Consul Jordan Ayerza (17-F) is officially and literally in the Epsilon Eta history book after his scholarship award of $10,000 from Sigma Chi International. As far as we know, Jordan is the first Fresno State brother to receive any scholarship from the Sigma Chi Foundation, and the first to be awarded a Founders Scholarship. There are currently 15,500 Sigma Chis attending colleges and universities in North America, and Jordan is one of only seven to receive this highest academic honor.

Jordan Ayerza set a record by serving four consecutive semesters as Consul

From the Sigma Chi International Website – Jordan Ayerza, CAL. STATE-FRESNO 2022 | Bob & Sabrina Johnson Scholarship

A major in Agricultural Biology, where he is working towards a career as a Botanist, Ayerza held a 3.1 GPA entering his senior year at California State University-Fresno while serving as Consul of the Epsilon Eta chapter. Within the chapter, he has continuously held offices from his date of initiation also serving as Kustos, Philanthropy Chairman, Brother at Large, Social Chairman, Consul Fall 2020-Spring 2021 and again as Consul Fall 2021-Spring 2022, while volunteering annually through Epsilon Eta’s Derby Days and Kids Day events. Through his leadership as Consul, the chapter pulled through the COVID-19 pandemic with strong brotherhood, a full chapter house and collective GPA exceeding the school’s all-men’s average.

His academic pursuits have been entirely self-funded through scholarships and a full-time position at the agribusiness company Wilbur-Ellis, which specializes in agri-chemicals. Ayerza plans to continue work for the company post-graduation as works towards his career objectives.

Order of Constantine and past Consul, Tom Downing (62-F), did not let the grass grow under his feet during the pandemic.  Tom’s father was a doctor of osteopathic medicine, and during his career he researched new tools to improve the efficiency of his practice.  In the process he held several patents for medical instruments.  Thus on Tom’s bucket list since he was three years old was to also invent something and obtain a patent. 

Tom was working on his invention, the SmartClipz, for a couple of years, and he applied for and received a patent.  The SmartClipz is a device to hold a cell phone in place when a person bends over, thus preventing the phone from slipping into water or being damaged in a fall.

Contributed by Tom Downing: After my second drowned phone, I was expecting some real sympathy.  But all I got were stories from others of similar, and even more involved, phone damage and loss.  I checked cell phone stores and they knew what I was talking about, but sold nothing to solve this common problem.  So, I began “doodling” with various ideas.  The ideas soon evolved into a prototype that I was able to patent. 

Carrying your phone in pants pocket is safe but very inconvenient especially while driving, (Don’t text and drive).   Your shirt pocket is the perfect place.  Ladies tell me too, that they could use it when carrying their phones in their pants back pocket. 

 

I am, an older, recently retired dentist and adapting to all this new, communicating technology is not easy.  Maybe it was not being able to bend retainer wires any more or to create an aesthetic, functionally complete denture that made working to solve my cell phone problem a perfect project.  The solution seems so obvious and so simple, one thinks:  “Why didn’t I think of that”.  I like to describe the SmartClipz as:  No tech meets high tech for best tech!

Everyone and everything needs a motto, and Tom’s is, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

Tom engaged a marketing production team including a film crew, and on October 11, 2021 the film director, cameraman, sound technician, lighting expert and three actors converged to film smart phones being dropped into water and on concrete.  It could have been a costly production destroying a couple of dozen iPhones, but the director rented props.

Jordan Ayerza

On September 15 Consul Jordan Ayerza (17-F) released what is probably the best-ever Recruitment Video produced by our Active Chapter at Fresno State. After initiating only nine new brothers in two semesters because of the Covid pandemic, recruitment has never been so critically important.  This is recognized by our undergraduate brothers as you will see by the careful scripting of the video. Click the link below to play the video:

2021:2022 Rush Video

Our endowment program is really kicking into high gear to accomplish the objectives for Sigma Chi at Fresno State. The scholarships are awarded based on the student’s overall GPA which this year must be 2.8 or higher. This year’s awardees achieved a 3.27 average. The Active Chapter average was 3.13 which bested the all-fraternity average of 3.02 and the all-men’s average of 2.99. Make no mistake,  Sigma Chi at Fresno State has an Active Chapter that is serious about academics.

Although the major objective of our scholarship program is to encourage excellence in academic performance by our Active Chapter brothers, that is not the only one. Other objectives are to make it more affordable to take advantage of the learning opportunities of living in the Chapter House, and to use the scholarship opportunities as a tool for recruitment, one that only Sigma Chi can offer.

In addition to scholarship monies, each qualifying applicant receives a certificate of academic excellence which is awarded at the annual Scholarship Banquet which is usually held in October. They also have their names placed on the annual scholarship plaque. Plaques for the two most recent years are strategically placed just around the corner from the front entrance of the Chapter House so that they are in a convenient location to show potential recruits. Who knows, they might be an interesting visual aid to show on Parents’ Day.

From the Sigma Chi International Website – The tradition of Sigma Chi’s Derby Days began in the spring of 1933 at the Alpha Beta chapter at the University of California-Berkeley, under the name “Channingway Derby.”  Located on Channing Way, the Sigma Chis sponsored an event composed of a series of humorous skits.

In the spring of 1935 after receiving reports of the Channingway Derby, Beta Sigma chapter members at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville made plans for a similar event.  But instead of presenting skits, the event was planned around an all-day track and field competition between the pledge classes of the nine sororities at Tennessee.  More than 1,000 people were in attendance on the big day, November 1, 1935, to witness the first Derby involving campus sororities. 

Coincidentally, on that day four Sigs from the Delta chapter at the University of Georgia were visiting Knoxville and witnessed the festivities.  The brothers took the idea back to their campus and named their production “Sigma Chi Derby,” which seems to  have stuck.

During the 1960s, the derby began to take on the philanthropic approach for which it is now known on many campuses. After the Cleo Wallace Center became Sigma Chi’s fraternity-wide service project in 1967, many chapters began using the derby as a fundraising event for the center.  Although some amount of charitable work had been done through Derby and similar events prior to that time, the Wallace Center project gave a much-needed boost to the concept of doing something for a group in need outside of campus .

At the 1992 Leadership Training Workshop, the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) was introduced as Sigma Chi’s suggested beneficiary of proceeds from chapter community service projects.  The CMN, an alliance of 170 hospitals and health care facilities across the North America, generates funds for the children its associated hospitals serve.  Many of the Fraternity’s undergraduate chapters and many alumni chapters are located in the same city or within an hour’s drive of one or more network hospitals.  Huntsman Cancer Foundation (HCF) has been the preferred philanthropic partner of Sigma Chi since December 2012.  HCF was founded by Significant Sig and Order of Constantine Sig Jon Huntsman Sr., PENNSYLVANIA 1959, in 1993.

Sigma Chi Derby Days began at Fresno State in 1966 when Gary Renner (62-S) proposed starting it at an Inter-Fraternity Council meeting, and it has been a tradition ever since.  Joe Pressutti (64-F) was the first Derby Daddy.  Contributed by Gary Renner – Yes, Joe was the first Derby Daddy.  Once I got Derby Day approved, I worked on details of Derby Day but asked Joe if he would be the Derby Daddy and he agreed.  Joe and I planned out what we wanted to do and where.  Then I did the behind the scenes organizing, as well as working with the university administration to make sure we had approvals for all we wanted to do.  And Joe worked with the sororities – he got the tough duty, ha!

In 2018, Fresno State’s Sigma Chi chapter, a Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals partner, raised more funds for their local children’s hospital than any other Sigma Chi chapter in the nation.  To date, Sigma Chi has raised more than $211,000!  The brothers also brought lots of toys for the hospital’s patients.  “We are so grateful to Sigma Chi for helping support the kids we serve.” said hospital board member Bill Smittcamp (73-S).  The Huntsman Cancer Foundation has also benefited by our Undergraduate Chapter’s fundraising efforts.  Probably the most successful year was 2019 when the Fresno State Sigma Chi Active Chapter donated $30,000 to Valley Children’s Hospital  making it #1 in Sigma Chi philanthropy that year.

Part of the Derby Days tradition is for Fresno State sororities to paint murals on the block fence adjacent to the parking lot.  Some of these murals are stunningly beautiful, and they have become part of the culture for our Active Chapter.