Beta Sigma Psi - Purdue University

Beta tidings A PublicAtion of betA SigmA PSi At Purdue univerSity spring 2014 g reetings to my fellow Beta Sig alumni! As many of you know, I was elected to take over as the alumni chapter president at Homecoming this past fall. Ken Luedtke '65 has moved up to the Beta Sigma Psi National Board of Directors and continues to work for the good of our brotherhood. For those of you who have not met me, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Adam Rusch '02, and I am a 2006 Purdue graduate. I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. in education policy at the University of Illinois, and work- ing in the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. I've been serving on the alumni board for the past five years and am very excited to step up into this new position of responsibility. We have great things happening at the Beta Sig Chapter House and I'm excited to share the news with you. As many of you have probably heard, our active Chapter hit an unfortunate bump in the road this last September with the Greek Affairs office. Beta Sigma Psi was one of a number of fraternities investigated for social function viola- tions that month and was put on probation by the university. The reason I say that we have great things hap- pening is not because of the punishment but because of the steps our men took to rectify the situation. To start, the Chapter voluntarily de- cided to make the house dry while evaluating the risk management and social function policies. They have been reviewing what went wrong at the function and will be presenting to alumni and the Beta Sig national board with details on what revised policies will make sure the situation doesn't happen again. While we know we will always be under scrutiny as a Greek organization, what is even more im- portant is that we are called to set a godly example as a Christian organization. We are determined to live up to our high ideals and conduct ourselves as Christian gentlemen. The community and church involvement of our members continues to be something in which we can take pride. Our men have also been hard at work review- ing the recruitment program. Our goal is to make Beta Sigma Psi the best living environment for Lutheran men at Purdue. Brent Seifert '88 has come back on to the alumni board to serve as our Alumni Recruitment Director and has been networking with Lutheran congregations and schools across the state. With the help of our alumni, we have the opportunity to let more in- coming students know about the benefits of liv- ing in the Beta Sig house. Finally, we could use your help. Enclosed with this newsletter is an information sheet about liv- ing in the Chapter House. Please share that in- formation with young men in your congregations who are considering Purdue. We know how great the Beta Sig experience can be, but others will not know unless we tell them about it. You can also e-mail us with names and contact informa- tion so that we can send information directly to them. Thank you for your continued support of Beta Sigma Psi. If you have any questions or ideas for how the Alumni Chapter can be working for the good of our brotherhood, please e-mail me so we can continue our conversation. Fraternally, Adam Rusch '02 Alumni Chapter President Adam.Rusch@alumni.purdue.edu alumni Help needed for Recruitment New Chapter Leadership Excited for Future an Open Letter to Beta Chapter from Pastor Barton '90 reminiscing on the Past 25 years as chapter Advisor M y involvement with Beta Chapter began when I became pastor at University Lutheran Church, in West Lafayette, in January 1989. I had never been involved with any Fraternity before, except for a little contact with the Epsilon Chapter in Ames, Iowa, when I was an assistant pastor there in the late 1970's. Serving as pastoral advisor for the Beta Chapter was considered part of my call—at least by the retiring pastor, Pastor Rudy Rehmer! I agreed to be the pastoral advisor and held that position for 25 years, until I retired as pastor of the church on December 31, 2013. Fortunately, the brothers were kind and patient with me, and soon made me an honorary member—and put up with my terrible jokes, which had to be told at every chapter meeting. My job as pastoral advisor was to encourage everyone in their spiritual lives, as followers of Christ our Savior. I attended almost all chapter meetings, led a weekly Bible study at the Chapter House for everyone, and another for pledges, led devotions at alumni board meetings, talked and prayed with many in times of joy and need, and tried to stress the importance of God' s Word and Sacraments for all. (Continued on page 2)

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