Sigma Chi - University of Memphis

2 The WISE OLD OWL @MemphisSigs Sigma Chi Memphis memphissigs www.midsouthsigs.com Follow Us Online T his has been a year of maintaining the momentum we built in 2018. Membership remains strong, and in our second year, we are proud to say we are still over 100 members. We look forward to 2020 and beyond, and we know that recruitment is key. We are always looking for alumni brothers from all over to join our alumni Chapter and remain involved with fellow Sigs. PAST EVENTS This year we've planned a few monthly lunches that encourage brothers to meet up on the third Thursday and enjoy a sit-down lunch with brothers. We also held a spring social at Railgarten, which turned out to be a huge success. Brothers of all ages came out and enjoyed an afternoon of conversation and reminiscing about shared experiences in Sigma Chi. One of our new events this year was a Bingo Night at the Tri Delta house on St. Jude's campus. As part of the event, alumni brothers ran the bingo board, called out numbers, and handed out winning tickets to parents and kids at the hospital. The event was a huge success, with parents, kids, and St. Jude employees enjoying a fun night away from their rooms. UPCOMING EVENTS In the back half of the year, we have the second Great Sig Shootout scheduled. We'll be raising money for St. Jude again this year and look forward to seeing everyone at the event! On December 11, we are hosting our third toy drive at Brookhaven Pub and Grill. Come out and help us donate new toys to kids all across Shelby County. CALLING ALL ALUMNI BROTHERS We need your help to keep this momentum going and to make sure our brothers are taking advantage of the community we are building in our area. The dues are only $25 per year, and you can join by visiting www. midsouthsigs.com. In addition, we always need help creating awareness about the Chapter. We are focused on bringing together Sigma Chi alumni from all over the MidSouth, regardless of undergraduate Chapter. Finally, we want to encourage you to participate and volunteer. By attending events, giving feedback, and being willing to help serve, we can do some amazing things throughout the MidSouth. If you have questions, you can reach me or our leadership team at midsouthsigs@gmail.com or through www. midsouthsigs.com. We would love to talk to you about membership and how we can help you get involved. In Hoc, Teddy Gorman, University of Central Florida '96 MidSouth Alumni Chapter President midsouthsigs@gmail.com MIDSOUTH ALUMNI CHAPTER FLOURISHES Plenty of Ways to Get Involved MidSouth Officers and Committee Chairmen President Teddy Gorman, University of Central Florida '96 Vice President Zac McRae '96 Secretary Michael Dote '82 Treasurer Thomas Ratliff '07 Editor and Communications Chairman Hunter Smith '06 Events Chairman Adam Morris '00 Membership Chairman Sam Hedge '14 I n a previous newsletter, we advised you that Sigma Chi and other Greek organizations had filed Title IX lawsuits challenging Harvard University's punishment of single-sex organizations. To recap, in 2015, Harvard began making attempts to force male-only organizations to accept women in their chapters. In 2016, campus policies were mandated in which students who join single-sex organizations could be punished. In 2017, these punishments became active. They included being barred from leadership titles inside of student clubs and receiving college endorsements for graduate fellowships and scholarships. In December of 2018, sororities, fraternities, and students filed a pair of lawsuits challenging a Harvard-sanctioned policy that punishes students who join off- campus, single-sex organizations. The students say in the lawsuits that Harvard used threatening factors, such as removing leadership positions on campus and postgraduate opportunities, trying to persuade students against participating in and being a part of the organizations. In February of 2019, Harvard responded by filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuits. On August 9, 2019, the Federal Court in Massachusetts entered an Order rejecting most of Harvard's arguments and allowing the Title IX lawsuit to proceed. Sigma Chi and other Greek organizations will now move forward to the next phase of this litigation, and hopefully obtain a favorable result. Simply put, Greek organizations have a long way to go, and it seems this is going to be a battle that will take time to resolve. As this case continues, the results could impact Greek organizations for years to come. In Hoc, Neil Carrigan '07 Board Member, Memphis Sigma Chi House Group, Inc., Harvard Lawsuit update l i f f

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