Remembering Bob
Letter from the Editor
When I first received the news that Grand Historian Bob McCully (San Diego State) had passed away, I was flooded with emotion. I was sad that Sigma Nu had lost one of its greatest advocates for the preservation and celebration of its history, heroes, and traditions. I was sad that the pages of The Delta would be absent of Bob’s writing, which had become a tradition for The Delta and one of its most read features. And of course, I was sad that I had lost someone who had unknowingly provided significant mentorship to me when I became Editor.
Bob McCully was not an ordinary Sigma Nu. He was an extraordinary one. He traveled from his home in California to Lexington, Va. several times a year to work in the Fraternity’s archives, methodically cataloging items from Founder Hopkins’ VMI bible to one-off correspondence from past Executive Directors to chapters. It would not be surprising to see him in the archives at night, scanning documents or jotting thank you notes to those who had donated items to the archives.
During tours of Headquarters, if he was present, he’d pop into the group and throw out an interesting footnote in Sigma Nu’s history that he had recently uncovered.
But Bob was truly in his element when he was with Sigma Nu’s collegiate brothers. He’d make you feel like you had known him forever, and he spoke with a soft cadence that deceptively hid his professional success and his immense knowledge. He seemed to know something about every chapter in the history of Sigma Nu. Not just that, he’d ask you for your thoughts or ask about your own chapter’s history, always digging for an anecdote he hadn’t heard before and making a mental note to follow up on it later. He was as inquisitive as he was committed to his charge as Grand Historian.
He inspired a generation of Sigma Nus to appreciate the Fraternity’s history and take note of its preservation. And amidst that generation lies another Bob McCully. Someone inspired by his work to take up a similar charge.
Bob’s spirit will never leave Sigma Nu. The archival work he did, the columns he wrote, the connections he made to young brothers, and the ever-lasting presence of his touch on the Headquarters campus will last forever.
For that, my appreciation and gratitude will always outweigh my sadness.
Fraternally Yours,
Drew Logsdon (Western Kentucky)
Managing Editor