Fall 2009 From the President Joel Zimmermann ‘10 As the outgoing President of Phi Delta Theta, I would like to extend a final greeting to the alumni and friends of the Wisconsin Gamma Chapter of Phi Delta Theta. As per usual, the Phi Delt‟s once again contributed to another successful foot- ball season this year as you will see later in the letter. One goal of mine over this semester has been begin establishing stronger ties with our alumni members both young and old. As you likely have noted from a few prior mailings, we are extremely excited about hosting the chapter‟s upcoming 50 th Anniversary celebration on the weekend of April 23-25, 2010. While a large amount of our effort has been put into the planning and prepa- ration for this event, the house also has been focused on maintaining our yearly recruitment goals. This fall we are looking forward to another large recruitment class as yet again an ex- tremely large number of young men have begun expressing their interest. As we move into the holiday season, we here in Ripon would like to wish you and yours a happy and safe holiday and are extremely excited about seeing many of you at our 50 th Anniversary celebration this April. 2010 Executive Board Elected Recently, a new Executive Board was elected to serve the brothers of WI Gamma for the 2010 calendar year. President : Rusty Schultz „11 (Warrens, WI) Vice-President : Clayton Schlegel „12 (Wales, WI) Treasurer : Matthew Switzler „12 (Rosendale, WI) Secretary : Max Finger „11 (Oconto, WI) Warden : Matthew Schmalzer „12 (Appleton, WI) As we move into the new year, we would like to thank the 2009 Execu- tive Board for their time and commit- ment to this great fraternity. Outgoing Executive Board : (P) Joel Zimmermann „10, (VP) Casey Totten „11, (T) Tyler Ruppert „10, (S) Rusty Schultz „11, (W) Jared Parr „10 From the Philanthropy Chairman Tyler Ruppert ‘10 Kickball, kickball, kickball!! This year in addition to our annual firefighter run we also decided to support Phi Delta Theta‟s national philanthropy: Lou Gehrig‟s Disease a.k.a. ALS. The current brothers at Ripon are hosting a campus-wide kickball tournament to benefit the ALS Association on De- cember 5, 2009. Along with admis- sion to the kickball tournament, each participant receives a t-shirt and an ALS wristband. The proceeds from this event will benefit the ALS Associa- tion. ALS, or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive neurodegenerative dis- ease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the mus- cles throughout the body. The progres- sive degeneration of the motor neu- rons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally para- lyzed. This disease can strike anyone at anytime. Currently, there is no cure for the dis- ease. There is only medication to pro- long the death of a person diagnosed with ALS. So with the support of our local and national fraternity, we hope to assist the ALS Association in find- ing a cure for this serious disease.
Transcript
Fall 2009
From the President
Joel Zimmermann ‘10
As the outgoing President of Phi Delta Theta, I would like to extend a final greeting to the alumni and friends of the Wisconsin Gamma Chapter of Phi Delta Theta. As per usual, the Phi Delt‟s once again contributed to another successful foot-ball season this year as you will see later in the letter.
One goal of mine over this semester has been begin establishing stronger ties with our alumni members both young and old. As you likely have noted from a few prior mailings, we are extremely excited about hosting the chapter‟s upcoming 50th Anniversary celebration on the weekend of April 23-25, 2010. While a large amount of our effort has been put into the planning and prepa-ration for this event, the house also has been focused on maintaining our
yearly recruitment goals. This fall we are looking forward to another large recruitment class as yet again an ex-tremely large number of young men have begun expressing their interest. As we move into the holiday season, we here in Ripon would like to wish you and yours a happy and safe holiday and are extremely excited about seeing many of you at our 50th Anniversary celebration this April.
2010 Executive Board Elected
Recently, a new Executive Board was elected to serve the brothers of WI Gamma for the 2010 calendar year. President: Rusty Schultz „11 (Warrens, WI) Vice-President: Clayton Schlegel „12 (Wales, WI) Treasurer: Matthew Switzler „12 (Rosendale, WI) Secretary: Max Finger „11 (Oconto, WI) Warden: Matthew Schmalzer „12 (Appleton, WI) As we move into the new year, we would like to thank the 2009 Execu-tive Board for their time and commit-ment to this great fraternity. O u t g o i n g E x e c u t i v e B o a r d : (P) Joel Zimmermann „10, (VP) Casey Totten „11, (T) Tyler Ruppert „10, (S) Rusty Schultz „11, (W) Jared Parr „10
From the Philanthropy Chairman
Tyler Ruppert ‘10
Kickball, kickball, kickball!! This year in addition to our annual firefighter run we also decided to support Phi Delta Theta‟s national philanthropy: Lou Gehrig‟s Disease a.k.a. ALS. The current brothers at Ripon are hosting a campus-wide kickball tournament to benefit the ALS Association on De-cember 5, 2009. Along with admis-sion to the kickball tournament, each participant receives a t-shirt and an ALS wristband. The proceeds from this event will benefit the ALS Associa-tion. ALS, or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive neurodegenerative dis-ease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the mus-cles throughout the body. The progres-
sive degeneration of the motor neu-rons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally para-lyzed. This disease can strike anyone at anytime. Currently, there is no cure for the dis-ease. There is only medication to pro-long the death of a person diagnosed with ALS. So with the support of our local and national fraternity, we hope to assist the ALS Association in find-ing a cure for this serious disease.
The brothers of Phi Delta Theta had a great showing this year on the gridiron. Thirteen Phi‟s aided Ripon to 7-3 re-cord and a third place finish in the MWC. The Red Hawks held on to the Doehling-Hesselton Trophy for the tenth year in a row after beating rival Lawrence University 41-17 at Ingall‟s Field. New to the Red Hawks coaching staff this year were three Phi Delt alumni. Matt Birschbach ‟08, Vince Spratte ‟09, and Josh Kraemer ‟09 as-sisted Coach Ron Ernst. Coach Bir-schbach assisted on offense while Coaches Spratte and Kraemer assisted on defense. The Red Hawk offense had a solid year averaging 28 points a game and rush-ing on average just less than 300 yards a game. Sophomore fullback Matthew Schmalzer contributed 3 TD‟s and 4.7 yards per carry this season. Tyler
Rupert and Jared Parr also aided in the Red Hawk‟s dominating rushing per-formance. Senior Jared Parr scored the final offensive score against Lawrence University. The offensive line was an-chored by junior guard Nick Parulski. The Red Hawk defense had another great year holding opponents on aver-age to 17.7 points per game. Senior middle linebacker Adam Firgens „10 had a total of 62 tackles along with an interception and two fumble recover-ies. Matt Bull ‟11 had a pick six in the final season game at Ingall‟s field against Lawerence University. Senior Defensive end Paul Braun was a tre-mendous run stopper; Ripon‟s oppo-nents averaged less than 100 yards a game on the ground this year. Also contributing to Ripon‟s success were John Capozolli, Spencer Russ, Clayton Schlegel, and Matthew Switzler on defense and Luke Nolte and Braden Drozd on offense.
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Red Hawk Football
Matthew Switzler ‘12
Matt Schmalzer ‘12 helped carry the Hawks to a 47-0 victory over Knox College.
Seniors Adam Firgens #40 and Jared Parr #25 during a 35-7 victory over Lake Forest College.
A number of alumni returned to Ripon on November 7th to witness the final game of the season as the Hawks went on to defeat the Lawrence University Vikings 41-17. Front Row: #25 Jared Parr ‘10, #35 Tyler Ruppert
‘10, #40 Adam Firgens ‘10, #31 Matt Bull ‘11, #65 Paul Braun ‘10, #66 Luke Nolte ‘12 Second Row: Scott Dicks ‘74, Matt Birshbach ‘08, Joel Zimmermann ‘10, #64 Nick Parulski ‘11, #27 Clay Schlegel ‘12, Vince
Spratte ‘09, Ray Anderson ‘08, Third Row: Brian Bousley ’94, Mark DeDina ’07 Josh Kraemer ‘09, Max Fin-ger ‘11, Doc Weiske ‘50, #97 Matt Switzler ‘12, #32 Matt Schmalzer ‘12, #28 Spencer Russ ‘12, #91 John
All of the hours in Lane Library have paid off! For the Spring 2009 Semester, the brothers of Phi Delta Theta had the highest grade point average out of all of the fraternities on campus. Great work!
You can access this newsletter and more, news online any time at pdtwisgamma.org.
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PHI DELTA THETA Wisconsin Gamma Chapter – Est. 1960
Ripon College Celebrating 50 Years April 23rd-25th, 2010
As I sit here writing
this letter I can‟t help but wonder; “where‟s the time gone?” I know that it‟s in there somewhere, but it seems only like yesterday that my diploma was handed to me as I graduated from high school…not 2½ years ago. Whether it‟s those years you spent away at college or maybe as your chil-dren or even grandchildren grow up, time has a nasty reputation of sliding away from us too quickly. As a junior, my 2½ years at Ripon Col-lege serve as just a small piece of a greater jigsaw puzzle of Phi Delta Theta history. While my puzzle piece has a few jagged edges and tells a couple of good stories, one must realize that there are hundreds of more pieces that have come before me all with tales and memories of their own.
As many of you know by now, this April 23rd-25th the Wisconsin Gamma Chapter of Phi Delta Theta/West Hall Boys will be celebrating 50 great years of existence on the Ripon College cam-pus. With a weekend chalked full of events and activities, we hope that you and yours will join the brothers of to-day and yesterday in celebrating this momentous occasion. With months of planning and prepara-tion now under our belts, I am proud to say that arrangements for the 50th Anniversary Weekend are nearing completion. With countless hours of work being put in by both actives and alumni, I guarantee that this will be a weekend that you‟ll not want to miss. While a majority of the preparations have been made at this point, it is ex-tremely difficult to host such an event with little to no funds. While our fundraising chairperson has been working feverishly, a hundred dollars
made here and there doesn‟t quite pay all of the bills. With that being said, following the holiday season you will be receiving a formal invitation to the weekend in the mail. Whether or not you are able to join us in Ripon in April, we ask that you please consider contributing to the event as any fund-ing is greatly appreciated. I can think of no better way to share the rich history of this chapter of Phi Delta Theta than through this celebra-tory weekend. I hope to see many of you this coming April and look for-ward to seeing how the many puzzle pieces connect. Below, a brief summary of what is currently planned for Alumni Weekend 2010 is provided. As men-tioned earlier, funding for many of these events is required. If you, your family or a group of your class-mates would like to sponsor a particular event or activity or if you would like to help in the remaining planning, please feel free to contact Rusty at [email protected] or (608) 343-0115.
From the Alumni Chairman
Rusty Schultz ‘11
Friday, April 23rd
Welcome Reception—(7-10:30pm) Meet, greet and reunite with brothers and catch up over a cold beer and hors d‟oeurves. Location TBD.
Saturday, April 24th
4-Man Golf Scramble—(10am) Hit the links and play 18 at Tuscumbia Country Club, Wisconsin‟s oldest golf course! Social Hour—(6:30pm) Enjoy this time prior to the banquet to reminisce of days past, meet with current students and catch up with old friends. 50th Anniversary Banquet—(7pm) Enjoy a fabulous dinner in a formal atmos-phere as the brothers of PDT celebrate 50 years on the Ripon College Campus.
Sunday, April 25th
Fireman’s Breakfast—(9-11am) Join us for a hearty fireman‟s breakfast to kick off your day. Fireman Laps—(11am-1pm) The true namesake of the event, either join or cheer on the brothers in suiting up in fireman‟s gear as they run 200 laps to support the Ripon FD. Firefighter Challenge—(1pm-3pm) Pre-pare for the challenge of a lifetime as you com-pete in a number of firefighter challenge events.
December 5th—Krazy Kickball Tournament to benefit Lou Gehrig‟s Disease
December 19th - January 17th –Winter Break January 23rd—Bid Day 2010 February 13th—Father‟s Day March 13th-21st—Spring Break March 26th-28th—Retreat Weekend April 23rd—50th Anniversary Kickoff Celebration/Alumni
Weekend 2010 April 24th—50th Anniversary Banquet and Golf Outing April 25th—50th Anniversary
Wrap-up/Annual Firefighter Run May 2nd—Springfest
Phi Delta Theta—WI Gamma 300 Seward Street Ripon, WI 54971
The Brothers of Phi Delta Theta wish you and yours a Merry
