Sigma Phi Epsilon - Missouri University of Science & Technology

5 FEATURE SigEp Proudly Serves Our Rolla Community Tyler Warner '25 Chapter President tawknc@mst.edu With the new year upon us, here is how our membership looks. We have a total of 83 members: 59 at 801 N. Park Street, 12 living out of house, 11 on Co-Op, and one studying abroad. Although the Chapter House is under capacity, we are working to improve our numbers and have set an aggressive spring recruitment goal of 33 new members. While our fall semester GPA declined, our cumulative GPA of 3.37 places SigEp fourth at S&T! This school year, we won flag football for a second-consecutive year, marking four championships in the past five years. B-team volleyball won the championship, while A-team volleyball placed third. We also placed third in softball and second in pickleball doubles. Our chapter ramped up our volunteer work throughout 2023, completing over 1,500 service hours in the fall alone. Brothers volunteered for MDOT-sanctioned highway cleanups, assisted with campus blood drives, and assisted with coordination of the annual Celebration of Nations event on campus. These are in addition to the weekly events we support, like Backpacks for Bros every Thursday and volunteering with our local Rolla Mission. On campus, our members raised money for a multitude of causes. We had a hot chocolate sale for Shriner's Hospital and a video game tournament with Phi Kappa Theta to support our local Russell House (domestic and sexual abuse care provider). This February, we hosted the annual Fish Fry with Zeta Tau Alpha in support of breast cancer awareness. A special thanks to all our brothers for their volunteer efforts. In the fall semester, Andrew Thomas '23 began a workplace tour program for our members. This began with a tour of the Phillips 66/ Wood River oil refinery in Roxana, Illinois, sponsored by recent graduate Jacob Kassing '22. This semester, we are looking to include other fields of study and workplaces. If you would like to help us with a workplace or job site tour, contact our SLC VP, Tripp Tobey '24 (tripptobeast@gmail.com). Balancing Work and Play CHAPTER REPORT "My time at Rolla was one of the best times of my life," shared Dave. "I enjoyed the challenges of the coursework—and the satisfaction of actually understanding some of the concepts, not just the mechanics of the calculations." Dave's educational experience paved the way for a satisfying engineering career and a comfortable retirement. "SigEp helped me get through the course work" (thank you, Brian Heuckroth '79!), and was instrumental in helping me let off steam." A Lasting Impression He was largely "rushed" by another fraternity before college. However, during a campus visit with high school friends, his group visited the Missouri Gamma Chapter House. Inside, Herbie Herman '77 and Dave Ortmann '76 were playing a game of bridge, and without stopping, they told the group to make themselves at home. "No pressure to pledge—just that we were welcome," Dave recalled. "For some reason, it gave me a good vibe about the place." Dave acknowledges that living in that Chapter House with a diverse group of guys (despite all being engineering majors) was helpful both personally and professionally. There were also plenty of chances to let loose, whether on a spring break river trip, St. Pat's, Intramural Flag Football, or Party Weekends. Keeping It Together Today, he serves as an AVC Board director as well as Housing Chairman, dedicating many hours per year to the maintenance of the Missouri Gamma home. His time on the board began in the fall of 2016, when Mike Kearney '61, Mike Hurst '74, and Dave Denner '76 invited him to serve as Brotherhood Chairman and edit the BEARTRACKS newsletter. He held that role until accepting the secretary position in 2019, followed by his current seat in the fall of 2022. "I want to ensure that young men have the same opportunity to learn while finding support from like-minded brothers, and to experience the joie de vivre, just like I had," Dave said of his volunteerism. ("Yeah, that's right, throwing some French at ya. That's the kinda culturation you can git in Rolla.") Out on the Green Now retired, Dave enjoys attending PGA events as a volunteer for ShotLink, a system that maps every single shot for the on-screen graphics during the broadcasts. His duties have included tracking fairway shots using a ShotLink laser range finder as well as manually verifying where the shot lands on the green on his tablet. That data is then transmitted worldwide in real time. Through the years, Dave has had the luck to meet golfers like Cameron Percy, Jordan Spieth, and Erik van Rooyen ("who had the coolest mustache on the Tour"). He hopes to help shape the next version of ShotLink in the future. Lasting Connections Dave, now retired, enjoys rekindling his Mo Gamma relationships. "I find the best way to do that is face-to-face over an adult beverage, so I encourage alumni to attend happy hour events in your area," he said. "Or set one up in your area! Or just pick up the phone and talk to a brother. The Alumni Board has a workbook that identifies alumni within a certain distance by ZIP Code. If you'd like to get a list of brothers near you, contact an Alumni Board member." Dave and his wife of nearly 39 years, Cheryl, live in St. Louis. Their two sons live there as well, while their daughter, the oldest, lives in Kansas City. They have no grandchildren yet, but two children are wed with the third getting married next year. Dave enjoys golf, landscape photography, watercolor painting, volunteering with his church's Men's Club, and studying his family's genealogy (as well as his wife's). You can reach Dave at braunie@sbcglobal.net or (314) 712-5131. Sharing Your Time with Others Dave "Braunie" Braun '79 Honors His SigEp Memories Dave Braun '79 (left) with golfer Jordan Spieth.

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