The Phi Chapter/North Dakota State update was submitted by Jim Hardwick, Phi ’87, National Chaplain. Phi Chapter/North Dakota State welcomed back alumni for their annual Pig Banquet event on March 7, 2009. The chapter’s Alumni Council and undergraduate chapter hosted house tours, the traditional roast pig for lunch and an alumni meeting at the chapter house. The evening’s activities included a social and banquet at a local hotel. Alumni awards were presented at the evening banquet.
Alumni who returned for the event were pleased to hear that Phi Chapter is the largest fraternity chapter on the North Dakota State campus at 77 members. The chapter also leads the men’s fraternities in scholarship with a chapter grade point average of 3.047. The chapter successfully recruited 31 new members last semester and 11 new members this semester. The chapter was also nominated by the campus for the Chapter of Distinction honor awarded nationally by the North American Interfraternity Conference. Past chapter president, Tony Clowe, Phi ’06, serves as the IFC President. Ron Storhaug, Phi ’08, serves as the executive commissioner of government relations for the student government.
Steve Link, Phi ’94, Alumni Council president, served as emcee at the evening’s banquet. Past chapter president, Tony Clowe, Phi ’06, provided an update on the undergraduate chapter. The banquet speaker was Jim Hardwick, Phi ’87, National Chaplain, who offered his comments on what it means to be a Theta Chi for Life. Hardwick recognized the presence of long-time house corporation president, Russ Handegard, Phi ’69, and his wife, Kyle, a local and national volunteer for Kappa Alpha Theta, as examples of alums who have made a lifelong commitment to their Greek chapters. Hardwick also noted that Jack Haines, Phi ’81, who had served the Fraternity as a chapter consultant for two years after graduating from NDSU, was the first Theta Chi he met at NDSU. Hardwick highlighted an experience he had with chapter brother, Brian Hankel, Phi ’85, who had an artery detach from his colon two years earlier. Brother Hankel was in a medically-induced coma for six weeks and spent another four weeks in the hospital before he was released. At one point when Hankel was heavily medicated and still on a respirator, he wrote a note to his wife with two words: Phi Arrow, the name of the chapter’s newsletter. Hardwick commented on how much this gesture had impacted him to see that a brother in a life and death situation would reach out to his brothers in Theta Chi Fraternity and the tremendous amount of support that chapter brothers offered Hankel and his family. Hardwick also noted the Helping Hand examples of brothers Dennis Vonasek, Phi ’83, for his involvement in Theta Chi on a national level; the upcoming trip of Rich Koechlein, Phi ’85, who was going to teach photography skills to children in India; and an unnamed alumnus brother who donated a kidney this past year to another unnamed brother—both of whom he mentioned were present at the banquet.
Recognition awards were given at the banquet. Richard Ruud, Phi ’68, was recognized as the Most Generous Financial Supporter of the chapter during the past year. Brian Hankel, Phi ’85, was recognized as Outstanding Alumnus for his email campaign to recruit alumni to return for this year’s Pig Banquet. The near-record attendance—probably the largest in recent years since the chapter celebrated it’s 75th Anniversary—had 185 guests at the banquet. The kidney recipient, Jon Kragness, Phi ’89, identified himself as the brother referred to in the keynote and he presented the Alumni Council’s Helping Hand Award to the kidney donor, Dale Hetland, Phi ’87.
Phi Chapter alumni who were unable to attend this year’s Pig Banquet can look at photos of the event on the Facebook page of Tim Ressler, Phi ’86.
0 comments:
Post a Comment