Brothers,
I am happy to report that the Gamma-Pi Chapter of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity is coming off of its strongest year in recent memory and is carrying that momentum into this year. Previously, I spent 3 terms on the EC and 1 as pledge educator, and it is now my honor to serve as Grand Master during this fall 2007 academic term.
This past summer, approximately 10 Gamma-Pi brothers traveled to Miami for Kappa Sigma’s Biennial Grand Conclave. Here, the brothers learned valuable leadership skills at breakout sessions in addition to meeting brothers from the many other Chapters of Kappa Sigma. Brother Mingwei Gu (’10) was selected to be the model initiate and was initiated before all of the brothers in attendance; he also enjoyed somewhat of a celebrity status among the brothers for the rest of the leadership conference. Most importantly, Gamma-Pi brought home a FACE award for the first time in 8 years, in addition to 11 other awards.
We began the school year with our second annual Kappa Sigma Leadership Retreat at MIT’s Endicott House on August 19, 2007. Members of the old and new executive committees were in attendance, as well as house corporation board members, the alumni advising team, and our District Grand Master. The main goals of the retreat were to acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses as a Chapter and to identify opportunities for improvement. The new EC members established goals and formulated plans for accomplishing the things that need to be done to make Kappa Sigma the best Fraternity at MIT.
Immediately after the retreat, the brothers of Gamma-Pi jumped right into fall rush. Brother Nicholas T. Calluzzo (’09) worked hard all year with the Rush Task Force to plan fall rush, and all of this work paid off. Gamma-Pi is very proud to welcome 17 new pledges into KS11, the largest pledge class since KS05. Brother Richard D. Kosoglow (’07) learned a lot about what it takes to be pledge educator in the spring and will be once again preparing our pledges to become the newest members of Gamma-Pi. Additionally, the brothers and pledges will be working hard this semester to meet prospective new members, in order to continue our new tradition of having a spring pledge class.
Founder’s Day was held on the weekend of September 28th – 30th. Undergraduates and alumni got together on Friday night for a few drinks and pool at Flat Top Johnny’s, a pool lounge here in Cambridge. On Saturday afternoon, the alumni beat the undergraduates, 14-7, in what will hopefully become the annual Founder’s weekend football game. On Saturday night, more than 50 alumni were in attendance for the annual Alumni dinner, where they shared stories from their time as undergrads, and our new pledge class serenaded the wives and girlfriends with Kappa Sigma Dream Girl and gave them roses. Lastly, a new tradition was started on Sunday morning: alumni shared their post-MIT experiences in a network roundtable, where brothers and pledges learned about different career paths. All in all, the weekend was a huge success for the Chapter.
This coming November, the chapters of District 2 will get together for our own District Conclave. Here, the brothers of Gamma-Pi, Mu-Psi (BU), Xi-Beta (Northeastern), Epsilon-Zeta (UCONN), and the Johnson and Wales colony will get to know one another. We will be participating in a joint philanthropy even to raise money for the new Fallen Soldiers initiative, which donates money to veterans injured in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. The Chapters will also begin a new Tackle Football mini-tournament tradition, for bragging rights of who is the best in the District. The brothers of Gamma-Pi will do their best to bring home the title.
As you can see, Gamma-Pi has done very much to establish itself as one of the strongest chapters at MIT again, and one of the best in the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. I hope that you will stay on the lookout for more great news to come from our beloved chapter.
AEKDB
Fraternally,
Jake Simson ('08)
Grand Master