Sigma Chi - University of Nebraska

SC Page 5 There is also a strong push this year to leverage the strength of our current membership in the Lincoln, Omaha, and Chicago metro areas, while emphasizing the importance of diversity by establishing a membership imprint in the smaller cities and towns of Nebraska, which has been a part of the historical DNA of Alpha Epsilon when it has been at its very best. Alumni involvement can make the difference between achieving good results as opposed to excellent results. It is truly a competitive advantage for us if we have proactive and timely referrals of graduating high school seniors from alumni. It takes some digging sometimes, but won't you please help us help ourselves by taking a minute to research and recommend to us any young men from your sphere of influence or geographic locale that you think deserve to be considered for Sigma Chi? What a help to the Chapter that would be, and it's an easy way to continue your own legacy at UNL. The best way to get started is to simply get in touch with our chairmen. The sooner the better, as it can give us a timing edge. Make contact now with Josh Johnson at jjohnson3512@gmail.com or (402) 587-0104 or Ky Veney at ky.veney63@gmail.com or (402) 802-2828. Here's to our continued momentum, to our rush chairmen, to an excellent pledge class to mark our full and unrestricted return to full recognition by the University of Nebraska! My View: Alumni Musings By Scott Moore '83 O ne of my greatest Sigma Chi experiences is the lifelong friendships borne from that time of my life. My Fraternity brothers made up my wedding party 25 years ago and are still in my life. Whenever I have the urge to phone a friend, be it for good news or bad, my Sigma Chi friends are the top of the list. Those friendships alone would have made my years at Sigma Chi a success but I want to share other ways those years contributed to my success. Although the definition of success in life is easily debatable, I will at least argue that the success I have enjoyed since I pledged Alpha Epsilon in the summer of 1978 has been unexpected. As a farm boy from rural Nebraska, with a high school graduation class of 10 (I often say I was second in my class, but not in the top ten percent!), I showed up at 1510 Vine with a good inner compass and at least a reasonable work ethic. But I had so much to learn. I have had the opportunity to give many high school commencement speeches during my public career. The same core advice I shared in those speeches and jot in notes on graduation cards to nephews, cousins, and friends' children is "never forget that at least half of what you learn in college will be outside the books and classroom, but always remember it is the half in the classroom that they will measure you on in the short term." I give this advice as a life lesson learned only after I did not follow the part about excelling in the classroom. The seminal college experience that made me a success and added value to that raw product from rural Nebraska really was Sigma Chi and my years at Alpha Epsilon. Starting from the bottom of my pledge class and rising to Consul was a compressed version of my life since. I really did listen and learn from the leadership in the pledge program in the fall and winter of 1978 and 1979. I applied those principles first in my years in the Chapter House, then in my public career in elected office, and now in my private career at a Fortune 150 company. Learning from people from different familial and geographic backgrounds during my college years was a very broadening experience for me. I quickly learned my collection of housemates in the Fraternity had grown up differently than me and had different worldviews. If I listened instead of talking I could learn from them. I remember successfully running for Consul by listening to the concerns of the brothers and then presenting solutions to their concerns. Listening and then synthesizing a solution worked in that first campaign for fraternity president and it later worked in my first public campaign for the Nebraska State Legislature. I think I've learned that what you hear from others as well as what you see and experience in life is what ends up making you who you are. What you learn from living alongside 60 housemates really can prepare you for a lifetime. The need to compromise your own wants with those of others in a communal setting of a fraternity house provides a life lesson on how to read people and achieve workable solutions. Whether it be the informal protocol of how you manage to live with your roommate or the formal protocol of doing business in the Chapter meeting, this community life of Sigma Chi prepares you for the real world of both business and life. Incorporating this listening and what you have learned, then applying them to a life situation is what I call leadership. My Sigma Chi experience gave me the confidence that I could lead people of differing temperaments, talents, and convictions, but only after I had listened and learned from all of them. This was the gift my Sigma Chi experience gave me over 30 years ago. This gift, in addition to irreplaceable friendships, is still giving to me every day in both business and life. Editor's Note: Scott Moore hails from Benedict and graduated with his B.A. in political science in 1983. He is a former Nebraska State Senator, former Nebraska Secretary of State, and is currently Vice President of Public Affairs for Union Pacific Railroad. He and his family live in Roseville, California, a Sacramento suburb. AluMni nEws Gerald W. Ferguson '51 celebrated his 85th birthday and 60-year wedding anniversary in November. Gerald and his wife, Beverly, have four children and six grandchildren. He says his health may not be too good but he is hanging in there. "My best to all my brothers at Sigma Chi, not many left in my class!" Gerald and Beverly live in Fresno, Calif. Richard L. Tegtmeier '68 has been listed in "Best Lawyers in America" for the 15th consecutive year in criminal defense. He practices in Colorado with offices in Denver and Colorado Springs. He and his wife, Jeannine, have three children. Email: rtegtmeier@sah.com James M. Plate, M.D '71 works part time as a physician in Kimball, Grant, and Ogallala, Neb. He and his wife, Becky, are preparing to be grandparents and reside in Ogallala. E-mail: jplatemd@gmail.com

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