Alpha Sigma Phi

Websites

UCB Chapter: www.calrush.com

Year Founded

UCB Chapter: 1913

Additional Information

Chapter Summary/Information: Nu Chapter at Berkeley exemplifies the five values of Alpha Sigma Phi: Silence, Charity, Purity, Honor, and Patriotism. The mission of the fraternity is the "Better the Man," and Nu Chapter is currently doing so by building a strong brotherhood of fine young men. Members are dedicated to academics, the community, and their brotherhood. The brotherhood is younger than most fraternities, and the house is full of leadership opportunities and has great potential. Brothers are already showing what they are capable of. Nu Chapter's membership increased from 5 to 20 members in the past two years and is looking forward expanding the strong brotherhood in next years to come.

Message from the President: Hello! First, let me congratulate you on coming to UC Berkeley, America’s most prestigious public university. This school has so much to offer, one of these being an outstanding Greek system. We at Alpha Sigma Phi distinguish ourselves from the rest by dedicating ourselves to be more than just an ordinary “Frat.” Instead, we want to be the student’s co-curricular organization of choice. Our mission is to “Better the Man” by promoting Scholarship, Philanthropy, Brotherhood, Social events, and Leadership. We've been doing this for nearly 100 years and we plan on continuing to pursue and accomplish these endeavors every day for another 100. We participate in a vast array of events, ranging from brotherhood retreats on the beach to concerts on our deck to getting dirty and cleaning up Berkeley for philanthropy. Enjoy your time at Cal and make sure to stop by the house and say hey. And of course, GO BEARS!!! Carl Swanson President

Annual Events: Black and White Formal, 
Founder's Day Dinner,
 Alumni Picnic,
 Camping Trips,
 Ski Trips

Chapter Philanthropy: Berkeley Project, Relay for Life, Ma Green Clothing Drive, Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation

Chapter History: The first Alpha Sig's at Cal were not undergraduates, but alumni of the Alpha Chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi at Yale College. The first and longest of these on the Cal scene was Martin Kellogg, A 1847. Kellogg was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi's second class of initiates. He had been the first editor of the Yale Tomahawk, forerunner of Alpha Sigma Phi's fraternity magazine. After graduation from Yale College, he came, in the 1850's as a Minister, to the Congregational Church in Grass Valley, California. At the time of Brother Kellogg's arrival in Grass Valley, the gold fever was receding, and when Kellogg found his congregation diminishing he left the mine country for a faculty position at the College of California in Oakland. Kellogg served on the College of California faculty from 1860 to 1868. In 1868, the California Legislature was debating establishment of a state university under the Morrill Land Grant College Act. The College of California agreed that if the legislature would establish a comprehensive university, rather than an agricultural and mechanics institute under the Morrill Land Grant College Act of 1862, the College of California would surrender its charter and assets to the comprehensive University of California. The legislature accepted the college's offer, and the college and its campus in Oakland and its undeveloped campus site in Berkeley passed to the new University. Martin Kellogg applied for and was appointed to one of the first four professorial appointments for the new University of California. He was the only College of California professor to move directly onto the University faculty. Professor Kellogg became Dean of the Faculty, an elective office, in 1870, and served in that capacity until 1885. The Dean at that time served, in addition to regular duties as Professor of Ancient Languages, as secretary of the Academic Senate, as registrar of students, he received and posted grade reports of performance and entered student averages in the record book. Kellogg made a case for obtaining assistance with these ministerial duties, becoming the father of administration at the University of California. Brother Kellogg was nominated for the University Presidency in 1881, 1885, and 1888, and served as Acting President briefly in the 1880's and from 1890 to 1892. He was named President of the University in 1893. Kellogg served until 1899 when, having sufficiently strengthened the Presidency to permit attraction of a leading national figure, and a having reached the age of 70, Kellogg retired. He was succeeded by Benjamin Ide Wheeler. Of much shorter duration at Cal was the notable service of another Alpha Sigma Phi alumnus, Daniel Coit Gilman, A 1849. He was appointed President of the University of California in 1872. President Gilman so impressed the Regents that they had legislation introduced to make the President an ex officio member of the Board of Regents. Gilman supervised the move of the University from Oakland to the Berkeley Campus, and presided over commencement of the first class to receive bachelors' degrees from the University. He established the University's first professional schools when the Toland Medical College in San Francisco affiliated with the University in 1873, followed three months later by the California College of Pharmacy. The University was much more vulnerable to legislative whim in its early years and in 1874 a scandal broke over non-competitive contracts granted, pursuant to special legislation, for construction of North Hall. Regent Dr. Samuel Merritt resigned from the Board of Regents as a result of the scandal, and his lumber company refunded $867 in profits from the construction project. Legislative intermeddling and control were not to Gilman's liking, however, and in 1875 he accepted an appointment from the trustees of Johns Hopkins University to become the first President of and to create a new comprehensive university in Baltimore. Brother Gilman served as President of Johns Hopkins from 1875 until 1901. Following Brother Gilman's departure in 1875 the university embarked on a period of fifteen years of powerless short-term presidents. It was left for Brother Kellogg to strengthen the University presidency, and pave the way for Cal's great Presidents of the Twentieth Century, Wheeler, Sproul, and Kerr. Gilman Hall, located east of Le Conte Hall on the Cal Campus, is named after Daniel Coit Gilman.

Contact Information: Carl Swanson (President)- cswanson@berkeley.edu | Tim Shnell (Vice-President)- timshnell@yahoo.com | Brian Thomas (Rush Chair)- brithomas@berkeley.edu

Address: 2498 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

Posts by Alpha Sigma Phi

No posts have been made by this organization