Tag: Community

In the News – USF in the Olympics!

While not Chi Phi-related, recent news about a USF student is certainly worthy of taking notice!  Felicia Zhang, a 20-year old part-time student at USF who is studying psychology, is going to have the prestigious honor of representing the United States at the Olympics!  Zhang and her figure skating partner, Nathan Bartholomay, will be heading to Sochi, Russia on February 1st to participate in the Winter Games.

She and Bartholomay earned their spot on the Olympic team after taking second place in the U.S. Championships in figure skating.  This placement was surprising, since the third-place team has had considerable more international experience and was expected to score higher.

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Zhang cannot wait for the opening ceremonies of the Games, which is an event she has watched time and time again over the years, and she is very excited about the prospect of competing in the Olympics.  She knows it is a longshot, since U.S. figure skating pairs rarely earn medals at the Olympics, but for Zhang, just having the chance to complete is exciting enough.

Which just goes to show – you never know who you were sitting next to while in classes at USF.  From Olympic competitors, to WWE wrestlers, to television comedians, to award-winning actresses – who knows who’ll come out of USF next?

For the full article on Felicia Zhang, check out http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/usf-st-petersburgs-felicia-zhang-heading-to-sochi-olympics/2162776

Around the Peninsula with Chi Phi – Theta Delta Chapter Serves It Up!

The Brothers of the Theta Delta Chapter of the Chi Phi Fraternity at University of Florida certainly have plenty of reasons to be proud this month.

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First, two of their Brothers were initiated into Florida Blue Key, which is University of Florida’s leadership honorary founded back in 1923.  Florida Blue Key is nationally recognized as the breeding ground of Florida’s future leaders, with such past members at Lawton Chiles, Buddy MacKay, Bill Nelson, and many others.  Chartered with the mission of developing civic mindedness, civility, and life-long learning and service, Florida Blue Key strives to achieve a level of servant leadership that not only enhances the lives of its members, but the greater community as well.  Snaps to Brothers Brandon Corsentino and Brett Freidkes for being initiated into such a prestigious organization!

Second, Theta Delta also saw three of their Brothers be appointed to positions within University of Florida’s UF Interfraternity Council.  Brother Thomas Echezabel was appointed and will serve as the Director of Information Technology; Brother Tyler Marinelli is going to serve as the Assistant Vice-President of Finance; and Brother Kevin Alagha will be serving as the Assistant Vice-President of Membership – Logistics.  It’s always great to see our Brothers take an active role in not only their Fraternity, but also in the governing student bodies in their university.  Congratulations go out to all of these young men, with well-wishes on much success in these new roles.

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Finally, in true Chi Phi tradition, the Brothers of Theta Delta recently got together to clean up their community.  These young men were not afraid to get their hands dirty as they set about clearing out debris, mowing lawns, and cleaning up playgrounds to keep the area not only looking good, but safe for the children as well.  Once again, Chi Phi makes its mark on the community and gives back of their time and effort.  Well done, Theta Delta!

Check Out the Chakett!

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The Fall 2013 issue of The Chi Phi Chakett is out!  Hopefully you didn’t put it aside without reading it, because if you did, then you missed out on seeing the Delta Zeta Alumni Association – not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES in this one issue!

On page 15, the Chakett highlights innovative ways that various Chapters and DSCN2126Alumni Associations help increase their College Excellence Funds.  Xi Delta (from the Florida Institute of Technology) uses excess housing funds, Iota Delta Alumni Association (from Indiana University) sold Kroger gift cards, and – – yes, that’s right, the Delta Zeta Alumni Association is highlighted for its first annual golf tournament!  While we didn’t quite meet the $10,000 goal mentioned in the article, the tournament was still a success, and it is definitely exciting to see our Association’s fundraising efforts mentioned for all Chi Phi to see!

Then, on the very next page (page 16), we find an article that congratulates all of the winners of the 2013 Chi Phi Scholarships.  If you look closely at that picture of the men DSCN2127who were recognized at the Congressional Awards Banquet and Scholarship Luncheon, you’ll see our very own alumnus, Brother David Ebner, who was the recipient of a Neel Scholarship!  The Neel Scholarship was created from a $250,000 bequest provided to Chi Phi by Ms. Eugenia Neel, who provided this gift in honor of her father and brothers, all of whom were Chi Phi men!  Congratulations goes out to Brother Ebner for being selected as a scholarship recipient!

And last, but certainly not least, way back near the end on page 41, you’ll see a nearly half-page picture of the Delta Zeta DSCN2129Alumni Association from their volunteering efforts at Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay.  This picture originally was shown on the Chakett online magazine, but to have it published in the print edition of the Chakett is an incredible thrill, to know that the National Office, in printing this issue, felt the DZAA’s community service worthy of acknowledging in such a way!  Snaps to Brothers Purdon, Shah, Ebner, Suarez, Millsap, Dafnis, and Holm for their volunteering efforts!

If you didn’t read the Chakett, go back and read it now – see how your Alumni Association is on the move in 2013 and get ready to get involved as we move on the even greater things in 2014!