Welcome welcome welome happy Founders Day happy Founders Day and I say it again happy Founders Day my name is brother Terrence hes I am alumni Faris State University data data chapter we extend a hearty welcome to everyone this evening brothers from FIS State alumni undergraduates Brothers in the state of
Michigan Brothers to and far Brothers internationally also we’ like to acknowledge any members of Zeta 58 who may be joining us this evening our sister sori as well as if there is any officer state officers Regional officers as well if if there is any guests or family members any vendors or suppliers
We extend a welcome to you this evening and we thank you for being in attendance for our 50th Anniversary meeting meting in conjunction with our Founders Founders Day celebration in keeping with all good and perfect things ID like to turn the floor over to brother Kenny Hopkins to lead us
In a word of prayer brother Hopkins let’s pray God we thank you for this day we thank you for allowing us to come together to bask in your presence to spend time with one another we are so eternally grateful that you uh that you blessed us with three brothers 110 years
Ago oh God uh our father ing fathers a Langston Taylor Leonard F Morris and Charles I brown and you gave them the mindset to come together and to start this organization that stands firmly on brotherhood scholarship and service and to this day God we thank you for what
You’re doing in our great organization we thank you for everyone that’s on this line tonight those that are uh here on tonight those that are in route uh brothers and sisters we are so mindful that it is because of your grace and because of your mercy that we are here
On this night so God in the further of this meeting you just allow us to move forward with the business of five Beta Sigma we pray that everything we say will be done decently in order and that you would get all the praise and the honor and the glory it is in the
Matchless name of your son Jesus the Christ that we pray amen amen amen amen thank you thank you thank but just want to acknowledge everyone you’ve heard from Brother Kenny Kenny Hawkins you’ve heard um of course for myself you have brother Steve Waller one of the founders
Of Z Thea brother Kevin Lewis also a member of Z theer brother Kenny pulm and there’s also brother Jimmy Davies these individuals will be partaking in our Zoom meeting this evening so just want to give out their acknowledgement just briefly we talk about Founders Day 110
Years ago uh today uh as Kenny kind of alluded on the University of Harvard University um in Washington DC our lustrous found the fathers came together for the higher ideas of scholarship and service we give our mission we playay tribute to those Brothers Again most
Brother a Taylor l f Morrison CH I brow without them there would be no us next we have a musical selection from the director of the Southeast region Brother Richard L Boon Founders Day Tribute happy Founders Day Brothers today we celebrate a blessing that came on January 9th 1914 on the campus of Howard University our three founders taught us the truth about Brotherhood I’m going to tell you about it today a no mountain heart Ain no f low Ain no River wide enough brother if
You need me call me no matter where you are no matter how far don’t worry brother just call out my name I’ll be there in a hurry don’t you yeah no know oh they keep froming my brother I found with brother see so I tell you you
Can always come me Brothers my we made out to be there when we’re needed some way somehow t a oh to keep me froming my brother no wind no wind no Bra St brother brother conscious and we get trouble s for me oh brother Brotherhood is alive way down in our heart even if we M if you ever need help I’ll be there just as I can brother to keep me from Keep Brother found I want is in numbers three I high which soon became a part of everything I’m your brother I’m your brother just call me I’ll be there no mountain you let know I’ll be you Oh oh Lord all right all right all right hey ni the director of the Southeast region Brother Richard EL boom for the founders day contributing musical selection next we will have have find the lost Sigma brother and that will be led by Brother Jimmy L Davies brother Davies take it away good evening
Everyone on our 110th Founders Day and uh a few months ago brother Hoskins and brother Haj just reached out to me and reminded me or told me about the 50th anniversary of our chapter and the celebration that’s being planned and so we started talking I started talking to
Brother hajes about lost brothers and we were wondering like what happened to brothers so and so what happened brother you know so and so and so we thought well since founders day was coming up why don’t we use that as a time to re reconnect reunite reminisce with
Brothers and try to find some of those lost brothers and then we realized you know it’s not just a Zeta Theta chapter issue but every chapter over time loses track of some brothers and so that’s why we open to up to all the brothers no matter where they may be and then the
Other thing is that every chapter has an anniversary and so we may learn from the other brothers what they’re doing for the anniversaries and they may learn from from our Zeta Theta chapter anniversary and so we start putting the word out on social media an email blast
To identify lost brothers and try to get reconnected so we can celebrate our 50th chapter anniversary and so one of the things we start doing is start sending out email blast and I just use these tips as ways to find a lost brother so you can utilize social media in fact
That’s how brother Hoskins found me I believe on social media on Facebook LinkedIn Instagram you can reach out to mutual friends and other Sigma Brothers check alumni directories uh another way to find lost Brothers is reach out to the national headquarters see where they may be uh a member what chapter they may
Be a member of now contact the University’s alumni office for any information they may have on the whereabouts of lost Brothers or join any online groups or forums specifically created for Fraternity of loveed ey you can search online directories like there’s online white pages that you can actually search for
Uh information about lost brothers and then you can contact alumni chapters in different cities or regions so just one of the things we sent out using professional networking platform so if a brother is say an engineer check with some of those engineer uh organizations to see if they may be connected and then
What we did is we actually set up a page www.ind sigma.com to help us find lost sigmas for our chapter reunion but it could be for any chapter reunion and so when you go to that website it fills up this this form very simple form where
You put in your name first name last name your contact information and who are you looking for and we don’t make any guarantees but we’ll just kind to want to reconnect with lost brothers and then the last thing I was going to say is that during this reunion I’ve been
Seeing some names come through that I haven’t seen literally in decades that registered for this reunion um so I’m I’m hoping that the chapter will agree to I think we should do this each year to just try to reconnect with lost Brothers on each founders day so that’s
That’s my presentation for uh buy a lost Sigma brother thank you than you so much brothers fantastic a great idea and it’s something that we can share with the multitude of Brothers um great work uh brother Davies um now I’m going to flip over and um talk about Z data chapter
History and have our Founders one of our Founders brother Steve Waller pretty much take it from here go right ahead brother Waller thank you brother H appreciate you man um for those of you you all that know me well you know I’m told them at a loss of words uh but when
I think about how we got started almost 50 years ago uh in many ways it leaves me speechless uh we were a chapter that in many ways was not meant to be and I say that uh for this reason um there was one brother on campus and
And we sh ever forget his name name is Dennis Weeden um he had transferred to Fair State University or Fair State College back in the 1970s from gamma Iota chapter at Wayne State University uh and he was holding it down he was a solo brother on the campus uh from about
1970 uh until we arrived there in 1973 but but but I say we almost weren’t because there were several of us from Flint Michigan who were high school teammates and all opted to go to Faris State University uh to play football uh we had an idea that we were gonna start
Our own thing uh as a matter of fact um in my Minds I can see a standing up against the wall at the old ranking Center and we had on these orange t-shirts and our our first name was the skull Brothers SK l l and we had these
White skull and crossbones across the shirt and and luckily we didn’t we didn’t follow through with that idea because it wasn’t a very bright one at the time but our first semester ends we all go home uh after the quarter break and it just so happens that myself Robert
Harrison Timothy P the lake Glenville we all went to a sigma party over at the University of Michigan Flint and we just happened to encounter a bunch of our former teammates who were year or two older than us uh who had gone to places like Michigan State uh
The University of Michigan and they were affiliated with Epsilon me chapter at the University of Michigan Flint and we watch them we watch them turn the place out and it just so happens that Ronald Harrison the older brother Robert Harrison uh was the chapter president of zet Epsilon chapter at Eastern Michigan
And literally within 20 minutes uh converted all of us uh and so we go back to feris uh as a matter of fact in early December of 1973 and we encountered Dennis Weeden so weed was a very charismatic uh brother uh matter of fact for those of
You that are musicians you may know that name uh he is a left-handed guitar player uh who has toured with a a plentitude of people but he summoned us all to his room on the third floor of um Ward Hall there were 25 of us and imagine
25 big strong Brothers huddled in one dormatory room and so that night we all started this is I’m going to say early December of 1973 we started on a journey that lasted 16 weeks and three days so very quickly the numbers Windle down from 25 uh to eight and we won’t discuss as
To why but I think for some of us who are around in that area we understand why but the bottom line is simply this uh on April 6 1974 there were eight of us left and um we actually constituted the charter line and I think the thing that makes me
Proudest is that we was the only brother on campus and we conducted ourselves like pledges of five beta signal fraternity uh did things decently in order well respected by the campus uh we were not chartered on that day April 6 1974 actually our Charter date is actually September 14th of
1974 um and what what made that day amazing was the fact that we had never seen a National officer before and it just so happens that Meredith The Honorable Meredith B Jackson uh who was ntional second vice president at that point in time and also state director uh personally got the charter
From the late Dr William door brought that to the campus of fair State University uh summoned all the brothers the eight of us there uh into the office of Dr the late Dr lean Spangler uh and he presented that Charter and he admonished us to protect
The good name of 5 Beta Sigma uh fraternity and to thrive and I want to believe almost 50 years later we have done that um I would like to believe that the that Charter line uh presented themselves well uh to the point that we were able to Garner a couple of really
Significant lines uh first of all were The Untouchables uh right behind them was and I always will say this this is the line that made us great and took us into the leadership slot uh that was Winter Madness 10 Brothers on that line and from there we continue to thrive
Greatly um it it has been a phenomenal phenomenal experience uh to watch that chapter Thrive um right now I have a son that’s a cap Alpha side daughter that’s a Delta and one that’s about to finish Delta and the women they encounter uh talk about the legend of Zeta Theta chapter in good
Ways very very good ways but the bottom line is simply this uh we are literally three months out from celebrating 50 years and as an 18-year-old I never dreamed that 50 years later I would be sitting amongst my peers and beloved brother Brothers um and see this thing come to
Pass but but I am grateful so very grateful for the friendships the Brotherhood that have recuited to me over time and that we’ve shared with one another um I’m also a life member of five Beta Sigma and this has just been an incredible ride for me um as I set my
Affairs in order and put my papers together I I tell my children that here’s a list of people you need to give to be at my funeral when that day comes and and that list are full of brothers from Zeta chapter and other brothers from around the Great Lakes region I saw
A old colleague of mine Al elim on the phone on the line earlier and I think that Al was perhaps a state director of Ohio many years ago uh as Zeta Theta was evolving um but again Zeta chapter was a phenomenal chapter and I think we we
Grew very very quickly because of the stewardship of the late Dr Chester Riley who was formerly the um Regional director of the great laks region and his associate Regional uh director um brother Clarence Johnson um I will never forget the day that that big giant Cadillac that
Brother Riley uh drove pulled onto the campus of Faris State University I didn’t know whether to be terrified or whether to celebrate because out of that car stepped a 6 fo8 inch man uh who just simply said I’m just here to check on you and and having that kind of
Supervision that that that type of wisdom and advice given to us uh is what made Z Theta uh kind of Trapped of the Still Standing almost 50 years later thank you all for letting me just share a couple of Snippets thank you brother waller for those kind words and hey as I look
At uh all brothers and attendance to this meeting you all are good and it’s just good to see you and we look forward to seeing you in April but we thank you for your attendance uh at this particular point we’re gonna have a promotional video in reference to the
50th Anniversary go ahead and take it away brother Dave Sigma zet Theta we are hosting our 50th Anniversary here on the grounds of State we’re going to do black alumni weekend so it’s one of the livest weekends that you’re going to have at Fair State everything from comedy shows to uh black thae Affairs to prayer
Breakfast you name it it’s going to be one of the livest weekends that you want to see here at Fair State excited about getting together uh April 26 to the 28th uh just to love on each other to tell lies and good stories us even though with the founders
Had nobody ever pledged this organization how big would I feel so you new guys new sisters you’re just as important as the first line because without each other we will be nothing and much love to you all Ferris State University chapter 5 S fraternity corporate was was a good thing yeah
We’re a family here Zeta Theta but then we also bring in our children and our spouses as well so it’s a big family make sure everybody comes here April of 2024 we need a we need to have a solid representation what it meant for us to be
Here all right all right thank you for that I know some of you brothers look at that campus it ain’t what it used to be when you were there at this particular point I want want to pretty much kind of bring in um brother Lewis Brother P
And then also again brother Waller just to talk about the registration the souvenir booklet and just the anniversary celebration and a number of other particular things go ahead Brothers take it away okay I’ll uh I’ll go ahead and get started hey U I want to Echo what what
Brother H just said it is so exciting to see so many brothers on um on the line with us and I think about I heard Steve talk about history you know how far we’ve come who would have thought 50 years ago when we when the chapter stood
Up that we find oursel having a a meeting from everybody’s home no matter where we were in the country on the on a computer screen or on the telephone so how much things have changed and uh how much uh um things are going to change even more um in terms of what we’re
Doing right now for the last about six eight months there’s been a a committee of former uh alumni and active members of the uh Zeta Theta chapter who’ve been planning a very exciting weekend for us to celebrate our 50th Anniversary up at the feris State uh feris State
University um the dates for that are going to be April the 25th through the 28th of uh of this year April 24th and all of the all of the events will be held at fah State uh at on the campus of fah State University so what I’m going
To do I’m G to I’m going to walk you through what it is we got planned over those few days then I’m going to tell you how you can support uh that event first of all on that Thursday the 25th When we arrive up there for those who
Get up there on that Thursday between our graduate advisers who you’re going to hear from a little bit later and the undergrad chapter we’re going to be doing a an kind of like an adopted school program with the school that uh up in feris that uh that the uh that the
Chapter has taken on and taken some some responsibility for trying to bring those young people up through the education system that’ll be on Thursday evening on Friday Friday the 20 Friday the 26 we have registration and checkin on the campus of the university and um thanks to brother pulam we’re able to secure
Blocker rooms up there over that over that weekend and I’m sure he’ll talk about that in a minute so we have registration and checkin at The Host Hotel up in Big Rapids uh where we also have a hospitality suite that we can come and check in and see each
Other what we have tenably on the schedule as well I think some you who’ve been up to pris before they’ve got a Jim Crow Museum some of us have never seen it before but we’re going to try and arrange for us get transportation from The Host Hotel over to the Jim Crow
Museum so us to go over there and experience that uh that that museum I’ve never seen it before but I’ve heard some tremendous things about it going into that evening we got a what what appears to be a very fun night it’s going to be a night of comedy and spoken word so
We’ll be there um we’ve got a series of comedians we got a series of poets and spoken word folks that will uh that will bring in and open up our our activities for us right after that at at at be we’re going to have reception and and a dance for
Those who who still do those types of things who still dance but they’ll close out our Friday our Friday night sadly we got we got a pack day we’re gonna open up Saturday morning with a with a with a picnic a sigma picnic at the picnic our plan is to have a step
Show where we have the undergrad brothers and whoever else can particip whoever interested participate having a step show as well during the course of of that picnic um from the picnic we’re going to transition back we have be back at the hotel at the hospitality room and then
On the big thing is on a Cornerstone of this weekend’s activity is going to be u a black tii formala fair fair being held on the campus it’ll be a formal sit down dinner uh the activities that we’re going to have a full program and during the course of that program we’re going
To have presentations we’re going to be honoring some some uh some brothers we going to have a series of presentations right now our ten keos speaker is going to be the president of fair State uh University uh President Bill pink what makes Bill prink significant he’s the very first the very first black
President of our University Fair State University um so we’re pretty excited about that we’re still working in the arrangements for that another key part of that we’re going to have entertainment provided by an acclaimed musical artist uh he’s also a dove nominee um his name is brother Lucius uh
Lucius Hoskins again he’s an Acclaim artist and coincidentally he’s also the son of one of our chapter members one of our fellow alumni I’ve heard since I didn’t know about him but since I’ve heard his me I heard his music I’m so excited to hear what he can what he can
Deliver we talked to him on on the other night thanks to brother uh brother Hoskins and he’s committed so we’re we’re we’re setting ready to go Saturday is going to be a pack day so you got to put your running shoes on we’re GNA have
A lot going on but after you get your running shoes off you got to get that formal Affair in place that formal attire in place because it’s gonna be a beautiful night uh we’ll close that out by having a a reception Follow by dancing dancing for those that uh that
Still dance that way and then on Sunday on Sunday the 28th this we be closing out uh this is where we bring ourselves together it’s going to be a prayer breakfast that we’re going to be hosting that prayer breakfast is also going to allow us an opportunity to talk about
The brothers that we that are no long longer with us those that we have lost along the way from when Zeta Thea started in 1975 1974 to where we are in uh some 50 years later because not all of us are here so we want to use that
Time to remember and commemorate those brothers that are no longer with us but are that we share that time with and then that’s when we’re going to be be wrapping up you know I don’t know about you guys you know I made this 50 year I
Don’t know if I’m gonna make the next 100 year anniversary if I do you guys may not be want to be around me but uh but this is going to be special and I think it’s important that we be there so how can you support this and that’s probably what everybody’s uh what
Everybody wants to know first of all we want you to be there we’ve got registration is now open for you to register to come and attend we’re asking right now if you register right now in advance between now and January 31st if you register right now for that whole packet of activities and
Also a registration packet we’re going to be um that that the cost to attend is going to be one uh $200 for the entire weekend’s work of activities to include black ta and everything you’ll get everything that’s part of that uh that package $200 a person and then that if
You if you do it after the 31st of January it’s going to go up to $250 uh a person uh to to attend but the first thing I want you to do is register me first thing we want you to do is to be there you know the important thing about
Making this thing successful is that we got to have us there um uh to make that successful uh the next part of U of of this is we’re going to be having a souvenir program a commemorative limited edition souvenir program that you can you can put your
Put your line pictures in there you can put your business in there you can put your corporate stuff in there this program is going to be limited 50 year anniversary with anything that you want to put in there everybody will have an opportunity to to to put something in
The book and and that’ll be a problem of the registration packet as well but those ads are going to be available and I you’ll have we’ll let you know within the next within the next seven days how you can go about purchasing an ad in in a souvenir program and then lastly you
Know for those who just want to sponsor something to sponsor the event some of some of us have already donated to get us started to get us kickstarted on this uh with in in this event if you had a wherewithal in the means to do so we’re we’re encouraging
Brothers to sponsor something whatever it is it could be $50 $100 you know five you know $500 whatever weighs on your heart to make this thing successful uh while we’re up there one of the things you want to do in term in terms of leaving there when we leave there on
That Sunday the 28th of April we want to here’s what we envision right now on that black tire fair on Saturday night that Saturday 27th we want to present a big check to the president of Faris state University from the brothers of five Beta Sigma we want to make that
Very generous check our goal is make that give him that big check personally from us we have to continue and establish our Legacy at at at feris uh so sponsorship is also there before we get off the line today for those who don’t have registration information for those of you who don’t
Have U um ball book information and for those you who don’t know how to sponsor we can get that information to you one of our biggest challenge is that how do we get in touch with Brothers we don’t have a lot of brothers email addresses we don’t have a lot of brothers contact
Information as Jimmy talked about earli brother DAV talked about earlier communication communication is going to be key we got to figure out how do we reach out to those almost 170 or so brothers that they came through Z th chapter over the world we got to get the
Word out to them so before we hang out before we uh before we conclude tonight um we’ll get you all that link information and by the same Tok we like to get all your contact information we can keep this line of communications going over these next few
Days you know um brother HJ AB that if anybody has any questions I’ll be on I’ll hang around after we’re over if I need to answer any questions all right thank you brother Lewis um it’s definitely important that ay everybody register um as soon as possible look at
Making contributions to the event as you know brother Lewis said um we may not be around to see the 100s but the fact of laying eyes on you guys in April is very important and as I even on the screen now you know you kind of get a little bit so we definitely
Look forward to returning to the yard in April um brother at this point um we was going to have some words from the undergraduate Brothers but I think they have an event that’s going on on the campus at the University right now which you know is understandable so I’m going
To yield the floor to brother pulum just talk to you further about the 50th anniversary and probably even some of the things that have going on at Ferris with the undergrad chapter brother Ken well happy Founders Day to the gentlemen of five Beta Sigma fraternity Incorporated the true Brothers of fire and
Brimstone uh it is a privilege to sit here before you today and just give you some information want to tell you about the undergraduate chapter that we have right now my current position I am a cgraduate advisor my partner is uh brother John Adams who we affectionately
Call Brother Smurf Smurf might be on the call but um this is my second year as graduate advisor of Affair State we came into it we had seven brothers we brought in seven brothers seven strong Brothers uh onto the chapter we lost two of them at the end of the year due to
Graduation uh Von Johnson and Deontay Reed V Johnson went on to be uh an engineer he’s doing some engineer work in the city of Detroit and Deontay Reed who is now a social studies teacher uh in mosan uh Michigan but we still have five brothers that’s going on strong we
Got three seniors and we have two sophomores uh fairis State Zeta Theta we won uh chap the largest chapter undergraduate chapter uh in the state of Michigan as you know uh you may not know uh Greeks have not been as popular as they used to be coming out in the 70s and 80s
And the 90s and so uh it’s a big uh big privilege for us to have seven brothers that have came in now with five and we are approaching uh another intake hopefully this particular semester uh with those five brothers we have uh a brother named Malik gasama who
Won highest GPA of all the undergraduates he had a three 3.91 so that’s the kind of representation that we have here at Fair State very Scholastic brother um uh has a actually African descent but it’s one of the coolest Brothers you ever meet right there but leading on to
That Zeta Theta uh has continued a great legacy uh since 1974 Zeta Theta has one of the highest graduation rates on the campus of fair state right now by male Greeks and so that’s the problem we have as a Theta keeping Brothers we keep graduating them as they come on in but I
Think that’s good news and that’s a good problem and we’re going to keep that tradition going on uh as brother hajes uh let you guys know uh the brothers have an event on campus tonight they definitely wanted to be on but they had a previous event that they signed on to
They are educating the campus on Sigma that’s what they doing right now they are celebrating founders day they are letting the whole campus know the great news about our three uh outstanding honorable fathers who started this particular chapter and they’re telling them about Brotherhood scholarship and service and so they’re moving on they’re
Doing what they have to do for Sigma uh but I know that you guys will meet them soon if you haven’t met them uh they’re looking forward to meeting you at the 50th uh as I said earlier our first year we were about rejuvenating the chapter
We brought in two lines that brought us Seven Brothers uh now we’re down to five but we have some guys that are in interested in our chapter right now and we are looking at intake this particular semester so we’re looking at going to the double digits and that’s a good
Thing because where there’s numbers there’s power uh and we can continue to move on the great names uh in this chapter um I guess as I close right here I want to say that I’m just so proud of this chapter uh I’m just so proud to be a
Part of it if you haven’t met me again my name is brother Kenneth pulam uh I am a a 1992 initiate came in of a line of 10 one of the largest lines at Faris state only one that tied us was Winter Madness we still think we got the edge
On them and I represent the number eight so I represent the number eight right here me and my brother Steve Wilder we eights eights don’t come they they hard to come by right there so uh we we are definitely uh you know the seeds of our
Line but uh I am happy to say that even in bringing in these undergraduates and being a graduate advisor uh I brought in two sons in Zeta Theta you know my first son uh was on the line in 2013 he’s a proud member of Zeta Theta
And uh graduated from feris and is uh working for our company right now in Detroit and I have my youngest son who’s actually attending FIS right now his name is Kanan pulam and he’s an IT Major and he’s a sophomore so you know feris
Has uh I mean five the sigma has done a lot for me uh coming up and now was spreading on to my family I mean it’s the proudest moment uh that I could ever think of that two of my sons my blood my flesh my bone would come through my
Particular chapter at Fair State uh enjoy FAA Sigma so uh as they say you know fairis we doing just fine Sigma is moving on our cause is speaking is speeding on its way and we are spreading the good news and I can’t wait for you guys to meet those Brothers uh when you
See them in April they’re going to be excited they’re going to be on fire and we’re going to have a good time that weekend so that is the current state of affairs affir State and uh I thank you guys for letting me speak it’s just an honor today thank you brother H just
Before we move along can I offer one final comment in a segment you know again it is a wonderful thing to hear all that all the brothers have said thus far uh we need your support to make this work no two ways about that uh we’ve had 12 men plus a few more
That have been driving this thing for almost over a year now and it has been a labor of love uh certainly many many prayers have been offered uh I’m sure that tonight uh several of us will either commit or recommit to doing more to make this 50th anniversary
Celebration happen but but I think what is what what is something that we all need to consider is the power and presence we need you to be there uh and I think this hits home unfortunately and almost sadly when you attend the funeral of a brother that was
A former member of this chapter uh such as my S of late Glen Beal uh I hadn’t seen Brothers in years and all of a sudden as we were sending dog into the Omega chapter in The Glory uh there were people there I hadn’t seen in decades but but really this was about
Memories this is about relationships this is about all the principles that we stand on as men of 5 Beta Sigma fraternity and so again continue to pray for us please offer us your support your financial support but even more importantly we need you to be
There the 25th to the 28 in Big Rapids Michigan all right thank you thank you the C also brother Steve hey just just add a little levity heard brother Ken talk about when he cross well since we both about that across April 7th of 1979 at 9:20 p.m. so just want to throw
That in there I’m sure we all can relate to that but it it is good sitting here looking at your face or just your names on the screen and it would be even much more greater when we um invade the yard in April uh we got a little segment here
That we call what say you this is an opportunity for us to RI a miss you guys have listened to us and now we’re g to kind of open up our chat and allow you to say some words uh we’re GNA kind of keep it at
30 60 seconds you know if you kind of go over that you probably here ding ding ding ding ding but here’s an opportunity for you just to share some thoughts about the anniversary uh about you know Sigma just being on your heart because again without you there would be no us and we
Appreciate your presence so at this point I’m gonna turn it over to the controller who will release uh the mute so that you guys can um add comments and say what’s on your heart yes anyone can now speak and we also put the link to the anniversary registration is in the
Chat yeah I’m brother Al elim I crossed 5 April 75 so uh and at Epsilon Omron we just celebrated our 50th anniversary in 2022 and I just wanted to uh compliment you you know when you’re planning this you never know excuse me if you’re on the right track but from what I listened
To your program um having it during black alumni weekend was a smart move to do we also did a comedy show that we uh we had brother Walter Campbell and Sor Nicole blue were our two comedians that we uh had for our comedy show and that
It was free for the community to attend which was a big hit um and I think it’s very important that brother Waller mentioned that you guys were going to recognize the deceased brothers that have come through your chapters that was probably one of the highlights activities during our session
Very emotional but it was nice to remember because you know there’s an old African proverb that says you know our ancestors never really die until there’s never someone around to speak their name so as long as we honor them and remember them there somewhat with us uh throughout the whole
Program and you put out the ad that you want Brothers to uh do your program about names and contacts and information we did that too but also we charged the undergraduate chapter on campus then to collect that information so our program is a it’s an electronic program so Brothers can keep keep contact
Information updated and those kind of things and that’s the charge of our local chapter on on campus Because for them as they are going through things they need to know who they can contact for assistance and help and those kind of things so if you haven’t thought
About that publish in your program but maybe you may want the undergraduate chapter to uh keep that information and then they can keep it updated and therefore there’s a link for support and those kind of things and then uh that helps too with getting those of us who left campus 50 years ago
Somewhat engaged and more willing to come back and then to contact and the last thing I’ll leave leave you with you talked about you want to give the president a big check what we did to make a financial impact and to support our education program we established a uh an endowment scholarship program
Program that we worked with the U the alumni office and then the the schools um you know I forget the correct name office that’s in charge of uh recruiting for scholarships and that kind of thing so we had a matching endowment it took us to us we had to come up with u
$25,000 to establish but then uh the school match for every dollar we weighs the school put in a Dollar too so we were we were in a fortunate position then that we had uh five brothers and a couple of Sor that contributed you know thousands of the dollars so we were able
To meet the threshold and then so it’s an ongoing thing it’s not only that we were able to you know the check we were able to leave was this 25,000 endowment scholarship fund that’s now part of the University’s normal uh recruitment program for scholarship dollars and those kind of things so the
Advertising and all of that kind of thing is off our back on the schools back and it’s just one of the scholarships then that all alumni can contribute to but we’ve targeted then for our scholarship it it just it went to minority students D9 members things something like that that had to be
Worked out to be in accordance with Ohio state law and those kind of things but I just want to What I Hear on your planning and things I hope you have a wonderful celebration and because Fair state michig were one of the first two campuses that I visited when we crossed
In in April of 75 so back in the day folks used to roll take road trips because back in the day you could we’re going to leave the details out now yeah but yeah so uh hope you all the best and have a good good uh celebration I see brother hajes is
Waving the paddle thank you brother ELO I I just wanted to remind everyone that we want to hear from more some other brothers as well but we love your coms we want to hear from other brothers as well I think brother Jimmy Hill did you were you
Going to say something you had your mic unmuted oh I unmuted it just in case uh we were able to talk to each other um but no I I uh also encourage everybody to you know come on up and uh let’s make this a
Joyous occasion um 50 is is a is a big number uh I got at least another 45 years are so in me so I’m thinking uh you know if I can get somebody to roll me up into the room I think I might be there for for the 100th anniversary so
We’ll see what happens um but it it it’s it’s going to be a great time and so I encourage everybody to come up and and be a part of it I hope everybody turns out I hope folks do what they need to do in terms of supporting this event that’s
Very important as Doc and mentioned uh it’s been a long time many years I haven’t seen many of you guys in a long time registrations in by the deadline January 29th send your money and support whatever you can do to sends money for support so we can make it’s a big very
Exciting event for everybody looking forward to seeing you Guys hey brother Lee one of the fin fathers to see you there I don’t know if you want to chime in if you could give us some words of wisdom just want to acknowledge hey found the fathers that we have on um on the on the U the zoom
Meeting just just before that one thing you know Steve talked about you know recently passing one of the brothers I’ve kind of told this to the the members of the commit um you I went and paid respect I I met the brother when I was pledging up at
Ferris but as I sat there and you know went through the eulogy and all the other stuff after everything was over with and we were taking pictures I just stood back and I was in the presence of what I call greatness I was in the presence of all of the founding fathers
Of Z data chap never even thought about it it just kind of hit you know it kind of took me back and I just said wow you know is something to be a part of a wondrous band and um that’s just the Brotherhood the fellowship that we have
And um I um pay homage to those founding fathers who made this all possible today to have us on this Z data call amen uh yes this is Lee Young here and I I want to first of all you know thank God for allowing me to be here and
Secondly I want to ask you guys to for forgive me for being late but um I just like to say that you know it’s it’s all about our heavenly father that’s what I think about when I think about the initiation of f Beta Sigma Zeta Theta
Chapter at fa State I think about the heavenly father because I’ve always thought about him when it came to this fraternity I I didn’t really know why but I guess it was just a part of me because I was brought up in the church and my grandparents and my mom they have
Me in church every Sunday sometime Tuesday and Friday and so I just want us to keep in mind what’s most important and what’s one area that we can never be let down when we have our faith in God because I mean no matter what we go
Through we know he’s going to be there and sometimes our mere human mind might think he’s not there but how can a mere human mind think with the capacity of a Heavenly Father like that so just let’s stay focused and thank him like we’ve always done for each other because I’ve
Always had a special feeling for my blue blood brothers and I always think that with my my family Brothers I was the youngest so you know when it was a challenge I lost but it made me tougher everywhere else and I just say that with the uh fraternity Brothers I’ve never
Had a serious art you never even really been mad at anybody for me you know we used to joke around and have a lot of fun but it was all about having fun and and managing the main purpose of coming to Big RIS and I just want to thank all
Of you guys for you know being a part of the organization and standing up for us like you’ve done from the beginning to now and I just say I love you love you love you and let’s keep doing doing it and keep thanking God forever and ever like he deserves thank
You a short comment yesterday we had a business meeting on the same Zoom account and I kept seeing ly come in to the meeting and I’m thinking that brother looks familiar who is that but I didn’t put two and two together until just tonight so you’re welcome any time
Uh brother young but now I know who you are I know but it just it’s been so many years I just didn’t recognize you at first so I thinking I know him where do I know him so thank you you’re welcome thank you crickets who else has anything they
Want to contribute or pass on hey hey brothers this is Brother John Adams known is um Big Brother Smurf or influential Smurf um man like brother Lee said I feel like I was led to the fraternity so to me it was a spiritual connection um this is the
Greatest rur in the world the platform is excellent all the things we do as Sigma men to give back to the community this is our opportunity to get together and celebrate what Sigma is about the Brotherhood we all pledge Zeta Theta and we all had the same common
Bond I mean I can’t wait it’s been a long time since I’m getting emotional about it it’s been a long time since all of my SS been in the same room so for me you know we can reminisce about that Apple you know the pushups and the passion of the
Egg um I just can’t wait to for the brothers to get together and share some of those memories and I can’t wait to hear some that chat from the older brothers I would love to learn some of those chats and sure brother Hodes I take three for the founders I cross
Two7 um 89 winner and I had um three other sanss Jeff Adams um Tyrone Saxon and Glenn woods and I believe Glenn might be on the car but that’s all I have to say please come register please come support let’s Fellowship Let’s Love on each other let’s show the campus what
We about all right and and that paddle was just for decorative purposes you know just happen to be around that’s all that is um you know the closest I got to anything like that was some limberger cheese and some of us on this L can relate to that I
Think I would probably take Liber cheese but so we don’t do that anymore all right anybody else all right so we know that we got a link out go ahead I just wantan I wanna I wanna I want to say something that uh that brother Kim pulam has has repeated
Several times that weekend he wants to paint Ferris blue and white that’s his that’s he he wants he wants to look out there across campus all he wants to see is that Sigma that Sigma pure blue and that white so I mean the royal blue and pure
White so he he wants to paint the campus and he he I guess he was up there him and brother Smurf was up there not long ago and they saw uh another another one of our divine nine fraternities um do just that in their colors it’s our time
It’s our time and we need to we need to make sure we come up there and represent because you think about when we leave there we want to influence that next series of Brothers who are looking okay what can I join a should I join a attat
Attorney and we want we want them to see us um while we’re up there and have that impact I just want to say I’m brother Kenny Hoskins acoss October 5th 1978 uh Big Brother spiffy but you know I’m looking forward to April uh this 50th and just like brother Waller was saying
This is a one time in lifetime event and we need to make sure that we get registered early you know there’s the early bird special so you can save some funds on that but I just want to say that when I was at FIS I remember one year FIS had approximately 10,000
Students 388 of them were black I remember that and little bitty Fair State College at that time Z Thea chapter we won this is what drew me to to 586 I saw the work that you guys were doing in the community I said you guys
Prior to me becoming a part of once I join F uh Sigma we won chapter of the year two years straight in our region Li bitty Fair stayed up in Big Rapids you guys remember that and and and you know it was all about the community service Brotherhood scholarship service and
We’re still doing that today all over the world not just in the US all over the world 58 Sigma represents and I’ll say before as I close 58 Sigma also prepared me for what I’m doing today in my professional life let me qualify that statement yes I was brought up in the
Church I’ve been pastored for 27 years by the grace of God and preaching 39 but some of you may remember I know Jimmy Davis would remember this because he was the president at the time I was chaplain of our chapter and wasn’t even preaching or anything at that time but it prepared
Me for that type of a leadership role I didn’t know anything about even though I was brought up in the church I did not know anything about the leadership and 58 Sigma Zeta Theta chapter prepared me uh to be in that leadership role and on today I still practice some of those
Same things in my work that I do as a pastor in a community leader so uh kudos to to f Sigma especially day the chapter wouldn’t be who I am without uh you guys uh helping to build me and to make me so I’m looking forward to seeing those
Brothers uh from way back in the day and those brothers that I don’t even know up on the yard and the sisters as well so come out you guys register early yeah if I could make one final comment before we move on you know I’m sitting here and I’m just again
Reflecting and I’m listening to the voices of my children uh particularly those that are in Greek letter organizations and I think they as children and young adults before they went off to college they went through our yearbooks and they saw all the photos of five Beta Sigma for fraternity and they
Began to meet people that actually went to Ferris uh I think it it became a myth in their own minds um but but I think in April the myth gets transformed into reality and Legend uh we have always been an outstanding chapter uh from day one from October I’m sorry September of 1974
Forward uh the chapter has been imbued with excellence and out of the gate we were winners no two ways about that somebody’s got the hardware somewhere around there I don’t know but but there are plenty of plaques and there’s a historical record of the Great Lakes
Region that will attest to that fact uh but but the bottom line is and I’m gonna be selfish you know I want my children to see this piece of my life and the people that uh again help to make me who I am today and who travel with me along that
Journey uh you know some some of y’all on the call are play uncles and and God pars and stuff like that um but I’m personally bringing my grandchildren with me uh because not likely they’ll go to Ferris because you know some of them live out of state um but I want them to
See the place that the grand father walked I’ve showed them a portrait a picture of Merill Hall uh I told them about the smoking jacket Club I haven’t told him about how Phil used to run out the hall in his in his in his his tidy
Whes but the bottom line is simply this uh this is a moment in time uh that I hope will be Unforgettable uh to all of us and that you would be gracious enough to share that moment with your families and friends and loved ones and uh let’s all get there and just
Enjoy it who look at that Ste was talking I just had to bring that up there’s a a lot of hair and that that was itar to day see my saying see say that’s all right good stuff hey brothers we Brothers we begin to close out things here um we going to take
Things out with a couple musical selections as um always we want to uh have the fraternity hym that will be played and then also we’re going to talk about five Beta Sigma Soul uh and that’s going to play us out and U we look forward to seeing every everyone
Whatever you do reach out to other brothers that may have not been a part of this call encourage them to register to attend the event or make contributions um you know we are our brother’s Keepers as it may be said but let’s um you know enjoy this I thank
Every last one of you for attending definitely thinkk the committee members those who are presenters as well as those who are behind the scene have been working hard for the last six months and without without any further Ado Jimmy if you want to ke up theh
Sounds we will close out and uh go mob to each and every last one of your brothers our [Applause] [Applause] iners [Applause] [Applause] his this our on his from W PL to e Hills there comes a sh of prise a sh viory [Applause] sing for on [Applause] His might the J all the [Applause] [Applause] Future of [Applause] the back the our on his way Will back along the line our on His and we from time [Applause] to our His along the line on [Applause] his 4,000 people but I tend to believe 6,000 showed [Applause] [Applause] up [Applause] oh [Applause] mying my S got [Applause] oh sing got [Applause] Bros feel free to join in with me on this one cuz I got to get this out of my system before the night is over when I
Was a young boy my dad said to me he said listen up my little man child a sigma you’re going to be and I said Oh Daddy please Reveal Your Secrets to me he said keep your heart your mind on Sigma but keep your eyes on me I heard my daddy say oh
Oh five b Sig was got so oh five b got p h i b e t a s i g o m p h i b e t a s i g o m a Abra cadabra alakazam magic don’t make no Sigma man I’m not Mickey Mouse and I ain’t Donald
Duck if you didn’t pled Sigma you ain’t worth all oh oh oh five Beta Sigma got so oh five bet Sigma God so G baby
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