Sigma Pi - Cornell University

A s we look back on 2017 and celebrate the close of our 10th anniversary, I am pleased to report the progress and impact the Education- al Foundation has had on leadership and edu- cational programs within the Sigma Pi brother- hood and the Ithaca community. Our highlight was the celebration and acknowledgment of our founding patron, Bert Harrop '61, at a gala dinner that was attended by virtually the entire brotherhood, distinguished alumni from around the country, and Bert's close family and friends. The Foundation has made significant progress toward achieving Bert's initial vision, as demon- strated by the depth and impact of our signature program, College Mentors for Kids. Sigma Pi brothers now gain additional exposure and life experience while giving something back to the Ithaca community. The Mu Chapter Educational Foundation was more formally recognized at College Men- tors for Kids' 2017 national "unGALA" event in Indianapolis, acknowledging our activities and support in the Ithaca community. Sigma Pi brothers hold leadership positions at Cornell, serving as president and executive vice presi- dent, with three others taking other vice presi- dent positions, and 16 brothers have "Little Bud- dies" at Ithaca schools. This participation played a significant role in Mu Chapter winning Cornell's Outstanding Chapter and Outstanding Service Awards, which is the first time Sigma Pi has won these prestigious awards. Education remains a critically important theme as evidenced by the house GPA of 3.48, the seventh highest on campus. The Educational Foundation continues to support the Dining and Learning for the 21st Century campaign, show- ing significant support of the educational aspect of the project and the transformation of the unused bar area to the Learning Commons for collaborative study. This continues our support of learning infrastructure in the house, which we started a few Winter 2018 S I G M A P I • M U C H A P T E R MU CHAPTER OF SIGMA PI EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION Mu Chapter Educational Foundation Maintains Excellence UndergradUate Brothers achieve highest gPa of all sigma Pi chaPters dUring the sPring 2017 semester T he Dining and Learning for the 21st Century campaign continues to progress well. The com- mittee has selected a contractor for the construction phase of the project. The target date for work to begin is June 4, one week after Cornell commencement ceremonies, and we anticipate fi- nal completion of the project later this summer. We expect to continue our successful fundraising up to and through the beginning of construction. We are asking all Sigma Pi alumni to contribute, especially those from class years that have yet to participate in our efforts. With new contributors and the continued hard work of many alumni and friends of Sigma Pi, we look forward to being able to fully fund this project before the work begins. Please visit www.sigmapicornell.org, and click on the Dining and Learning Campaign tab under Giving for more information and to donate. Fraternally, Steve Pirozzi '80 CAMPAIGN EFFORTS CONTINUE Alumni Board Calls for Continued Support John Haggerty '78, Dennis McNamara '83, and Steve Pirozzi '80 at the gala dinner. years ago with the construction of the Dick Ca- hoon '77 Tech Center. We thank the alumni who have supported other educational and career-oriented programs. With your support, we have created and recently kicked off the largest alumni/undergraduate mentor effort to date, including 70 undergraduate brothers and distinguished alumni. We also re- cently started the Distinguished Alumni Speaker Series and look forward to the technology/entre- preneur conference that will occur at the chapter house in April 2018. We also thank our loyal alumni who have contrib- uted to the Educational Foundation, providing us support for brother attendance at leadership conferences, infrastructure and learning tools, as well as annually awarding scholarships for out- standing academic and leadership performance and participation. We are continuously exploring new areas and hope to expand our reach, while continuing to deliver against our mission of en- hancing the learning infrastruc ture of the house, and supporting education-related programming that benefits the youth of the greater Ithaca com- munity. Fraternally, Tom Silver '81 President

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