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Upcoming Chapter &

Rutgers Events

January:

22: Meet the Brothers

27: Rutgers Basketball at

RAC

29: Bonfire & S’mores

31: Super Bowl Party

February:

3: Cigars and Billiards night

5: Rebounders

6: Invite Only Bid Dinner

8: Pinning

March:

14: Spring Break Starts

22: Spring Break Ends

28: Lineage Tournament

April:

11: Dance Marathon

12: Dance Marathon

16: Brotherhood

Entertainment Night

19: National Initiation

24: Formal

May:

2: Alumni/Brotherhod BBQ

(This date is tentative)

29: Sigma Delta Golf Classic

**Alumni are welcome to

attend the first meeting of

every month if they wish to

do so. Please let the Alumni

Chair know if you wish to

attend.**

A New Prior Takes The Lead!

The coming semesters at Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma

Delta Chapter, will have a massive effect on our fraternity as

a whole. With the combined efforts of the current

brotherhood, we have set ourselves up to take recruitment by

storm, and to increase our on-campus presence. Over the

past semester I have been closely following Joseph Vavra, in

order to learn what it takes to act as Prior. Similarly, I have spoken at length with

Chance Falasiri, in hope of gleaming some of his experience of being Prior.

Together with my Vice Prior David Cerqueira, I am confident in our ability to lead

this fraternity in the best direction.

Our chairs have been working together to plan out a semester where a

brother can always be found participating in activities that will increase our on-

campus involvement. In addition to our involvement in Dance Marathon, our Public

Relations Chair, Alex Gallo, has organized a basement show featuring local bands

that will show Saturday, February 21st. The proceeds from the show will be added

to the total donations for our team’s donation to the Embrace Kids Foundation. In

regards to recruitment, we expect a successful rush. Our focus for the first two

weeks will be for brothers to bond with rushes over common interests and to take

advantage of these interests to personalize a rush’s experience with the fraternity.

This strategy has served us well in the past and will allow us to make use of the

diversity of brothers that populate the fraternity.

The brotherhood of Sigma Alpha Mu would also like to extend a special

welcome to its alumni. The storied history of our fraternity owes its existence to all

of you. Each and every alumni, both in their time as an active brother, and in the

years following has contributed to making the fraternity what it is today. Your

experiences, both in the brotherhood, and in your professional lives can offer

invaluable insight for brothers on the cusp of independence. The promise works

both ways, any alumni in need of someone to talk to, or even just someone to sit

down with and share a beer can always come find us. Once a brother, always a

brother. I am entering this semester with high expectations for the fraternity and I

hope our alumni will be there to share in our successes.

Fast & Firm,

David M. Walker

Rutgers ‘16

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Semester Plans from the Vice Prior

Greetings all,

I am wholeheartedly pleased to serve as the newly elected Vice Prior of

Sigma Alpha Mu- Sigma Delta Chapter. As a fraternity with a long tradition both

nationally and at Rutgers University, I look forward to carrying on the legacy of

the many memories and values we have long stood for as a brotherhood.

While we kick off the spring semester, there is much work to be done as

we look to improve on all aspects of the fraternity. In doing so, my strategy going forward will rely on the

premise that hard work can go a long way. Thus, it is my intention to work with both the incumbent and newly

elected chairs while providing them with the resources necessary for a successful semester.

First and foremost, our priorities are centered on recruitment and what we hope to be an astounding

rush season. While we are certainly motivated to recruit a large pledge class, we will not sacrifice quality in

the act of doing so. Ultimately, our goal is to bring in both size and quality.

Furthermore, it is undeniable that recruitment is our big concern for the upcoming semester. However,

I envision a year filled with memorable events for our active brothers, as well as for the entire alumni

association. Among my goals, I look forward to ensuring that our alumni are open to more opportunities to re-

connect with the current brotherhood.

With that being said, I look forward to an exciting semester and to seeing you all around. Please

contact us if you know anyone who may be interested in rushing this upcoming semester.

Fast & Firm,

David Cerqueira

Vice Prior

Updates from the Brotherhood Chair

Brothers had taken place in the third ever Lock-In at the beginning of the Spring Semester. We will also be

having a dodgeball tournament in March, along with a Weird NJ Adventure, where brothers will split up and

explore various urban legend spots throughout the State! Alumni are welcome and encouraged to attend the

Alumni/Brotherhood Spring BBQ taking place in our backyard in Late April. More details to come your way.

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The Recorder Reaches Out!

My name is Lee. I am a current sophomore studying Electrical & Computer Engineering in the Rutgers School of Engineering. More recently, I am also the newly elected Recorder of the Sigma Delta chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu.

The Recorder traditionally fulfills secretarial duties, but in our chapter, it is

somewhat a unique position. In addition to maintaining our records and acting as an officer of the Council, I also oversee the Public Relation board, a cabinet of five

chairs, which include the Public Relations chair, the Webmaster, the Alumni chair, the Jewish Life chair, and the chapter's Historian.

If you have been following the chapter's Twitter (@RUSammy) or Facebook page (Sigma Alpha Mu

at Rutgers University), you have probably noticed a lot of increased activity over the past few months. As the PR chair, my plan was to up the chapter's public image through social media. Philanthropy, for example, is one area that I felt was important to publicize. It is not enough to have strong fundraising numbers (which we did, Sigma Delta raised around $10,000 in Spring 2014, significantly above the IFC average). It is crucial to show that we are getting out there, getting our hands dirty and participating with other Greek organizations. That is what people like to see. Fraternity life is very much about maintaining a good public image, which is why many people new to the scene are surprised to find that the Animal House stereotype does not really exist at Rutgers within our chapter. As the Recorder, my continuing plan

and goal is to increase the chapter's image on a more widespread front.

Before looking forward, it's important to look back towards Sigma Alpha Mu's roots as a Jewish fraternity. At Rutgers, we are the oldest Jewish fraternity, it is key to carry a sense of tradition with us. For this reason, thanks to our Alumni and Jewish Life committees, we are proud to announce the planning of the first Alumni-Brotherhood Shabbat Dinner. Alumni will be invited back “home” to Rutgers to partake in a traditional Friday night “Sammy Shabbat” meal with the active brothers. It should be a fun and meaningful event.

It is important for a chapter to be growing, but it is even more important for a chapter to be growing in the right direction. The year of 2015 will be filled with improvements and change, and we would love you, the alumni, to take part.! If you have any questions or ideas to share, please feel free to reach out to any of

our officers! We have great things in store, and you are not going to want to miss them. Fast & Firm, Lee J. Matalon Recorder, ΣΔ Chapter

My name is Brian D’Amaro. I was recently elected as the exchequer of ΣΑΜ

ΣΔ for the 2015 year. I’m currently a sophomore studying Biotechnology and

potentially looking to go to Medical school. I joined Sammy last year as a part of the

ΖΞ class. Since then, some of you may have been in contact with me as the fall

alumni chair. I look forward to the opportunity to continue to serve the fraternity in my

new role. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you have for the chapter.

Fast & Firm,

Brian D'Amaro

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2015 Council Photo

From Left to Right: Lee Matalon, David Cerqueira, David Walker & Brian D’Amaro

Philanthropy puts us on the Map!

We are gearing up to participate in Dance Marathon! Last year, the Sigma

Delta Chapter sent 18 dancers and together with the Rutgers community, we all

raised $622,533.98 for Embrace Kids Foundation, a New Brunswick-based

organization that aids children with cancer and blood disorders. This year, we hope to

raise as a chapter $20,000 and send 20 of our brothers to the 30-hour marathon

event!

If you would like to help us to achieve our goal, you can find our team page through this link:

http://embracekids.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=5766

If you would like more information or to get involved with our activities, please contact Michael

Lazaropoulos at mikel@rusammy.com. Thank you for support and please stay tune, as the Sigma Delta

undergrads still have more to come.

Fast and Firm,

Michael Lazaropoulos

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A Sammy Shabbat

If you ask a Jew who has ever practiced having Shabbat dinner what it means to them I would be willing to bet that the survey would tell you that Shabbat dinner means family. At the end of the week, everyone sits down together at the table and eats a nice meal together and they reflect on their week as a family. Shabbat dinner is probably one of the most widely practiced parts of Judaism and it happens not to

be overwhelmed with ritual practice. For these reasons, I felt it behooved us, as a historically Jewish fraternity, to have some time with our own fraternity family at the Shabbat table.

It is important for us to look at our roots and see how they can affect us. That is why I am collaborating with the Alumni chair to help this fraternity examine our roots, both our Alumni roots and our Jewish roots. I could go on forever about why it is important for us to be in touch with our alumni so I will save that for another time, but I want to talk about why it is important for us to be connected to our Jewish roots. First, we are a historically Jewish fraternity and it shows. From the start, our ritual has Jewish significance in that we have Judaism weaved into our traditions and throughout various steps of the candidate process. If we want these rituals to have meaning to us, we need to be in touch with our Jewish roots. Second, one of our biggest recruiting tools is our historically Jewish nature. Many Jews, myself included, look for that nature in a fraternity when they rush. It gives them a sense of home in the fraternity if

they know that their Judaism is not seen as an outside force but rather a part of fraternity life. For that reason, it is important for us to be attached to our Jewish roots. If we want to recruit as a Jewish fraternity, we have to act like one.

For that purpose, I would like to invite all brothers to our family Shabbat dinner. It is sure to be an experience that really brings us all home. For more information, feel free to contact me, Seth Deneroff the Jewish Life Chair, at jewishlife@rusammy.com

Alumni Networking Initiative

Fraternities are based upon a group of individuals that share common values. People always say

that while they are in a fraternity, an individual will gain skills and friendships that last a lifetime; however, it

is sometimes difficult to maintain networking opportunities with those individuals who have graduated. The

Alumni base of a fraternity is a large part of the success of the fraternity. Being a member of Greek Life can

be a large part of an individuals’ collegiate career that can help to establish connections with various

employers and co-workers.

The Alumni are the best way to maintain networking opportunities for various careers or job

opportunities for the current undergraduate population. This year, a networking database is being created to

help the current undergraduate brotherhood to establish connections with the Sigma Alpha Mu Alumni. The

Alumni Chair for the Sigma Delta chapter will be monitoring the form and the responses. To access the

form to provide the requested information, please use the following link: http://tinyurl.com/SAMnetworking.

The primary purpose of the form is to gather information about your, the Alumnus’, professional experience

and past employers so that the brotherhood, or Alumni that are changing jobs, can reach out to you with

questions that they might have. If you have any questions about this initiative, please feel free to contact

Matthew Sicheri at matt@rusammy.com.

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Candidate Process Revampmed

One area of Sigma Delta that has needed improvement over the last several semesters has been its

candidate education program. The program has been stagnant and has not changed much, which has not

allowed for a number of problems to be corrected. This semester, the process has been rewritten to fix

these errors while still giving the same core experience that we have come to respect and appreciate. Many

of the same traditional events for Sigma Delta are still in place, but a number more have been added to

increase brotherhood involvement, create tighter bonds within the pledge class, increase knowledge of the

chapter, and simply have more fun. Each week of the 8 week process is centered around one of our 8

pillars, which will be revealed to them post-initiation, so that the candidates can have a deeper appreciation

for our values. Candidates will also have weekly goals that will aim to increase their abilities to network

socialize, and lead all while excelling scholastically.

Recruiting for Our Future

Recruitment is always an extremely busy and sometimes cumbersome time for the brothers of

Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma Delta Chapter. From the very inception of rush week, the recruitment chair must

bring everyone together for the busiest most stressful time of the semester. The brothers of our chapter

decided to do things a little differently this time around. Instead of there being one main recruitment chair,

we decided to split the tremendous amount of responsibility and have Co- Recruitment Chairs. Big and

Little, Scott Grollman and Leslie Cherry were appointed recruitment chairs by the chapter. Scott and Leslie

work well together, and entire brotherhood looks forward to them serving our chapter this semester. They

have put together a fun schedule of events for our rushes, and alumni are welcome to attend each event.

Scott and Leslie both agree that having alumni at our events gives the potentials a chance to interact

through networking and they can fully understand the great privilege of becoming a brother. We hope to

welcome the Zeta Pi candidate class and hope that they complete the process and become brothers. We

hope to see alumni at our events, and the rush schedule can be seen on the dates listed on page one of

this News Letter.

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Formal is Almost Here!

Sigma Alpha Mu of Rutgers New Brunswick will be spending their spring 2015 formal with a night of

fine dining and entertainment as they cruise along the Hudson on one of Spirit Cruise’s most elegant ships.

With catering and a professional DJ included in the package the ship will board promptly at 630 pm and

depart for a night overlooking the Manhattan city skyline at 7pm. The trip will last for three hours and return

to port at 10pm. On the ship, those attending will enjoy climate-controlled interior decks with panoramic

windows, spacious dance floors, full service bars, and a topside open-air rooftop deck to enjoy the view.

This event will be taking place on April 24, 2015. Make sure to save the date! There will be more

information coming soon, but if you have any questions, please contact the Alumni Chair.

The 2nd Annual Sigma Delta Golf Classic is slated for Friday, May 29th, 2015 at the

Ballyowen Golf Club located in Hamburg, NJ (Sussex County). This year’s event will benefit Talia and

Gabi, two orphaned nieces of Fra Craig Udell, 93. Craig and his wife Stacey adopted the girls (and

had 2 girls of their own) when their mother passed away in 2013. The cost of golf that includes a BBQ

lunch and more is $175. There are also various sponsorships. If interested in golf and/or sponsorship,

please contact David “BB” Brooks via email:sigmadeltagolfclassic@yahoo.com or search for the

Sigma Delta Golf Classic on Facebook or by using the link provided:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1548453375440869/.

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Meeting the Soon-To-Be Alumni

James Collins is 21 years old, majoring in history with a minor in political

science. He currently holds the position of social chair. Following graduation

James will be attending law school with the hopes of one day becoming a

lawyer.

Scott Grollman will be finishing his BS Degree in Supply Chain Management and Marketing Sciences this coming semester. Post-graduation, Scott will be beginning a career at Nestle Purina as a member of the company's Supply

Chain Management Trainee Program. The program will consist of 10 months in the company's main manufacturing plant in Davenport, IA; followed by 6 months at headquarters in St. Louis, MO. Scott has held many positions during his time in Sigma Alpha Mu including Recruitment Chair, Sergeant at Arms and Vice Prior. Scott also had two littles. He plans to be an active member of Sigma Alpha Mu's Alumni Association after graduation. Scott would like to thank all of the active brothers and alumni of Sigma Alpha Mu for making such a positive impact on his life during his college years. The memories he had were amazing and he would not trade them for anything.

Ryan Lizotte, is a 21 year old Senior. He is an Economics and Journalism

double-major, with no specific career plans. Currently, Ryan writes for The

Odyssey, an all-Greek magazine at school, and intern at a website,

TalkMarkets.com. While Ryan has no specific career idea, he considers

learning to be important and enjoyable; graduate school may be an option.

Ryan’s time at Sigma Alpha Mu, especially while working as Recorder and

Rush Chair, has taught him an infinite amount of project management skills,

and life skills. It is not possible to have a functioning, growing fraternity

without great teamwork and good leadership. Without the fraternity, his skills

as a leader, as well as a follower, would simply not be up to the level they are

now. Regarding Sigma Alpha Mu, you get what you put into it.

Seth has high hopes for his future. He wants to break into the defense

industry and work specifically in Cyber Security. His plan is to work for a few

years and then consider applying for a PhD in the future in Cryptography.

During his time at the fraternity, Seth has gained a lot. He has seen the bonds

of brotherhood grow between many different people and, grew a lot as a

social person. Seth also led the push for the creation of the Jewish Life Chair

in order to move the fraternity into a place where the chapter is tied closer to

its roots as a historically Jewish fraternity.

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Taylor is a senior in Material Science and Engineering. He is originally from

Madison, NJ. After graduating from the School of Engineering at Rutgers

University, Taylor plans to enter the Materials industry. He plans to pursue

research and development in either the glass, ceramic, or the nanotechnology

industries. After working for a few years, he would like to continue his

education with either a M.S. or a Ph.D. Over the past three years, Taylor has

enjoyed the connections he has made through the fraternity. He will miss

everyone, but will especially miss the people he joined with in the Fall of 2012

(Zeta Lambda).

Eric Semiao’s goals after graduation are currently as follows. Eric plans to do

either a few months in construction purely for the monetary gain or continuing

at the liquor store. This will leave him with some income as he applies to

other jobs. Specifically, Eric is shooting for either the FBI's Art Theft

department or as an officer in the Air Force. Also considering both the navy

and the military considering those are easier for rank ups, especially with a

degree. If declined, law enforcement and homeland security is his backup

plan. From the fraternity, Eric had gained some lifelong brothers.

Matthew B. Sicheri is a third year Rutgers Student that will be graduating in

May of 2015. Matthew will be graduating with a major in Human Resource

Management and a minor in Italian Studies. He is very involved at Rutgers.

Matthew is a Resident Assistant for the Busch Campus and the President or

the Rutgers Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary while being the

Alumni Chair for the Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity. Matthew was also trained in

over 100 plus hours of Suicide Counselor training for the Scarlet Listeners

that is a Suicide and Referral Hotline sponsored by Rutgers. He will be

attending law school next Fall, but has not yet made a decision on which

school he would like to attend.

Currently in his senior year, Anthony (known to his friends as 'Smizzy') has been pursuing a career in radio broadcasting, finishing an internship with SiriusXM in 2014. As Brotherhood Chair & Historian of ΣΑΜ for two years, Anthony has learned one important thing when it comes to what being a part

of Greek Life is all about: You will get as much out of it with how much effort you put into it.

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Joe Vavra will be completing his degree in Biomedical Engineering this May

and plans to further his education by obtaining his Master's Degree. He

hopes to one-day work as a manager of a prosthetic design firm while saving

up enough money to open his own eventually. As a former Prior and Vice

Prior, Joe has put a great deal of time into the fraternity and says that it was

the best decision he made in his collegiate career. He strongly believes that

the fraternity helped improve his network, created tightly knit friendships with

brothers, helped better his academic performance, and provided him enough

memories to last a lifetime.

Mark Gedrich is graduating cum laude with a degree in Molecular Biology and

Biochemistry. He has conducted epigenetics research for 3 years working on

an independent project. He worked as a Resident Assistant for two years,

where he played a critical role in support and management of a community of

50 students. He is taking a gap year while applying to medical school and is

currently seeking a job in the medicinal or laboratory setting

Michael Goldstein will be finishing his undergraduate degree this semester

with a major in Exercise Science. He has recently been accepted to the

Rutgers’s BS/MS 4 plus 1-year program where he will be earning his Masters

Degree in Business and Science with a focus in kinesiology and applied

physiology. Michael will also be applying to medical schools this upcoming

summer and he aspires to be an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine

specialist.

Not Pictured

Kevin Savage will also be graduating in May.

Syed Zammam Saad will be graduating this May with a double major in Cell

Biology & Neuroscience and Psychology. He plans on pursuing an MD/PhD in

Neuropharmacology and continue his research in animal models of

neurodegenerative diseases. He will be taking a gap year to concentrate on

research and apply to MD/PhD programs. Zammam is a part of numerous

organizations including Rutgers Olympic Weightlifting Club, Rutgers Cell

Biology & Neuroscience Club and Rutgers SSDP. He's gained a lot of insight

in his three years of brotherhood and priceless experiences.

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Contact Information

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please email or call us at the information provided below.

Name Position Email Phone Number

Matthew B. Sicheri Alumni Chair Matt@rusammy.com 609-384-0162

David Walker Prior DaveW@rusammy.com 201-772-9121

David Cerqueira Vice Prior DaveC@rusammy.com 973-477-1512

Brian D’Amaro Exchequer Brian@rusammy.com 551-497-2043

Lee Matalon Recorder Lee@rusammy.com 732-320-1031

Are you interested in having Alumni only

functions? Please let me know if this is

something of interest. I want to have events

that all Alumni would enjoy and wish to

attend. Any suggestions for different events

would be greatly appreciated. Please e-mail

the ideas to the address for the Alumni Chair

or mail directly to him to the address listed at

the end of this box.

Direct Mailing Address:

Mr. Matthew B. Sicheri

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

9437 BPO Way

Busch Campus

Piscataway, NJ 08854

Future PR Event Coming Soon

As an upcoming event, we have organized a basement music show. The night will consist of multiple

local bands that will be given a chance to entertain the public. There will also be a Sammy house band that will

be performing some cover songs and possibly some original songs. The event may take place at 154 Hamilton

Street or at the College Avenue Student Center if a spot can be reserved. We will be charging 5 dollars for a

wristband in order to see the event and all the money will be donated to charity. More information will be

released once it becomes available.

Alumni,

Please be aware that you are more than welcome to

attend the first general meeting of every month. If

you are interested in attending, presenting

something, or just looking for some current

information from the brotherhood, please contact

Matthew in either email, letter or by phone. He will

be more than happier to provide you with the

information that you are requesting or the

location/time and if there is in fact a meeting that

day.

Thank you for your time and keep an eye out for

email updates throughout the semester.