2012 Rush Report

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 16^th. 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.