Alpha Philes
Official Publication
of the
Alpha Phi Chapter
of
Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity
State of the House Address ~Nick Cantoni - #898, Archon
Brothers of Pi Kappa Phi, I would just like to inform you of a few events that I feel are very important for the chapter. First of all I would like to highlight that our chapter has become very motivated regarding Push America. Over our spring break 6 of our members decided to partake in Push Camp, and on April 12th, we had 2 people attend Give-A-Push Weekend. For the most part this is unprecedented. I myself did Gear Up Florida last summer, and now this summer we have 2 more brothers, Chris Adams and Andrew Weiner, who decided to step up and take the challenge. Dedication, motivation, and all around hard work like this is invaluable in our chapter. We truly are building leaders of tomorrow by serving people with disabilities today. Now, on a separate note, we are facing a fairly large issue between the Greek community and the school administration. Presently, the school is working on a new housing policy that I feel would be very harmful for our chapter and the rest of the Greeks as well. To sum up this policy for everyone, the school is looking to retain all freshmen in the dorms for their first full year. Our freshmen class makes up roughly a third of our house population each year, so for this policy to take effect we would face serious difficulties.
This policy is following a process, and currently we are presenting the school with our grievances against this and they in turn will take these, compile them, and present those to the Provost and the President (whom they said this policy was handed down by). I implore all of you, as alumni; please help us with this issue. If you have any contacts within IITs staff please contact them and let them know that this is a bad thing for the Greek community and that the Greek community truly is a great thing for students. Thank you, and if you have any questions or concerns please email me; archon@iitpikapps.com
Pi Kapp Chris “Opie� Blanchette (#776) in Iraq with the Pi Kapp flag.
Pi Kapps Leaders in Academics
~Shane Steward - #889, Learning Consultant
Over the last 3 years the members of the Alpha Phi Chapter have put academics as a high priority. This has paid off greatly with Pi Kappa Phi holding the torch as the smartest Fraternity at IIT. We have been floating around a 3.150 GPA going on 6 semesters now. As a chapter we have worked with each other to continue our academic excellence. This past semester I have had the pleasure of being the chapter’s Learning Assistant, which is a school run position, whose duty it is to take watch over freshmen’s attendance and school work. Through this position I hosted a midterm study night and with the help of active members Andrew Weiner (#900) and Chris Pope (#915) we worked on preparing freshmen for midterm exams. Emphasizing to our freshmen the importance of time management, hard work, and good attendance; we will continue to lead IIT as the smartest Fraternity.
Brothers Participate in GUF ~Andrew Weiner - #900, Chaplain
Spring Semester Grades
Unfortunately this semester, we are not a leader in IIT academics. We ended the semester with an average GPA of 3.014. This was a drop from the fall semester of an astounding 0.271. Nevertheless, the brothers of Pi Kappa Phi are ready to bounce back next semester, and reclaim our title as the leading men of academics in the IIT Greek Community.
PUSH Race Coming Soon! ~Travis Schwab
This summer Chris Adams (#895) and I will be riding for Push America in the Gear Up Florida event. This is an 800 mile trek through Florida to raise money and awareness for Push America. Each of us has to raise a minimum of $2,250. The event averages close to 70 miles per day on the bike. Along the way we will be volunteering our time to help disabled people. I fell into this almost on accident. I was at Push Camp over spring break and heard about several openings on this year’s team. I applied and was lucky enough to get one of them. I have wanted to participate in an event like this since I was a freshman. I am looking forward to serving Push America in this team event.
Next spring the Alpha Phi chapter of Pi Kappa Phi will be hosting a 5k race to raise money for PUSH America. It will be held in Birmingham Park on Saturday,19 April 2009. We are anticipating that around 200 runners participate in this event and are very excited. We have been working very hard this semester to get things in order to host the race and will continue to work diligently on this project.
Recent Donors to New Housing Fund
Alpha Phi Creates Tax Deductible Housing Fund
Please check page 8 for a full list of donors to the new housing fund.
The Pi Kappa Phi Housing Fund at IIT was established to provide a tax deductible avenue for alumni donations. This is a capital fund within IIT that can only be spent on the renovation of the current chapter house or the construction of a new chapter house. The fund was started by a generous donation of $1,000 by Nathanael Gombis (#757).
How to Donate Please send checks to: Tara Young, IIT Office of Institutional Advancement 10 West 35th Street Suite 1700 Chicago, IL, 60616. Please make sure to write the following information on the memo line of the check: Pi Kappa Phi Housing Fund.
To donate via credit/debit card please go to our website http://pkp.iit.edu and click on the donate button at the top of the page. Thank you for your generous support!
~Rick Thompson - #870
The target goal is $500,000 with milestones at $100,000, $350,000, $400,000. Once the fund reaches $100,000 the university can endow the fund so it can start earning interest along with the university’s other investments. Once the fund reaches $350,000 the chapter will have enough clout behind it to renegotiate a new contract with the university. This is needed as the university will not offer a gift without the negotiation of a new contract. At $400,000 the design process will start on either the major renovation or new building construction. When the $500,000 target goal is met the construction will then start. The fund has been active for 10 months and has a balance of $13,560. The undergraduate chapter has allocated $6,100 from its Fall 2007 budget, and again from its Spring 2008 budget for a combined contribution of $12,200. These $6,100 semester contributions will continue during the lifetime of this fund as the undergraduates are committed to the new chapter house, even though most if not all of us will be at the university when the project is complete. The donations from the undergraduate chapter are in addition to our normal savings plan which allocates 5% of our income each semester to savings. We are 13% of the way to the $100,000 milestone. If each alumnus that receives this edition of Alpha Philes donates $150 to the fund, we will be at our first milestone of $100,000!
Exec Officer Nick Cantoni #898 ~Archon
Chris Adams #895 ~Vice Archon
Chris Pope #915 ~Treasurer
Vaiibhav Patel #901 ~Secretary
My name is Nick Cantoni. As this semester comes to an end I reflect back on my vision of the direction this house would take. We’ve made much progress for the house, both internally and externally. Currently we have over a third of the chapter working on campus, we held a new and very successful Alumni Family event, and we are making strides to increase inter-chapter relations. My name is Chris Adams and I am serving as Vice Archon for the second time, the first being in 2006. I was also Archon for a few months in the Spring of 2007. I am originally form Cleveland, Ohio and came to IIT as a freshman in the Fall of 2004. I’m a fourth year Civil Engineering major with one more year to go. When I graduate I’ll commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and will attend pilot training sometime after that.
Ever since I can remember, I have been playing with numbers in one form or another. It was a natural choice to run for treasurer. One of my main goals is to insure fiscal stability for the future of our chapter. During my term, I have created an inventory sheet of all physical assets, in case of fire or other insurance claim. We have also switched from steam heat to natural gas heat. My name is Vaiibhav Patel and I am a 3rd year majoring in biomedical engineering. Once I graduate, I will be attending medical school. I ran for the position of secretary in order to contribute to the house. In addition to this, I wanted to see the Push 5K race that we’ve been planning for so long go through.
Biographies Balancing two majors, physics and electrical engineering, and still being initiated into the brotherhood is my example of academic enthusiasm and time management that I wish to bring to the associate class in the fall. I will emphasize respect, maturity, open-mindedness, quality in associate and academic projects, and fostering an atmosphere of pure brotherhood. I ran for Historian, because I felt I could increase alumni relations with our chapter. Since then we have run a successful calling campaign and had over 20 alumni back to the house. Next semester I plan on connecting the families of undergraduates to our fraternity by hosting a family day.
I ran for this position because I have a great respect for our ritual. I wish to bring the knowledge that I have gained of the ritual at various national events back to our chapter. I have held a successful initiation and I hope to have a successful Founder’s Day this fall. I hope to bring our chapter closer through subrituals.
Predrag has been chosen to be the new Resident Advisor for our chapter. He graduated from IIT with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. Predrag is currently a Quality Engineer for Prarie Packaging Inc. As Resident Advisor, Predrag plans on reestablishing the perception that Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity is a vital organ of the Illinois Institute of Technology.
David Poli #914 ~Warden
Kyle Knopp #904 ~Historian
Andrew Weiner #900 ~Chaplain
Predrag Barac #861 ~RA
New Plans for Rush Week
~Chris Adams - #895, Vice Archon As the spring semester draws to a close, preparations for Rush Week are beginning to go into full swing. My goal is to rush at least 20 Associates, something I came close to accomplishing when I was Vice Archon in 2006. That year our house rushed 19 Associates and had 13 initiated. Hopefully we can work on retention rates as well, but we will have to move one step at a time. This year I plan on trying some new techniques for Rush Week. First, I will make ‘Rush Teams’. Rush Teams would consist of 3-4 active brothers who will work as a group to rush individuals, or better yet, multiple groups of freshman. This will make it easier to plan events by having one Rush Team set up and another clean up, instead of individual brothers spread out through the week. Having one Rush Team outside at all times will be beneficial, both making our presence seen on the quad and seeing most freshman first as they walk to the quad from the dorms. Each Rush Team will also have incentives to rush more guys. Particular incentives haven’t been decided yet, but this will help motivate Rush Teams and hopefully increase our numbers for the Fall 2008 Associate Class. Second, I plan on ‘coaching’ the house on how to talk to incoming freshman and more importantly how to get them interested in the best chapter on the quad. Each brother will have a card, which will be a small speech or several points about the strengths of the house. This can be used in conversations with future members to help brothers rush future members. We will also go over other techniques in how to initiate
conversations with someone you just met and how to maintain conversations. Third, I plan on contacting several recent alums to come to the evening events and help us in talking with several potential Associates. Many of our alums are very successful upon graduating and having the freshman see their success, some of which can be attributed to having joined Pi Kappa Phi, can help them see the benefits of joining the house. These are just initial ideas I plan on using for this years Rush Week in order to rush more quality men. Too often we have relied on a handful of social guys to rush our incoming Associate class, which is usually around 13-15 Associates. This year I plan on having every brother go out of their comfort zone to talk to as many incoming students as possible. I know we can rush well above our average and have, at a minimum, a 20 member Associate Fall 2008 class. Having a large Associate class and full house will be motivating for our returning brothers and will hopefully be carried on in the years to come. If you can make it to any Rush events, which will be held on the evenings of August 18-22, please contact me at Chris.K.Adams@gmail. com or call at 440.478.3760. Our house would be more than happy to have you here and you can help the chapter by rushing more quality men.
Rush Week will be August 17th to 22nd!
Alumni Family Outing
~Kevin Gullikson - #913, PR Chair On April 27th, the brothers of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity held the first annual Alumni Family Outing. Several alumni, many of them with their families, came by to reminisce about the time they spent at IIT. Most of the alumni who came were here at about the same time, and most of them already knew each other. They caught up with each other, and told us stories of what Pi Kappa Phi was like when they were here. It was incredible to hear tales of the parties they threw, as well as the wild and crazy antics of fraternity life in the 80’s. Anyone who walked by the quad surely saw something very rare: children. A few of them were playing catch and hitting baseballs all day. Others played in our basement where we have a pool table. Still others played ping-pong with each other and their parents. Around 3:00 pm, they all gathered for a piùata. They all took turns hitting it with a broomstick, and a few minutes later the candy poured out.
Needless to say, hysteria ensued. While all of the alumni brought interesting stories to tell and things to do, alumni Patrick McKenna (#732) brought something very exciting. His dad had worked in the Chicago Police Department Canine Unit, and was able to get canine unit officer Saul Klupt to come to the family outing. For an animal that is trained to attack, the dog was very well behaved and playful. The police officer told us a little about his job, about his dog, and then showed us a little about how obedient his dog was. He let everyone pet his dog, and several families took pictures with it. The alumni family outing was a huge success. The alumni and their families all had a great time and are looking forward to next year. The brothers of Pi Kappa Phi are looking forward to hearing more stories and meeting older brothers from our alumni chapter.
Complete Donor List for New Housing Fund Fred Widlak - #297 Ken Slepicka - #366 Nat Gombis - #757 Adam Price - #844 Sean Christopherson - #882
Recent Marriages The brothers of Pi Kappa Phi would like to say congratulations to the following members for their recent marriages. Richard Thompson - #870 Garrett Strassler - #899 Brian Hensel - #857
Recent Births
Greg Stachurski - #896
The brothers of Pi Kappa Phi would like to say congratulations to the following members for the birth of their recent child.
Predrag Barac - #861
Chris Sweeny - #765
Matt Kopesky - #866
The Chapter Eternal
Noel Wessely - #879
Steve Banaska - #883 Rob Manna - #761 Russ Schaade - #775 Andrew Swantek - #880
For those who didn’t know, brother Joe Adamson (#717) passed on to the Chapter Eternal on February 10, 2008. The brothers of Pi Kappa Phi keep his family in our prayers.
Other News
Pat Bowles - #910 Jamaica McCarthy - #854
Congratulations to brothers Marc Hannah (#512), IIT Class of ‘77 and Bud Wendorf (#450), IIT Class of ‘71 on becoming new members of the IIT Board of Trustees.
Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity - Alpha Phi Chapter 3333 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, IL, 60616 historian@iitpikapps.com www.iitpikapps.com