Rush Wrap-Up
Hank Thayer ’14 and
Alex Fraser ‘14
Rush Chairmen 2012
Rush for the class of 2016 is finished at Sigma Tau as of
Wednesday August 16th. With over 100 house tours, numerous rush
activities, and great house involvement, we are excited to say that our class
is shaping up to be one the best the Fiji house has seen. Our class consists of
athletes, scholars, gentlemen, and overall well-rounded individuals that we
feel will contribute to the house the moment they move in, and embrace the
motto, ‘Not for college days alone’. Actives in the house have had nothing but
good things to say about this incoming class, and many have already become good
friends with the signees.
We would like to give our last update to the graduates as to
what went on throughout the past 8 months for rush, and what we felt were the
biggest factors in contributing to signing these guys. Once rush started in
January, we hit the ground running keeping our momentum throughout the whole
process. Coming into the beginning of the summer, we had already signed 20 young
men. This was crucial. Needing only 10 more guys for the remainder of the
summer, we became very selective to make sure that we hand picked the best 10
students for the class.
The incoming freshman class consists of people throughout
all of the state, and 3 out of state guys.
Greater Seattle area: 19 individuals
Spokane: 8 individuals
Oregon: 2 individuals
California: 1 individual
Incoming freshman for Sigma Tau Fiji
House
*In the order
in which they signed*
1. Jake Dijulio, Roosevelt
GPA: 3.7 Activities: Football, Basketball, volunteering at Seattle
Foodbanks
2. Sam Gastineau, Inglemoor
GPA: 3.8 Activities: Football, Wrestling, 2 years Running Start
Program at Cascadia Community College. During the summer he worked for his
father’s construction company .
Interests: Wakeboarding and Fishing
Major: Bioengineering
Legacy: Mat Gastineau ‘10
3. Josh Rayburn, Puyallup
GPA: 3.92 Activities: Rugby, Wrestling, Football. Accepted to UCLA
and UC Berkley
5. Mikey Sauvage, Seattle Prep
GPA: 3.8 Activities: Cross Country, Track, Football, Soccer
Interests: Water-skiing and downhill skiing.
6. Nick Scalzo, Seattle Prep
GPA: 3.55 Activities: Soccer, Summer Camp Counselor
7. Shane Kukrosky, Stadium
GPA: 3.8 Activities: Football, Wrestling, KEY Club, lacrosse, track,
Honor Society
Interests: Working out, hiking, working, was an oil technician for
eagle tire and worked as service attendant at Kia of Puyallup.
8. Niall Curley, Roosevelt
GPA:
3.5 Activities: Football, Wrestling, Nike Town Employee
Interests:
Traveling, Spent most of the summer volunteering at the Dominican Republic.
9.
Chase Klingel, Lewis and Clark
GPA:
3.7 Activities: President of KEY Club, Tennis (Lettered all 4 years),
basketball, worked for Skyhawks Sport camp.
Interests:
Going to Priest Lake, hanging out with friends, playing tennis or any sport
really, meeting new people.
Legacy:
Barkley Klingel ‘10
10.
Matt Williams, Lewis and Clark
GPA:
3.63 Activities: Tennis, football, Eagle Scout, volunteered at a hospital for
the past 2 summers.
Interests:
Plays piano for his church, table tennis, traveling
Other:
Dad is a fire chief in Spokane, mom is a nurse and his brother goes to school
at Gonzaga.
Major:
Biology. Planning on doing Pre Med
11.
Trent Robinson, Lewis and Clark
GPA:
3.52 Activities: Football (Varsity 2 years)
Major:
Business
12. Jonathan Laura, Bellevue
GPA: 3.76 Activities: Varsity golf, Boys and
Girls Club Basketball
Major: Business
13.
Jonathan Fergus, Central Kitsap
GPA: 3.85 Activities: Varsity football (3
years), varsity baseball (3 years, captain), participant in Teen Mentor Program
for school, Honor Society, ASB involvement
Interests: Snowboarding, Boating and traveling,
14. Josh Schweiterman, Central Kitsap
GPA: 3. 6 Activities: Varsity football (2
years), Varsity baseball, volunteers as much as possible as various activities,
ASB Vice President
Activities: Skiing, watching sports and
concerts, hanging out with friends.
Major: Bioengineering
15. Michael Diamond- Mercer Island
GPA: 3.5 Activities: Mercer Island Saferides,
Football, Basketball, Track
Legacy: Jon Diamond ‘86
16.
John-Michael Larson, Lewis and Clark
GPA: 3.9 Activities: State Golfer (Lettered all
4 years), Varsity football
Interests: Watching Husky Football games,
volunteering, boating, going to Gameworks
Legacies: Quinn Riley ’11, Jack Riley ’79
Major: Business Major
17. Jeff Livingston, Lewis and Clark
GPA: 3.83 Activities: Varsity football,
basketball, baseball (captain), leadership class.
Interests: Volunteered at Youth Football camps
and Susan G Komen Race for the Cure.
18. Mason Maxey, Ferris
GPA: 3.8 Activities: Varsity basketball (3
years), football, track. Planning on majoring in biology in hopes to go to
medical school. Trying out for the UW track and field team in hopes of getting
a spot for the long jump and high jump.
Other: Has two brothers. One of which is a Sig
Ep at UW and the other is 17. His dads name is Bevan and played football at
WSU. His mom is originally from France.
19. Henry Face, Kamiak
GPA: N/A Activities: ASB Treasurer
Legacy: Spencer Face ‘09
20. Jason Lee, Kamiak
GPA: 3.6 Activities: Varsity Football (2 years)
21. James Bradley, Yelm
GPA: 3.55 Activities: Plays drums for his band,
wrestling
22. Carson Fueller, Ferris
GPA: 3. 7 Activities: Varsity football (3
years), UW Track/ Field (Javelin)
23. Spencer Paisley, Bellevue
GPA: 3.7 Activities: KEY Club, Volunteering
throughout Bellevue/ Seattle at various events.
Interests: Snowboarding, attending concerts, hanging
out with friends.
24. Dehlan Gwo, Newport
Swimming, Teaches swimming yearlong
25. Alberto Gonzales, Mercer Island
Activities: Football, Track and Field
Business Major, UW Honors Program
26. Rawley Holmberg, Wenatchee (UW Sophomore)
Activities: football
Interests: Hiking, camping, white water rafting
Major: Sciences (Undecided exactly). Hoping to
get into Dental School.
27. Luke Lambert, Kamiak
GPA: 3.8 Activities: Football
Interests: Wakeboarding and Snowboarding
28. John Brian Menefee, Summit (Bend, Oregon)
GPA: 3.8 Activities: Varsity basketball and
football (3 years)
Interests: Likes to ski and play piano
29. Nicholas Nordby, Summit (Bend, Oregon)
GPA: Over 4.0 Activities: Honor society, 4
years varsity soccer (2 year captain), Student government junior/senior
representative, Student ambassador for the US 2 years running
Interests: Avid Skier
30. Joe Patton, Los Gatos (Los Gatos,
California)
GPA: 3.8 Activities: Volleyball Junior
Olympian.
Interests: Skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding
One of the reasons we were able to give so many house tours
and get in touch with so many incoming freshmen was purely due to the support
of the actives in the house and the graduate chapter (even some Fijis who
weren’t Sigma Tau!).
We know that many of the graduates have questions about
recruitment throughout the year, so we feel this email is a perfect time to
answer some of those. Here is a list of some of the most frequently asked
questions we have had throughout our time as recruitment chairs:
1.
How did you get the house involved throughout
this past 8 months?
Our goal throughout the entire rush process was to get the
house as involved as possible. The main way we did this was by thinking of new
ideas that could include many actives for rush events that other years had not
done. A few examples were taking house trips to concerts at the Gorge, to Sky
High, pitch-n-putt, and Mariners games. As rush chairs, we emphasized to the
house that the people we sign will be in our house for four years and that it
is crucial other active members meet the potential new members so that they
know the type of people that will be joining our house. During the process we also keened in on
actives that clicked well with certain rushees and used those members
consistently in the rushing of that individual.
We believe that having other members of the house stay in contact with
certain guys was a huge help.
2.
What type of individuals did you aim at signing?
Our house does not have any specific “type “ of people. We
are all well-rounded individuals that respect others and are gentlemen. We
wanted to continue that trend with this current class. The guys that we signed
showed that they are good communicators, well mannered, and respectful towards
all others in the Greek Community.
Numerous guys that we signed were athletes in high school.
As rush chairs we have noticed that those who participated in sports throughout
high school have strong work ethics, and enjoy being part of a “team”. We feel
that this will translate nicely into the fraternity. These new signees will be
very involved in the house and will want to have Fiji succeed to the best of
its ability. Each pledge will contribute the best way they can. Whether that is
athletics, academics, doing their house jobs, or simply showing respect towards
actives.
One other aspect that as rush chairs we wanted to emphasize
was the fact this house especially is not just a place to hang out with
friends. We signed individuals that are very into the “fraternity” aspect of
the house. Those who showed interest in brotherhood events, living in a clean
environment, and keeping grades up were the people that were most sought after
in the rush process. We know that lately there has been a feeling throughout
the graduate and undergraduate chapter that the house is not being respected as
much as it should be. We both agree with that and feel like these incoming
freshman will help in this transition back to the way the house should be.
3.
How many bids were given out?
A total of 31 bids were given out. This means that only one
individual that we felt would be great for the house did not accept his bid.
Luckily for us, he decided to not sign a fraternity because he is playing
football for UW this fall quarter and felt that the fraternity life may be too
high pace for his early mornings and long practices.
4.
What did the physical plant look like throughout
the summer? Was it something you felt helped in signing this class?
Huge thanks should be given to the house managers this past
summer. Alex Hoff and Jack Story kept the physical plant up to the highest
standards. We talked to them earlier in the summer and they expressed how much
they realized a clean house could help in the rush process. There were
countless times that these two knew we would be giving house tours throughout
the day and they would wake up early to make sure the physical plant was up to
par. Our renovations towards the end of the summer are also doing very well.
The house is going to look unbelievable by the time school starts.
We gave 8 parents tours of the house throughout this summer
and there was never a bad comment about the house. Countless times we were told
that our house was the cleanest they had seen… even when they were in college!
Members of this incoming class also expressed to us how big
of a deal it was that our house was clean every time they came and visited. We
feel like we were able to sign some guys because they noticed how much our
house respected the physical plant.
5.
Was there ever a lull throughout the recruitment
process?
While talking with rush chairman from previous years, we had
been told to expect a lull in the recruitment process. They described it as a
time where it was difficult to sign guys, and where there was a lack of recommendations
for incoming freshman. We are happy to say that there was no lull in the
recruitment process. We always had a surplus of rec’s coming from the graduate
and undergraduate chapter.
The way we were able to avoid a lull was due to our strategy
during rush. Our plan was to go on recruitment cycles. This entailed that we
had a group of about 10 guys at a time that were in the “cycle”. The cycle started with house tours of those
10 individuals, then it proceeded by a second time out in which we would try to
get to know the rushees on a basis further than just general information. Once
we had gotten a feel for all 10 individuals, we would break down who we felt we
wanted to have out again, and after a few more times out we would decide if
there were any guys we wanted to extend bids too. This system worked great for
us and we feel it was a crucial roll in signing the class that we did.
6.
Was there any contact with parents?
Yes there was plenty of contacts with parents. We encouraged
all of the guys we signed to have their parents out for house tours because we
know that parents can have a strong influence on where their son signs. We know
as a parent how important it would be to have their son live in a clean, friendly
environment while trying to make the transition from High School to College.
Like we said earlier, we gave numerous house tours for parents and a few of
them even hung around and took us out to lunch so they could learn more about
Fiji and how our system works. The parents were very grateful for that and we
honestly feel that after these tours, the parents have no concerns for this
upcoming year.
We have also sent out letters to parents about move in day
and what exactly their son’s should bring for the quarter.
7.
How did you keep in contact with the guys you
signed?
With social media being such a big part of high school and
college student’s lives, we made a Facebook group with all of the signees on
it. With this, we were able to keep in contact with all of the guys and keep
them updated on events that were going on for rush. This helped a lot because
rushees were able to get a sense of some of the guys we had already signed, and
they could feel out whether or not they felt they could live with them for the
next 4 years.
We however did not just communicate through Facebook. We
also made sure to keep each other accountable for calling guys that have signed
to check in personally with them and see how their summer has been and whether
they needed any help with signing up for classes, early fall start, or any
other questions that an incoming freshman may have.
8.
Were there any grad recommendations that you did
not contact?’
No, we made sure we at least got in contact with every
recommendation that was given to us. Some that we contacted had already signed
other houses, while all others were able to come out and see the house and meet
some of the actives.
Lastly, here is a little bio about all of the guys we signed
so you can get an idea of what types of people we have this upcoming year.
9.
Did you both enjoy the experience?
Yes without a doubt.
Recruitment chair is a position that we had both wanted since the moment
we signed the house and we feel very fortunate to have been given the
opportunity. Going to concerts,
paint-balling, boating, taking weekend trips, etc. all made for an exciting and
jam packed summer of fun. However, what
we hadn’t realized is how much we would learn from the experience as well. The job taught us how to make a successful
cold call, create and maintain conversation with people that have all different
interests, the importance of organization and especially communication. This was an experience we wouldn’t have
traded for anything and can’t wait to help out as much as we can next year.
McGOLDRICK, James P. II
