Brothers at Alpha Phi Chapter of South Dakota State University participated and helped run the 2026 Little International, a two-day, student-run event showing livestock for both novice and experienced showmen. At the event, brothers placed in the livestock show and received the High Point Club Award.
Brother Brandon Gengler was this year’s Assistant Manager of the event and is slated to be next year’s Manager. He explained the day of the event, the chapter had 10 brothers participate in the show as exhibitors and another 11 worked the event, four of which served on the Little International Executive Team. Beyond that, brothers throughout the chapter participated in various contests that gained them points that go towards the High Point Club Award. This award goes to an undergraduate organization on campus that gains the most points through Little International contests.
“We really are invested in Little International, and it’s kind of cool to see us all come together and win this great award.”
Two brothers placed in the livestock competitions, including Brother Ian Spoke with his dairy cow. He placed fourth in the Experienced Dairy Showmanship and Brother Ethan Becker won Reserved Grand Champion in Horse Showmanship.
Brother Gengler said that Reserved Grand Champions also got to participate in a Round Robin contest. Brother Becker got the opportunity to showcase his showmanship skills with every kind of livestock at the event including swine, dairy cattle, beef cattle, equine, sheep and goats.
“I remember talking to him (Brother Becker) a couple weeks before, and he [who?] said, ‘the only thing I really want is to do round robin.’ So, to see him achieve that goal was really cool,” Brother Gengler said. “Then to see all the brothers that are sitting there in the corner — sitting there cheering everybody on, it's just really cool to see all of us come together, and that we're always there for each other.”
Although, it was fun for Brother Gengler to see the brothers participate and support one another at Little International, his favorite part was seeing how excited the entire campus gets for the event.
“That's kind of like the first big event that happens in the spring semester at South Dakota State. And it's cool to see campus come alive again for the excitement of Little I,” he said.
He explained that several organizations and groups of people are involved in Little International outside of the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences. Brother Gengler said getting to see these people work with animals they have never interacted with before is special to see, especially when a month’s work has paid off in the arena.
“It's some of the best experiences I've had in my life that I will never regret,” he said.
Brother Gengler said AGR pushed him to take on a bigger role on campus, which led him to run for Little International, or “Little I”, as students on campus call it.
“[My Alpha Phi Chapter brothers] really pushed me to grow outside my comfort zone and run for Little I,” he said.
AGR is probably the best decision I ever made in college. It (working Little International) was something I wasn't quite sure about. It kind of pushed me outside my comfort zone, and kind of helped me grow as a leader and as a person — as an individual.
Brother Gengler noted that when he first thought about having a bigger role in Little International, he wasn’t sure if he was ready for that challenge, but his AGR brothers helped him realize that even if he wasn’t quite ready, he would figure it out along the way and his brothers would be there to support him.
"AGR is probably the best decision I ever made in college. It (working Little International) was something I wasn't quite sure about. It kind of pushed me outside my comfort zone, and kind of helped me grow as a leader and as a person — as an individual. If it wasn't for AGR, I never would have applied for the assistant manager role, because I wouldn't feel like I could have done a good enough job with my brother's support.”
