Most of the graduating seniors had no prior knowledge of Sigma Phi Epsilon before coming to college, except for the native of Nebraska Nicholas Korta. The sweet part is that Korta is a Legacy, which means he has family members that were in SigEp before him. During his orientation in 2016, Korta remembers being interested in just the basketball team, but his mom brought up the fact that he is a Legacy when she saw the Ohio Nu table. He got to conversing with the brothers of Ohio Nu at the time, and once they found out he was a Legacy, they knew they had to get him to join; not only for the Legacy part, but because they could feel an energy to Korta that is untouchable in all the right ways. He was confident in his abilities mixed with flowing charisma, and he was not afraid of being a natural born leader when the moment came. According to himself, he might have come off as hot headed at the time, but SigEp helped to turn that into a positive. This also helped him in his organizational leadership major while also being a Founding Father of Ohio Nu.
Korta, middle, receiving his bid into Ohio Nu during Fall 2016.
During his tenure here at Ohio Nu, Korta has stepped up to the high expectations set forth for him. He has been the Vice President of Programming, the Intramural Chair, and the honor of Chapter President. His biggest contributions as Intramural Chair is captaining Ohio Nu to 9 finals and winning 7 of those finals. Aside from being in Ohio Nu, Korta dedicated his time to the CSU basketball team. Here he served as the student manager of the team. He did such an excellent job in his four years that he received the Brian Maloney Manager of the Year Award for always outworking anyone and being a lifelong learner with burning passion to help. In Korta’s own words about his successes, “I have SigEp to thank for developing me as a person throughout college. So many professional skills were gained and sharpened through my years in SigEp, and they turned me into the man I am today.”
Korta, left, receiving the Gavel from Martin Barnard after getting voted in as Chapter President.
Korta, middle, accompanied with his parents as he receives the Brian Mahoney Manager of the Year Award.
After graduation, Korta will be attending grad school, where he will be helping the men’s basketball team as a Graduate Assistant. As Korta states, “My goal is to stay within college basketball and work up the ladder until I am a Head Coach of a Division 1 program.” Although he will be leaving, he has advice for current brothers. Korta stresses how important it is to get involved with SigEp and go to events as he has seen his fellow brothers develop the most and build closer relationships through this involvement.
However, Korta will fairly miss Ohio Nu. More importantly, he will miss the relationships he has made in the chapter. This includes strong relationships with graduated and current brothers. He knows these relationships will last a lifetime. His favorite memory of all is during last year’s retreat where the brothers and him played basketball in the pool. It was not such a grand event but as Korta says, “It wasn’t anything crazy, but we had so many brothers who wanted to participate and everyone was laughing and having a good time.”
Korta, right, posing with his Little John Seifert after a flag football intramural.
Korta, right, with Will Donzella at Ohio Nu’s Chartering Banquet.
Korta’s best friend and Ohio Nu brother Freddie Kreiger left a special message for Korta’s graduation. Freddie states, “Nick and I have laughed, cried, and enjoyed some many things together. It sucks seeing him graduate but I’m happy for my best friend I love you man and I’m going to be right next to you every step of the way!!”
Korta, right, passing the Gavel to Ohio Nu’s current Chapter President Hunter Kiper.
Korta has been an outstanding brother and a role model for all brothers, future or present. He possesses incredible skill, charisma, ambition, and dedication. All of the brothers here at Ohio Nu would like to thank him for all of his contributions, influence, and guidance to the chapter. We wish him the best of luck in all of his future endeavors. Your wisdom will be passed on for many brothers to learn from.