Dr. Julie Wagner (Zeta Sigma Tau) Slavic sends a "Thank you to the Delta Chi Fraternity for their 5th year of volunteer service to the Johnstown Slavic Festival and for helping a Little Sister out!! Of course, starting off with a shot of Slivovitz!"
 Today is the last day to donate money to pie Phi Sigma Sigma to support their foundation for supplying under privileged kids with school supplies and scholarships!!!
Whoever donates the most money to a sister gets to pie them themselves!! Lucy Li, Features Editor, The Advocate
February 27, 2019 The fourth annual Pitt-Johnstown Ski-and-Board Club Rail Jam event has been rescheduled for March 2. According to club vice president Rachel Denning, the event was postponed to Saturday because of weather conditions. Denning said that Pitt-Johnstown used to be an old ski resort. (UPJ Greeks editors note: UPJ was never a ski resort) “(Club members) like to take on the tradition and bring people who enjoy the sport together, because it’s a really expensive sport and most people don’t get to do it together as a group.” Club treasurer Isa Lanthaler said that club members received $1,745 for banners, giveaway prizes and an ambulance in student government emergency allocations for the event. “We construct the entire park,” Lanthaler said. “Engineers are building it in (the Engineering and Science building).” She said they’re building it out of plastic pipes and a lot of wood, adding that things like heaters and a microphone were already previously owned, as well as a snow blower. She also said that Seven Springs ski resort staff are to help construct and move snow, and Pitt-Johnstown fraternity Kappa Delta Rho is responsible for the music. In order to ensure students’ safety, Denning said that all students participating must wear helmets. “Civil engineer students are building all the equipment for the trails. “All of the Pitt-Johnstown student-made features are held to a certain standard, (and) are approved by (civil engineering professor) Brian Houston,” she said. “We will have an ambulance posted on the property at all times.” Houston said his responsibility is to look at rails and check for safety. “Especially for its bend and wheel,” he said. “They absolutely are going to need helmets during the events. ”Any sports will need it, so you wouldn’t get wounded and hurt yourself with high speed.” Houston said that he was a judge for the event two years ago. “(I didn’t have any experience, but) it was amazing for me. They told me that my judgment was as good as the judges who had a lot of experience. “I’m a civil engineering professor, and I really didn’t know about Rail Jam before they picked me as a judge. “I just justified their landing-ground skill and how difficult their moves were when they were jumping from the tower, then I see how well they turned over. “This year I got asked to check safety. They built a tower last year, so they can get higher potential energy to get started,” Houston said. Although there were students drinking alcohol in previous events, Denning said that they still follow the same campus rules. “No glass bottles and underage drinking are allowed. We have flyers saying that this is a ‘substance-free event.’ “Our hope is to continue this event in the further years with everyone staying safe and having fun.” Sophomore Edward Fitzpatrick said he is participating in the event this year. “I went last year. It was pretty fun. There is danger, as it is a pretty dangerous sport. “But they made people wear helmets. Plus, they’ve been doing this for years; everybody’s experienced. And it’s really fun, so I guess it outweighs the danger,” he said. According to a student organizations report, Catholic Campus Ministry members logged 806 community service hours last semester.
The next highest count was the Cheerleading team, with 144 logged hours. No other organization had more than 100 logged hours. Campus Activities and Engagement Director Heather Hall said that some organizations, like Habitat for Humanity (in fourth with 65 logged hours), have larger-scale service events in the spring. Many clubs whose members Hall said were actively advertising and working with her on community service events did not make the top five, including the Delta Chi fraternity and the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority. Hall said Pitt-Johnstown was listed on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for 2015, the sixth time the campus community has made the list. Hall said that organization leaders should log their hours, both for their own record and for community pride. Catholic Campus Minister LaDonna McCrary said her group tries to do a service project every month, ranging from coat drives to helping teach Sunday school at local churches. McCrary said one of the things they’re working on now is taking grocery bags from a food drive and weaving mats out of them to give to homeless people. “These mats are gorgeous. We’ll take them on our mission trip,” she said. She said, to make them, group members turn a bunch of grocery bags into a ball, then knit them together with crochet needles. The mats have loops on the corners so that they can be carried across someone’s shoulders. McCrary said she plans to take group members to Camden, New Jersey, for their end-of-the-year trip this year, although they also frequent Philadelphia. “Camden has one of the highest crime rates in the U.S. It’s a little more intense than Philly.” She said students wanted to work at a wet shelter there, where those in need can come in high or inebriated and receive food and a place to sleep. McCrary said the group also hosts retreats for grade-school groups in the Cambria Room or Whalley Memorial Chapel, sometimes working with 50 to 60 kids from first grade or high school. She said anyone interested in getting involved may attend the group’s Faith Share events at 8 p.m. Tuesdays in the chapel. Cheer President Emily Kaczmarek said that many of her team’s hours came from volunteering at October’s Light the Night walk and a fall festival at Westmont’s Hilltop Elementary School. Kaczmarek said biology professor Jill Henning reached out to them about the festival. “Of course, we said ‘yes’—we love doing events like the fall festival where we get to interact with the surrounding community. “For this festival, not only did we put together a performance for everyone, but we also helped to run various activities and stayed after to help clean up everything at the elementary school.” Team members are always looking for opportunities to give back to the school and the community, she said, and will work with those who ask them to volunteer. Delta Chi fraternity Vice President Connor Krugh said that most of the group’s community service work is Johnstown-centric, rather than Pitt-Johnstown-centric. Two weeks ago, the brothers collected $340 in spare change from campus residents for a cancer research foundation. Their “Pie a Delta Chi ” events fund the same charity, and Krugh said they usually make $50 to $100. In September, the brothers acted as waiters at a bar and grill, giving out wristbands to patrons over 21 years old and cleaning off tables. Krugh said the fraternity volunteered at slapshot games last semester at the ice rinks in Johnstown and Ebensburg. “Almost the entirety of the brothers went and were helping the (hockey) tournament along,” he said. “It’s mostly older men making teams to enjoy the sport they once loved—it was great to help them have that much fun.” Krugh said that, when the weather is nicer, the brothers also clean up a stretch of highway near the Galleria mall, which they adopted last semester. He said fraternity members are hosting a recruitment night tonight which potential pledges can attend to meet and get comfortable with the brothers. Thirteen brothers are to be graduated this semester, which is almost half the membership. Krugh himself pledged to the fraternity only last semester. “We love giving back to the community. It’s a brotherhood—the brothers are all really cool, really respectful. They cherish the people who come in and care about our grades and what’s going on in our lives.” Hall, who advises Greek Life, said that service is one of the four pillars of Greek Life, along with brotherhood, leadership and scholarship.  Freshmen Delta Chi brothers Justin Gunsallis and Tyler Murray collect money from sophomore Megan Gamber. Rachel Logan, Copy Editor April 12, 2017 After a recent temporary suspension of Kappa Zeta, Pitt-Johnstown is home to only one social sorority out to four social fraternities. Finance and Administration Vice President Amy Buxbaum, also a Campus Title IX coordinator, said that there is no violation of equal opportunity for men and women. “(Pitt-Johnstown) does not organize these groups or recruit for them. We simply provide equal opportunities for both sororities and fraternities to organize on campus. “This is different than varsity athletics programs, which we actively organize and direct, which are subject to Title IX.” A memorandum from the federal Department of Education, dated May 3, 1989, noted the difference between social Greek life and professional, service or honorary Greek life. Title IX, the memo says, applies to service and honorary organization in that they may not exclude members based on gender. “Under Title IX and the implementing regulation, the membership practices of social fraternities and sororities are specifically excluded from coverage if the active membership consists primarily of students in attendance at institutes of higher education, and the fraternity or sorority is exempt from taxation under the Internal Revenue Code.” Pitt-Johnstown administrators thus do not guarantee the presence of equal Greek life opportunities on campus. Student Affairs Vice President Shawn Brooks said such matters stay on the student level, unless things go awry. According to Brooks, there have been as many as four social sororities on campus in recent years, but two have been suspended for possible hazing, and one has been removed by its national sponsor. Brooks said that those looking to organize a social fraternity or sorority on campus could connect with the national organization they wish as a sponsor, then petition the Pan-Helenic council. “It’s a separate process for recognition. It doesn’t rise to the administrative level. Our role is very limited unless things go absolutely haywire.” Currently, the sorority Alpha Gamma Delta is eligible to return to campus if they wish to recolonize, a process that takes about half a year, Brooks said. Greek Affairs Director Shaun Hemphill did not respond to attempts to contact him. The president of the remaining sorority on campus, Phi Sigma Sigma, declined comment. READ MORE: Only 1 sorority is left
Victoria Grattan, Features Editor February 24, 2016 Two student organizations, the Literature League and Sigma Tau Delta honor society, are to be working together to hold a book drive that is to raise funds to purchase books that are to be donated to the Highland Community Library along Schoolhouse Road. Ann Rea, English professor and adviser of both organizations, said that the groups are to meet Feb. 24 to go canning around campus, asking for both book and monetary donations. Students are to use the collected money to purchase additional books from the local Goodwill. They were also encouraged to donate any of their own books that they do not need anymore. “I suggested that the Sigma Tau Delta students and Literature League students – there are lots of overlaps between the two societies – might want to contact the faculty in the Humanities Division (to ask if) they could donate books, too,” Rea said. Literature League President Victoria Snyder said that they plan to purchase a variety of books for donation. “This is Literature League’s first community service project. The idea was thought of at a (Literature League) meeting,” Snyder said. “The (Highland Community Library) is in need of all types (of books), from children to adult. Anything is welcome. Depending on the books we get from donation, we will most likely purchase the other kinds.” For example, if students receive mainly textbook donations while canning, they are to purchase children and adolescent genre books from Goodwill, Snyder said. According to Snyder, there is to be a place at for attendees to donate books at Golgonooza, an upcoming theater production on Feb. 24 and 25 beginning at 7:30 p.m. Literature League and Sigma Tau Delta member Jeffrey Adams said that someone from either organization is to contact the library to ask what kinds of books they need. “We are pretty much just trying to get enough money to make a sizable book donation to the library so that the community has more literature and information readily accessible,” Adams said. Sigma Tau Delta President Jacob Williamson-Rea said that Sigma Tau Delta often does fundraising and community service, but this is the first time that they will be working with another organization. “I hope we manage to accumulate lots of books. I think it’s great, and hopefully this book drive can become a regular activity,” Williamson-Rea said. READ MORE: Clubs organize book drive to help library
A Pitt-Johnstown Fraternity was helping clean up downtown Johnstown Saturday morning. More than two dozen Delta Chi Brothers cleaned up City Hall in Johnstown. The organizer of the event says he wants to see more interaction between the city and UPJ students. The fraternity says this is just the first of a number of opportunities they would like to help out with.
See The video and more at: Fox8 WWCP  February 20, 2015
Pitt-Johnstown community members should be commended for spreading generosity across campus and throughout the Johnstown community. After Delta Chi fraternity Vice President Chris Regula had been told by Sodexo employee Vannie Zalar about her loss of three extended-family members, Regula and the brothers decided during a meeting to raise funds to help Zalar. On Jan. 20, Regula said they had raised $500 within an hour of seeking donations on campus. The brothers contributed an additional $100. Upon presenting Zalar with a $600 check, Regula said that the expression on her face almost brought him to tears because Zalar was so thankful. The support from Pitt-Johnstown community members extended to Zalar, after experiencing a tragedy, defines the kind of community we all want to live in. When we have a loss, community members provide support and succor. There has also been generosity extended to students. Student Affairs Vice President Shawn Brooks and Sodexo General Manager Victor Costlow gave money to help fund Student Government’s Winter Formal dance. Brooks said the money he advanced for the dance was money that was supposed to come from the Student Government Association’s budget. He said he prefers to see Student Government Association funds go toward funding other organizations, but also saw value in having a formal event for Pitt-Johnstown students. Student Government Association Formal committee chair Casey Ansboro said Costlow donated $500. Costlow said he wanted to help student senators, as he helps support at least one student organization, Habitat for Humanity. Brooks did not have to allocate funds for the dance and Costlow did not have to advance Sodexo funds. On Feb. 4, volunteers from St. Vincent de Paul distributed food at Greater Area Johnstown Vocational-Technical School. A Pitt-Johnstown student took coffee purchased from the bookstore for the St. Vincent de Paul volunteer food distributors. That was a good will show from volunteers in our own community to volunteers beyond us–charity for charity-givers. We thank everyone who has shown support and donated money or resources to the campus and beyond. It sometimes is the kind of place we all want to live in. READ MORE: UPJ can be that kind of place Bobby Scott, Editor-In-Chief February 20, 2015 Filed under News, Top Stories The Student Union’s Cambria Room was packed with 290 people Thursday to watch 16 male students vie for the Mr. UPJ crown. The 32nd annual Mr. UPJ Pageant hosted by the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority was a night full of talent, showmanship and etiquette on display. Junior Stephen Karel was crowned the pageant winner, representing the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority. “It is humbling to be Mr. UPJ, but it wasn’t just me,” Karel said.
It also provides support for education, philanthropy and leadership in local communities. Philanthropy is imperative when it comes to the sorority’s charitable acts. Over the past 10 years, the sorority has raised more than $2,000, according to the Pitt-Johnstown admissions’ Twitter account. It was undetermined as to whether this year’s event reached $2,000, but senior Alpha Gamma Delta Philanthropy Coordinator Amanda Mudgett said that it was the most attended Mr. UPJ Pageant held inside the Cambria Room. “We had only 250 seats available and sold around 290 tickets,” she said. “I’m really proud of all the contestants, they really did work hard and were really the best contestants we had since I have gone to school here.” The pageant started with a formalwear category in which contestants have a chance to show off charm and confidence while dressing dapperly. Participants walked out to music with Alpha Gamma Delta sisters as escorts. Next was the sportswear event based on physical fitness and included how skilled the contestants were at a specific sport. The competition included a kickboxing demonstration, a choreographed boxing match and a hurdler. After the intermission, the talent category was next in which contestants were judged on talent, performance and creativity. This event mostly featured lip syncs of popular songs. The last event was an interview in which each contestant was asked a random question. Different from years past and as requested by Vice President of Student Affairs Shawn Brooks, not only were they asked a question, but also each participant had to spell a word. That was not a bright point of the pageant as five of the 16 competitors misspelled their word. “Creativity has a lot do with how we decided who was the next Mr. UPJ,” Residence Life Director Shaun Hemphill said. Hemphill was a late fill-in on the judge’s panel for S&S Custom Designs Owner Sheryl Helsel. He, along with Programming Coordinator Amstrid Gomez and Student Life Assistant Director Jeanne Susko, chose Mr. UPJ as well as the Spirit Award and second and third place. Education Club representative Bryce Henny won the Spirit award while Panhellenic Council representative Brandon Dargay and Phi Sigma Sigma representative Mike Shields finished runner-up and second runner-up. The winner, however, was unclear, as there may have been an error in tabulating the judges’ votes. Read More "Pageant leads to controversy"
A 2014 Gallup study found "graduates who participated in fraternities or sororities are slightly more likely to thrive in all five critical elements of well-being — purpose, social, financial, physical and community — than are graduates who did not participate in fraternities or sororities." Results for the Gallup-Purdue Index are based on Web surveys conducted Feb. 4-March 7, 2014, with a random sample of 29,560 respondents with a bachelor's degree or higher, aged 18 and older, with Internet access, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and 5,137 fraternity and sorority members. The North-American Interfraternity Conference and National Panhellenic Conference partnered with Gallup for this first of its kind study.
Overall Well-Being Graduates who participated in fraternities or sororities are slightly more likely to be thriving in all five critical elements of well-being – purpose, social, financial, physical and community – than are graduates who did not participate in fraternities or sororities. Workplace Engagement National results show that 43% of college graduates who were members of a fraternity or sorority are engaged in the workplace, compared to 38% of college graduates were not members of a fraternity or sorority. Support The support that graduates recall receiving from their institution as students is also important well into their post-graduate careers. 16% of graduates who participated in fraternities or sororities and who say they had a professor who cared about them as a person, one who made them excited about learning, and had a mentor who encouraged them to pursue their dreams are emotionally attached, compared with 13% of graduates who did not participate in fraternities or sororities. Experiential Learning Similarly, graduates with fraternity or sorority affiliation and membership in college were more likely to have taken advantage of experiential learning opportunities while in college (11%) than graduates who were not members of fraternities or sororities (5%). Alumni Attachment Alumni who participated in fraternities or sororities exhibit higher emotional attachment to their school. 22% of those who were in sororities or fraternities are attached, compared with 17% who were not members of sororities or fraternities. RED MORE: Gallup Research |
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