Sigma Phi Epsilon - Missouri University of Science & Technology

3 That Is Only Becoming Stronger Dave Denner '76 President Missouri Gamma Alumni Corporation denner@earthlink.net AVC Vice President Steve Thies '72 and I participated in the welcoming of 22 new members to the house on August 13 and were pleased to receive nice compliments from parents about how great the house looked. Thank you to AVC Housing Chairman Dave Braun '79 and the many alumni and undergraduate volunteers for their hard work during the summer and the annual House Prep Days in July. Our spending during the summer on repairs is our biggest budget item (exclusive of the mortgage) at $67,000, and it takes many volunteer hours to sort it all out, so we can always use your help. Contact Brother Braun at braunie@sbcglobal.net. In early August, a group from Missouri Gamma (myself, Mike Hurst '74, Mike Schmidt '75, and undergraduates Ryan Russell '25 and President Mitchell Blanchard '24), attended our fraternity's 58th Grand Conclave in San Antonio. To borrow a phrase from Robin Williams in Good Morning, Vietnam, "It was hot—damn hot." The highlight of the trip was the SigEp Citation Award to our own Mike Hurst, who was one of only four elite men across the nation to receive the award. We are so proud of Brother Hurst, who has given countless hours to our Chapter and continues to do so. While our Missouri Gamma Chapter is strong and continues to lead the Greek community in providing relevant Brotherhood experiences, we just missed winning a Buchanan Cup by a narrow margin. I'm confident that with the right focus, we'll win one at the Grand Conclave in 2025. The Chapter had a strong recruiting class for the fall semester and is being challenged to improve academic performance while maintaining strong efforts in intramurals, campus service, and philanthropy. I am so thankful to Trevor Thornton '20 (see spotlight on page 4), our Balanced Man Steward, who has taken the lead role in recruiting and connecting mentors and mentees. Studies show that mentors have a strong positive impact on successful Chapter operations, life skills, and careers. Trevor is coupling the mentor program with his support for the Membership Development program, a key strength of our Chapter. Let Trevor know if you'd like to be a mentor at tnthornton96@gmail.com. Does everyone enjoy the "Brothers Loving Life" series in eTracks as much as I do? Rocky Andes '79 is doing a great job with these; highlighting old brothers enjoying grandkids and hobbies, young brothers starting families and hobbies, and brothers in between with careers and hobbies. If you are not receiving these, please send your email to Steve Thies '72 at smthies@gmail.com. Ready for a Great Year Ahead Mitchell Blanchard '24 Chapter President mab9mx@mst.edu Our Chapter finished off last school year on a positive note. Thanks to our SigEp commitment to a "Sound Mind and Sound Body," we ended the spring semester with a 3.2 GPA and were named the 2022-23 intramural champions. We had heavy participation in sporting events overall and placed high in almost every sport we participated in! This semester, Missouri Gamma has 86 active members, which includes a 22-member freshman class thanks to a strong recruiting season. The house at 801 Park Street is near capacity with 67 residing members, another 12 who live outside the house and an additional 7 brothers are gaining career experience this semester through the co-op program. Our food service quality was an issue last year as we underwent difficult chef changes. We voted to use College Chefs (collegechefs. com), a full-service outside contractor, to feed the Chapter as opposed to dealing with hiring issues and ordering the food ourselves. So far, the members have been happy after every meal and have no regrets about this decision. This semester, the fraternity is focused on improving our studies and remaining top in class among organizations on campus. We are looking forward to putting forth our best athletes to compete in Greek Week as well as hosting my favorite event, Rock Drag. As always, we look forward to seeing our visiting Alumni during Homecoming Weekend (October 28, 29), and love to hear your stories. The Latest Missouri Gamma Updates A Strong Brotherhood CHAPTER REPORT AVC REPORT

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