2019 Oktoberfest Happy Hour

Over 30 SAE brothers gathered on October 8, 2019 in Scottsdale’s old town district at Brat Haus to celebrate the third annual Oktoberfest. Wonderful German sausages, home made soft pretzels, pickles and other good food were shared by all. Of course, Oktoberfest wouldn’t be complete without brothers sampling German beers on their own tab.

SAE Phoenix Alumni Association wins Bill Fiscus Outstanding Alumni Association of the Year Award 2019

Applicant Information

Name of Alumni Association: PHOENIX SAE ALUMNI, INC.

Full Name of Submitter: Stan C Strom

Position in Alumni Association: Vice President

Phone Number: 480-225-7372

E-mail of Submitter: stanstrom@yahoo.com

Website of Alumni Association: https://www.SAEPhoenix.org

Essay

Briefly describe your alumni association, including its goals, officer/committee duties, events/activities and communications.

Alumni Awards: Bill Fiscus Outstanding Area Alumni Association Award Deadline : May 20 2019 at 11:59 PM CDT (Midnight)

Applicant Information

The SAE Phoenix Alumni, Inc. was the Runner-up in 2018 for the Bill Fiscus Outstanding Area Alumni Association which inspired our group to continue its involvement. Please see our website to get the full picture of our events, communication, awards, scholarships, etc. Phoenix is home to nearly 2,800 SAE alumni from over 221 different chapters. Due to the "do not call" lists, we have 807 alumni who have opted in full time.

After hosting the 1997 SAE National Convention, the local alumni retreated to more of a local ASU chapter alumni association. In 2015, an energetic group of alumni lead by Joe Laux (AZ Beta) and Tom Healy (OH Gamma) re-chartered the SAE Phoenix Alumni, Inc. to focus on all chapters in Province Upsilon as well as alumni from every SAE chapter represented in metro Phoenix.

Today, our Alumni Association controls nearly $200,000 in investments which we use for scholarships and awards locally. Due to financial management/investment policy, there are no more alumni dues. Each of our monthly events operate on a break-even basis with fees only charged for the breakfast, lunch or event cost.

We have 11 board of directors who attend our monthly meetings where attendance is required and detailed minutes taken and distributed before and after every event. Directors are elected to 2-year terms with staggering terms for consistent leadership. The Board then elects its officers for 2-year terms with President, VP, Secretary and Treasurer. A separate Investment Committee oversees the $200,000 investment account, all CPAs & CFPs.

This past year, we held twelve monthly events that were advertised through Eventbrite, A-weber and direct email solicitation. We are now using different targeted approaches to alumni from other chapters to encourage their participation. Each event was posted on our calendar with notification to alumni and undergrads at least 30 days prior to the event and follow-up at 15 days and 7 days before as a means of improving attendance and communication. We hired an outside assistant at $400/mo just to keep these notices updated and consistent before bringing it in-house through the website.

January 11 WINGS & BASKETBALL (Tempe)

January 27 ASU COLONY INITIATION

March 9 FOUNDERS DAY at The Capital Grill (WILL GRIMSLEY, Speaker)

April 14 VISIT AZ DE (Prescott) (Bo Sedarstrom, Bill Wienke & Mike Donahoe)

April 21 NATL DAY OF SERVICE - HORSES HELP

May 9 LUNCHEON AT BLUE WATER GRILL

June 9 GOLF TOURNEY AT GAINEY RANCH

August 3 LEADERSHIP SCHOOL (TALKING STICK RESORT)

August 15 BREAKFAST AT POMOLO'S

September 9 ASU COLONY INTITIATION

September 29 OPEN HOUSE & ASU FOOTBALL GAME AT GLV

October 30 OKTOBERFEST AT BRAT HAUS

December 3 LUNCHEON AT THE CAPITAL

Briefly describe how the area alumni association is involved with local undergraduate chapters.

The SAE National Staff called upon the Phoenix Alumni to assist in the re-colonization efforts of Arizona Beta after it was closed in 2013. Local alumni were instrumental in working with the colony starting in the spring, 2017 through its rechartering in February, 2019. Most alumni were from chapters outside Arizona Beta.

The Arizona Beta Colony was awarded the Most Outstanding Colony in 2018 and we believe a good part of its success was due to our alumni guidance. We reached out to the Arizona Alpha chapter but had little success in 2018. Eventually, that chapter was closed but our SAE Phoenix Alumni will be instrumental in re-colonizing it in four years.

We have been very involved with the Arizona Delta chapter in Prescott (Embry Riddle Aeronautical University) as well. Trips were made there twice last year by alumni to attend chapter functions and provide encourangement. The SAE Phoenix Alumni bought tickets for a table of eight at the 2018 Leadership School Final Banquet here in Phoenix. It was there that we witnessed our local chapters (AZ Delta) get nationally recognized as Most Improved Chapter and AZ Beta Colony for Most Outstanding Colony awards.

All undergraduates are encouraged to attend our Alumni events which are usually provided for free or discounted due to donations by our generous alumni. Specifically, Founder's Day, ASU Basketball and the Golf Tournament always have at least four paid admissions for the undergraduates.

In 2018, the SAE Phoenix Alumni provided scholarships to undergrads at AZ Beta and AZ Delta in the amount of $3,000. Further, the SAE Phoenix Alumnni provided $5000 towards furniture in the new chapter house. In addition, we paid for the $3000 chartering fee for the colony (to assist with ritual robes) and have provided scholarships to Leadership School and the Ritual Institute.

More importantly, our association has encouraged the True Gentleman and use of ritual at all SAE events. We have made an application for "special event" that featured our involvement in the model AZ Beta Chapter Initiation and Installation that occured on Feb 16, 2019. It included SAE initiates ranging in age from 19 - 81 years and had over 21 different SAE chapters represented.

Our website now features detailed text and photos of all events for the past four years as well as current news, calendars, photos, and promotions for both alumni and local chapters.

We have tried to promote events that encourage support with the local chapter. For instance, we hosted the 2nd Annual ASU vs UA Basketball game in January and invited alumni from both schools along with the chapter. It was a hugely successful event.

This year we took interest in career development and provided letters of recommendation for undergrads to apply for scholarships. Four outstanding undergraduates from Arizona chapters were among the winners in 2018-19 including Mark Martin (Charles Collins $2000),Thomas Jenson (Richard Generelly Leadership Award $2000), and Bryon Moradshahi, Trustees Award for Scholarship and Service $2000).

Read more

Local Alumni Recognized for Service

Three local alumni from the SAE Phoenix Alumni were recognized by the Arizona Beta Chapter and National Fraternity staff during the installation banquet on February 16th. These include Brother Mike Donahoe, Oklahoma Kappa ‘62 and Bill Wienke, Texas Alpha ‘60, who were presented the ORDER OF THE LION. Brother Stan Strom was recognized with the ORDER OF MINERVA.

Mike Donahoe, OK Kappa ‘62 receives the Order of the Lion Award

Bill Wienke, TX Alpha ‘60, receives the Order of the Lion Award

 

ORDER OF MINERVA

Description: The Order of Minerva recognizes outstanding commitment and loyalty to the Fraternity by an alumnus over an extended period of time on various Fraternity levels.

Materials: Recipients will receive a printed certificate and lapel pin.

Requirements: The recipient must have five years of significant service on the local, regional or national level or combination thereof in one or multiple positions (e.g. house corporation or alumni association officer, chapter advisory board, province officer OR long-term project, such as serving on an alumni commission). In addition, he already should have been awarded the Order of the Lion. This honor be recommended at any point in the alumnus' career, even within five years of graduation, if the contribution was significant as described.

Nomination: An alumnus member may be nominated by any individual or any governing body.

Approval & Presentation: This award is approved by the Eminent Supreme Recorder and may be presented by a Chapter Collegiate, alumni association, province or national officer.



Stan Strom, Arizona Beta ‘82 is the recipient of the Order of Mineva

ORDER OF THE LION

Description: The Order of the Lion recognizes outstanding commitment and loyalty to the Fraternity by an alumnus.

Materials: Recipients will receive a printed certificate and lapel pin.

Requirements: The recipient must have demonstrated outstanding service to the Fraternity on any level for an extended period of time.

Nomination: An alumnus may be nominated by any individual or any governing body.

Approval & Presentation: This award may be approved and presented by any governing body of the Fraternity.