$120,000 RAISED IN MEMORY OF MOTHER AND NASHVILLE SHOOTING VICTIM

After hearing of the tragic shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, which took the life of Cindy Peak, mother of Matthew C. Peak (Nu–Auburn ’ 21), the Nu Chapter at Auburn University came together to support their chapter brother in the darkest of times.

The chapter began to hold prayer meetings each morning the week of and following the tragedy.

“Dozens of people showed up in support and not just KA brothers,” Thomas Whatley (Nu–Auburn ’ 20) said. “Our chaplains organized and led the prayer meetings because of the Peak family’s strong faith and our chapter members are strong believers in prayer.”

Thomas approached Number I Logan Brewer about another way to support their chapter brother. Working in coordination with Number VI, Andrew Rawson (Nu–Auburn ’ 20), Thomas created a GoFundMe page for the chapter with the goal of raising $25,000 for the Peak family to support the funeral costs.

“Matthew is a very active brother,” said Whatley. “He is on the New Member Education Committee and attends all the Bible studies.”

“ She was full of kindness, joy, love, and a passion to serve others,” The GoFundMe page read. “She was a woman of strong faith, a leader in her community, and she was an even better mother. Everyone should strive to treat others the way she did and celebrate her powerful impact on this world.”

Word spread about the fundraiser and local connection to the chapter’s efforts. Their goal was exceeded, raising more than $120,000 for the Peak family to help honor Cindy Peak’s legacy.

GULF COAST–ZETA PI

Cabrera Directs Hurricane Relief

When Hurricane Ian struck the western coast of Florida in late September, 2022, its aftermath required the rescue and cleanup efforts, still ongoing, of countless friends, neighbors, and volunteers in the Sunshine State. Answering the call was Erian Cabrera (Zeta Pi–Florida Gulf Coast ’19), a corporate communications intern at U.S. Sugar in Clewiston, about 80 miles east of much of the catastrophic damage the storm left in its wake.

A former Zeta Pi Number I and Number IV, Cabrera was tapped as a lead coordinator for much of U.S. Sugar’s relief work following Hurricane Ian, directing projects to help provide residents of the affected areas with food and other much-needed supplies. Cabrera had already been involved in the agriculture giant’s efforts to serve the needy in the Fort Myers area. The arrival of the hurricane only accelerated the scope and urgency of his work.

“We try to do one to two produce deliveries per month locally on the west coast as far as soup kitchens, charity banks and such,” he said. “But with the hurricane coming through, it gave us the opportunity to do a real large-scale delivery. A lot of these drop-off sites were located in areas that were hit very hard. Fort Myers got hit pretty hard with the hurricane; that’s where the university is. We reached out to big donation centers, relief centers, drop-off centers that we had done business with in the past, or that were actively giving out, that had pretty much set up shop in the area. So we took advantage of that opportunity to deliver our product to those places.”

Cabrera’s KA affiliation was what led to his internship with U.S. Sugar in the first place. “KA is really the reason I’m at U.S. Sugar,” he said. “I was sitting with my faculty advisor [Tony Lee, (Zeta Pi–Florida Gulf Coast ’17)] and he asked me how my previous job was going, and I told him it wasn’t what I saw myself doing after graduation. And he asked me, ‘Well, what do you want to do?’ And I told him, ‘Tony, I want to give back, that’s where my passion is.’ So Tony connected me with his contact at U.S. Sugar.”

That contact was Ryan Duffy, U.S. Sugar’s director of corporate communications, who brought Cabrera on board as an intern in August, just in time to learn the ropes of the company’s charitable efforts in Fort Myers before the arrival of Hurricane Ian.

“Erian was highly recommended to me [by Lee],” Duffy said. “U.S. Sugar ground to get the food out and distributed, and he did it all in his capacity as our intern. He’s been a tremendous asset to U.S. Sugar and our department.”

Cabrera is a native of Alva, Florida, nearly equidistant from his classes at sort of farms the land right up to Fort Myers. We weren’t as impacted by Hurricane Ian, we didn’t have the damage they had over on the coast. Erian helped us coordinate our response to what happened over there, he helped us coordinate getting trucks and front-end loaders and tractors over there to help clear the FGCU campus. He was also very helpful in getting food distributed; we donated fresh produce to some of the people in Fort Myers who were impacted by Ian, and they were coming to these distribution centers for everything from flashlights to tarps and supplies. Erian was in charge with the boots on the

FGCU and the U.S. Sugar offices in Clewiston, though he works mostly remotely. A marketing major with an agriculture business minor, he is modest about his role as what Duffy called the “lead coordinator” of the relief efforts. “I don’t like to take credit for being fully in charge,” Cabrera said. “We do have some partners that we work with, as far as team involvement. As far as logistics and everything else, I was highly involved there.”

Without the life skills and leadership qualities instilled in him as a KA brother, Cabrera said that he wouldn’t have been nearly as effective in his role with U.S. Sugar. “As involved as I’ve been with our executive board,” he said, “I’ve seen the ins and outs of what it is to basically run a group of individuals, what goes into properly planning and organizing an event. Not just how to do my job well, but how to communicate with others, and how to portray yourself to people you meet for the first time. It goes back to the things KA does as far as our ongoing philanthropic efforts, back to what it means to help your own community in any way possible, whenever you can, however you can with whatever resources you have available. It’s what we try to teach as a chapter, how important it is to be involved and help others.”

Chapter Centennial Three Years In The Making

The Beta Xi Chapter at Oklahoma State University celebrated its centennial throughout the weekend of May 6, 2023. Although the chapter was founded on May 18, 1920, the anniversary was postponed because of COVID-19. More than one hundred brothers were in attendance over the weekend that included a reception on Friday, a lunch at the chapter house on Saturday afternoon, and a centennial Banquet at the University’s Student Union.

The program of the Centennial Banquet featured a welcome from OSU Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Casey F. Domnick (Beta Xi–Oklahoma State ’07), an invocation by Number V Kevin S. Rapacki

(Beta Xi–Oklahoma State ’ 22), a Chapter update from Number I William L. Britton (Beta Xi–Oklahoma State ’ 21), Remarks from former Executive Councilor Sam O. Leake, Jr. (Beta Xi–Oklahoma State ’61), and a State of the Order from Senior Councilor King V. Aiken, Jr. (Kappa–Mercer ’83).

“For many of our alumni, it was their first time reuniting since being active brothers, Number II Spencer Roach (Beta Xi–Oklahoma State ’ 21) commented. “It was a great weekend that nurtured our chapter’s alumni relations to a level that has not been reached by us in a long time.”