Chapter News

  • New Chair Positions Elected

    Brotherhood Chair-Russel Montgomery ('13)


    Service Chair-Brent Cross ('13)


    Philanthropy Chair-Christian Kilby ('13)


    Public Relations Chair- Tim DelValle ('13)


    Professional Development Chair- Vaughn Duitsman ('13)


    Homecoming Chair- Matt Dollinger ('14) and Kirk Beutke ('13)

     

    Computer Chair- Matt Gill ('14)


    Website Chair- Seth Meyers ('15)


    House Chaplin- Bob Schroeder ('13)


    Secretary- Alex Zook ('13) (part of new member class '15)


    Risk Management- Jared Eaton ('15)


    Assistant Finance- Jared Kempell ('14) (part of new member class '15)


    Bar Crawl Organizers- Miles Henderson ('14), Patrick Olin ('13) and Vaughn Duitsman ('13)

     

    Recent Scholarships Awarded to Alpha Chapter Members

     

    Brother Kris Peterson

    • Illinois Soybean Scholarship

     

    Brother Justin Wassmann

    • DeKalb County Farm Bureau Ag Discipline Scholarship
    • Donald B. Ferguson Scholarship Marshall Scott Scholarship in Agribusiness fund
    •  Allan G. and Gloria F. Mueller Farm Business Management Scholarship fund

     

    Brother Vaugn Duitsman

    • Champaign County Farm Bureau Scholarship 
    • College of ACES Carl Dehart Scholarship

     

    Brother Tim DelValle

    • Anna Lou Johnston Roth Scholarship

     

    Summer 2012 Internships to be Undertaken by Alpha Chapter Members

     

    Brother Justin Wassmann and Brother Patrick Kelly- Beck's Hybrids

     

    Brother Vaughn Duitsman- Merchandising Internship with Gavilon Group, LLC 

     

    Brother Matthew Dollinger- Finance and Accounting Internship with Monsanto in New Orleans Louisiana

     

    Brother Russell Montgomery- Internship with Westchester Group

     


    Alpha Elects New Executive Board

     

    At the October 31st Chapter meeting the brothers of Alpha chapter listened to speeches, debated, then elected ten new individuals to serve the chapter in the coming year as member's of the Executive Board. The results are as follows:

    Noble Ruler- Justin Wassmann ('13)

    VNR Planning- Keith Dorwart ('13)

    VNR Membership Development ('13)

    VNR Alumni Relations- Blake Croegaert ('15)

    VNR Finance- Matt Dollinger ('14)

    VNR Activities- Tyler Scott ('14)

    VNR Recruitment- Paul West ('14) and Pat Kelly ('15)

    VNR Management and Operations- Jon Schuler ('14)

    VNR Scholarship- Ron Dymerski ('14)


  • Alpha Gamma Rho

    Homecoming Celebration 2011

    University of Illinois vs. Northwestern University

    Saturday, October 1, 2011

     

    Alpha alumni and your families are invited to participate in all of the activities

    • Reminisce with your Alpha brothers and enjoy a continental breakfast and house tours at the Chapter House prior to the football game
    • Participate in a brief Alumni Board meeting to hear what’s happening with the Active Chapter and alumni initiatives
    • Cheer the Fighting Illini to victory over the Northwestern Wildcats!
    • Reconnect with other Alpha alumni and their families at an old fashioned tailgate cookout in Lot 31 (formerly known as the gold lot on the west side of First Street)

     

    Homecoming Agenda

     

    8:30 – 11 a.m.                       Continental Breakfast and House Tours

     

    9:00 – 10 a.m.                       Alumni Corporation Board Meeting

     

    11 a.m.                                   Kickoff – Illinois vs. Northwestern

     

    2:30 p.m.                                Old Fashioned Tailgate Gathering (immediately following the conclusion of the game)

                                                   

    Menu includes

                                                    Beef Tenderloin

                                                    Pulled Pork

                                                    Watermelon

                                                    Beverages & More  

     

    To reserve a football ticket in the Alpha alumni football block, please email agrhomecoming@gmail.com by September 15. Tickets will be available to be picked up prior to the game at the Chapter House.

     

    Post-game tailgate will include meal, beer, and soda. To help with the planning of the meal, please RSVP by Friday, September 23 to agrhomecoming@gmail.com.

     

    Please call undergraduate Travis Huisinga with questions at 217.419.4003.

     

     

     

  • Chapter Takes Home National Honors

     

    The Alpha Gamma Rho Home Office recently announced various chapter awards for the past school year and Alpha Chapter was among the winners. The Chapter received the Gold standard, which is for overall excellence. In other categories Alpha was awarded High Honor in Promise and Values, High Honor in Recruitment Excellence, and High Honor for the Crescent- Best Single Issue. Congratulations to the chapter, the Executive Board, and those who filled out applications.

     

    On an individual note, Ryan Giertz ('12) was one of three brothers nationally to be awarded the AGR Excellence Scholarship. This is the second year in a row a member of Alpha has earned this distinction.

     

     

     

     

  • Alpha Wins Greek Oscars

     

    Alpha Chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho came away from the annual Greek Oscars event, hosted by IFC, PHC, UGC, and BGC, with some new hardware for the trophy case. The main award earned was Third Place Chapter of the Year. This is a high honor as there are 45 chapters in the running for this award. Helping to obtain this award was a second place finish in External Operations and an Honorable Mention in Risk Management. On an individual note, Brother Ryan Giertz was awarded the IFC Scholarship for with work within the chapter and Greek community. Congratulations to the chapter and last year's Executive Board for these awards! 

     

     

     

  • Kahle Named AGR Undergrad Recruitment Director

     

    Current Alpha brother Edward Kahle ('12) will serve the summer working for Alpha Gamma Rho National Headquarters as an Undergrad Recruitment Director. Eddie will be taking his talents west to Laramie, WY to assist the Beta Omicron chapter in their recruitment efforts. Brother Kahle served Alpha as the VNR Recruitment from 2008-2009 and then served as the Infraternity Council VP- Recruitment during the 2009-2010 year.

     

     

     

  • Alpha Initiates Dow CEO

     

    Four members of the Alpha Chapter traveled to Indianapolis to perform an honorary initiation ceremony at the National Leadership Conference for the CEO of Dow AgroSciences, Antonio Galindez. The Alpha Chapter was selected by the National Headquarters to initiate Mr. Galindez. This is a huge honor and we are glad to have Mr. Galindez as a brother. His bio can be found below:

     

    Antonio Galindez is president and CEO of Dow AgroSciences, a position he assumed on October 1, 2009. Prior to this role he served as vice president, Crops Business, where he had global responsibilities for both the agrochemicals as well as the Seeds, Traits and Oils businesses.

    Galindez joined The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) in 1983 as field sales representative for agricultural products in Spain. Over the course of his career he has held numerous leadership roles in both Dow and Dow AgroSciences. From 1986 to 1992, he served in various marketing and business positions throughout Europe. He then moved back to Spain to assume the role of country manager for Spain and Portugal. He served in this role until 1995 when he became the Human Resources director for Europe. In 1997, he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, to accept the position of global business leader in the agrochemical business. He was named vice president, Latin America Trade Area in 2002 and led Dow AgroSciences corporate strategy development. Later that year, Galindez became vice president for Europe, Latin America and the Pacific, a position he held until being named vice president, Crops Business, in 2006.

    Galindez is a member of the board of CropLife International, a global network which represents the plant science industry. He serves as a board member for the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership and also is a board member of BioCrossroads, a public and private collaboration that supports central Indiana's life sciences research and corporate strengths while encouraging new business development.

    Galindez received an agriculture engineering degree from Madrid University in Madrid, Spain, and a master of science degree from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

     

     

  • Members Head South for Leadership Conference 

     

    Recently 12 members of Alpha Chapter attended the Alpha Gamma Rho Leadership Seminar held in Forth Worth, TX. This conference was a two day long events that included multiple other chapters and members from our sister sorority, Sigma Alpha. The theme throughout the seminars was about making the post out of your position but not just filling a spot but truly making the chapter better. As the chapter’s two recruitment chairs went to Recruitment School over winter break two freshman were sent to this aspect of the conference in order to better increase the effectiveness of recruitment this year and for years to come. Another important lesson taken away was how to improve résumés and making sure members Facebook profiles exhibit a professional matter as they move forward with their careers. Finally, there was interaction with many southern chapters who we can relate to in many ways, but lessons were learned about the challenges and issues they face. In all it was a valuable experience for all the members involved and would not have been possible without the support of the Education Foundation.

     

     

     

  • Alpha Awarded IFC "Exceptional" Chapter Status

     

    For the second straight year Alpha Gamma Rho- Alpha Chapter was named an "Exceptional" Chapter by the Interfraternity Council's Illinois Greek Initiative. The Chapter is the only chapter to be awarded this honor back-to-back years and is one of only three chapters out of fourty-five that received it this year. Below is a message from IFC:

     

         "The Interfraternity Council at the University of Illinois is proud to announce that the Alpha chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho has been deemed “Exceptional” by Illini Greek Initiative Standards for the 2010 calendar year.

         The Illini Greek Initiaive is a system by which the Interfraternity Council can evaluate and rewards its chapters for high achievement. It is a tool through which the IFC can inform member chapters of what it considers the elements of an outstanding chapter, and by which chapters can display to IFC and the rest of the university community the high achievements of their organizations.

         The Alpha chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho has strived to better themselves in aspects of brotherhood, academics, leadership, service and social advancement in order to improve their chapter, the University of Illinois, and the greater community."

     

    Congratulations to the chapter for your hard work in obtaining this award and making Alpha proud!

     

  • Alpha Loses Great Man, Chef

     

    The Alpha Chapter chef Bill Pulcini passed away from a heart attack suffered early February. Bill had been with Alpha for over 14 years and served thousands of actives, alumni, family, and friends. Bill was more than just a cook for the members, he was a friend. Bill could always be counted on to just sit and talk about life and crack a witty joke at just the right time. Bill and his family will be in all our thoughts and prayers in the coming days and weeks.

     

     

  • Aggers Go Abroad

      

    This semester Alpha Gamma Rho has seen three brothers go to Europe to further expand their learning. Below is a quick summary from each of the brothers about their study abroad plans. 

     

    Blake Wyffels, Sr., Crop Sciences

         This semester I am studying at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.  Its a highly competitive university that specializes in life sciences and is respected throughout Europe for this.  I will be spending four months in Wageningen studying plant sciences.  The size of the University is just under 10,000 students.  I would compare the town to Champaign, but a little less campus life and more family oriented.
        The Dutch do things a little different over here compared to what I am used to back in Illinois, I'll share some examples:  First off the classes go by periods.  This first period is only four weeks long and you only are responsible for one class.  Later on the periods extend to 8 weeks and you take 2 classes.  Currently I'm entering (finals week) the last week of class, and have most of the week off to finish up projects and to study for the exam.  The finals here range from 60-100% of your final grade compared to Illinois classes of 30-50% of your final grade.  Another thing the Dutch do is bike, about 95% of everyone rides a bike to class. 

      

    Jacob Wyffels, Jr., Crop Sciences

        I am currently studying spanish at Centro Internacional de Estudios Superiores in Granada, Spain. I live with a host family in Granada so I am learning much about the Spanish language as well as the culture of Spain. In my free time I enjoy exploring the city of Granada, which has a vast amount of historic buildings that represent the cultures of the past. I also checks out the bars, which are around about every corner in Granada, and tapas (kind of like appetizers) are served here and are a major part of the Spanish culture. Through the duration of my stay I also have pans to travel to Italy, Belgium, Portugal and Morrocco, as well as the rest of Spain.

     

    Jacob Stukenberg, Jr., Agricultural and Biological Engineering

        I am currently studying abroad at the University College of Dublin in Ireland. I am studying engineering and am enjoying learning about the Irish culture and meeting new people. I have already has made many friends from Ireland, as well as other international students from Australia, Canada, Germany, and France to name a few. My favorite favorite things to do in Ireland so far are walks in St. Stephens Park and "taking in the local atmosphere and music" of the famous Temple Bar Street Area and several pubs around the city. I am also excited to travel on my weekends to explore the many different areas of Ireland and have trips planned to visit Prague, Switzerland, Germany, London and hopefully more as the semester plays out.

    Best wishes guys and enjoy your studies and travels!