About the Chapter

The Beta Chapter of Sigma Tau Gamma at Truman State University was founded in 1921 and was the second chapter in the existence of Sig Tau.

Fun Facts

• Homecoming 2016 Champions
• Six brothers play a varsity sport
• Greek Week 2015 Champions
• Winner of “Best Brotherhood” on campus for last three years

Chapter History

Since its founding in 1921, the Beta Chapter of Sigma Tau Gamma has taken pride in its rich and unique tradition. Sig Tau is always looking for new members to join in this tradition of brotherhood and leadership that has continued for over 90 years on Truman’s Campus.

The Beta Chapter has been lucky to have loving and dedicated advisors, including John C. Goetze, who served as an advisor for over 25 years, and Walter H. Ryle who served for over 30 years. Their current advisor is Sal Costa, whom they have to thank for helping maintain the strong and successful brotherhood they have today. Nine brothers have continued on to become national presidents; they are as follows: Thomas M. Hutsell, Robert N. Jones, Ollin J. Drennan, Basil D. Hunt, Keith C. Dinsmore, Max E. McGowan, R. Scott Troester, and D.W. Cole. Many buildings on campus are named after previous Beta Chapter Alumni, like Ryle Hall, Violette Hall, McClain Hall, and Fair Apartments.

There are many reasons why Sigma Tau Gamma has thrived on campus longer than any other social fraternity. To put it simply, the Brotherhood of Sig Tau lasts a lifetime. For this reason, Beta Chapter has tremendous alumni support from the many brothers who have come before them. The alumni have been involved in funding the recent completion of the chapter house located conveniently next to campus.

Beta Chapter is devoted to not only the fraternity, but to every aspect of Greek, campus, and community life. They service events almost every week during the semester and require each active member to complete at least 15 hours of service a semester. Brothers are involved in countless campus organizations providing a richly diverse group of almost 70 active brothers. In recent years, they have won five national awards for campus involvement and dedication to community service.

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.