Sigma Chi - Montana State University

5 SIGMA CHI CHAPTER ETERNAL Patrick Andrews '57 entered Chapter Eternal on October 4, 2018, from Alzheimer's disease in Aurora, Colo., at his home with family by his side. At MSU, he was a member of ROTC and Sigma Chi. In 2002, he became a proud Life Loyal Sig. Along with his wife, Barbara, Pat is survived by his daughters, Andi (Dan) Raber and Tammy (Bruce) Hernandez, sons, Clay and Mike Andrews, and his eight grand- children and 10 great-grandchildren. Lowell "Ronnie" Cloninger '60 of Missoula and Swan Lake, Mont., entered Chapter Eter- nal at his home on February 20 from complica- tions due to cancer, with his family at his side. Survivors include his wife, Gwen; and children Dirk (Becky) Cloninger, Becky (Bob) Byrne, Missoula, and Marcy (Tim) Dolan. Gary Tavenner '63 entered Chapter Eternal on February 26 at his home in Missoula. Af- ter graduation, he married Lynn Ellinghouse and moved back to the Williams and Tavenner Ranch and joined his father and Uncle Bob in the family business and Montana ranching tradition. Later, he built custom homes and worked for the ASCS/Farm Service Agency in Missoula. Gary's family remembers and ap- preciates his quiet, caretaking demeanor, his work ethic, and good humor in the face of ad- versity. He was an encouraging swim, basket- ball, cheer, and life coach to his daughter and a construction foreman for the entire family. He is survived by his wife, Lynn; daughters Gloria (Dean) of Reno, Nev., Tanya (Dennis) of Spo- kane, Wash., and Laura (Ken) of Denver, Colo.; four grandsons; two great-granddaughters; and numerous nieces; nephews, cousins, and dear friends. Frederick Buckingham '66 entered Chapter Eternal on April 7, 2018. He was 74. Bucking- ham was born on June 17, 1943, in Townsend, Mont., where he grew up on his family's ranch. Sigma Chi Continues to Lead the Way Internationals Sets the Standard for Fraternities We are all proud of the many facets of our great fraternity: our chapter, our brothers, the Sigma Chi values, and the alumni from other places that we have met over the years. In our forma- tive undergraduate years, we developed our un- derstanding of the Sigma Chi values of friend- ship, justice and learning and built leadership attributes that have enabled us to become pro- ductive and caring participants in our families and communities. But we seldom pay attention to the role that Sig- ma Chi International leadership has played and continues to play to keep our fraternity strong and up to date with the changing times. Are you aware of the significant leadership shown by our fraternity over the past year? Unless you have been following closely, you might not be fully up to speed on the many positive actions that have been taking place. International Policy Changes Early last year, Sigma Chi International leader- ship announced four specific policy changes and reinforced longstanding policies on alcohol and drugs. In summary, the policies prohibit hard alcohol in chapter facilities, eliminate alcohol at social events during recruitment, cap the size of social events, and limit the chapter pledge educa- tion program to a maximum of five weeks. Fur- ther details and FAQs can be found at www.sig- machi.org/policychanges. As Grand Counsel Tommy Geddings Jr. South Carolina '85 said at the time of these announce- ments, "Culture change is never easy, and that sentiment will ring true as Sigma Chi embarks on this new era. Yet, we are resolved to eliminate the antithetical behaviors that have so unfortu- nately become coupled with the idea of being a fraternity man. Sigma Chi was founded on the principles of friendship, justice and learning. Since our humble beginnings in 1855, Sigma Chi has been on a mission to make the world a better place through the impact of many men working together toward that common purpose. e time to make our actions congruent with our beliefs is here, and only by doing so will we ever be able to come close to contributing to that mission that our seven Founders set as our course." ALUMNI UPDATE Our Sigma Chi International leadership is strong. Your scribe has met most of our inter- national leadership brothers over the past three years and I can report that they are an impressive group of experienced, dedicated volunteers who devote a significant part of their time to ensuring the progress and success of Sigma Chi Fraternity. Undergraduate Men Grow at Leadership Programs Sigma Chi offers many leadership training pro- grams for undergraduate brothers. Our vision is "to become the preeminent collegiate leadership development organization—aligned, focused and living our core values." More information on our leadership training programs can be found at www./sigmachi.org/leadership-programs. Your Beta Rho Chapter, a 10-year Bell Chapter and a consistent Peterson Significant Chapter Award winner, sends eight chapter officers each summer to the Krach TLW for leadership train- ing to plan the chapter's strategies for the follow- ing year. As well, our brothers have benefitted from all the above programs and over the years have used Mission 365 training to build a strong, sustainable chapter of 85 quality brothers and to ensure we maintain a full live-in chapter house. e chapter is debt free, has a sizeable "rainy day" fund, and the actives have pledged $150,000 to the house renovation program. Beta Rho contin- ues to provide consistent leadership on the MSU campus on many fronts. Reconnect with Sigma Chi Certainly, there are a lot of great things happen- ing in the world of Sigma Chi. And you played a role in Sigma Chi history. Your years at Beta Rho were the beginning of all your brotherhood ex- periences and these experiences to some extent formed the foundation for the rest of your life. Sigma Chi brotherhood never ends. ough its direct role in our lives might diminish from time to time, the values we learned from Sigma Chi during our university days remain part of our core being. For many of us, it might have been a long time since we have had a direct Sigma Chi or Beta Rho experience…a visit with a brother, attending an alumni chapter meeting in your area, a visit to South Willson, attending an initiation. We might be at the point in our lives where we wish to renew the lifelong commitment to the develop- ment of self, others, and community through Sigma Chi's values-based living. And this might be the time for you to make a di- rect brotherhood connection. Sigma Chi teaches that being a Sigma Chi is a lifelong journey. Per- haps the best way to begin the journey again is to start in a simple manner. Call a brother, attend an alumni event in your area, or schedule a return visit to Beta Rho for Homecoming this fall. For a brother's contact information, go to our website, www.bobcatsigs.org/alumni/alumni-directory/. e password is betarho1917. (Continued on page 6)

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