MONTANA STATE OBTAINS CHARTER

Bryan Vadheim, Montana State '12

The brothers of the Montana State University chapter recently regained their charter at a banquet at Montana’s historic Gallatin Gateway Inn on Saturday, October 16. Thirty-five undergraduate members and their dates attended the reception, along with more than 40 alumni and guests. Among them were distinguished alumnus award recipients and Montana Beta AVC members Frank Butterfield, Southern California ’83, and Steve Liebmann, Montana State ‘74. Grand President Garry Kief, Southern California ’70, joined Montana Beta as the installing officer for the occasion. Chapter Services Director Michael Repasky, Ohio State ’08, and the Regional Director Trent Patterson, Wichita State ’10, from the Headquarters staff also attended.

Montana Board of Regents Chairman Steve Barrett preceded the chartering ceremony with the keynote address. Excitement ran high during the ceremony. Vice President of Programming James Pallardy, ’13, commented, “The chartering banquet was an amazing experience. I felt like a kid in a candy store as Garry presented the seal, the flag, and finally the charter.”

Montana State’s SigEp chapter was first founded in 1961. It helped lead and shape Greek life on the campus for nearly 25 years. After an unsuccessful recolonization attempt in 1994, Headquarters staff decided to give Montana Beta another try in 2002. From the outset, the chapter strove to be different, and early members chose to keep all SigEp events alcohol-free, a tradition that continues today. Montana Beta has also excelled academically, reporting the highest GPA of any fraternity on campus for seven of the past nine semesters. With 36 brothers, membership is among the highest on campus, and Montana Beta has claimed many recent intramural championships. Undergrads attribute part of their success to the chapter’s facility. The new building on Montana State’s Greek Way has proved to be an incredible asset to the chapter, and was the recipient of the 2010 Chapter Home of the Year award at last year’s Carlson Leadership Academy.

Now, after a long rebuilding process, the chapter is extremely excited to be Montana Beta again, and is focused on climbing new heights. AVC President Bill Schell, Montana State ’97, noted, “We’re looking forward to the new challenges that come with our new beginning as a chapter.” Goals to further improve academics, involvement, manpower, service and brotherhood abound. Plans to become a Residential Learning Community are already underway as well.

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