October 12, 2014
Nu Prime Alumni Annual Meeting
Kappa Sigma International Headquarters
Charlottesville, VA
MINUTES
Meeting commenced at 11:05 AM
Members Present:
Ralph Basile, Fuzz Hitt, Tony Case, Will Rountree, Jim Easter, Bob Camozzo, Don Miles, Tom Crump,
Jim Alley, Paul Wohlleben, Bruce Kirk, Tom Waterfield, Randy Coleman, Vic Calaman Jr.
Guests Present:
Leo Brown, Kappa Sigma HQ, Director of Chapter Services
New Colony Members – Sean McKavitt, Alejandro Perilla
Each person present introduced himself.
President’s Report
Ralph Basile welcomed everyone and gave a recap of 2014 activities. He cited the successful efforts to
gain recognition by VT of the Nu Prime Chapter, the football game tailgates, and of the series of monthly
luncheons or happy hours held in NOVA, Richmond and Tidewater.
He mentioned that the Leadership Group (the Board of Directors and additional alumni brothers added
by the Boards) has conference calls approximately every other month to address Association business.
Nu Prime has more than 700 alumni and we have current email addresses for about 90%.
Ralph reiterated that the function of the Alumni Chapter is to be a social organization. In addition, the
Alumni will lend a helping hand to the Nu Prime colony.
Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer Willie Rountree gave a summary report of the past three years to Ralph and that report will be
distributed to the alumni. Willie said the only expenses incurred have been to send flowers for funerals
of alumni and/or their family members. Willie said the alumni chapter will no longer do that, suggesting
that alumni make those contributions on their own. In addition, a $300 donation was made to the
Brother Glenn Atkinson Memorial Fund to offset expenses from last year’s annual alumni meeting and
golf outing.
Update on New Colony at Virginia Tech
Leo Brown, Director of Kappa Sigma Chapter Services, graciously opened Kappa Sigma Headquarters
today (Sunday) and joined us for our annual meeting. Leo indicated that strong alumni involvement was
the deciding factor in Virginia Tech’s decision to choose Nu Prime (in competition with two other
fraternities) for re-colonization. Leo said the colony members are a well organized group that have
taken the initiative to enjoy meals together, study together, socialize together and play intramural
sports together. The colony is working on programming/operational functions and Leo is pleased with
their progress and called the colony “a very dedicated group”.
Alumnus Paul Wohlleben has agreed to mentor the colony’s Grand Treasurer.
The colony Executive Committee has met with Alumnus Advisor, Bob Long, and drafted a checklist of
action items. The colony is doing paperwork, community service and building its reputation on campus.
Leo believes induction of the colony into Kappa Sigma brotherhood could occur in March/April of 2015.
The fallback date would be September, 2015.
All members will be initiated together. Recruitment continues and more members are expected to be
added this semester (Fall) and next semester (Spring, 2015).
Five colony members are former Sigma Phi Epsilon pledges.
Alumnus Tom Crump said that Byron Hughes, who is in charge of Greek Life at Virginia Tech, reports to
Patty Perillo, who is Director of Student Life. Hughes has been the point person in the entire process.
Perillo reports directly to President Sands and according to Tom she was an advocate of our recolonization.
Update by VT Colony Members: Sean McKavitt, GM and Alejandro Perilla, GS
Sean said the colony has formed an amicable working relationship with Byron Hughes at Virginia Tech.
Sean has been attending IFC Presidents meetings.
He said Kappa Sigma’s national reputation and the fact that Nu Prime was the 5th oldest Kappa Sigma
chapter were factors when exploring fraternities to join or colonize.
Sean said there were about 80 prospective members at the end of Spring, 2014. That number included
25 who had been either pledging or had actually been initiated by the local, now defunct Sig Ep chapter
at VT. As a result of omitting the Sig Eps initiates, and as a result of some (mainly freshmen) who
changed their mind, the total dropped to 40 by the start of this semester. Fall rush has been successful
and the number is now up to around 60 guys. The group will have its meetings on campus in a
classroom. Rush is ongoing and as a colony, bids can be extended at any time, right up to initiation.
Since the colony members have chosen not to wear letters (Sean said they have not earned the right),
and they have no fraternity house, the members redouble their efforts to continuously rush. Each
member is responsible for contacting five rushees every day. They are proactive in involving rushees in
their activities such as playing sports, eating, and socializing together.
Sean said that committee chairs have been selected, including study/tutor groups. Other committees
include Alumnus Advisor, Risk Management, Social, Community Service, and PR/Social Media.
Dues are $454 per semester.
The colony has minimum requirements, including the following:
At least 60 members
25 hours for each member per semester for community service
2.5 GPA
Monetary donation for community service (preferably $2,500)
Charter Fee to Kappa Sigma of $2,500
The colony has a GT and has collected dues but will outsource dues collection in the future.
The colony has an EIN under the Kappa Sigma’s 501-c3 umbrella. Alumnus Treasurer, Willie Rountree,
said the alumni will consider opening a 501-c3 or c7, as appropriate, so that alumni contributions would
be tax deductible.
Tony Case thanked Sean and Alejandro for their hard work and for carrying the Kappa Sigma flag at
Virginia Tech.
Of the 60 colony members, 25-30 are Juniors, 2 are Seniors and the rest are Frosh/Sophomores.
Two members are transfer brothers from Auburn University.
Sean said alumni can help the colony by being active and with mentoring.
Paul Wohlleben suggested a Facebook page for the colony to keep alumni in the loop.
-2Update on Alumni Mentoring
Ralph said more alumni are needed for mentoring in NOVA and in the Roanoke area. The goal is to
match an alumnus with every new colony member. There are 26 colony members from NOVA and
11 colony members from the Roanoke area.
Election of Board of Directors
Frank Morton has tallied the election results for the Board of Directors and all nine on the slate were
approved unanimously. New Directors, and as a result new Leadership Group members, are Randy
Spears and Jon Skipper. Congratulations!
In addition, the new Board will soon vote to expand the Leadership Group from 14 members to at least
20 members.
Since there was not a quorum at the meeting, an official vote will be taken on the next conference call.
Also, a vote will be taken on that call to add the following new standing committees:
Long Range Planning
Alumni Interaction
Chapter Interaction
It was agreed at the meeting to put the alumni membership list on the website, with password
protection. After some debate, it was agreed to list the following information:
Name, pledge class, email address, city, state and zip code
An “opt-out” feature will be included for those who wish not to be listed.
John Doyle and Deane Boone will be asked to implement the roster listing on the Nu Prime website.
Meeting adjourned at 12:52 PM.
Leo Brown gave an informative tour of Headquarters following the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Vic Calaman Jr.
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