Committee Spotlights
Pledge Project
Austin Maggard
This past spring the pledges organized and initiated a very successful philanthropy event as their pledge project. The event was called The Amazing Race, where teams of four could sign up to compete in an obstacle course that covered most of Miami University's campus. With the support of our sponsor, Kohl's, we registered 43 teams and raised $5,513 to donate to Winton Hills Academy, an underprivileged school in Cincinnati. The money will be used to provide financial assistance for any student planning to continue their education upon graduation. This event provided our pledges with a great transition into our brotherhood and a perfect opportunity to utilize their skills and knowledge to plan and initiate a philanthropy event.
Entrepreneurship
Chris Joplin
Having just completed its first year as a committee of the Gamma Chi chapter, the Entrepreneurship committee has found a lot of success through multiple ventures. The committee operates under the executive vice-president with the guidance of its committee head and other chapter leaders. Last year, the entrepreneurship committee gained notoriety through its Green Beer Day apparel sale. After a period of rebranding the “Greenest Beer Company” image and website, the committee created multiple designs with the help of chapter members and began to sell shirts. Though the GBD sale and its website, www.greenestbeer.com, are not directly affiliated with the Gamma Chi chapter, it was operated mainly by volunteers within the chapter and was able to raise and donate over $2500 to the chapter, doubling last year’s result. This project provided brother-volunteers with a wide variety of experience related to running a small business, everything from marketing and finance to customer service and social media management. The committee cannot wait to continue the sale next year.
In addition, the committee has also taken on new ventures, most notably the Farmer School of Business Apparel project. Through collaboration with other business school organizations and FSB administration, the committee is in the process of creating, marketing, and selling FSB branded apparel. The project is still in the early stages and has faced lots of challenges, but it has offered and will continue to offer great learning experiences for the brothers that are involved.
The future of the entrepreneurship committee is bright, as it acts as both a fundraising tool and a venue to gain real-world small-business experience.
Investment
Ryan Philbin
Gamma Chi’s Investment Committee provides an educational experience for brothers interested in the world of finance and investing. All new members are introduced to basic financial concepts and various investment types during a crash course. Weekly meetings are held to discuss current market news, changes in the portfolio, and new investment strategies. Members gain valuable hands-on experience since they help to actively manage and invest a portion of the chapter’s money in an E*TRADE portfolio. Our fund focuses on low-risk investments with strong projected growth. All potential investments must be pitched to the committee in a multi-step process. Completed pitches must receive a majority vote from brothers in order to be approved. The goal for the committee is to create an educational experience where members can have first-hand experience with various investment types. Members will be able to take the skills learned in the committee and apply them to their own personal stock portfolios. Looking forward, we are definitely planning to enter more positions and to expand the educational reach of the committee to the entire chapter. The committee continues to evolve each semester, and has a lot of future growth potential.