.png){kind=logo}
AU brother Jeff Bitetti enters Chapter Eternal.
His chapter mates step in to initiate his son.
One of the great joys in any Sigma Chi life is to watch your son be initiated. It was front and center on the mind of Jeff Bitetti (AU 1978) when his son pledged at the Alpha Upsilon chapter in early September.
​
When Dante Bitetti was just two weeks away from becoming a Sig, his father suddenly entered Chapter Eternal on September 24, 2025. It was devastating to legions of his friends, brothers and admirers – and most devastating, of course, to Dante.
​
Without skipping a beat, Jeff’s closest brothers stepped in to take his place at initiation ceremonies in October and to place the White Cross on the chest of his heartbroken son.
Investiture is already an emotional moment. The poignance of the Bitetti story made it vastly more.
“What an honor!” said Dan Vogelzang (AU 1978), one of Bitetti’s closest Sig brothers who helped pin Dante. “I can’t think of anything better that defines the strong meaning of lifetime Brotherhood, than to stand in for my closest Sigma Chi friend...and place the White Cross on Dante’s chest.”
​
Dante stood surrounded by this intense brotherly love. “It’s a privilege and an honor to be a legacy of my father in the Brotherhood of Sigma Chi,” Dante said. “I am committed to honoring him and the Bitetti family name by making a positive impact on the community that surrounds us.”
​
There is a wonderful Sigma Chi legacy story here too. The Vogelzang and Bitetti families have been inextricably linked for life, through the Sigma Chi Brotherhood: Dan’s son JD (AU 2020) is Jeff’s Godson; Jeff’s other son Dominic is Dan’s Godson; and Dan is ‘Uncle Dan’ to Dante.
​
As the candles at Dante’s recent initiation illuminated the faces in the room, Dante had to face the fact that his father would not be there to place his pin on him. But just as it was Dante’s turn in the circle, Dan and Bob Vogelzang (AU 1980), Jeff’s pledge brother, stepped forward into the light to stand before Dante at that emotional moment. “It was as if Jeff was right there with us,” recounts Dan with emotion in his voice. “He wasn’t of course But his spirit was.”
​
Jeff was President of the Orange County Alumni Chapter for a dozen years and remained involved with Sigma Chi in so many ways.. Yet Bitetti was loved well beyond Sigma Chi. He was a sports standout, particularly football, in his younger years at Newport Harbor High School. He was also a popular musician and song writer who opened for the likes of Honk, America, and The Marshall Tucker Band at various Southern California venues. He twice sang the National Anthem for Lakers games, and he played music and sang at well over 100 friends’ special occasions, weddings, and funerals, over the past 30 years.
​
Jeff founded his own band, the Jeffrey John Bitetti Band, and released two CD’s in the 1900’s (one called ‘From the Heart’). Jeff was a church-going man founded in faith and many of his recordings reflected his love of God, faith, and hope. Jeff was President of the Orange County Sigma Chi Alumni Chapter for six years in the early 2000’s, helped recolonize Alpha Upsilon at USC in 1999-2000, promoted and nominated two Alpha Upsilon Brothers for Significant Sig award, and most recently became active in the Trojan Sig Foundation’s capital campaign to build a new chapter house.
​
Throughout Dante’s young life, his father’s lifelong Sigma Chi relationships were on full display, and now the Legacy lives on in him. It’s no wonder Dante chose Sigma Chi, upon whose path his lifelong journey begins.
​
Jeff Bitetti: All Honor to His Name.
Jeff Bitetti's family. His son Dante was initiated shortly after his father's death. Jeff's close chapter mates were there.
These photos show Jeff and his wife, Jeff during his undergraduate days and, below, Jeff pictured in The Magazine of Sigma Chi in a story about chapter mate Pete Carolan aboard John Wayne's yacht.
