Chapter History | sigmachiscu

History of the Lambda Gamma Chapter

A chapter different than all the rest.

EARLY BEGINNINGS

The journey to becoming the Lambda Gamma chapter of Sigma Chi was a long one, paved with hard work and brotherly drama. Before it was a chapter, it was the Sigma Chi Upsilon colony at Santa Clara University. Even before that, it was merely an idea, an idea that existed simultaneously in the minds of two men to whom this chapter must credit as its two original founders: Gregory Evers Kaplow of San Jose, California, and Vytautas Gintauras Degesys, of Durham, North Carolina.

Mr. Degesys’ desire to bring a chapter to Santa Clara was heavily influenced by his brother, a Sigma Chi at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. He brought these influences to Santa Clara, whereupon he contacted the International Headquarters in Evanston. They directed him to contact a Mr. Kaplow, also a freshman student at SCU, who had independently expressed a desire to begin a colony at the University.

Mr. Kaplow’s earnest desire to form a colony at Santa Clara can be in large part attributed to his relationship with the one and only Mark Galbo. Mr. Galbo was, and remains, a close friend of the Kaplow family. When Mr. Kaplow initially expressed interest in becoming a member of the Greek community, Mr. Galbo, a lifelong Sigma Chi, encouraged him to look at the existing fraternities on campus. Mr. Kaplow did so and found that none of the existing fraternities seemed to either appeal to him or fit what he was looking for. Thus, he returned to Mr. Galbo, who set into motion a request to International Headquarters expressing interest in forming a colony at Santa Clara University.

Both Mr. Kaplow and Mr. Degesys were drawn to the idea of Sigma Chi due to the influence of Sigma Chis in their lives. Their desire to bring Sigma Chi to Santa Clara University formed the basis of the Sigma Chi Upsilon colony and so they are credited as the two original founders of this chapter.

It is here where we must give credit where credit is due. Mark Galbo’s 30+ years of service to Sigma Chi proved invaluable both during the early days of the colony/chapter through today. Mr. Galbo has run the gamut of the fraternity, from his days as an undergraduate at San Jose State, his service as a chapter advisor and active alumnus and ultimately his volunteer days as Grand Praetor for over a decade where he personally oversaw the chartering of more than six additional chapters to the Northern California province.

Dear Reader:

History is constant and ever changing. Here in your hands you hold the story of the Lambda Gamma chapter of Sigma Chi. It is an account of the peregrination of a group of young men who dared to create something new, a group who took it upon themselves to think differently, to challenge the status quo. In this process, they created something new, not only for themselves but also for the countless others who have succeeded them and continue to succeed them to this day.

This history has been carefully maintained by generations of Historians who labored in service of their Ritualistic obligations. May you profit from their teachings.

Marco Fanucchi

Epsilon Pledge Class

Class of 2016

ROCKY START/ A WHOLE NEW WORLD

And so the idea was born, between Messrs. Kaplow and Degesys under the supervision and guidance of Brother Galbo. One can, of course, imagine the difficulties in starting a chapter from scratch. The first question among many that they needed to answer was who they would be undertaking this grand adventure with. The solution was literally right down the hall from the both of them. Greg enlisted the help of his roommate, Justin Lorentz, as well as two of his friends from Sobrato Hall, Andy Pantoja and Chris Macko. Vytas brought his roommate, Connor Kelliher, and another of his suitemates, Sam Lawler, onboard as well. Thus became the original seven, the individuals who took an idea and set it on the path to fruition. They had their initial meeting with Brother Galbo at Mio Vicino where they received their first task: to begin recruitment.

Where to begin though? How would these intrepid souls go and find others who wanted to join their noble cause? Would they simply walk up to individuals and tell them, “Hey we’re starting a new fraternity, do you want to join?” As a matter of fact, that is exactly what the original seven did. And so their numbers began to grow. Almost all of these new recruits were from Sobrato Hall and Casa Italiana, largely due to familiarity by proximity. A few came from across campus from Dunne, Swig and Walsh.

Slowly but surely the group began coming together. With over 20 members now, they entered the next phase: pinning. The night that they were to be formally pledged, there were 22 new Sigs. They were greeted there by Mark Galbo, Paul Cole, Chet Moore, and Nick Ukropina, who had contacted Sigma Chi Headquarters and was informed that a Santa Clara colony was undergoing pinning. Nick talked to Mark Galbo and was introduced to the rest of the founders. He was pinned with the other 21 founders. Chet Moore and Paul Cole were men that the newly pinned pledges were not familiar with, but the two of them would prove to be very invested into the upbringing of this chapter. The two men were both involved with the University of California Santa Barbara chapter, but due to some issues, that chapter ended up losing its charter. Brothers Cole and Moore eventually grew distant from the fraternity until they were brought back in by Mark Galbo. The two men now saw this new colony as an opportunity to reconnect with Sigma Chi and would pour their heart and soul into making this chapter stand out from the rest. Paul Cole, who would later become the Grand Praetor of the California - Bay Area Province after its establishment, actually attended Santa Clara Law School, so he felt a special connection to this colony.

After the pinning ceremony and what seemed to be endless amounts of paperwork, the colony was ready to undergo pledgeship. The early days of this chapter take place mostly in Casa Italiana, so it is no surprise that all of the pledge meetings were also held there. The colony executive committee was soon established: Vytas Degesys as Consul, Greg Kaplow as Pro Consul, Connor Kelliher as Annotator, Drue Cicchetto as Quaestor, Nick Ukropina as Recruitment Chair, Jason Von Raesfeld as Risk Manager, and Justin Gilio as Social Chair.

With the leadership of Mark Galbo as the Magister and Jesse Rivera, a recent graduate of the San Jose State Chapter, the founders were able to complete all of the required tasks a colony must complete in order to be eligible for initiation. One such task was to undergo recruitment, and the founders brought in a second class of founders, consisting of 11 young men. The new class was instructed by Sam Lawler, who was appointed as the new magister. Tyler Ferdun and David Rishwainwere elected by their pledge class to serve as the President and Vice President of the new founding class respectively. Together, this new, larger group of founders underwent the process of pledgeship well into the summer. The colony already started off strong and actually won second place in Deltas Gamma’s Anchor Splash philanthropy event.

The founders’ pledgeship continued through the fall until late November, when the colony was ready to be initiated as a chapter. The entire process took 9 months for the Lambda Gamma chapter to come to fruition, which at the time was the fastest any colony has gained its charter. The founders’ initiation week was held at San Jose State and Sigma Chi Headquarters were sent to oversee this I-week. Then it finally arrived- the day of initiation- December 6, 2008- The day the Sigma Chi Lambda Gamma Chapter was founded. After the ceremony, the newly initiated founders were presented their charter by Bob Jones and Wayne Tucker, the Grand Consul and Grand Pro Consul of Sigma Chi. Yet, this was no time to rest for the founders, as their initiation landed in the middle of dead week, and January was right around the corner, which meant that the newly chartered chapter would have to prepare itself for rush. The Lambda Gamma Chapter was only just beginning, and it would grow to become one of the best chapters in the country.