Alpha Gamma Rho - Penn State University

2 Gamma Crescent I pledged AΓΡ in the last winter pledge class before Penn State transitioned from the trimester system to the current semester system (1982-83). I got my AGR nickname of "Cowhead" from my pledge buddies; my major at Penn State was ag related (computer science—just starting to be used in agriculture at the time), and in college my hair was quite curly and a bit wild. So, one of my pledge buddies said, "You look like a cow's head!" and my new name was born! I think many of those brothers have probably forgotten my real name. The mid-1980s were a great time at Gamma Chapter. We had a full house of brothers who worked hard at keeping the chapter house clean and looking nice. At least once a month, we had a weekend work session to deep clean an area of the house, fix areas that needed repairs, or work on the big job of re-waxing the floors in the Great Hall. Many brothers were active in events on Ag Hill, and we actively participated in intramural activities. We were quite good at both volleyball (thanks to the after-dinner games every evening on our volleyball court), basketball, and flag football. We were also active in philanthropic events such as the Phi Psi 500. We won Best Team Costume one year; we finalized the idea about an hour before the event! One brother donned an apron from the kitchen, we painted a piece of cardboard red, and the rest of us used a black sharpie marker to draw giant bar codes on our white t-shirts. As we passed the judges' stand, the aproned brother acted as a cashier, the others of us dropped to the ground and rolled across the red cardboard while making a loud "beep" sound as if we were being scanned, and the cashier put a garbage bag over us as if to bag us up. Since UPC scanning was brand new at the time, our concept was quite a hit and we won the category! After college, I took a job at DuPont in the IT department, and then moved to Computer Sciences Corporation (now DXC Technology), consulting and working in sales solutioning to help various companies improve their IT function. I have always enjoyed helping other companies meet their business needs, and based on my experiences with AGR, I could relate to the needs of many of the agriculture-related companies I worked with (DuPont Agricultural Products, Pioneer Seed, Dow Chemical, and John Deere, to name a few). I was also active with the Gamma Alumni Association as vice president for few years in the late '80s and early '90s. My father, Reid Miller '62 (Γ826), and brother, Daryl Miller '88 (Γ1267), also passed through 322 Fraternity Row during their college careers. Today, I live in northern Delaware with my wife, Anita. We have two grown children who are both married and each have two young children with whom we enjoy spending our time! Retirement is in sight, but not quite yet for me. When retirement does come, I hope to travel a bit to see more of the country, and maybe some other interesting parts of the world. Brian can be reached at bmille22@comcast.net. Catching Up with Brian "Cowhead" Miller '83 (Γ1198) I n September, alumni prepared and sent care packages to Captain Nate Bevans '11 (Γ1590) and his entire unit overseas. "I got back from a mission one night and had 50 boxes waiting in our mailroom," Nate said. "It was outstanding and such a morale boost to be able to go around to each soldier's door and hand out boxes. Each soldier was so very grateful. Some of these guys have not received anything from home, nor will they. For them to know someone is thinking of them means the world." What incredible generosity. The AΓΡ brotherhood truly knows no bounds (or borders)! Supporting an Overseas Brother Gamma alumni prepare care packages for Nate Bevans '11 (Γ1590). From left: Ray Sheaffer '87 (Γ1251), Jay Van Deusen '83 (Γ1192), Jon Schroer '90 (Γ1289), Rick Lower '83 (Γ1201), Rick Hess '77 (Γ1092), Ken Dietz '77 (Γ1103), Dane Lauver '90 (Γ1288), and Mark Mellinger '82 (Γ1183). Photo taken by Lori Lauver.

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