Chi Chapter

Western Michigan University

About the Chapter

The Chi Chapter of Sigma Tau Gamma at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan began in 1940 with over 100 original Founding Fathers. The chapter closed in 1970 and returned to campus in 2016, regaining their charter in October 2017.

Fun Facts

  • The first fraternity ever established on Western Michigan University’s campus in 1940.
  • Brother Francis LaRoue ’66 (Deceased) received the first ever Sigma Tau Gamma Stan Musial/Eric Hillman Sportsmanship Award in 1963 from Baseball Hall of Famer Stan “The Man” Musial. Francis “Butch” Laroue was a tackle for the Western Michigan University Broncos football team.

Chapter History

The Chi Chapter of Sigma Tau Gamma at Western Michigan University was originally founded in 1940 by a group of men who wanted to pursue the highest ideals of manhood and brotherhood on their campus. Sigma Tau Gamma became the first fraternity established at Western Michigan University. The Chapter was successful and prospered until it disbanded in 1970 due to a lack of members and recruitment numbers because of the Vietnam War.

After being off of campus for 46 years, 18 students gathered together, along with help from Sigma Tau Gamma Headquarters and re-established the Chi Chapter in 2016. The Chi Chapter of Sigma Tau Gamma is now looking to prove they are among the best chapters in the organization, recently chartering in October 2017.

Chapter Funds

A Chapter Fund is a restricted account from the Sigma Tau Gamma Foundation. In this case, the restriction is that the funds and earnings on the investment of the funds may be used only for a particular chapter, meaning that if you donate to your chapter’s fund, it may only be used for your chapter.

Chapter Funds may be used to:

  • Award scholarships based on academic and leadership criteria
  • Technology grants for purchase and upgrade of chapter computer technology
  • Educational facility grants to the selected chapter
  • Leadership education grants for participation in institutes, seminars, and conventions.

The Foundation manages the fund. This management includes fund accounting, investing, and preparing required reports for the Internal Revenue Service. The policy of the Foundation Board of Trustees is to involve chapter alumni association leaders in the creation of criteria, formation of program priorities and selection of grant recipients.

Submitting Changes to the Chapter’s History

Any member of the fraternity and/or chapter is welcome to submit a request to update/change/correct information listed within the chapter history portion of the page. submissions will be accepted in two ways: should a correction need to be made, please submit the entire sentence/paragraph, that needs to be updated with the correction highlighted in yellow or in a different color. If something new or updated needs to be added, please submit the entire text that needs to be added and/or revised with the new information highlighted in yellow.

This information should be submitted to noblemen@sigtau.org, where is will be reviewed by HQ Staff. Your submission will not be acknowledged unless it has been added to the website. It is very important that the chapter’s history accurately and objectively reflects the chapter, so all corrections, additions, and revisions should be reviewed by other members of your chapter before being submitted.