brother Josef Wagle, inductor for the lambda class, successfully initiated 21 brothers on February 10, 2007. His hard work and dedication changed these men from associates to well respected brothers. This was shown last Saturday as the lambda class, along with the new girls of Gamma Phi Beta, won best in show in the 75th annual IU Sing philanthropy. Sigma Triton would like to congratulate both Josef and the new brothers on their hard work and accomplishments.

Michael Reschke - Indiana Daily Student - 2/19/2007

IU Sing song leaders from Gamma Phi Beta and Phi Sigma Kappa are congratulated by members of the production staff after receiving the overall winner award Saturday evening at the IU Auditorium.

Ten minutes before Gamma Phi Beta and Phi Sigma Kappa’s act, “Fascinatin’ Rhythm”,” was set to take the stage at the 75th annual IU Sing, sophomore and song leader Courtney Staples was in a car accident.

“I thought I was going to miss the show,” Staples said. Staples escaped the accident without injury. And with the help of her mother, who was in town for the show, made it to the IU Auditorium on time.

Staples’ worries about her car accident were soon overshadowed by feelings of joy when she was awarded a $250 scholarship from the IU Student Foundation and the act she helped bring together, “Fascinatin’ Rhythm,” was awarded the first-place overall trophy at the 2007 IU Sing.

“My night has been so up and down,” Staples said. “I don’t even care about my car anymore.”

The act “Fascinatin’ Rhythm also received the first-place Division B trophy. Acts were awarded first through fifth place in two divisions. Division A included acts of 73 members or more, and Division B included acts of 72 members or fewer. The Division A winners were Chi Omega and Phi Kappa Sigma with A Night at the Movies. Alpha Phi and Chi Phi won second place in Division A and Alpha Gamma Delta and Alpha Epsilon Pi won second place in Division B.

Fascinatin’ Rhythm song leader Alex Kreisman, a sophomore, said the win was unbelievable. “I had no idea,” Kreisman said. “I didn’t see this one coming.”

All the acts in this year’s show chose a theme from a previous year of IU Sing. Fascinatin’ Rhythm was from 1987 and focused on the Bobby Knight era of IU men’s basketball at Assembly Hall, according to the 2007 IU Sing program.

Members of the act portrayed basketball players who began skipping practice to hang out with cheerleaders portrayed by other members of the act. The audience laughed after a member of the act who was portraying Knight, the former head basketball coach, said, “They’ll never fire me.”

Initially, the group didn’t know what to do with the theme of Fascinatin’ Rhythm, sophomore song leader John Cornell said in an e-mail interview. “The first thing we thought of was the dance that used basketballs for rhythm, and it went on from there,”

Cornell said. Judge Janis Cooper Parker, an IU School of Music alumna, said the act’s use of the rhythm from bouncing basketballs on the stage with the song was clever. Parker said this was the 30th anniversary of her involvement with IU Sing, which began when she participated in the show as a student. “Having a long history with the program, it does my heart proud to see such a long tradition celebrated so well by these acts,” Parker said.

Judge and IU alumna Mia Hirschel said everyone did a great job, but offered one suggestion for the future of IU Sing. “I’d like to see more dormitories involved, because this is a campus-wide competition,” Hirschel said. Hirschel said the last time she saw IU Sing, in 1984, there were 32 acts involved. This year there were 21.

Patti Frazin of Deerfield, Ill., was in the audience to support her daughter, sophomore Rebecca Frazin who was a song leader for Sigma Delta Tau and Sigma Chi’s act Magic To Do. Frazin said that she thought the show was great and that she knew it took a lot of time and energy to put together. “I knew how hard it was for the song leaders to bring so many kids together and get them to listen,” Frazin said. “It was great to see what my daughter has been working on for the last several months.”

http://www.sigmatriton.net/downloads/Songs-of-Phi-Sigma-Kappa.zip

The following songs are included:

1. Phi Sigma Kappa, Hail to Thee
2. The Old, Old Toast
3. Song of PSK
4. Phi Sig Moonlight Girl
5. Phi Sigma Kappa Fair (A Song of Fraternity Days)
6. Unknown
7. Phi Sig Men
8. Unknown
9. Phi Sig Dream Girl
10. When the Phi Sigs Come Back Home (Hail the Ever Growing Throng)

If you know the names of the two unknown songs, please notify us.

Three representatives from the Sigma Triton chapter returned home from the 60th General Convention in Las Vegas with some exiting news for the brotherhood. “I couldn’t be more excited and Damn Proud to let all of you know that tonight we were awarded Chapter of the Year!,” wrote President Brennan Boland in an email to the brotherhood. “We received our charter less than four years ago and are already chapter of the year”

However, the chapter earned more than just the Chapter of the Year award; The President’s Special Achievement awards in Philanthropy, Scholarship, Community Service, and Website Design were also awarded to Sigma Triton. “Five different times our name got called to the stage to receive our awards,” said Matthew Beaulieu, chapter Secretary. “Having nearly 300 people give you a round of applause is an amazing experience.”

The chapter’s success may not come as a surprise to some who remember that Sigma Triton was awarded Most Improved Chapter, Outstanding Community Service/Philanthropy, Outstanding Scholarship, and Member Recruitment. However success has not gone to the brothers’ heads as many remain focused on maintaining the high standards that have been created for the chapter. “It’s amazing how far this chapter has come in just under 5 years. This has been a goal of the chapter since day one, and no one envisioned it happen this soon. I’m basically speechless right now,” said Boland.

Dave McNaught alumnus of Sigma Triton was present for the awards in Las Vegas and was thrilled with the honors bestowed on the chapter. “It’s been a long time coming for the guys of my generation. We have been through some ups and downs, but we have stuck to our vision. We have always had the vision of coming back to greatness, and knew with the quality of guys in this chapter, it was possibility. But still I can not express how thrilled I am that this moment has finally occurred. I really am just so thrilled that it brings tears to my eyes and all I can say is I am Damn Proud of my Sigma Triton chapter!”

A unanimous vote by the undergraduate brothers of the chapter was made to rename the award. However, President Brennan Boland, still does not think the award represents all of the hard work Brother McNaught has given the Sigma Triton chapter. “I wish there was another way we could thank him,” said Boland “but I felt as though this was the best way to do that and keep his memory engraved in the Sigma Triton chapter for eternity.”

Junior Zach Gregory was awarded the first annual Dave McNaught Award for Brotherhood. “Winning this award was such a great honor not only because it was voted on by my brothers, but because it honors a great man, who has done unbelievable things for this house. I am honored to win the first annual Dave McNaught Award,” said Gregory.

Upon receiving the honor McNaught demonstrated great character. “The reason this house is what it is, is due to the great bond among the brothers, the principles for which we stand, and the quality of men in the chapter. I feel very grateful for this honor and am so thrilled to be apart of this great brotherhood and still will always remain Damn Proud!” said McNaught.

Since the 2001 re-chartering, housing has become a seemingly never-ending issue for the Sigma Triton chapter. We have lived in two different houses during the past two years and our housing situation is set to change once again, as we will be moving into a new house once again this coming fall. Although initially this may come as bad news, this is an extremely exciting opportunity for us as we look to secure permanent housing in the near future.

Sigma Triton re-chartered on December 1, 2001.  For the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 school years, we lived at 1500 N. Jordan. At the end of the 2004 school year, we chose not to continue our lease because the house was no longer big enough to house our growing chapter.

After deciding to end our lease at 1500 N. Jordan, we were presented with the wonderful opportunity from IU to lease the vacant former Delta Chi house at 1100 N. Jordan for one year. The house had been empty for about two years since Delta Chi lost their charter. We were extremely excited about this opportunity, as 1100 N. Jordan was built and occupied by Sigma Triton until 1972.

When signing the one year lease, we hoped it would lead to a permanent purchase. However, it was not possible. Indiana University purchased the former Beta Theta Pi house on 10th St. across from Woodlawn Field to build classrooms. As a bargaining tool the University promised the Beta’s the large property at 1100 N. Jordan if they would give up their house. The Beta’s agreed to this deal, so through no fault of our own, we were unable to reach an agreement that would allow us to live at 1100 N. Jordan beyond our one year lease.

The future plans for 1100 are currently unknown. The Beta’s are either going to perform an extensive renovation, or tear down the house and build a new multi-million dollar fraternity house. Despite our strong opposition to tearing the house down because of the sentimental value, our pleas have gone unnoticed and ignored by the University.

Around this same time, Phi Delta Theta lost their charter on campus. As a result were able to sign a lease to live there for the next two to three years while we seek permanent housing. Although we wish we could stay at 1100 N. Jordan, this is perhaps the best second option we could ask for. The house is large, beautiful, and in excellent condition.

We are actively seeking help from our alumni to secure a permanent housing situation in the future.  If any alumni are interested in helping us with their time, talent, or treasuries please contact me. Please consider becoming a part of our Housing Corporation, or in any capacity you would like, no matter how big or small.

A year of hard training has paid off for the Phi Sig cycling team. Not since the team of Burch, Dekter, Drake, Hawkins, May, and Zavacky raced in the 3rd annual Little 500 in 1953 has Phi Sigma Kappa placed so well. 2005 saw Sigma Triton’s 13th entry in the Little 500 come to finish at 12th place out of a field of 33 with a time of 2:10:33. Team members Nathan Moorhouse, Adam Niemand, Jeff Schwab and Mike Shaw are happy with their finish, although they believe the large crash (pictured above) early in the race prevented them from placing in the top ten.