The Tucson Sigma Chi Alumni Chapter had an eventful year that culminated May 4 with a Senior Send-Off Celebration that honored 15 graduating Beta Phis.
Alumni chapter president Steve Schuyler presented each graduate with a plaque containing the Sigma Chi Creed. Each senior gave a short statement about their after-graduation plans and what Sigma Chi meant to them.
Another celebration highlight was the presentation of Significant Sig documents to Dr. Robert F. Acker, Indiana ’42, the retired executive director of the National Foundation of Infectious Diseases and the American Society of Microbiology. Acker lives in Tucson.
Alumni chapter meetings will resume on Sept. 15 with a sports-oriented luncheon meeting at the UA Hall of Honors situated at the north entrance of McKale Center. The tentative program includes a visit from UA athletic director Greg Byrne who will be introduced by Brother Dana Cooper, an account executive for IMG and Arizona Sports Marketing. Byrne is expected to talk about UA athletics for 2011-2012 as well as news about physical plant expansion and new media contracts.
Also on the program will be a presentation of the Sigma Chi Sports History Project, which will be incorporated into the proposed Beta Phi Chapter. We will be honoring the more than 300 lettermen, 10 All Americans and three legendary coaches who belong to Beta Phi.
In April Arizona Supreme Court Justice John Pelander was the featured speaker. He addressed the Sigs on the structure of the state court system, how it works and its relationship to federal courts and the federal government.
In February, the chapter heard from Robert Lusch, executive director, McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, in the UA’s Eller College of Management. Former Eller college students gave presentations of new businesses that they had developed.
In late November, the chapter meeting featured University of Arizona professor Hope Schau, who talked about the impact that social media are having on the consumer and the business opportunities that are being pursued by players like Facebook, Zynga Games Network, Playfish and Electronic Arts.
Also in October, the alumni chapter hosted the Homecoming celebration, which included inducting four Brothers into the Beta Phi Hall of Honor. More than 150 Brothers and their guests attended the festivities.
The September meeting featured a sports history program to kick off a campaign to identify the more than 300 Beta Phis who were lettermen at the University of Arizona. Arizona Daily Star sports columnist Greg Hansen was the featured speaker.
The chapter has 45 members who actively participate in educational and social programs during the school year. In addition, it has a successful ongoing mentoring program involving the Beta Phi undergraduates..
