Fraternity Installs Chapter At University of New Hampshire

Enjoying the first of back-to-back Fraternity chapter installations in the spring, the colony at the University of New Hampshire entered Sigma Chi’s rolls as its 241st chapter on April 27, 2013, in Durham, N.H.
The Fraternity welcomed 40 new initiates at the St. James Masonic Lodge in Hampton, N.H., under the guidance of Director of Expansion Nick Conway, CAL. STATE-FRESNO 2010; Expansion Coordinator Kyle Marscellas, CALIFORNIA-IRVINE 2011; and Ritual Director and Chief Operations Officer at Sigma Chi International Headquarters Michael Church, ILLINOIS 2005.
An installation banquet of almost 150 attendees followed at the Ashworth by the Sea Hotel in Hampton. When 67th Grand Consul and Order of Constantine Sig Dennis Santoli, CASE WESTERN 1967, signed the charter to make the installation official, the new brothers could hardly contain their excitement.
“The feeling when [Santoli] signed it — I was just screaming in celebration,” says Consul Nick Grafton, 2014. “I lost my voice by the end of the banquet. [The charter signing] was amazing to see. I have been here since the beginning [of the colony]. This was just an amazing feeling.”
The chapter’s Greek-letter name will be Lambda Sigma after experiencing the colony process as Sigma Chi Upsilon. The chapter had its Declaration of Intent unanimously accepted on May 4, 2011, by the New Chapter Development Committee (NCDC) and the Fraternity’s Executive Committee. On June 4, 2012, the colony had its Phase One report accepted by the NCDC, and on Dec. 12, 2012, it received notice that its Phase Two report was accepted by the NCDC.
The chapter will now work on its goals of bettering Greek-letter life on campus, bringing the Derby Days philanthropic event to the university, possibly obtaining a chapter house and working on a quality fall 2013 recruitment class. “Our goal from the beginning has been to change the face of [Greek-letter] life on campus. It has always received a bad reputation on campus,” Grafton says. “We are brought together in brotherhood, and we are going to help each other out with our goals. We are in this together.”
Counting the installation of the Florida Atlantic undergraduate chapter on May 4, 2013, the Fraternity now has 242 undergraduate chapters, seven colonies and one interest group.
Any Fraternity expansion questions can be directed to Conway and Director of Expansion Matt Pagan, NORTH FLORIDA 2010. Conway can be reached at (847) 869-3655, ext. 221, and Pagan can be reached at (847) 869-3655, ext. 208. They both can be reached at expansion@sigmachi.org.