Beta Theta Pi - University of Oklahoma

T his year our chapter has seen many successes, first and foremost winning the President's Trophy, which was created to encourage and recognize outstanding contributions to the university community by fraternities and sororities, housing centers, and commuter students. The President's Trophy comes with a $5,000 cash prize and is based on excellence in academics, campus activities, community service and volunteerism, and multi-cultural interaction and diversity. This was an important goal for us, and our members are delighted by the university's recognition. In the last two semesters our members completed a combined 7,173 hours of community service. Excellent Showing in Grades We are proud to have ranked first among all fraternities in grades for the fall 2013 semester and first of all large fraternities in the spring with an overall GPA of 3.23. We are at 180 men, and the chapter actually had a slight GPA increase over the fall 2013 semester. Last semester, Beta came in third behind Phi Kappa Sigma with 19 members and Alpha Epsilon Pi with eight members. While we are never satisfied with anything less than first place, it is difficult for us to compare with fraternities that are a 10th our size. First Place in Sooner Scandals This spring we placed first in Sooner Scandals with Delta Delta Delta. This victory was especially gratifying to us because we had not won Scandals since we performed a version of the play Oklahoma in 2008. For 70+ years Sooner Scandals has been one of the most beloved traditions at the University of Oklahoma and is a showcase of OU students' performance talent—vocal, theatre, and dance. $8,700 Raised for Oklahoma Veterans This year we hosted our annual Frensley 5k to remember Patrick Frensley. Registrants for the run exceeded our average sign-up numbers by nearly 20 percent and the event raised $8,700 for Warriors for Freedom. Our new philanthropy partner, Warriors for Freedom is a local organization raising money for veterans in Oklahoma. They give us resources and send veterans and staff to our event. Warriors for Freedom also gave us airtime on the radio and put up flyers for us at Tinker Air Force Base. With this new charity partnership, we are very excited to see the improvements that can be made to Farmer's Daughter, our annual fall philanthropy. We are planning to completely restructure it this year and want to invite Multicultural Greek Council groups to create teams as well. We believe that this could be an event that the entire student body enjoys. Plans in Place for Housing Transition The upcoming year will be a historic one for Gamma Phi. Our housing corporation has already begun construction of a major expansion and renovation of our chapter house. For the first time since World War II, our members will not occupy the house. This is going to present some exciting challenges for our chapter, and we are lucky to have alumni support. We're particularly excited about the forthcoming renovations and how they will take our chapter into the next phase of its long and storied history. Thank You, Alumni We know that we would not have the strong chapter that we have right now if it were not for the resources and support that our alumni provide. For this you have our sincerest thanks. Be sure to stop by when you are on campus this fall. We will continue game-day tailgates and you will be able to see construction progress. In _kai_, Jackson R. Lisle '15 Chapter President Page 5 B Q P BETA WINS PRESIDENT'S TROPHY Excitement Mounts for House Expansion W ith the passing of this year's Memorial Day, and marking the 70th anniversary of D-Day, it seems appropriate that we recognize our Gamma Phi brothers who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. We honor these brothers who lost their lives in military service to our country. World War II Maj. Fred Henderson Murchison '24 Maj. James Calloway "Buck" Buchanan Jr. '34 Capt. Charles William Minton '39 Lt. Lambert Courtney Root '39 Lt. Sidney Ralph Davis '39 Thomas Walker Prentice Jr. '40 Earle Payne Miller '44 Korean War Lt. Robert Victor Rood '51 Vietnam War Lt. Robert Knapp Henderson Jr. '68 University of Oklahoma Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps, Marine Plane Crash, 1953 George Henry Prentiss '55 Lee Wayne Smith '55 This list includes all of the known war casualties from Gamma Phi Chapter. If you know of anyone who should be included, please excuse the oversight and send the needed information back to us by mail or e-mail at robert@rsbeall.com. Beta Heroes—Let Us Not Forget BETA'S HISTORY BUILDS OUR FUTURE For the second straight year, the undergraduates won the coveted President's Trophy for Most Outstanding Fraternity.

• Cover