Message from our Prior, Sammy Moscovitch

Hi,

I am Sammy Moscovitch, the Refounding Prior of the Sigma Alpha Mu Rho Chapter at UIUC. I am writing to update you on the latest news and events from our chapter, which was recently reestablished after a five-year absence from campus. We have been working hard to rebuild and grow our fraternity, and I am excited to share all of the exciting events and initiatives we have been a part of and are planning for in the future. Additionally, I look forward to showing you how we seek as an organization to redefine what it means to be a member of our greek-life organization and want it means to be a Sammy. In this newsletter, you can read about our current recruitment efforts, philanthropic activities, brotherhood events, and more. Thank you for your support and interest in the Sigma Alpha Mu Rho Chapter. Fast and Firm!

Recruitment & Growth

Recruitment was crucial for us this semester, as it was the first fall we were back on campus. We recruited eight new members, bringing our total chapter size to 19. These new brothers will be the next leaders of the Sigma Alpha Mu Rho Chapter, and we can't wait to see all their achievements. We are proud of this tremendous growth and will continue to grow into one of the most active Sammy chapters.

The Epsilon Gamma Chapter along with Supreme Prior David Kleppel, came to UIUC for a joint initiation ceremony. This incredible experience fostered bonding between brothers, and we hope to have many more opportunities to bond with brothers from other chapters. You can see more pictures from after initiation here. We are excited to continue growing our chapter and fostering connections with other Sammy chapters in the coming semester.

Past Events & Philanthropy

At our chapter, we are proud of our commitment to philanthropy and community service. We have organized a variety of events and initiatives to support important causes and make a positive impact on our campus and local community.

We believe that it is important for fraternities and sororities to be active and engaged members of their communities, and we are committed to doing our part to make a difference. Through our philanthropy efforts, we strive to foster a sense of purpose and social responsibility among our brothers, and to build stronger bonds with our alumni and other organizations on campus.

Hoops For Ukraine Basketball Tournament

Our chapter partnered with several other organizations, including Illini Chabad, The Ukrainian Students Association, AEPHI, AEPI, DG, SDT, and ZBT, to host a 3-on-3 basketball tournament raising money for Ukrainian Refugees in Odesa. We are proud of the success of this event and plan to continue organizing similar fundraising activities in the future. We hope to bring together even more students and organizations to support important causes like this one.

SAM Poker Night

Our fraternity recently hosted a successful poker night attended by over 25 members and guests. Thanks to all who attended and contributed to the event's success, and we look forward to hosting another one in the future.

Brotherhood Bowling

As a brotherhood event, we got to go bowling with all of our new candidates and AJ, our chapter's growth consultant! You can check out photos from bowling here.

Charity Paintball Tournament

In collaboration with Illini Hillel, our chapter hosted an exciting paintball tournament to raise funds for the Judy Fund and Alzheimer's research. The event was a great success. We are already planning to make this an annual event and would be thrilled to have alums and brothers from other chapters join us for a fun day of competition and fundraising. A brother from the ISU Sammys chapter came up this year and had a great time with us. You can check out all the photos from the event here.

Chabad Annual Fundraiser

Chabad has been a crucial partner in our efforts to rebuild the Sigma Alpha Mu chapter on the UIUC campus. While our house is undergoing renovations, we are operating out of Chabad and are grateful for their support. In recognition of their contributions, Rabbi Dovid was presented with the Campus-Based Professional Of The Year Award by our national organization.

As a way of giving back, we participated in Chabad's annual fundraiser and, with just 19 brothers, were able to raise a total of $54,696. This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our brothers, and we are proud to support Chabad and their important work. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with them in the future.

Education

As a chapter, we strive to strike a balance between having fun and promoting education, good grades, and professional development. Last semester, our current brothers had an impressive average cumulative GPA of 3.80! To ensure that new members are committed to academic excellence, we require that all candidates have GPAs of at least 3.50 and attend mandatory study hours at Illini Chabad.

Many of our brothers also hold leadership positions in various professional organizations on campus, and these connections can be invaluable for new pledges as they develop their careers. We believe that by prioritizing both personal growth and professional development, our chapter can continue to thrive and make a positive impact on our campus and community.

Housing Developments

Our chapter house is currently undergoing major renovations, which are scheduled to be completed by July. We are eagerly anticipating the completion of these renovations and the opportunity to move into the newly-refurbished house. The renderings of the finished house look absolutely gorgeous, and we can't wait to see the final result.

This renovation project is an important investment in our chapter's future, and we are grateful for the support of our national organization and alumni in making it possible. We look forward to welcoming brothers and guests to our beautiful new house and creating lasting memories there.

Alumni Engagement

We are always eager to connect with alumni and learn more about their experiences on campus. Recently, we had the opportunity to meet up with some alumni at a tailgate before the Illini-Iowa game and had a great time catching up with them. If you are an alum and would like to learn more about our chapter or come to campus to meet us, we would love to hear from you. We hope to continue fostering these relationships and learning from the experiences of our alumni in the years to come.