Brad Fischer, 78-S, has been awarded the prestigious Jay E. Minton Best Alumni Chapter Officer Award by Sigma Chi International. Jerry Nelson, Chairman, Alumni Awards Committee and a personal friend of our late brother Steve Heinrichs, 65-F, announced the award in an email on May 8, 2020.
The award is given to only one Sigma Chi alumni chapter officer each year. It was created in 1928, and in 1975 it was named in honor of Order of Constantine Sig Jay E. Minton Sr., Missouri-Columbia 1920, past alumni chapter officer and vice president of the Order of Constantine. The award recognizes outstanding leadership, administration, Fraternity relations and service, effectiveness and improvement by an officer in his alumni chapter.
Brad has been recognized often for his many contributions to our chapter over the decades. He started accumulating them as a pledge by earning the Outstanding Pledge award in 1978. While an undergraduate he served as Kustos in 1978 and Annotator in 1979.
A few of Brad’s accomplishments are as follows:
- Named Top Dog at Fresno State in 2014
- Received the Grand Consul’s Citation
- Named a Seven Lights alumnus by Sigma Chi International in 2018
Brad expanded the role of Chapter President by also being the link between all of the various committees and functions of our chapter so that nothing occurs in a vacuum. He regularly attends the monthly House Corporation meetings plus engages often with our Chapter Advisor, Dusty Lacefield, 12-F. Brad was especially effective when he assisted Dusty and the chapter’s Consul, Gio Primavera, 17-F, last year during negotiations with the university following an incident relating to assaults on students perpetrated by the Fresno State football team. The end result was that two of the three alleged active chapter violations were dropped both posing existential threats.
Brad joined the Board of Directors of the Alumni Chapter 2004 and served in the following capacities:
- Treasurer beginning in 2006-2008 and 2014 to present
- Vice President 2008-2014
- President from 2012 to present
About eight years ago Brad started the June Brotherhood Day at the Chapter House which is now an annual social event drawing seventy-five active and alumni brothers to the house. The alumni chapter underwrites the cost of lunch that day, and we now use it as a platform to announce chapter awards.
Brad also initiated the first annual Sigma Chi Wine Tasting six years ago that raised $15,000 last year for our local scholarship endowment which now totals almost $900,000. Even though the wine event is capped at one hundred participants, the amount raised continues to significantly increase each year.
Past Fresno Sig recipients of the Jay E. Minton award were Richard Swartz, Sigma Tau, awarded in 1953, and Tony Flores, 56-S, awarded in 2014.
Thanks to Brother Brad for all of the time and energy he devotes to our fraternity, and congratulations to him for being selected as the 2020 Jay E. Minton Best Alumni Chapter Officer Award. All honor to his name!
IHSW,
Mike Patton 63-S
President, Fresno Sigma Chi Endowment Board