Hello, Alumni Brothers!
​
​Happy Holidays to you all, and hope this newsletter finds you prospering and in good health!
Our membership has grown to over 500 alumni brothers from VT and we are spread across the globe. So, we are providing you with a year-end update about the active chapter, the chapter housing situation and our Association finances.

Active Chapter
The Nu Prime chapter is doing well, is still leasing a house on Roanoke Street (but not for long, see below) and remains one of many fraternities in Blacksburg not recognized by the VT administration. Brother TJ Wilson took over as Chapter Advisor when Brother Bob Long stepped down, and he offers the following from Brother TJ (that’s right, another TJ) Bulhoes who is current chapter GM::

Currently there are 61 brothers:
8 Freshman
23 Sophomores
14 Juniors
13 Seniors
(3) 5th years
This includes 11 newly initiated pledges (8 Freshman, 1 Junior and 2 Sophomores.
The Chapter is involved in Intramural Soccer and looking to form basketball and flag football teams for Spring.
Socially, the Chapter has held events from hot dog eating contests to cabin retreats at Smith Mountain Lake.
Nu Prime held a successful pumpkin sale with pumpkins and gourds from Brother Nate Murphy’s family farm and also had a booth to sling pies at Brothers for donations.
Plans are being made for the return of their fraternity wide ski trip to Canaan Valley at the end of break, and upcoming events include paintball and Spring Formals in Myrtle Beach.

VT Chapter Housing Situation
Brothers TJ Wilson, John Skipper, Matthew Skipper and the new Housing Chair at the Chapter, Croix Javier, collectively report on the housing situation below.

The VT chapter has been leasing the former Lambda Chi Alpha house on Roanoke Street for years. However, the Chapter recently received written confirmation that the 413 East Roanoke Street landlord is terminating the lease at the end of the current lease extension period which is May 31, 2023. This came despite Brother John Skipper being called and told by the landlord on 8/28/2022 that the Lambda Chi Alpha Housing Corp Board had approved the Chapter’s request to have the last lease extension period exercised for 6/1/23 to 5/31/24. However, the landlord never confirmed it in writing as required.

The Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity is recolonizing at VT and understandably will want to take back their house next summer for the 2023-2024 school year. Why the chapter was strung along since making the extension request last May, and verbally told it have been approved is a head scratcher. The most recent rent renewal option our chapter executed with the landlord has Nu Prime at the house only through May 2023.

At any rate, the Chapter will have to work quickly to find a new house to rent for next August for the ’23-’24 school year and beyond. John Skipper has already reached out to the realtor that helped us lease 413 E Roanoke Street to find a new house for the Chapter to rent or buy. But, she has reported that the market is “very tight” right now. The ball is in the Chapter’s hands to find some target properties.

Interestingly, 607 N Main St (which still has “Blacksburg Tap House” signs on it but has been vacant for about 3 years) was purchased in May of 2020 by Blacksburg Main, LLC for $1.5M which has a Chicago, IL address. The Nu Prime Housing Corp sold it for $300k in 2007 (and it was hard to sell then!)

Our chapter is now investigating a new house that was discovered by their Housing Chair. It is relatively near campus, has a good set up for fraternity, but is listed for $600K. A concern is that it is a residential house so by local codes only 3 non-family members can reside in it. The Chapter is the early stages of working with owner to see if they are ok with a fraternity, etc.

Another option is to wait for a house to become available on Roanoke Street. Our realtor has been talking to someone who might be selling on that street but cannot disclose any info yet since it is owned by an organization and its Board of Directors needs to vote on it.

The Chapter is understandably concerned with this housing problem, as a move to a new house will need to take place for Fall of 2023. As the chapter is looking to the future, input and assistance from alumni will be crucial in finding a new headquarters for the fraternity that can hold ritual ceremonies, social events, and recruitment. Renting the Lambda Chi house for the past 6 years has been a blessing in growing the fraternity; however, they note that a main chapter house is incredibly important to continue growth and sustain the fraternity long term.

Brother John Skipper thought it would be prudent to soon convene an Alumni Association meeting to focus on any alumni assistance, once local options become clearer. The Chapter reiterated that any alumni involvement will be appreciated and perhaps greatly needed in finding a new home for the Nu Prime chapter.


Alumni Association Finances
Brother Will Rountree has long served as our Association Treasurer, and he reports below on our finances.

Currently we maintain $34,815.24 in Wells Fargo Bank accounts, with nearly 92% of that held in our savings account. Money in: one brother donated the collections from his tailgate in 2021 (John Skipper), and one brother has been donating $50 per month through an auto draft to our PayPal account (Judd Robins)… many thanks to both for their generosity and dedication. So, other than a small amount of savings account interest, no other income has been generated. Money out: other than Internet fees of $316 in 2022, no other expenses are noted.


Final Thoughts (Ralph Basile, President)
Not much has been going on with the Alumni Association. We have been blessed with very few reports of brothers with illnesses and our Chapter Celestial list thankfully remains quite small, including the passing of Brothers Brendan Foster, Alan Law, John Deignan and Tim Thrash, most recently.

As is often said, “we are not getting any younger!” Charter brothers like myself are now over 70 years old, and we continue to welcome the thoughts and energy of younger VT alumni. We incorporated and chartered the Alumni Association as a “social organization” but have purposely and completely refrained from using any of our funds to support any social functions.

While no formal vote has been taken by our Association’s Board of Directors, our Leadership Group, composed of the elected Board members and 18 other Nu Prime alumni who graduated long after Kappa Sigma returned to VT, have together discussed from time-to-time whether/how to use our banked funds. The informal consensus has always been that since our funds came from the long-ago sale of the chapter house at 607 North Main Street, the funds should be used when needed to support future Chapter housing needs.

The chapter housing situation has emerged again after 6 years, so as we approach 2023 we will likely need to more formally address this situation again soon. AEKDB

Nu Prime Brothers,

​The Nu Prime active members wanted to update the alumni on the past semester and the
current state of the chapter. The chapter added 11 new members this past spring semester, their names and years can be seen at the end of the update. Nu Prime had 71 members before the most recent senior class graduated which consisted of 15 brothers.

The chapter is looking to keep the current chapter house for yet another year (2023-2024),
however, to do so an additional $2,000 security deposit needs to be paid. Any donations
specifically for this cause would be greatly appreciated as the chapter house is an important
resource for our fraternity. The fraternity is looking to focus on continuing improvements to the
house along with focusing on growth in member size and philanthropy.

The Steven Alonzo Jackson weekend of giving was yet again a great success as Nu Prime
raised an all time record $4,603. This money goes directly to the Nu Prime chapter’s scholarship
fund in which current brothers can apply. The chapter wants to thank all of the alumni who
donated to this cause and showed support for academic success within the Kappa Sigma
Fraternity.

The chapter is also participating in the Kappa Sigma National leadership conference in July.
Brothers Matthew Skipper (GM), T.J Bullhoes (GMC), Hayes Warlick (GS), and Mac Stephens
are the 4 brothers currently registered. The hotel is paid for but transportation to Denver, CO is
not included. In the past the chapter has asked for any alumni that wanted to help with flight
costs and this year we wanted to reach out and do the same. If there is anyone with interest in
helping the 4 brothers get out to Denver please email Matthew Skipper at mskipper380@gmail.com.

The chapter also wanted to inform the alumni on another alumni tailgate this fall. The specific
date and time has not yet been determined, however, the chapter is in the works of planning
details for this event. Keep an eye out for an email regarding the exact weekend and more
details. The chapter would like to thank the alumni once again for the continued support of the
active brothers, we wouldn’t be here without you. The ways to donate directly to the chapter are
listed below, any and all donations are greatly appreciated.

Venmo: @KappaSigVT
Go Fund Me: https://gofund.me/56a775a9
Mailing Address: 413 E Roanoke St, Blacksburg VA, 24060

We initiated 11 new brothers into the chapter. Their names and years are included below.

Class of 2024
Harry Bolvin

Class of 2025
Eric Mendozza
Nicholas Piloto
John Wallmark
Jack Morgan
Benjamin Hiebler
Jared Stetson
Ethan Dehghan
Joseph Piscopo
Joseph Lorrain
Nathan Murphy

AEKDB,

Executive Committee 

Grand Master: Matthew Skipper 
Grand Procurator: Cody Wright 
Grand Master of Ceremonies: TJ Bullhoes 
Grand Treasurer: Dillon Kaldes 
Grand Scribe: Hayes Warlick

​Brothers,
The Chapter will be hosting an Alumni “cookout style” Open House on October 16th, during Homecoming Weekend. Additionally, there will be an Alumni Tailgate starting 3 hours prior to the game against Pittsburgh.

Nu Prime Alumni Homecoming Weekend
October 15th-17th

• Homecoming Football Game VS Pittsburgh
• Alumni Cookout at the Kappa Sigma House Backyard 413 E Roanoke St – Sat 10/16 TBD
• Alumni Tailgate Sat 10/16 3 hours prior to game Lot 4, Space 123 Area

This is a long-overdue gathering so please plan to attend & reach out to your pledge brothers to join us too!
Hotels are already tight but rooms are currently available at the Hampton Inn Christiansburg/Blacksburg on Arbor Dr.

Please RSVP to skipper@ncsi.com if you plan to attend. More details to follow soon.

A few years ago, the Nu Prime Alumni Association established a mentorship program to aid the chapter actives ease their way into the workplace careers. At its most active period, about 40 alumni volunteered and were partnered with actives. However, as actives graduated, few new replacement pairings of actives and alumni were established to allow the mentorship program to grow and thrive.
 
TJ Wilson, our newly appointed Alumni Advisor who is working closely with the VT chapter, has made a great suggestion:
 
“Rather than hitch an alumnus to an active that will be moving on in whatever number of years, we set the Alumni up more like a permanent resource available to all the active brothers and newly graduated brothers, as necessary. So there are certain Alumni available continuously as a subject matter expert in their particular field - Finance, Engineering, Business, Communications, Architecture, general / life studies, etc.
 
That way, whether the active is graduating or not is irrelevant. The Alumni will be available for however long they wish to participate and available to all active brothers and even newly graduated brothers. If there are more than one alumnus willing to participate, they can join in and add multiple voices to the mentoring.
 
We could provide the active chapter with an updated list each quarter that includes contact information and the active and alum would coordinate each phone call, zoom meeting, lunch (when that's feasible), etc.”
 
***CALL FOR ALUMNI VOLUNTEERS***
 
The actives at our Nu Prime chapter have provided the attached list of 2 dozen brothers seeking an alumni mentor. Please review this list and volunteer to mentor one (or more) of these actives.
If you would like to help out an interested active brother or younger alumni and be added to the alumni mentor list presented to the Chapter periodically, please contact the Alumni Association at kappasignuprime@gmail.com and provide the following information:

1. Name
2. Address
3. Contact Info (email and cell)
4. Year of graduation and degree
5. Place of employment
6. Position
7. Years of work experience
8. Any other pertinent info you would like

​

​As you may already know, tomorrow starts the Kappa Sigma Steven Alonzo Jackson weekend of giving. The purpose of this historic initiative is to raise funds for each Chapter Scholarship Fund. Brothers and other Kappa Sigma supporters will be challenged to donate $5.34, $50.34, $150.34, $340.34, $3,400.34 or more between 12:00 AM EST on Friday, March 5th and 11:59 PM HST on Sunday, March 7th. The Nu Prime chapter specifically has been challenged to raise $2,800 this weekend and we are asking all of our alumni to join the effort to reach our goal. The scholarship fund allows our chapter to recognize brothers who exemplify leadership in all aspects of life just as one of our greatest brothers, Steven Alonzo Jackson, did. We have provided the link below where you can enter your information as a Nu Prime alumni and donate. Thank you for supporting the Kappa Sigma fraternity and specifically the Nu Prime chapter!


Click Here to Donate

​Below are some additional insights gathered by alumni Ralph Basile, John Skipper and TJ Wilson during a Zoom call initiated by the Chapter’s Executive Council (EC) after they provided the attached chapter update letter:

• Chapter house lease: Their lease of the Roanoke Street property owned by the Lambda Chi Alpha Housing Corporation entitles Nu Prime to rent through May 2022; thereafter, and only by annual mutual consent, Nu Prime may continue to occupy it through May 2024; it is unclear if Lambda will try to re-colonize their chapter at VT and when Nu Prime secured the lease, there was much interest in this property demonstrated by other VT fraternities.
  

• Chapter membership: After Fall Rush when 10 new brothers were added (mostly sophomores), the chapter is now up to 42 members; they are hopeful of adding another 10 new brothers during Spring Rush; they expect only 2-3 seniors to graduate, and feel having 50-55 brothers is the optimum size for now; hope to grow to 60 members in 2022; when asked they thought Nu Prime was a small/medium size VT fraternity, especially when compared to some on-campus fraternities that have 150-200 members; since not part of the IFC which has access to student grades, they surmise their cumulative GPA is on par with other VT fraternities (brothers are mostly engineering majors with mid- 2.0 GPA’s and business majors with mid- 3.0 GPA’s)

• Chapter finances and improvements: New EC has made certain the Chapter is meeting it’s financial obligations, as they have caught up on all back-rent and insurance premium payments; one of the 4 Chapter House beds is vacant, though, and as a result the Chapter loses out on collecting $650 a month; seniors are only charged ½ dues and EC members pay slightly less dues than rest of general membership; even so, they have made improvements to the Chapter House, like adding a new outside bar, outside benches, and a TV mounted in the Chapter Room.

• Chapter activities: Many of the Nu Prime actives have had COVID-19; they hold weekly chapter meetings either in-person or by Zoom depending on the agenda; before COVID restrictions they participated in a wide range of intramural sporting events (softball, basketball, dodgeball, etc.) and community service events (volunteering weekly at a local food bank, working with local restaurants to promote sales with a % going to Military Heroes Campaign, etc.); the three actives who recently attended the Kappa Sigma National Leadership Council in Las Vegas brought back new rush tactics they learned from other actives nationally (i.e., poker night, enhanced use of social media , etc.); COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings are enforced by Town of Blacksburg, but since the complaining neighbor has moved, they are able to host more compliant outdoor gatherings, weather permitting.