Those of you who have not tried the fine wines produced by brother Mark Pasculli 81-F, you are missing out on a great opportunity. Idaho is an up-and-coming wine region, and Mark and wife Lori are producing some of the best from their estate vineyard in Eagle, Idaho. Past Consul Shannon Patrick 03-S lives near the winery and is all set to taste with Mark. I personally tasted six different varietals and they were all world class.

You may have the opportunity to visit the winery, Rolling Hills Vineyard, in Eagle, but if not, visit Mark’s website and have some shipped. You can find him at https://www.rollinghillsvineyard.com.  

Cheers and in hoc brother Pasculli,

Mike Patton 63-S

The White Rose Memorial Scholarship Fund was created through the Fresno State Alumni Association (FSAA) on June 29, 1993.  The FSAA uses a fund manager, currently Charles Schwab, to manage the funds of dozens of endowments like ours in a manner that guarantees continuous annual income in perpetuity.

The idea for the White Rose came from the Fresno Sigma Chi House Corporation board members.  The original goals were to “encourage academic excellence,” and by including only in-house brothers for the funding pool, to “create long-term financial stability for the House Corporation.”  As we all know, the House Corporation is charged with maintaining our most important icon at Fresno State Sigma Chi, the Chapter House.

On December 27, 2016, the Fresno Sigma Chi Endowment was created, also through the FSAA.  It had the same goals as the White Rose, and although the university will not  allow us to combine the two endowments, our Endowment Board treats them as one.

Our scholarship program began to reach critical mass in 2018 when we were able to award a total of $12,000 to six in-house brothers.  Brothers continued to donate to our Endowment, and this year we had enough income to award a total of $40,000.

The Chapter House was built for 41 brothers to live in, all in two-man rooms with the exception of the Consul’s room.  Nowadays it is uncommon for siblings to share bedrooms, and the same is true for our live-in brothers.  Although the real capacity is reduced to 20, the House Corporation is strong financially and the House is in pristine condition.  Also, for the last several years Fresno Sigma Chi has had the highest GPA of all fraternities on campus, and has exceeded the all-men’s average.  We accomplished our two original goals.

But there were unintended consequences.  During the last four years, the percentage of live-in brothers who were scholarship awardees has grown to be 75% which means brothers who are serious about academics are occupying the House and influencing the behavior of other brothers.  Also, word about Sigma Chi’s scholarship program has spread to the local high schools, and it is being used as a rush tool.  Our investment in our undergraduate brothers through scholarships has paid off handsomely.

Our Celebration of Brotherhood was a tremendous success on Saturday April 30, 2022.

Thank you to our Celebration of Brotherhood (coined by Ron LaRocca 61-F) Committee. Also, Don Beauregard 62-S, Norm Bishop 77-F, Jim Calandra 60-S, Brandon Cohrs 98-F, Chris Cole 82-F, Brad Fischer 78-S, Tony Flores 56-S, Marc Jason 81-F, Rich Klopfstein 74-F, Tom Kusaka 79-F, Dusty Lacefield 12-F, Ron LaRocca 61-F, Sam Mann 91-S, Dan O’Brien 61-F, Mike Patton 63-S, Bill Robinson 70-F, Mark Scott 69-F, Bill Van Skike 78-F and Zack Worden 11-F.

1960s Era

The short program featured a welcome by Tony Flores and a letter of congratulations from 72^nd Grand Consul Tim Sanderson, WESTERN 1985. Proclamations presented by Norm Bishop from the State Legislature, County of Fresno and City of Fresno. Presentation of the Significant Sig Award to Bill Smittcamp, 73-F by Significant Sig Jeff Burnside, Associate Director of Development of the Sigma Chi Foundation.

1970s Era

Brad Fischer presented Semi Century Sig certificates to David Arakelian 72-F, Bruce Quan 72-F & Kyle Stephenson 72-F. A new alumni chapter award, Pinnacle Award for the highest achievement was presented to Mike Patton. A letter of memories of Sigma Tau by Rodger Jensen 52-T was read. We closed the program with the singing of the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi to the Sweethearts and other women in the audience.

1980s Era

The Fresno Sigma Chi Endowment Board awarded $2,000 scholarships to the following Fresno Sigma Chi undergraduate brothers: Trenton Benevedes 20-F, Christian Cruz 20-F, Will Jacobs 20-F, Luke Karagozian 20-S, Bassel Khoury 21-F, Coopers Lilles 21-F, Logan Mann 20-F, Anthony Rojas 21-F, Navid Sadavi 21-F, Zaid Srouji 22-S, Matthew Tatum 20-S, Payton Thomason 21-F, Austin Tuell 21-F and Trey Wood 20-F. 

We are told our endowment is the largest of any Sigma Chi alumni chapter in North America. We now have $2.250,000 donated or pledged with the ultimate goal of reaching a total of $3,000,000. The scholarships we give to our Active Chapter brothers not only encourage academic excellence and living in the Chapter House, but also provide for the long-term financial strength of our House Corporation. Living in the Chapter House provides the opportunity for brothers to learn leadership and social skills, and to form life-long bonds of brotherhood, all of which may only be possible for students today by being members of a fraternity or sorority.

Brother Karagozian Receives Simi Scholarship

The Fresno State Alumni Association scholarship committee announced that Luke Karagozian (20-S) was awarded a $1,600 scholarship for the 2022/2023 school year from the Dante Simi 58-F Endowment.  Luke is a straight-A student.