SAPLES psp newsletter spread (3) .pdf

Hours of Hope a huge success for PSP

Purple & Golden Bears

By Patrick Dietrich

P

hi Sigma Pi brother David
Serafini proposed in 2012 that
the brothers of Phi Sigma Pi could
complete 100,000 hours of service
by the 2016 National Convention,
the centennial anniversary of the
fraternity’s founding. This initiative
was named Hours of Hope.
“I was the keynote
s p eake r at the
2012 National
Convention
and in my
speech, I
e m phas i ze d
t he the me of
service to our
c o m m u n i t i e s ,”
Serafini said. “Based on
my background and the experience
with the Beta Phi Joplin Runs, I issued
a challenge that became the Hours
of Hope campaign.”
This proposal is succeeding
expectations of everyone involved,
as the project has over 70,000 logged
service hours as of November 14,
2014. “It has more than exceeded my
expectations. We’re now well past the

The latest on Kutztown’s
Phi Sigma Pi chapter, Epsilon Alpha

halfway mark with just about a year
and a half left to go,” Serafini said.
Serafini also discussed the idea of
raising the amount of hours as well.
“If we make the goal or get close by
2015 National Convention, I wouldn’t
mind seeing us up the ante some,
maybe go for 120,000
total.”
Phi Sigma Pi states
that one must
be a collegiate,
alumni, or
honorary member
of the fraternity
in order to submit
service hours. The
service hours can stem
from Collegiate and Alumni
service events, along with individual
community service projects. Service
events done at National Convention,
Alternate Spring Break, and Regional
Conferences also apply.
The 2016 National Convention will
take place as close to Kansas City, MO
as possible, since this is where Phi
Sigma Pi was established.

Congrats to the graduating brothers
Kris Brew (Chi)

- The Reading Fightin’ Phils social

Ashten Brinker (Phi)

Volume 9, December 2014 issue

- Meeting Kait Amodei, my amazing little

Raisa Colon (Chi)

-The brother retreat

Patrick Dietrich (Phi)

- Inducting his two littles, the brother retreats, and the 2014 National Convention

Samantha Jones (Phi)

- The brother retreats and getting closer to the brothers

Victoria Lindenmuth (Phi)

- The Elf movie social in which I got to make some really good waffles

Montrez Lewis (Phi)

- The induction ceremonies, it’s rewarding to see people inducted from various backgrounds

By Patrick Dietrich

K

Your 2015
eBoard

utztown University’s chapter
of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor
Fraternity, Epsilon Alpha, was
recognized for their fellowship at the
National Convention.

Katie Herbert
-President

Becky Peiffer
-Vice President

Maggie Shope
-Secretary

Samantha Myers
-Treasurer

Amber Houtz
-Brother at Large

E m i l y Wa m p o l e
-Parliamentarian

Steph Kay
-Historian

Rachel Fiore

Patrick Dietrich
Brothers at the 2014 National Convention. Top- Patrick
Dietrich, Courtney Laub, Jess Morrow. Bottom- Ashley
Crawford, Stephen Cristiano

In this issue

-Recruitment Advisor

Omega Class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Kaity Loper

Presidential Interview. . . . . . . . . . . 3

-Initiate Advisor

Megan Gauthier
-Inter-Chapter Relations

- Spending so much time with my big, Stephen Cristiano

Julie Burger (Phi)

EA brings home the gold

Phisigmapi.org

This newsletter is a final project of Patrick Dietrich
for WRI 226, Desktop Publishing: Writing and
Editing Newsletters. In this one-semester course at
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, students use
Adobe InDesign to write, edit, and design original
newsletters. The contents of this publication reflect
the views of the student authors, not those of the
instructor or the university.
Crest- www.twitter.com
National convention logo- www.phisigmapi.com
Tripod triangle- www.gtphisigmapi.com
KU logo- www.kutztownhockey.com
Omega class pictures- Christina Fritz
Hours of Hour- www.phisigmapi.com
Graduation cap & diploma- www.iconfinder.com

Hours of Hope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2015 eBoard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Graduating Brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The Claude A. Phillips Excellence in
Fellowship Award, which is named
after one of the fraternity’s
founders, is given out
o n c e a y e a r. T h e
w i n n i n g c h a p te r
must demonstrate
outstanding
fellowship
t h ro ug h e ve nt s
h e l d d ur i n g t h e
2013-14 school
year. The event that
won the Epsilon Alpha
award was a PostSecretstyle event. PostSecret is a
community project that people
anonymously send their secrets to,
which are then posted online.
Amelia Herbst, the Building a Better
Brotherhood Committee chair, was
in charge of the event. “I never could
have thought that ideas that came
so naturally could not only work so
well, but be recognized on a national
level”, Herbst said. “It shows that no
matter what happens or what issues
our brothers go through, we all have
the ability to help each other when
in need and push our differences
aside. We are not only upholding
one of our ideals beyond what the

national level expects, but we are
adding a positive influence to the
Kutztown community.”
The atmosphere as the Brothers
realized their event had won a
national award was astounding.
“It was electric. We knew when the
event was being described prior
to announcing the winner
that it was our event”,
said Jess Morrow, the
alternate delegate
for the chapter. “I
was so excited that
whatever was
happening in the
audience mattered
less than what was
happening at our table.”
Epsilon Alpha had won this award
the previous year for a bonfire event.
Brothers wrote names they had been
called and labels they were given on
a piece of paper and threw it into the
fire.
Herbst graduated this past semester,
but she holds high hopes for the
chapter. “Epsilon Alpha has done
incredible things and I can see
them upholding this standard. Our
Brothers are capable of anything
they put their minds to.”
The National Convention was held
from July 31-August 3 in Atlanta,
Georgia.

For a Lifetime
Welcome to the Omega Class!

Guaranteed
Sharyn Beodeker reflects on her two years as president of Epsilon Alpha
By Patrick Dietrich

Autumn Crouse
Big- Meg Wolfe
Service Chair
Athena

Erin Orth
Big- Ashley Crawford
Fundraising Chair
Athena

Karli Binder
Big- Steph Kay
Vice President
Athena

Chris Wilson
Big- Sharyn Beodeker
Scholarship Chair
Apollo

Geordan Vincent
Big- Stephen Cristiano
President
Eros

Kelsey Katzgrau
Big- Steph Oltman
Treasurer
Apollo

Cory Samsel
Big- Amy Rocha
Historian
Apollo

Darleen Justance
Big- Tay Brown
Scholarship Chair
Aphrodite

Jennica LeClerc
Big- Kelly McManus
Social Chair
Aphrodite

Kevin Kaminski
Big- Meg Burns
Fundraising Chair
Aphrodite

Jessica Thorne
Big- Jess Morrow
Secretary
Aphrodite

Kimberly Acorn
Big- Emily Wampole
Service Chair
Poseidon

O mega C lass S u m m a r y
By Patrick Dietrich

T

me a lot for projects and events and that’s a great
thing to see.”

Lead by Initiate Advisor Courtney Laub, the
class worked through a rigorous eight weeks in
order to complete the transition from initiate to
Brother. “The Omega class is a very self-sustaining,
independent class,” Laub said. “They don’t lean on

The class has held various events for the
Brotherhood throughout the semester. A joint
social/scholarship on ultimate Frisbee was ran
by initiates Jennica LeClerc and Erin Orth, a
fundraiser was held at Mamma’s Delight Pizza
organized by president Geordan Vincent, and

he Omega class is the 24th class to enter the
Epsilon Alpha chapter since the chapter’s
founding in November 2002.

a service even featuring writing cards for sick
children was put together by service chairs
Kimberly Acorn and Autumn Crouse, with cards
donated by Kelsey Katzgrau.
The class will be the last to feature a single Greek
letter in the title, as the Spring 2015 initiates
will be members of the Alpha Alpha class. Class
inductions will be held Nov. 30.

A- Originally, I was not looking
into running for president. I had
tossed the idea around, but I was
very hesitant to actually run for
the position. However, one or two
Brothers were very adamant in
thinking that I could do the job and
lead the fraternity in a good way. Bret
Shambo was our current president
and his confidence and reassurance
convinced me to run.
Q- What was your biggest
accomplishment as president?
A- I’m not sure if I can truly say I had
an accomplishment as president. Our
chapter won the Fellowship award
at National Convention two years in
a row, but that was due to amazing
events that our Brother at Large had
implemented.
We have done
an excellent job
of revamping
our bylaws and
updating our
initiate process,
again that is
due to specific
individuals
within the chapter. I think all the
things that have been accomplished
within my time as president have
been due to my Brothers’ diligence
and commitment. It wouldn’t be right
for me to say that those are things I
can be credited for.

the road or times when people are
struggling with things within chapter,
but I think we have done a very good
job collectively to remedy any issues
and work together to come up with
solutions to problems we may be
facing.
Q- What are the biggest changes in
the chapter from the start of your
term to the end?
A- The dynamic of the chapter is
always going to be subject to change.
This is based on the fact that we
aren’t going to always induct people
that were exactly the same as our
Brothers before. I think our ideals will
obviously always stay the same. How
the chapter expresses those ideals
through our various events is going to
change and I think that has definitely
started this year. We have been a very
exclusive group since I joined, but

“I think all the things that have
been accomplished within my time
as president have been due to my
Brothers’ diligence and commitment.”

Also, I think the chapter has opened
up a bit and talks and works together
more. There will always be bumps in

there has been a big push within the
chapter to open ourselves up to other
organizations and really work within
the community and campus, which I
think is really going to be a big change
for us, but a positive one.
Q- What hopes do you have for the
new eBoard?
A- I hope they will be strong leaders

Sharyn Beodeker

Q- What motivated you to originally
run for president?

and remember to always do what is
best for the chapter. It’s important
as a leader of PSP to stay humble
and know that what you think is not
always what is best for everyone else.
Being an eBoard member of PSP is
about deciding based on what is best
for the Brotherhood, not for yourself or
for the eBoard alone. I hope that they
can continue to move the chapter into
positive directions and set goals and
accomplish them just as we have over
these last few years.
Q- What did you do in the chapter
before you became president?
A- I was historian and I was involved
on the service committee before I was
president.
Q- When did you join Phi Sigma Pi?
A- I was inducted as a member of the
Sigma class in the fall of 2011.