Alpha Gamma Rho - Penn State University

2 Gamma Crescent Gamma Chapter and What Is "Agriculture" O ver the past several years, many alumni have asked why Gamma isn't full of agricultural men. We answer this by reflecting on how the agricultural industry has changed. The traditional agriculture industry continues to streamline. Consolidation continues with basic manufacturers of seeds, equipment, etc., while at the farm level, and consolidation continues as smaller farms increase in size as retirees and non-profitable farms exit the industry. During this consolidation, IT on the farm grows. Data analytics and automation in agriculture drive this change. Fertilizer, hybrid seed, and biotech shaped the past 100 years and IT will shape the next 20-30 years. PSU has changed to keep up and lead the trends in agriculture. Today, finance, IT, environmen- tal, and legal factors all play a huge role in the agriculture industry. The Freedom of Information Act allows us to see how the entire university and PSU's College of Agriculture has changed. 2018 Enrollment n 1,947 total ag undergraduates at PSU n 1,560 ag undergraduates at main campus all four years n 671 (43%) males are ag n 74 (11%) are ag and Greek affiliated n Four ag houses at PSU n Four to five ag male freshmen available to join a fraternity per year Gamma Chapter needs 35-40 young men to live in the house to stay fiscally viable. The new rules pertaining to Greek life at PSU have had a significant impact on recruitment. Local apart- ment leases are now signed in September, a year in advance of when the student moves into the apartment. Bottom line: we can only start recruiting second semester freshmen who will not move in until they are juniors because of these impediments. To keep the house full, we need 80-100 members (101 brothers in fall of 2018), which is well above the statistics shown for 18 ag males. The other ag fraternities at PSU are struggling with membership. n Alpha Zeta - 22 members (co-ed) n Delta Theta Sigma - 19 members n Tau Phi Delta - 12 members ΑΓΡ National is seeing similar trends at other campuses. Gamma Chapter is in a unique situa- tion compared to other ΑΓΡ chapters and the PSU ag fraternities in that we have many non-ag guys already involved. ΑΓΡ National has been talking with recruiters from the traditional agri- culture businesses, and they are struggling to find non-ag people to fill their positions. Gamma has been struggling for a way to bring more agriculture background and to improve undergradu- ate job placement. Having a good relationship with these recruiters can help Gamma men get placed versus other undergraduates. We are currently working with National and these recruiters to help fill these needs. Now is not the time to be disappointed that Gamma is not full of agricultural men. Gamma is keeping up with agriculture's changes. Our membership has the highest all-Greek GPA and is above the all-university GPA. Our focus is to develop and implement programming to help educate our young men on agriculture and present opportunities in the agriculture industry. This education will make them ag, not by yesterday's definition, but by today's evolution. We need your support in recruiting fine young men who achieve the best grades on campus and then get jobs in agriculture. More importantly, we want you to be proud that they wear ΑΓΡ letters on their chests! John Shearer '48 (Γ586) Shares His Gratitude for ΑΓΡ "A lpha Gamma Rho, Finest in the Land." This is the first line of one of our fraternity songs and I hope that the active brothers are still singing it whenever they get together. We had several good songs which we sang nearly every evening after dinner during those great years of 1948 to 1951. Alpha Gamma Rho has always meant a lot to me; and it still does, even after I have passed my 90th birthday. We learned many things then: how to accept the differences in each other; how to be good stewards of our house; how to run a business (the operation of the house); how to plan and enjoy many dances and get-togethers; and so much more. Being an ΑΓΡ even helped me to get a job with Penn State in 1955. After graduating in agron- omy, I farmed with my parents for four years. During that period, I married my Penn State sweetheart, Pauline Kriebel (we are still mar- ried after 65 years). For various reasons, Pauline and I decided to leave the farm in '55, and I was immediately hired by Penn State to become a county agent. I loved my 38 years then in Penn State Extension. It was hard work with many long days. No two days were alike. It was a challenge: creating new organizations; attending countless meetings; getting that weekly news column done on time; getting radio programs out to five local stations; visiting farmers, fruit growers, and homeowners to help solve their problems; developing budgets for county com- missioner approval; and supervising a support staff of four to eight people. I thank ΑΓΡ for helping to make this possible. As I've said many times: My fraternity life helped as much as my classroom studies for a successful career. Fraternally, John Shearer '48 (Γ586) John retired from the Penn State Cooperative Ex- tension Service 25 years ago af- ter serving for 38 years. He and his wife, Pauline, live at Menno Haven, a great retirement community in Chambersburg, Pa. John is happy to no longer mow the lawn or snow shovel at age 90!

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