Alpha Gamma Rho - Penn State University

4 Gamma Crescent I n the fall 2018 semester, Gamma Chapter achieved the highest GPA (3.36) among all fraternities at Penn State University—doing so while being the third largest fraternity at Penn State is a monumental achieve- ment. "Compared to all Greek organizations, we ranked 12th out of around 60 active organizations," reports VNR Scholarship Peter Nelson '18 (Γ1795). "More than 65 brothers achieved a 3.0 or higher and six members scored a perfect 4.0 for the semester." Penn State Greek life has been under a microscope for the past couple years and likely will be for the foreseeable future. As fraternities struggle to remain standing, Gamma Chapter is very proud to act as a fraternity should, making better men. However, the turbulent Greek life scene at Penn State has presented numer- ous challenges for Gamma Chapter. Our biggest challenge was filling the house. One change Penn State has made is deferred recruitment, meaning that students cannot enter recruitment until the spring semester of their freshman year. This prevented freshmen from moving into our house their sophomore year as they had already signed an apartment contract before recruitment began. This spring 2019 semester, only 19 brothers lived in the house. In the fall, however, that number will jump to 45, including 10 seniors. As the setting Gamma Chapter exists in is constantly changing, we have to adapt. We have adapted and excelled throughout the many chal- lenges thrown our way. Fraternally, Mitchell Muskatel '18 (Γ1798) Noble Ruler Gamma Chapter Adapts and Excels within Penn State's Changing Greek Life T his spring semester we had a very successful rush. After going through the whole process with zone days and open recruitment, we gave out 27 bids and received 22 acceptances. This is a high return and something we're really proud of. We're very excited for rush in the fall semester and hopeful for another great class and high accep- tance rate. This semester we welcomed 19 new members to Gamma Chapter, making us the largest chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho at 116 brothers. The new members are majoring in agriculture business, engineering, economics, chemistry, and finance. We are beginning to use AGRcon- nect, which is a new education tool for new members created by Alpha Gamma Rho. Fraternally, Dave Patalano '18 (Γ1780) VNR Recruitment David Uribe '18 (Γ1778) VRN Membership Development reCruitment yieldS 19 neW AGRS G amma Chapter celebrated Founder's Day a little differently this year, having the meeting over a phone call and then celebrating with a tailgate at the Blue and White game the following weekend. The goal of this change was to make Founder's Day more of a celebration of our fraternity that both the undergraduates and alumni could enjoy. The tailgate went very well as we shared stories and laughs with alumni over the entire weekend. The tailgate could not have happened without Kevin Wimpfheimer '15 (Γ1685) and Jon Tabolt '06 (Γ1522); thank you to them for the help over the weekend. Gamma Chapter is striving to boost overall alumni involvement by having events like these where alumni and the undergraduates can form actual relationships. As a final point, at the beginning of the 2019 academic year, Gamma Chapter will be launching an alumni mentorship/shadow program, where members seeking professional help can be matched up with alumni in their potential industry, who may be able to provide them with advice and experience to help them on their path. More details on the program will be sent out at the end of the summer. Fraternally, Colin Blewitt '18 (Γ1793) VNR Alumni Relations Founder's Day Tailgate Brings Collegians and Alumni Together Chapter to Launch Mentorship Program in the Fall

• Cover