The chapter hosted it's annual Brother Auction fundraiser on Friday, April 1st. With over sixty people in attendance, forty brothers and probationary members were sold to buyers for everything from cooking dinner, to yard work, to going on a date!

The chapter fund-raised $950.00 that will contribute to our general operating budget that supports all of our service, social, and music endeavors. Thanks to all who came and supported us!

This past Saturday night, amidst a hall full of delicious banquet cuisine, Province 20 Governor Patrick Clancy gave his State of the Province speech. After declaring the State of the Province 'good', reemphasizing the importance of the object and praising various chapters for their individual efforts, it was time to announce the province awards for 2010-2011.

First, the chapter received all seven possible citations in fraternal activity, awarded by the National Fraternity. The Citations included outstanding achievement in: Musical Achievement, Chapter Operations, Fraternal Tradition, Alumni Relations, Membership Development, Special Projects, and Province Interaction.

Alpha Rho also received The Robert L. Hause Award of Excellence for outstanding commitment to the fraternal obligations of an active chapter in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. The award is named for the late Robert L. Hause, former National President.

Finally, the chapter received the first ever Province 20 Chapter of the Year award. The Chapter of the Year trophy is awarded to the chapter who has given the most to the Province, achieved the most citations, and best represented the ideals of Sinfonia as an active collegiate chapter.

We're excited to share this news with you and look forward to working hard to continue our journey towards even better accomplishments in the coming years.

We are pleased to announce the installation of Alpha Rho's Spring 2011 pledge class. These gentlemen were installed on Wednesday, February 2nd and have just begun to embark on their journey throughout the process. The Brothers of Alpha Rho congratulate them on this important step and look forward to guiding them down the road ahead.

Gregory Bryant Strader

Zachary Michael Lilly

Joshua Brandon Sydes

Edward James Hackim III

Dylan Luke Westrick

Matthew Ross Trexler

Henry Stewart Engart III

John Daniel Grossfuss

Carter Joseph Rezac

Dustin Edward Holsenback

William Jung

Deondre Junelle Lester

Sean Kevin Leonard

Edmond James Harrison III

Zachary Raymond Wynne

Mason Brian Braswell

Dalton Christopher Harris

Evan Atherton

A group of about thirty brothers and dates attended Alpha Rho's fall Semi-Formal on Saturday, October 16th. R&R Grill hosted the chapter for a night of good food, great company, and a fantastic atmosphere. Of course, a Tar Heel 44-10 Win over Virginia certainly contributed to the very enjoyable festivities. We thank everyone who came and made the event possible as well as the staff at R&R Grill for their excellent service!

The famous Midnight Mystery Tour is this coming Friday, September 24th, at 10:30pm. Meet us at the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower for some scary stories, haunted histories and fascinating facts. The cost is $5. Don't miss the iconic Chapel Hill event!

Link to official Facebook event: http://bit.ly/bIFK66

Brothers, it is with great excitement that we begin the Fall 2010 semester. After much catching up on each others' summer travels, experiences, and jobs, the chapter is well under way preparing many great service events. Our first event will be the fall Midnight Mystery Tour, which will be held on Friday September 24th at 10:30 PM. Other events planned for the fall include, but are not limited to:

- Cameron Park Elementary service project

- Soup Kitchen service project

- Annual trip to Southern Alamance High School

- Annual trip to Louisburg High School

- Formation of a brass quartet and barbershop quartet

Much more information on each of these events will come soon. In the meantime, best wishes to everyone from the Alpha Rho chapter on a successful fall!

The Brothers of Alpha Rho hosted the annual American Music Recital on Saturday afternoon, April 17th. Performances included Richard Drehoff, piano; Michael Crosa, guitar; Barbershop Ensemble; and vocal ensemble selections by the Chapter. The American Music Recital (AMR) is designed to highlight to our nation's music heritage, innovations, and performances by devoting a recital to those compositions that display our unique culture. Thank you to those that supported the chapter in attendance and congratulations on all the great performances!

Brothers, it is the great honor of the Alpha Rho chapter to announce the initiation of eleven new brothers into this great fraternity. Last week, Jonathan Alexander Atkinson, Andrew Alexander Basinger, Nicholas Matthew Dankner, Benjamin Paul Zehr Decker, Richard Bradford Drehoff Jr, John Richard Dzera, Zachary Austin Mitchell, David Santis Morgan, Michael Ryan Schmitt, Michael John Stanley Jr, and Patrick Taylor VanderJeugdt completed their final requirements of the pledge process and have now earned the rank of brother. Please join us in congratulating these men on a exemplary pledge process and help us to also welcome them into the brotherhood.

The 2010-2011 Chapter Elections were held on Tuesday, March 30 at the regular chapter meeting. The following brothers have been selected for office and they have the chapter's full support and confidence for a great year. Congratulations to the following officers-elect:

President Spencer Braswell

Vice-President Paul Rosser

Fraternity Ed. Officer Ben Charlton

Fraternity Ed. Officer Aaron Robinson

Treasurer Doug Crandell

Secretary Randy Smith

Alumni Rel. Officer John Fratianni

Alumni Rel. Officer Myron Massey

Warden Michael Crosa

Historian Matthew Wait

Parliamentarian Daniel Hammond

Brothers and friends spun the cards under the bright lights this past Saturday night, March 27th, at Granville Towers' annual Casino Night! Hundreds of Granville residents came to gamble at a chance to take away several big prizes by testing their luck in Blackjack, Texas Hold'em, Craps, and Roulette. The chapter supplied twenty-two dealers for the late night event. Granville has made a generous donation to the chapter's general fund in appreciation of the help. The event was a great success and here's to hoping for many more years of partnership to come!

The chapter hosted its Midnight Mystery Tour this past Saturday, March 20th. Tours started at 10:00pm and took participants from the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery to the Old Well making numerous stops of ghost stories, murders, and mysteries all along the way. The chapter made roughly $300.00 on the event and will put the proceeds to fund our efforts towards advancing music in our local community. Join us this Fall 2010 for our classic Midnight Mystery Tour -- check back here for more details then!

The Alpha Rho Chapter was a proud sponsor of the Carolina Jazz Festival this week (Feb 24-26) held in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union Great Hall and surrounding facilities. More than twenty-five jazz ensembles from around the state gathered to perform and take part in a clinic hosted by the prestigious adjudicators. The Festival was capped off with performances by the UNC Jazz Band and various combo ensembles.

Tonight the Class of 2G10 was installed into probationary membership of the Alpha Rho chapter. The men who have taken this first step towards brotherhood are: Jonathan Alexander Atkinson, Andrew Alexander Basinger, Nicholas Matthew Dankner, Benjamin Paul Zehr Decker, Richard Bradford Drehoff Jr., John Richard Dzera, Zachary Austin Mitchell, David Santis Morgan, Michael Ryan Schmitt, Michael John Stanley Jr., Zachary Phillip Ward, and Patrick Taylor VanderJeugdt. Let us once again congratulate these men on taking their first step to becoming brothers in Phi Mu Alpha.

Pictured Below are the new probationary members and their big brothers.

Alpha Rho hosted one of the most successful Rush Weeks in recent history this past week. Starting on Wednesday, brothers and potentials viewed the Men's Basketball game on the big screen. Thursday played host to poker night in Hill Hall, followed by the traditional Mario Kart and video games on Friday evening.

On Saturday, the brothers met nine potentials for a formal lunch at the Carolina Brewery. The chapter will be delivering bids and preparing for installation in the coming week. Check back soon to see the official announcement of the Spring 2010 Probationary Class!

Our final social event of the semester was a marathon of activity. Unfortunately, weather conditions prevented us from beginning the day with our planned service activity of performing on Franklin Street. Not to be deterred, we rebounded with lunch at Pizza and Pasta, followed by a viewing of Hot Fuzz in Hill Hall. From there we journeyed to Frankie's Fun Park in Raleigh for three EPIC games of laser tag. After that we refueled with copious amounts of pasta and fresh apple pie. Mmmm. Pie. It was a good day.

Tonight the Alpha Rho chapter closed out its Fall 2009 Semester with its Final Meeting of the year. The efforts of the Alpha Rho chapter this semester are to be commended with notable achievements in fund raising and a continued dedication to service as well. The Alpha Rho chapter was able to raise almost nine-hundred dollars this semester in fun raising events, such as the Midnight Mystery Tour, weekly grilled cheese, concession sales, and a small amount of donations. This number is a vast improvement to years past and this fund raising success is likely to continue with events such as a Brother Auction and a revamped mystery tour planned for next semester. The brothers of Alpha Rho also demonstrated a commitment to service this year with a continued presence as ushers, an annual trip to Loisburg High School and a planned service performance on Franklin Street this December. Next semester promises to be just as successful with a planned American Music Recital and a new pledge class. So from all of us at Alpha Rho have a great Holiday Season, and we hope to have your continued support next semester.

Today the brothers of Alpha Rho took on Ben and Jerry's legendary Vermonster in an ice cream eating contest that was all in the name of charity! The Vermonster is an ice cream creation like no other and it consists of 20 scoops of ice cream, brownie chunks, 5 scoops of toppings, sliced bananas, and whipped cream. The contest challenged each team of seven to try and finish the Vermonster as quickly as possible. This challenge posed no threat to the men of Alpha Rho because they were able to finish the Vermonster in under two minutes. The team, Dave Piercey, Aaron Robinson, Randy Smith, Matthew Wait, Joe Levin-Manning, Michael Crosa, and Paul Rosser, placed second overall in a competition field of twelve. The great success of the team is to be commended, both for their eating prowess and their donation to charity by competing in this event.

Pictured below: Top: Entire Vermonster Team Bottom: Part of the Team after the carnage

This week Alpha Rho chapter gave a special Mystery Tour as part of the Week of Welcome celebration at Chapel Hill. Week of Welcome, a week long event designed to get students excited about their return to campus, requested that Alpha Rho repeat its performance of the popular campus tour because of its success last year during this celebration. The event continued to be a success with about one-hundred and fifty students attending the tour this year. Many students even left the tour requesting that the chapter give additional tours in the future for their friends not in attendance. We would like to thank Week of Welcome for allowing us to be part of this special week and we hope to be a part of events like these in the future.

We are proud to announce the initiation of eight new brothers to the Alpha Rho chapter. Last night Joe Levin-Manning, Paul Rosser, Aaron Robinson, Michael Crosa, Randy Smith, Brian Goodwin, Danny Stellini, and John Fratianni were granted full rights and responsibilities as brothers in Phi Mu Alpha. We are excited to welcome these brothers into the chapter and look forward to their continued membership in our organization.

The brothers of the Alpha Rho chapter are auctioning off two hours of their time as part of their annual fundraiser. So, whether you're looking for help with your theory homework, a big strong man to move you out of your dorm, or a candlelit dinner for two, stop by Hill Hall 103 on Friday, March 27 from 4-6 to find the brother that's right for you. The bidding starts at a mere $10. If you want more information about individual brothers, we are also on Facebook, or see the fliers placed in Hill Hall and Kenan Music Building for your convenience. As always, feel free to contact us at pma.alpha.rho@gmail.com.