The Covid pandemic caused people to try different things, and that was true for the
Fresno Sigma Chi Alumni Chapter. The pandemic was officially declared by the US
government in March 2020, and that was the end of our face-to-face alumni dinners
each month. By August 2020 it became obvious that we were in for a long period of
abnormal interaction with our friends and families.

The video conferencing company, Zoom, was established in 2011 in San Jose, CA, but
it was not yet universally known. We did not want our alumni chapter to simply go out of
business until the pandemic was over, so in August of 2020 we did a test meeting using
Zoom. Invited were brothers Jordan Ayerza, John Ballinger, Tom Downing, Brad
Fischer, Tony Flores, T.A. Heckel, Dusty Lacefield, Ron LaRocca, Titus Moore, Mike
Patton, Dave Reuland, Bill Robinson, Evan Selander, Bill Smittcamp, Mark Springer,
Tim Vaux and Jerry Waters.

The test meeting worked great and we had at least a dozen more Zoom meeting over
two years that included 43 out-of-town brothers who would never be able to attend a
dinner in Fresno. One of these brothers was Signifiant Sig and past Magister, Jim
Green, who was living in Antioch, CA. At one meeting we began to discuss the 100
year anniversary of Sigma Tau/Sigma Chi on the Fresno State campus and that we
needed a reunion dinner to celebrate. Brother Green noted that we needed to have a
100-year history book, and this is where the idea was first broached.

We had two stories to tell, the history of the local fraternity, Sigma Tau, that began in
1921 and operated until its affiliation in 1952 with the national fraternity, Sigma Chi, and
Sigma Chi from 1952 to 2021. Not a lot was known about the Sigma Tau beginning but
we had some boxes of historical records which we perused and found lots of data
including a 1937-1938 “booklet” and also one for 1941, both created by the Sigma Tau
fraternity. Also, Greg Baxter’s father was a “Tau” and Greg had lots of information about
its history and some memorabilia. We found a website where past Campus yearbooks
were scanned and available for 1922 to 1968 which gave us insight into much more
details.

To gather data about Sigma Chi from 1952 to 2021, 86 brothers from across the United
States collaborated via phone, email and text over a period of six months to compile the
Sigma Chi at Fresno State story. Brothers Chuck Sant’Agata and Scott Moore reviewed
the draft and corrected grammar and spelling errors. The book was compiled by brother
Mike Patton.

This was a herculean effort, but because we were at home doing nothing, it gave us
something meaningful to do. Never waste a perfectly good pandemic.

As a alumnus of Fresno State Sigma Chi, can you remember yourself as a rushee? We were told that half of our education from college would be academic and the other half would be social. Each would be of equal importance to our success in life and business. Look back, and you will agree that this turned out to be true.

Choosing to attend a college or university gave us the opportunity for a good academic education. Choosing to become a fraternity member gave us the opportunity for a good social education giving us a significant advantage over young men who did not choose to join the Greek system.

We alumni often tell our undergraduate brothers that the years we lived in the Chapter House were the best years of our lives, and that because of our interaction with live-in brothers, we were able to obtain leadership and social skills not attainable otherwise. How important are these leadership and social skills? Are they really 50%?

Headline on the CNBC News website on October 2, 2022 “Tim Cook says there are 4 traits he looks for in Apple employees: ‘It’s been a very good formula for us”

Apple is the most valuable company on Planet Earth with Tim Cook its CEO for the last ten years. At the University of Naples Federico II’s commencement ceremony this week, Cook told graduates from the Naples, Italy, university that Apple’s success depends on its culture and who it hires. For instance, the company typically seeks out employees with four shared skills: the ability to collaborate, creativity, curiosity and expertise. As he spoke, he appeared to rank the skill sets in that order. He said the reason collaboration is so important is because it combines all three of the other skills. “We look for wicked smart people … [but] there are a lot of wicked smart people,” he said at the conference. “We look for people that are very collaborative because nobody — even somebody who has … a cape on their back — can do everything alone.”

Today’s college and university students have spent their entire lives texting instead of having face-to-face human interaction where they could learn leadership and social skills, ie, the ability to collaborate. Greek life changes that, but especially for those who live in the Chapter House. What we learned in our academic classes were important, the fun of Greek life was fantastic, the life-long bonds of brotherhood and the social skills we learned from those brothers were priceless. by Mike Patton 63-S

To read the entire article click on this link: CNBC October 2, 2022

Those of you who have not tried the fine wines produced by brother Mark Pasculli 81-F, you are missing out on a great opportunity. Idaho is an up-and-coming wine region, and Mark and wife Lori are producing some of the best from their estate vineyard in Eagle, Idaho. Past Consul Shannon Patrick 03-S lives near the winery and is all set to taste with Mark. I personally tasted six different varietals and they were all world class.

You may have the opportunity to visit the winery, Rolling Hills Vineyard, in Eagle, but if not, visit Mark’s website and have some shipped. You can find him at https://www.rollinghillsvineyard.com.  

Cheers and in hoc brother Pasculli,

Mike Patton 63-S

The White Rose Memorial Scholarship Fund was created through the Fresno State Alumni Association (FSAA) on June 29, 1993.  The FSAA uses a fund manager, currently Charles Schwab, to manage the funds of dozens of endowments like ours in a manner that guarantees continuous annual income in perpetuity.

The idea for the White Rose came from the Fresno Sigma Chi House Corporation board members.  The original goals were to “encourage academic excellence,” and by including only in-house brothers for the funding pool, to “create long-term financial stability for the House Corporation.”  As we all know, the House Corporation is charged with maintaining our most important icon at Fresno State Sigma Chi, the Chapter House.

On December 27, 2016, the Fresno Sigma Chi Endowment was created, also through the FSAA.  It had the same goals as the White Rose, and although the university will not  allow us to combine the two endowments, our Endowment Board treats them as one.

Our scholarship program began to reach critical mass in 2018 when we were able to award a total of $12,000 to six in-house brothers.  Brothers continued to donate to our Endowment, and this year we had enough income to award a total of $40,000.

The Chapter House was built for 41 brothers to live in, all in two-man rooms with the exception of the Consul’s room.  Nowadays it is uncommon for siblings to share bedrooms, and the same is true for our live-in brothers.  Although the real capacity is reduced to 20, the House Corporation is strong financially and the House is in pristine condition.  Also, for the last several years Fresno Sigma Chi has had the highest GPA of all fraternities on campus, and has exceeded the all-men’s average.  We accomplished our two original goals.

But there were unintended consequences.  During the last four years, the percentage of live-in brothers who were scholarship awardees has grown to be 75% which means brothers who are serious about academics are occupying the House and influencing the behavior of other brothers.  Also, word about Sigma Chi’s scholarship program has spread to the local high schools, and it is being used as a rush tool.  Our investment in our undergraduate brothers through scholarships has paid off handsomely.