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Alumni newsletter for the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at the University of Northern Iowa, Fall 2003.
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Sigma Phi Epsi lon
The 48th Grand Chapter
Conclave was held in San
Antonio on August 13th-
17th, and the Buchanan
Cup Awards Banquet is
what we were really an-
ticipating. Iowa Theta
was up for our 5th con-
secutive Buchanan Cup.
This year, SigEp started a
new award to honor chap-
ters receiving 5 straight
Buchanan Cups—a golden
Buchanan Cup. The new
award was given to 3
chapters this year, and
Iowa Theta was the first to
receive ―Goldy.‖ The University of
Cincinnati and Washburn University
were the other two recipients. Iowa
Theta has won every Buchanan Cup
we‘ve ever been eligible for!
I hope to see many alumni in atten-
dance in Nashville when we go for
our 6th consecutive Buchanan Cup!
Volume 10 , Issue 1
I OWA T H E TA B R I N G S H O M E “G O L DY ”
Fal l 2003
Iowa Theta: By the
Numbers
• 61 members
• 3.03 GPA (spring „03)
• 2,015 service hours in „02-‟03
• $24,810 raised for charity in
„02-‟03
• Over 9,000 pounds of food
collected for the Cedar Valley Food Bank
• 7 of the last 8 intramural
titles
• 4 of the last 5 IFC Presidents
• Chapter of the Year „02-‟03
• Greek Man of the Year „01-
‟02 & „02-‟03
• 5 straight Buchanan Cups
(„95—‟03)
• 3 former Regional Directors
I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :
Brother in Arms 2
Founding Fathers 3
Alumni Updates 4
UNI News 7
Chapter News 8
The Future 11
B E H I N D T H E R E D D O O R
A Y E A R T O R E M E M B E R . . .
The end of the 2002-2003
school year brought many awards to
Iowa Theta on the UNI campus. In
March, the regional Carson Leader-
ship Academy was held in Appleton,
Wisconsin. The entire Executive
board attended and learned new ways
in which to handle the daily activities
of fraternity life. Iowa Theta was
awarded the Manpower Excellence
Award and the Scholarship Cup.
The end of the year brought
the Greek Awards Banquet, with
Iowa Theta determined to bring back
the Chapter of the Year award that
had eluded us for the past three years.
The chapter did not disappoint, bring-
ing home 18 of the 24 given out to
fraternities, including:
(continued on page 9)
Iowa Theta Won the First-Ever Golden Buchanan Cup at the 2003 Conclave in San Antonio.
Behind the Red Door
Fourteen years ago, as a freshman at the Uni-
versity of Northern Iowa, I
watched as the first shots of
Operation Desert Storm
were broadcast across CNN.
Watching America go to
war only reinforced what I
already knew. I always
knew I was going to be a
soldier. It was never a ques-
tion in my mind of
whether I would serve or
not. My family had served for generations. I
saw my brother graduate basic training and
obtain a commission as an Army Officer. I
had seen the pictures and heard the stories of
my grandfather in WWI. I knew that this
was the path I wanted to take. I knew that I
wanted to be an Army officer.
However, like anything worth having, there
was a long hard road ahead. Not only to earn
make all these sacrifices of their
own volition. There is very little
Sigma Phi Epsilon did to prepare
me for many of the sacrifices that
I have had to make as a soldier.
However there is one thing that it
taught that I believe is invaluable.
It taught the bonds between men
that help you make them. During
my years at Iowa Theta, I was not
the president; I did not hold a
leadership position in the fraternity. How-
ever, I never felt that I was of any less im-
portance, that I was any less of a brother.
We were all equal. We all worked together
for the best of all of us. Of course there were
some who sacrificed more than others, but
we were all only as strong as our weakest.
As a platoon leader, a company commander,
or an operations officer, it is this theme I
routinely find gets me through the toughest
Page 2
C A R T E R M E R E D I T H „ 9 5
B R O T H E R S I N A R M S , B R O T H E R S I N S I G E P
fend our constitution, and in effect ourselves, the right to walk in the footsteps of other
great Americans but also to maintain that
great history. Leadership is not won like a
trophy. It is not something that you achieve
once and then you can always refer to. I am
now in my ninth year as an active duty Army
officer and it has been a hard trip, a trip full
of sacrifice, and a trip completely worth the
price.
Being a soldier, whether enlisted or officer is
a life of sacrifice. There are no set hours.
There are no set vacation times. Very few
people can understand or appreciate what it
is like not to enjoy a shower for 30, 40, 50
days or more. Very few know the difficul-
ties of receiving a phone call at 02:30 in the
morning and knowing that in 18 hours you
will be flying to a far away destination in
support of our Constitution. Or receiving a
phone call from the Military Police to tell
you one of your soldiers has just been ar-
rested. Very few know what it is like to only
see their loved ones once a year. Yet over
500,000 of us experience this every day.
Whether Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine,
the service members which support and de-
“We were all equal. We
all worked together for
the best of all of us”
Carter in Army Training
I know that many others depend on me to do
my duty and meet my responsibility.
During my time at UNI and IA Theta, I saw
fine examples of sacrifice and brotherhood
on a daily basis. It was my brothers, many
of who sacrificed their sleep so I could type
my term paper on their computer. It was
my brothers who sacrificed their time to
help me pass a test. It was my brothers who
sacrificed their sanity, so I could live in the
house. It was my brothers who did not sac-
rifice their patience, so I could learn mine.
Thank you brothers for many of your sacri-
fices enabled me to make mine.
Captain Carter Meredith
710th Main Support Battalion
10th Mountain Division
Fort Drum, NY
Founding Father: Graduated 1995
Behind the Red Door
Aside from earning a degree, being a Sig Ep
was my most important experience in col-
lege. As a founding father of the Iowa Theta
chapter, I was privileged to become very
involved with the growth of the organization
from its inception. Sig Ep helped to give me
structure, identity, and friendships during my
undergrad years. In many respects, being in a
fraternity is similar to being in the business
world. A great organization requires a lot
from its members. In Sig Ep, that meant at-
tending meetings and events, assuming lead-
ership responsibilities, and treating others
with respect. However, the benefits from the
hard work and commitment can be very sat-
isfying. I found this to be true as a Sig Ep,
and it is still true in my experience with fam-
ily, church, and work today. Looking back at
my Sig Ep experience at UNI, the best part
of it was the fun and the relationships built
with other fraternity brothers. I have great
memories of my college days, and many of
those memories include Sig Ep!
Today, I live in Overland Park, Kansas, with
my wife Kari, and daughter Laura. Our sec-
ond child will be born in February. We're
actively involved in our church, Heartland
K10, in Olathe, Kansas. I'm an account ex-
ecutive with SANZ, a nationwide IT integra-
tion company. Also, we are the co-owners of
a dry cleaning delivery service in Overland
Park.
- Derek Anderson, Iowa Theta 1994
moral standards summarized in our Cardinal
Principles. These standards are not just
―nice‖, but are in fact ―right‖. To call some-
thing right implies that there is an absolute
basis on which to make this value judgment.
Our founding fathers in fact did have an ab-
solute standard of rightness. Recall that our
founders were undergrads at what was then a
Baptist college, and that seven of the original
twelve founders went on to become distin-
guished Christian pastors (including the
original organizing founder, Carter Ashton
Jenkins).
Over the nine years since my undergraduate
involvement with Sig Ep, I have come to
more fully appreciate and embrace the stan-
dards that Sig Ep‘s founding fathers set forth.
Clint Anderson, Iowa Theta 1994
I am proud to be an Iowa Theta founding
father, having joined the original colony in
1992 and graduated in 1994. After gradua-
tion, I moved to Orange County, California,
where I have been ever since. I live in Costa
Mesa with my wife of 2 ½ years, Ingrid. No
kids yet. I completed my MBA at the Uni-
versity of Southern California in 2002 (Go
Trojans – sorry, Hawk fans!) and have been
employed in commercial finance and bank-
ing since my undergraduate graduation in
1994 (with Bank of America since 2001).
In 1995, I was asked by Sig Ep headquarters
to be the founding Chapter Counselor for a
new chapter at UC Irvine. The chapter was
established in ‘95 and chartered in ‗97. I
remained the Chapter Counselor at UCI until
1999, when my graduate studies required me
to streamline my time commitments. While
serving as the Chapter Counselor at UCI, I
came to a few conclusions about our great
fraternity, about which I will elaborate.
Our founding fathers set forth behavioral and
Page 3
R E F L E C T I O N S F RO M F O U N D I N G FAT H E R S
M O R E R E F L E C T I O N S . . .
Hold the Dates!!!
Saturday, June 5th
Alumni Golf Outing,
Des Moines, Iowa
Friday/Saturday,
October 8th/9th
UNI Homecoming,
Cedar Falls
Derek and Kari on Vacation in Jamaica
Behind the Red Door
I wanted to pass along this
photo from our most recent
vacation to Hilton Head
Island, SC this past August
to show just how big the
kids have gotten. I cannot
believe the boys are now 4
and my youngest Emma is
2. Watching them grow up
and learn is a wonderful
thing to experience, I just
wish it did not go by so fast.
Enid and I are still living in
St. Louis where I work for a
global corporate law firm as
a Senior Software Engineer.
It is interesting work and I
believe I will work here for
some time. Enid is still a
full time Mom and will be
until Emma starts school in
a few years. After being in
Colorado for a number of
years it is nice to be near
family and friends once
again. I am currently work-
ing on the chapter website
with Dave and the chapter
officers and am really en-
joying giving back to Iowa
Theta. I firmly believe that
you do not realize the im-
pact SigEp has on you until
you have been away from it
for some time. I attribute
much of my success to Iowa
Theta and would like to see
us as alumni band together
and give back to the chapter
that has given us so much.
The Alumni Board is work-
ing very hard on many ini-
tiatives to facilitate this and I
challenge all of you to rise to
the occasion. Let's start by
having a big turnout for the
Golf Tournament this sum-
mer. I hope to see many of
you there and if you ever find
yourself in St. Louis look me
up. Matt Bremer ‘98
into the chronics and proac-
tive group. Basically that
means that I get to work on
all of the nasty stuff that
isn't getting
fixed, circuit
keeps failing,
ect. I am also
a SME
(Subject Mat-
ter Expert) on
several prod-
ucts and net-
work elements
for my build-
ing which also keeps me
busy in a technical support
I'm recently engaged and set
to be married to Theresa on
January 3, 2004. I currently
live in Denver (Englewood
to be specific) and work at
Qwest communications as a
communications technician.
I do testing, performance
monitoring, and repair on
high-capacity data and voice
lines. (T1/DS1, T3/DS3,
OC3, OC12, OC48, OC192,
ect. and all of the fun "guts"
and multiple network ele-
ments.) I have been doing
this for a little over 3 years
and I just recently moved
role. I am currently working
on my Bachelor of Science in
Information Technology and
after that if I still feel moti-
vated I'm going
to try for a Mas-
ters in Telecom-
munications
(Denver Univer-
sity has a great
program).
Drew Groff
Page 4
ALUM N I UP DATES
managed to squeak by her at
the finish line...by one sec-
ond. I've got one more shot
to qualify in Chicago,
Oct 12.
Adam Napier ‘02
So I quit drinking and
smoking on Jan 6,
2003......Here's some pics
from my
first marathon which I com-
pleted in my new home
town of Madison, WI on
May 25th. The girl in the 1st
pic is a co worker....we ran
the race together and
her time qualified her for
Boston next year! But I
Bremer Family Hilton Head Island, SC
Drew and Theresa in their Denver home.
Recent Weddings
Ryan Judas „97 and Angie Laurens Jon Burns „99 and June Hoffman Chris Wilson „99 and Heidi Henderson Shawn Huyser „00 and ChyAnne Krull Derek Haag „00 and Kortney Wade T.R. Boothby „00 and Amanda Tyson Finders „01 and Erica Grieve Ryan Fagan „95 and Sarah Farland James Rieff „02 and Liz Doty Nick Herrick „03 and Sarah Buffington Ryan Jones „99 and Ellie Sims Matt Degner „02 and Kate Crummel T.J. Amos „02 and Tonya Wilkinson Joe Mooney „02 and Maren Jones Brad Schramm „00 and Alyssa Wauters Carson Hattel „03 and Lisa Griffin
Duane Kelley „98 and Lindy Magsman Tracy Patzner „97 and Tracy Beery
Behind the Red Door
I wanted to inform you all
that on August 19, 2002 my
wife gave birth to a beauti-
ful baby boy, Sean Steven
Burns, at 12:25 pm. He
weighs 9 lbs, 2 oz. and is
21.5 inches long. He is per-
fect. He'll make a great
SigEp in another 18 years or
so. If anybody has any ad-
vice on this fatherhood
thing (Butts, etc.) let me
know because I'm clueless.
Shortly after Sean was born
we all moved to Columbus,
Ohio. After starting med
school at Des Moines Uni-
versity I‘ll be finishing at
Ohio State. If anybody is
in the area or passing
through, you're all welcome
to stop in (I'll be putting a
red door on our house
soon).
HFF,
Jon, June, and Sean Burns
I left the Myrtle Beach Peli-
cans (Class A Carolina
League affiliate of the At-
lanta Braves) as Assistant
General Manager after four
years in September '02.
I accepted the position of
Marketing Director with
ESPN X Games Skateparks
and oversee the marketing
responsibilities for the four
ESPN X Games Skateparks
which are currently located
in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver,
and Philadelphia.
Matt Harris ‘95
(twins, what fun), they
turned five in June and Lau-
ren who is three. They are
the light of my life!!! Full of
energy and lots of love. At
the time Brendon and Jac-
queline were born (12
weeks early - yikes) I de-
cided to stay home with
them. Life for them started
out challenging but they
have grown and developed
on track and are learning at
the quickest pace!
I am currently a Senior
Team Manager with Taste-
After I left UNI I went to
Western Illinois University
as a Complex Director -
stayed one year and then left
to go home to care and
spend time with my father
who was in advanced stages
of Lung Cancer. I then be-
gan work at Ruppman/
Affina as a project trainer
followed by an account ad-
ministrator in Peoria. I mar-
ried in 1995 and have re-
sided in Mackinaw, IL since
that time. I have been
blessed with three children,
Brendon and Jaqueline
fully Simple. This company is
a direct sales company which
sells quick and easy gourmet
foods. This has become a
great career for me and al-
lows me to stay home with
my children. Lisa Bacon (Kocher)
Iowa Theta’s First Faculty
Advisor
Page 5
MOR E A LUM N I UP DATES
sunny Dominican Republic
- it was extremely relaxing
I'm currently a Project Man-
ager for Hewitt Associates,
where I've been
employed the last 5 years
(since graduating). My wife
is an Occupational
Therapist for Shriner's Hos-
pital for Kids. She's been
there for 3 years and
enjoys working with chil-
dren from all over the
world.
Craig Winter ‘98
On February 11th, Jamie
and I purchased our first
permanent home in
Chicago. We bought a 2BR
condo 1.5 miles north of
Wrigley Field. We are
very excited to move in for
good. Our new address is
4649 N. Dover #1,
Chicago, IL 60640. In ad-
dition, we just returned from
an 8-day trip to
Jon, June, and baby Sean Burns
More Weddings… Chris Mueller „00 and Margie Gutknecht Brad Hanchak „00 and Lacey Schaller Anthony Asmus „94 and Angie Latham Ryan Oppedahl „99 and Erin Guy Chad McCarty „98 and Kaarn Oakland Kevin O‟Neill and Amber Lynn Drew Groff and Theresa
Behind the Red Door
After graduation, I moved to
Minneapolis, MN, to work for
Cap Gemini Ernst & Young
where I was given the opportu-
nity of working with a large toy
company, Mattel, on a global
financial implementation pro-
ject. Subsequently my wife,
Kortney (Wade, Gamma Phi
Beta), and I have been living in
Amsterdam for almost 10
months. We moved here
shortly after our wedding in
October 2002.
Lively, fun and rich in history,
Amsterdam has been a real
exciting place to live. A bonus
to living in Amsterdam has
been the ability to see a lot of
Europe and also the chance to
visit old friends my wife and I
met when we lived in Austria
as exchange students. During
my stay here, there have been
plenty of trips and excursions.
Barcelona, Spain and Helsinki,
Finland are two of my personal
favorites. Bill Crew is coming
to visit in the near future and in
addition to touring around Am-
sterdam, we‘re planning a trip
to Dublin, Ireland. We‘re look-
ing forward to touring the his-
toric city and (of course) enjoy-
ing a few pints of Guinness.
The opportunity to work in
Europe has broadened my hori-
zons immensely, letting me
appreciate new cultures, ex-
ploring history and making
new friends in a different part
of the world. I have thoroughly
enjoyed working and traveling
throughout Europe…an oppor-
tunity no one should ever let
slip by.
Kortney recently accepted a job
with Alliant Tech Systems, so
we've bought a house and
moved back to Minneapolis. I
will still be working in Amster-
dam until the end of January,
but traveling back as often as
possible.
Derek and Kortney Haag ‘00
Most recently, I was appointed
by the office of Congressman
Tom Delay (R-TX), Majority
Leader of the United States
House of Representatives, to
represent Iowa on his Business
Advisory Council. Selected as
a proprietor of a small busi-
ness, the group is being formed
to study and provide input on
President Bush‘s proposed tax
law changes and will involve
travel to Washington, D.C. for
related meetings.
I formally announced in July
that I am seeking a second term
on the Council Bluffs City
Council. Receiving one of the
Things are going well for us in
Baton Rouge. Ellie works at
The Football Network, it is a
new cable channel and is not
yet available in all areas but
they have shown a few UNI
games. I work for an Engineer-
ing/Consulting firm called
Wynn White Consultants. I
really like it because I am out-
side monitoring the quality of
air in and around chemical
plants and oil refineries. We
also oversee asbestos abate-
ment projects and advise peo-
ple on general safety practices
in the workplace.
Ryan and Ellie Jones ‘99
few compliments a politician can
be given, I am running unop-
posed. It appears I will be re-
turning to City Hall for four
more years.
Chad Primmer ‘99
chad.kocourekprimmer@radik
s.net
Page 6
MOR E A LUM N I UP DATES
I have accepted a new position
in Illinois. I will be teaching
Government/Law and a Current
History class at Mahomet-
Seymour HS. In addition to my
teaching duties I will also be
the Head Boy's Basketball
Coach and an Assistant Foot-
ball Coach. I have already
started my Basketball camps. I
had 64 kids this past week in 5-
8 grade. Tomorrow I will con-
tinue with them for another
week and begin with the high
school players.
I am currently staying with the
soccer coach and a couple of
other guys. I am driving back
and forth right now. I am look-
ing for a house for my dog to
live in.
Brett Hersom ‘95
I have decided to get out of the
web hosting and merchant
banking industry to work for an
investment banking firm here
in Los Angeles. I will be the
new Controller for B. Riley &
Co. The growth prospects for
current employer had all dried
up and I needed to find another
opportunity for career growth.
Mike McCoy ‘98
Derek and Kortney in Europe
Births
Elizabeth (Lilly) Pedelty, to Josh and Megan Pedelty Madeline (Mady) Pedelty, to Josh and Megan Pedelty Cole Henry Nuehring, to Corey and Michelle Nuehring Sean Burns, to Jon and June Burns Dylann Joy Huyser, to Shawn and ChyAnne Huyser Caitlin Brooke Mears, to Johnny and Jessica Mears Dylan Butts, to Jeremy and T.J. Butts Ryan Alexander Ellsworth, to Chad and Melanie Ellsworth Brennan Linholm, to Cole and Stacy Lindholm Aaron Lindholm, to Cole and Stacy Lindholm Makena Ann Asmus, to Anthony and Angie Asmus, Madison Judas, to Ryan and Angie Judas Jacob Bringle, to Mike and Jerrie Bringle M‟Liss Rose Patzner, to Tracy and Tracy Patzner
Got a news story? Email
Behind the Red Door
The Board of Regents has given UNI ap-
proval to move ahead with construction of
the McLeod Center, a 100,000-square-foot
sports and entertainment facility to be lo-
cated south of the UNI-Dome on the UNI
campus. The UNI Foundation has raised ap-
proximately $17 million of the $18 million in
private support needed to build the center.
The anticipated total project cost is approxi-
mately $20 million, with the remainder com-
ing from the university and the city of Cedar
Falls. Construction will begin in the sum-
mer.
The McLeod Center will be the home of Pan-
ther basketball and volleyball, and a compe-
tition site for wrestling. In addition, it will
host numerous community events including
concerts, trade and craft shows and youth
activities ranging from state and national
tournaments to camps. It will have seating
for about 6,100 and a total capacity of 7,000.
Construction of the McLeod Center is part of
the $100 million "Students First" campaign
to support scholarships, academic program
support and facilities. Other capital projects
include McElroy Hall in Waterloo, which
houses the Freeburg Early Childhood Pro-
gram; renovation of Russell Hall; and equip-
ment for McCollum Science Hall and Lang
Hall.
be an expanded retail area with snacks,
candy, school supplies, magazines, newspa-
pers, logowear, gifts and greeting cards," she
explained. "In addition, on the upper level,
we will have new space for International
Services, Northern Iowa Student Govern-
ment, student organizations, and student ac-
tivities."
The University of Northern Iowa's remod-
eled Maucker Union has re-opened for busi-
ness. Closed from May – August 2003,
Maucker Union has remodeled 20,000 square
feet and is adding an additional 42,000
square feet. The project also includes new
housing for the university's Center for Multi-
cultural Education, now located at the Union.
The Union now features a coffee bar called
Chat's, where gourmet coffee, bakery items
and Freshen's Smoothies and Premium Yo-
gurt will be available; new and renovated
meeting rooms; and handicapped-accessible
entrances.
Additional food services will open later in
the year in Prexy's Court. They are Avanti,
featuring pizza and pasta, Flare's with grilled
items, Wasabi serving international foods,
and Blimpie's sub sandwiches. The Union
will also house a new retail outlet area.
Notes Jan Hanish, Union Director, "This will
Page 7
UN I ‟ S M C L E O D C E N T E R A P P ROV E D
M A U C K E R U N I O N R E B U I LT , E X PA N D E D
Save the Date!
2/4 UNI Basketball vs.
Creighton (Omaha)
2/7 UNI Basketball vs. Indiana
State (Cedar Falls)
2/11 UNI Basketball vs. SW
Missouri State (Cedar Falls)
2/18 UNI Basketball vs.
Wichita State (Cedar Falls)
2/20—2/22 Carlson
Leadership Acacdemy
(Schuamburg, Illinois)
2/25 UNI Basketball vs. Drake
(Des Moines)
3/1 UNI Basketball vs.
Southern Illinois (Cedar Falls)
3/5—3/8 Missouri Valley
Conference Tournament (St.
Louis)
4/3 SigEp Hoops for Hearts
Basketball Tournament
4/16—4/17 Ritual Weekend
4/18 Greek Awards Banquet &
Mom‟s Day Celebration
4/23—4/25 SigEp Formal
(Dubuque)
5/7 Dad‟s Day Golf Outing
(Cedar Falls)
6/5 Alumni Golf Outing
(Des Moines)
9/4 UNI Football vs. Iowa State
(Ames)
10/8—10/9 Homecoming
Weekend (Cedar Falls)
The 6,100 seat McLeod Center will be the new home of Panther basketball and volleyball.
Northeast view of the New Maucker Union After the Addition and Expansion
Behind the Red Door
The family of Matt Harris '04 was recog-
nized by the UNI Parents Association as
UNI's Family of the Year on Saturday, Sept.
27, as part of the annual UNI Family Fest,
Sept. 26-28.
The Harris family includes parents David
and Linda, and their children Kim, Kari and
Matt. Matt, a UNI senior and member of
Sigma Phi Epsilon, nominated his family for
the award because of the encouragement they
gave him in his decision to attend UNI.
"Choosing a college wasn't difficult with my
family serving as unofficial recruiters for the
university," said Harris. "My folks are dyed-
in-the-wool UNI supporters. The choice was
natural."
Each member of the Harris family, with the
exception of Matt's dad, David, attended
UNI.
The youngest of three children, Matt is proud
of his parents' support of UNI. "I've seen
them donate what they can year after year to
the athletic department and the fine arts,
sending more than just a tuition check," said
Matt. His sisters and brothers-in-law are
UNI football season ticket holders. Tailgates
at the UNI-Dome are a major fall ritual for
the Harris family. Matt is a senior at UNI
and will graduate with a degree in communi-
cation/public relations in May. His parents
live in Cedar Falls.
in the Cedar Valley this holiday season. This
year we had 130 more students contribute to
the cause than last year, so the word is get-
ting out to the UNI campus and community
about this great event and great organization
coordinating the event.
The men of Iowa Theta continue to excel
both on campus and throughout the commu-
nity. The second annual Feed the Need drive
has brought the two entities together. Feed
the Need is a food/donation drive in conjunc-
tion with the UNI Department of Residence.
UNI students and faculty with meal plans
can donate a meal to Feed the Need and the
UNI DOR agrees to contribute $1.70 from
that meal to the Northeast Iowa Food Bank.
In return for their generous donations, local
pizza establishments agree to have special
discounts for those people helping Feed the
Need.
We are thrilled to announce the results of
Feed the Need 2003 – 1,330 students donated
meals and $2,261.00 was raised for the
Northeast Iowa Food Bank. The Food Bank
is able to purchase $12 worth of food for
every $1 that is donated; therefore, our dona-
tion will help the Food Bank purchase
$27,132.00 worth of food for needy families
Page 8
S I G E P I S UNI ‟ S F A M I LY O F T H E Y E A R
S I G E P R A I S E S O V E R $ 2 7 , 0 0 0 F O R C E D A R V A L L E Y F O O D B A N K
Things to Check Out
Career networking and mentoring
for SigEps
www.sigepprofessionals.co
m
Iowa Theta on the web
www.iatheta.org
New Iowa Theta website (in
development)
www.iatheta.org/newSite/
lay_home.cfm
New Iowa Theta Intranet (in
development)
iatheta.dyndns.org/dnn/
DesktopDefault.aspx
SigEp Headquarters
www.sigep.org
The University of Northern Iowa
www.uni.edu
UNI Alumni Association
www.unialum.org
Panther Athletics
www.unipanthers.com
The Harris family, UNI’s 2003 Family of the Year. SigEp Matt Harris ‘04 is in the back-middle.
Steve Waigand, Dave Kniffen, Nate Lombardi, and Matt Harris Present the Check to the Cedar Valley
Food Bank
Behind the Red Door
Chapter of the Year!!!!
Highest Overall Chapter GPA
Highest Executive Council GPA
Fraternity Recruitment Achievement Award
Brotherhood/Sisterhood Award
Past IFC Officer of the Year
Greek Man of the Year (Mark McConnell)
Highest In House GPA
Philanthropic Achievement Award
Academic Achievement Award
Highest New Member GPA Award
National/International Headquarters of the
Year Award
Philanthropy and Community Service Award
(Matt Harris)
Most Greek Greek (John Good)
This marked the 5th time in 10 years Iowa
Theta won the Chapter of the Year. Since
1992, no fraternity other than Iowa Theta has
won Chapter of the Year.
The end of the year brought the end of the
intramural season and Iowa Theta‘s 7th intra-
mural title in the last 8 years over Sigma
Alpha Epsilon. Iowa Theta neared the scor-
ing record, finishing with over 3,900 points.
2002-03 was a hugely successful year for the
chapter, and 2003-04 promises much more of
the same!
been moved to the east side of the basement and new hooks have been installed
in the ceiling for hanging bikes. With that completed, the chapter is focusing its
efforts on the main floor. We are planning on purchasing a new TV and living
room furniture with our Mom‘s
Day money from last year.
Future plans are to convert part
of the main floor to a study
area and to continue sprucing
up odds and ends of the lounge
area in the basement.
The past year has seen significant housing
improvements for the chapter. In 2000, the
chapter chose to no longer host parties in the
chapter basement, partly converting it into a
weight room for chapter members, with a
bench, squat rack, pulldown machine, and
dumbbells. The next year, Iowa Theta part-
nered with Headquarters to install high-speed
Internet in all the bedrooms, and a put a com-
puter lab in the chapter library, with two new
computers and a multifunction printer/fax/
copier.
This past year has brought some significant
improvements as well. The main floor of the
house has become dry to help establish a
good, clean environment for the members of
the fraternity and their guests. At the same
time, the downstairs has undertaken massive
renovations and functions as the lounge area
of the house. The walls and floor are newly
painted and look great. The weight room has
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A Y E A R T O R E M E M B E R ( C O N T I N U E D ) . . .
H O U S E S E E S S I G N I F I C A N T I M P R OV E M E N T S
December Grads
John Good—Legislative
Assistant, Iowa State House, Des
Moines, IA
Brian Moos—Buyer, Nieman
Marcus, Dallas, TX
Andrew Bunch—Financial
Services Consultant, Aegon
USA, Cherokee, IA
Josh Heggen—Legislative
Assistant, Iowa State House, Des
Moines, IA
SigEp With Our Awards at the Greek Awards Banquet Last May
The Iowa Theta Weight Room
Behind the Red Door
Fall 2003 saw 22 new members join Iowa
Theta, the most out of any fraternity on
campus. Our chapter‘s newest members are:
Adam Baggett—Ankeny, IA (History)
Tyler Beerends—Pella, IA (Physical Ed.)
Ben Bjorholm—Johnston, IA (Accounting)
Daniel Boettcher—Spirit Lake, IA (Acting)
Scott Brandt—Mason City, IA (Finance)
Luke Bross—Iowa City, IA (Finance/R.E.)
Jordan Carr—Marion, IA (Undeclared)
Eric Coborn—Mason City, IA (Bus. Admin.)
Lee Cody—Sutherland, IA (Undeclared)
Rod Egel—Marion, IA (History)
Scott Grotewold—Des Moines, IA (Business)
Marshall Herrick—Dayton, IA (Biology)
Gabe Mitchell—Britt, IA (Criminology)
Scott Powell—Ankeny, IA (Math Education)
Ryan Riggs—Newton, IA (Marketing)
Derek Rodgers—Mt. Pleasant, IA (Art)
Patrick Rupe—Batavia, IA (Undeclared)
Justin Shaffer—Eldridge, IA (Education)
Luke Shaw—Eldridge, IA (Accounting)
Steve Strickland—Bettendorf, IA (Real Estate)
Greg Timmerman—Runnells, IA (Undecl.)
Loren Velasquez—Cedar Falls, IA (Education)
We recruited 12 Balanced Man Scholarship applicants, including the scholarship
winner (Ben Bjorholm). Several from this group have stepped up to leadership
roles already, including Adam Baggett, our VP of Communications, Ben Bjor-
holm, our House Manager, and Scott Powell, the Academic Chair for IFC.
Many other new members have taken leadership positions on VP committees.
We‘ve recruited some talented young men that will help keep SigEp on top for
years to come.
My name is Scott Powell and I am from An-
keny, IA. My parents are Ric and Karen
Powell, and I have a younger sister, Linnea. I
am a freshman up here at UNI and I am a
mathematics education major. Just recently,
I was elected to the IFC executive board as
the Vice President of Academics/Education.
I am really looking forward to the chance to
get involved more with SigEp and the Greek
community as a whole.
I enjoy playing basketball, golf, and sports in
general. SigEp so far has provided me with a
great way to meet new people. I have really
been impressed with how welcoming every-
one has been, and how easy it was to make
friends. It really is like one big family of
brothers. I‘ve also been real impressed with
the Balanced Man Program. Now I‘m just
anxious to get involved with my new posi-
tion, and am ready to make a difference.
My name is Ben Bjorholm and I graduated
from Johnston High School before coming to
UNI. There I played football and track for
three years and worked at Perkins family
restaurant as a server. At UNI I am majoring
in accounting and I plan on getting my CPA.
I may minor in real estate sometime in the
near future.
I came to UNI not planning on joining a fra-
ternity, but then I met the guys of Sigma Phi
Epsilon through the Balanced Man Scholar-
ship and decided to join. SigEp has been
great for me so far. I met a lot of great guys
right off the bat and it has given me opportu-
nities I wouldn't have had outside of the fra-
ternity. I live in the house and I am the
House Manager. I‘m also one of our recruit-
ment chairs so get to talk to potential new
members. Sigma Phi Epsilon has been noth-
ing but the best for me and will continue to
be throughout my college career.
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F A L L B R I N G S 22 N E W M E M B E R S
N E W M E M B E R S P O T L I G H T B E N B J O R H O L M A N D S C O T T P O W E L L
Ben Bjorholm ‘07
Scott Powell ‘07
Shawn Huyser ‘00 Speaking at the BMS Banquet
We‘ve got some very high goals, and I know
we‘re going to achieve them. It won‘t be
possible without your support. Currently,
Congress is considering a bill that will allow
for contributions to fraternity housing to be
tax-deductible. It‘s passed the House and is
waiting in the Senate. When the bill‘s fate is
known, we‘ll begin our capital campaign. A
number of you have already stepped forward
and committed to contributing to the effort,
and we‘re going to need everyone‘s support.
We‘re also going to need your help with re-
cruitment. Much more so than in the past,
we‘ll be using alumni to identify incoming
freshmen the chapter should recruit, and also
to help interview our Balanced Man Scholar-
ship applicants. Your recommendations and
your assistance with the scholarship process
are crucial to our success.
We‘ve got some high goals, but when have-
n‘t we? Iowa Theta‘s been great and is go-
ing to stay great. I‘m excited to be a part of
it and I hope that after reading this newslet-
ter, so are you.
In Phi,
Dave Friederichs
Alumni Board President
Thanks for reading Behind the Red Door. I
hope you‘ve enjoyed catching up with old
friends and with the chapter!
When the alumni board came together last
September, the first thing we did was ask
ourselves ―What are we going to do?‖ After
a lot of debating, we came up with a plan to
take Iowa Theta through the next 20 years
(when we‘ll be ready to build a new house).
Our biggest priority is housing, and the
alumni board has a plan in place to make
buying 818 West Seerley a reality. Our goal
is to purchase the house in August of 2008
by raising the $100,000 down payment from
a combination of alumni and undergraduate
contributions. Once we‘ve purchased the
house, we‘ll begin plans to break ground on
a new chapter house of our own by 2022, if
not earlier. In the meantime, the board has
allocated $3,000 per year to invest in house
furnishings and improvements. Once we
purchase the house we‘ll be able to invest
even more into it.
We‘re also committed to keeping up a great
experience for you. You‘ll see three issues
of Behind the Red Door every year, at first
over email, then printed. We‘re keeping up
our alumni event schedule with homecoming
and the golf outing every year. Look for the
golf outing to turn into more of an ―alumni
weekend‖ with a lot more to do than just golf
and a lot more family-friendly. Homecom-
ing‘s going to be kept fun & simple – look
for a cookout and get-together that Saturday
night. Lastly, thanks to the great work Matt
Bremer is putting in, soon you‘ll be able to
rely on the chapter website
(www.iatheta.org) to give you all the latest
happenings with the chapter and alumni.
The undergrad chapter is focusing on 2
things: getting bigger and getting smarter,
even though we‘re hardly bad at either. By
the end of the 2004-05 school year look for
the chapter to have over 90 men and a 3.15
chapter GPA. Add to that Iowa Theta‘s con-
tinued dominance in intramurals, community
service, and campus leadership, and the fu-
ture looks bright indeed.
TH E FU TURE OF IOWA TH ETA D AV E F R I E D E R I C H S , A L U M N I B O A R D P R E S I D E N T
Behind the Red Door The Newsletter of Sigma Phi Epsilon Iowa Theta Chapter
Editor: Maren Mooney (Gamma Phi Beta„02) Managing Editor: Bob Graper (Evansville „74) Contributors: Derek Anderson „94 Clint Anderson „‟94 Lisa Bacon Ben Bjorholm „07 Matt Bremer „98 Jon Burns „99 Aaron DeJong „04 Dave Friederichs „00 Drew Groff Derek Haag „00 Matt Harris „95 Brett Hersom „95 Ryan Jones „99 Mike McCoy „98 Carter Meredith „95 Adam NaPier „02 Scott Powell „07 Chad Primmer „99 Steve Waigand „05 Craig Winter „98
Chapter Officers: President—Steve Waigand [email protected] VP of Programming—Jake Frederichson [email protected] VP of Development—Jeremy Weeks [email protected] VP of Recruitment—Jason Zylstra [email protected] VP of Finance—Dustin Lumpa [email protected] VP of Communications—Adam Baggett [email protected] Chaplain—Dave Kniffen [email protected] House Manager—Ben Bjorholm [email protected] IFC President—Josh Meyer [email protected]
Alumni Board Officers: President—Dave Friederichs [email protected] VP of Housing & Finance—Joe Mooney [email protected] VP of Relations—Bob Graper [email protected] VP of Undergraduates—Mark Ressler [email protected] Secretary—Josh Pedelty [email protected] Golf Outing—Mike Bringle [email protected] Newsletters—Carson Hattel [email protected] Website—Matt Bremer [email protected] Faculty Advisor—Carol Weisenberger [email protected] Open Director—Tom Shank [email protected]
