Robert B. “Bob” Dorigo Jones is a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Service Award.
In 1985, as a young Page in the Michigan House of Representatives, Bob took a break to chat with one of his fellow Pages. He showed a picture in his wallet of his fiancé and explained that he got this job after his father cut off his college funds when he bought an engagement ring. Bob was finishing school and working two jobs. With two jobs, full-time school, a fraternity, and a fiancé, you would think that Bob had enough on his plate, but that year he had the dedication to volunteer for MSU’s student judiciary, too. Even with two jobs there were not enough funds to cover all his expenses. Fortunately, he received a scholarship from his fraternity, good old Psi Upsilon.
Fast forward thirty-five years and Bob is telling this same story to a young undergrad at Michigan State University about how that year in 1985 painted a picture of his life to come. He speaks with gratitude about Brother Keith Kaminski, who had also worked as a legislative Page and helped him get the job. Brother Paul Reising was instrumental in helping him land the position on the student judiciary. Bob often speaks about the opportunities and benefits provided by the Fraternity to others. He’s the first to tell you “I believe the social skills students will learn if they take full advantage of everything the fraternity has to offer can give them a tremendous edge over other college graduates who don’t participate in Greek life. Even more importantly, I believe it will give them an opportunity to achieve their full potential.”
As Bob extols the virtues of Greek life he enjoyed, he’ll tell you that one of the most memorable nights was when Glenn Stinson and Peter Campbell talked up the benefits of joining Psi Upsilon. From there he would go on to serve important roles during his undergraduate years. “I had some of the best professors at MSU, but they couldn’t teach me how to lead a group of young men like I learned (more or less) to do as the Epsilon Nu House Manager and later as President.”
“I parlayed all of these experiences into a 35-year career as a writer, political advisor, radio commentator and advocate for legal reform,” he says. Bob now sits as the president of Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch (MiLAW) after a long and distinguished career that includes debates on national television and a bestselling book.”
In 2007 Bob became a bestselling author for his book “Remove Child Before Folding: The 101 Stupidest, Silliest, and Wackiest Warning Labels Ever”. This led to one memorable and unexpected fraternal encounter. “A few months after the book was published, I found the MySpace page of my publisher at Time Warner, Jason Pinter, and was surprised to learn that he was a Psi U brother from another college! Neither of us knew about this connection until that moment. Incidentally, a Psi U brother who was a student at Michigan State University at the time, Mike Dalere, helped me with the research for the book.”
That fiancé that Bob risked his college career on? Shortly after graduating Bob and Denise wed and have been happily married ever since. Together they have raised two amazing young men: Bobby who graduated from MSU in 2016 and Harvard in 2017, and Johnny who graduated with a degree in Astrophysics from the University of Michigan in 2020. Bob notes he took Denise to the Psi U Homecoming Party two years before they married. “She had just been elected to the MSU Homecoming Court, and had it not been for the Psi U party, I don’t know if I would have ever worked up the courage to ask her on a date.”
While Bob has gone on to many amazing things he’ll be the first to tell you “I owe it all to Psi U” and that this is a major motivation for him in his engagement with the Fraternity. Generations of Epsilon Nu brothers will tell you that Bob has been there for them as a mentor and a help to their chapter. From mentorship, to leadership, to fundraising – Bob has been a stalwart and a guiding light for Psi U. He was the President of the Hesperian Building Association (the alumni organization of the Epsilon Nu Chapter) for 20 years and now serves as its Treasurer. Under Bob’s leadership, fundraising and construction began for refurbishing the house and restoring it to the way it was in 1928 for a beautiful result that has its members calling their home “The Castle”.
Locally Bob is a pillar of the Psi U community, but he has found time to contribute and volunteer at the international level. “Volunteering for Psi U on the international level adds another opportunity for Brothers to enrich their own life and the lives of others. There are many different ways to do that, and I chose to be involved in the scholarship committee. It’s both interesting and inspiring to see what great students we have as Brothers and to see how we can help them achieve their dreams through scholarships. It also provides great hope for our future.”
We’re proud to announce Bob as a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Service Award.
The 155th Psi Upsilon Convention created the Distinguished Alumni Service Award to recognize those alumni whose service has brought honor to our fraternity.
We would like to congratulate Brother Dorigo Jones on this award and thank him for all his hard work and reflection on Psi Upsilon. We are honored to have him as a member of our fraternity.