FarmHouse ‘three-peats’ as award-winning fraternity

URBANA, Ill. — FarmHouse Fraternity at the University of Illinois is an award-winning chapter.

“We have won the Chapter of the Year award for the last three years in a row,” said Zach Becker, a junior at the U of I. “We have been chosen by the Interfraternity Council which governs the 40 fraternities at the U of I, the largest system in the nation.”

The Gamma Chapter of FarmHouse Fraternity is in Division 2, which includes fraternities with less than 80 members.

“We have nearly 30 members at FarmHouse, and we won on the basis of GPA, philanthropy, member development, scholarship and risk management,” said Becker, whose family operates a grain and hog farm near Amboy.

FarmHouse members are involved in numerous activities in addition to their classroom work.

“We do two philanthropy events each year including a Tacos for Tots fundraiser that is done with Sigma Alpha,” Becker said. “We raised money through a taco dinner for the Toys for Tots program in Champaign County that totaled $1,000 last year, and we also filled several toy bins.”

The second event is a pork chop dinner in the spring, and the money from this event is donated to the Leukemia Society.

“We also volunteer at events like boiling sweet corn at the Urbana Sweet Corn Festival and parking cars for the United Way’s Power of the Purse event,” Becker said.

To help members with risk management, FarmHouse invited a detective to speak about alcohol safety and members also were provided the opportunity to complete a CPR certification course.

In preparation for the career fair at the university, the members organized a résumé review workshop.

“We also had recruiters come to the house the night before the career fair, so they could ask them questions and help members with their confidence,” Becker said.

Scholarships are available to FarmHouse members.

“One of our scholarships we are very proud of is for incoming freshman students,” Becker said. “The scholarships range from $500 to $5,000, and it doesn’t matter what major you are studying.”

Last year, FarmHouse awarded $16,000 to freshman members, and the year before provided $18,000.

“This year, we’re hoping to give even more,” Becker said. “The deadline to apply is April 15, and the application form is available on our website.”

Becker, who is currently at home completing online courses due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, chose FarmHouse Fraternity because he wanted to live with students who have similar backgrounds.

“I really liked the guys and the atmosphere of FarmHouse,” he said. “Also, they have a great alumni network that is very supportive, and I knew that would help later with my future career.”

The U of I student was actually studying abroad during the spring semester at the Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands, when the university canceled all study abroad programs due to the pandemic.

“I got there on Jan. 1 for a semester-long program to study various aspects of agriculture,” Becker said.

“I wanted to learn about the international side to agriculture, so I was taking classes on sustainability and rural lifestyles,” said Becker who is studying agricultural and consumer economics with a concentration in agribusiness markets and management and a minor in leadership at the U of I.

Even though his time in the Netherlands was cut short, Becker said he did have some time to travel around Europe before returning home.

“I got to experience quite a bit in the short period of time I was there,” he said.

Last summer, Becker completed an internship with John Deere in Waterloo, Iowa.

“I worked with marketing, and I plan to do that this year in Wichita, Kansas,” he said. “After I graduate from the U of I, I’d like to do marketing for agricultural company or work with grain merchandising.”

For more information about FarmHouse scholarships, go to www.uifarmhouse.com/scholarships.