Delta Alpha Newsletter “Nothing Shall Ever Tear Us Asunder”
Executive Officers Bryan Kuhn, Archon TJ Lewis, Internal Vice Archon Alex Hilker, External Vice Archon Brandon Collins, Treasurer Tyler Frantz, Secretary Kevin Wertheim, Warden Rob Lyerly, Historian Kenny Lewis, Chaplain Brooks Pauly, Risk Management Chair
Mailing Address Pi Kappa Phi begins partnership with the Pointe West Club Recently the Delta Alpha chapter has been participating in a service project in conjunction with the Pointe West Club, an organization that provides care for adults with disabilities. The organization's mission is very similar to the mission of Push America, making it a great opportunity for the brothers to give back to the community. Pi Kapp built wheelchair accessible picnic tables for thePointe West Club, and we hope to maintain an active relationship with the club. The service project was organized by Zach Landau. Initially volunteering there on a regular basis, Zach saw an opportunity for the fraternity. One of the benefits of owning our philanthropy is the unparalleled level of support for community service projects. With money from Push America and materials from the Home Depot, Pi Kapp was able to build these picnic tables at no cost to Continued on Page 2
Upcoming Events 4/9 – Relay for Life at Virginia Tech (http://www.relayforlife.org) 4/17 – Virginia Tech’s Big Event (http://www.vtbigevent.org) 4/17 – Parent’s Weekend 4/23 to 4/25 – Formals Weekend
Pi Kappa Phi, Delta Alpha Chapter Virginia Tech 76-B Oak Lane Blacksburg, VA 24060
Websites National http://www.pikapp.org/
Chapter http://www.pikapps.org.vt.edu/
Continue from Page 1 the Pointe West Club. Zach put a tremendous amount of work into organizing the event, while the design and construction of the tables was overseen by brother Matt Schmidt. The Home Depot played an essential role in making this project possible by donating the materials and letting us use their power equipment. Pi Kapp would like to thank them for helping us out. The project may be over, but Pi Kapp hopes to maintain an ongoing relationship with the club. This gives brothers a chance to donate time to a great cause, one that is consistent with our own philanthropy. Other brothers, Ben Herzog and Will Von Seggern, have already volunteered at the club, saying that volunteering here is a great opportunity for brothers to give back. Pi Kappa Phi, Push America and the Pointe West Club encourage empathy, not sympathy-that is why we are proud to enter into this long term relationship with the club.
Delta Alpha Brothers Participate in Journey of Hope This summer, two brothers will be participating in Push America's biggest annual event. Kenny Lewis and Fred Angel will be biking across America in the Journey of Hope, Push America's summer long bike event to raise awareness for people with disabilities. Started in 1987 by Bruce Rogers, it transformed into a huge event for Pi Kappa Phi and Push America. Initially raising only $20,000, the event now raises more than $500,000 annually for Push America. The event lasts the whole summer for each of 3 teams. Each team starts in San Francisco, CA and finishes with the grand finale in Washington D.C. 35 Pi Kapps from across the country are put on the teams. On each route (the North Route, the Trans-America Route, and the South Route), team members are tested. Bikers ride 75 miles a day on average, then work with people who have disabilities at night. Brothers are worn out by the end of the trip, but have a countless number of everlasting memories. Brothers Kenny Lewis and Fred Angel are very excited about the event. When asked about Journey of Hope, Fred Angel responded, “I feel the need to do Journey of Hope because I want to participate in an event that not only would change my life but would impact the lives of others. The motto of Virginia Tech is ‘Ut Prosim’, or ‘That I may serve’ and I could see no better way to fulfill a promise I made to this school than to participate in Journey of Hope”. Both brothers have been training diligently and are looking forward to this summer-long event. The Delta Alpha chapter is proud to once again be represented on the Journey of Hope teams. Our chapter has a long history of participating in the event. Journey of Hope is a very popular event for Pi Kappa Phi, meaning that Kenny and Fred actually had to apply for positions on the teams. Kenny has a fundraising goal of $6,000 while Fred has a fundraising goal of $8,000. Both are working very hard to reach their goals. Journey of Hope is Push America's biggest event, and we are proud to be represented on the teams. To donate to Kenny Lewis, visit: http://secure.pushamerica.org/kennylewis To donate to Fred Angel, visit: http://secure.pushamerica.org/fredangel
Delta Alpha Brothers Also Participate in Build America This summer, two brothers will be participating in one of Push America's most ambitious service projects. Brothers TJ Lewis and Steve Moffett will be spending six weeks working in teams to provide accessibility to communities. Started in 2003, Build America is an extension of Push America's other service projects, Push Camp and GiveA-Push (GAP) weekends. Brothers travel across the country, doing construction during the day and relaxing with campers in the evenings. According to the Push America website, before the end of the project “the team will have logged over 4,000 man hours, saved camps and communities $50,000 in labor costs and over $30,000 in materials expenses”. This is an invaluable project that gives camps and communities much needed handicapped facilities at no cost. The brothers participating in this event are very excited and cannot wait to start. When asked about the chance to participate in this service project, TJ Lewis responded “Build America is a unique opportunity in that not only will I be raising funds and awareness for people with disabilities, but I will be creating tangible objects that will help improve the lives of thousands of people. I have always had a passion for construction and after developing relationships with people with disabilities through volunteering for Special Olympics, I knew I had to be a part of Build America”. TJ has a personal fundraising goal of $5,000 while Steve has a fundraising goal of $8,000. Build America is a rare opportunity for the brothers of Delta Alpha to give back to their community and country. This is one of Push America's biggest events, and our chapter is very proud to have not one, but two brothers representing us. We wish them the best of luck this summer and cannot wait to hear about their experiences. To donate to TJ Lewis, visit: http://secure.pushamerica.org/tjlewis To donate to Steve Moffett, visit: http://secure.pushamerica.org/stevemoffett
Gamma Phi Initiated and Gamma Chi Pledging The Delta Alpha chapter had a great pledge class last Fall. Pi Kapp initiated 13 new brothers this past Fall, bringing the active brotherhood to 56 brothers. The pledge class consists of new brothers from all different parts of the country, and even one brother from Scotland. The pledge class has been very active in the fraternity already, and will be a great asset to the brotherhood. The spring semester is already off to a great start. Pi Kapp has 16 new associate members for the spring, making it one of the larger spring pledge classes. Hopefully they will grow with the fraternity as we guide them through the Associate Member process.
Parents
Alumni
We will be holding our annual Parent’s Weekend soon! Make sure to make hotel reservations for the 17th of April. RSVP soon – there will be lots of fun events, so join your son and his best college friends for a great weekend!
Have any news, stories, updated contact information, etc? Contact the Historian, Rob Lyerly, at rlyerly@vt.edu with any questions you may have or any information you want to share with the chapter.
Senior Spotlight – Matt Heaton, ΔA 643 Major -Business Management with a Real Estate Minor Extracurricular Activities -Student Director of Hokie Camp -Intramural Sports -Special Olympics Volunteer Favorite Part of Being a Pi Kappa Phi: -The closeness of the Brotherhood Activities in Pi Kappa Phi -Helped with Push America -Organized Special Olympics Bowling since Freshman Year Favorite Pi Kappa Phi Memory -Pledge Class Trip to Appalachian State University Plans After College -Work for the Government
Sports News Virginia Tech's football team had a very successful season this past Fall. Virginia Tech finished the season ranked 10th in the country, winning the their last game of the season at the Chik-fil-a bowl in Atlanta. Virginia Tech took care of business versus first year coach Lane Kiffin and the Tennessee Volunteers. Their final record was 103, making this the 6th 10-win season in a row for Frank Beamer and the Hokies. Virginia Tech pulled in a very strong recruiting class and will start of the season in a road battle of two top-five teams when they play Boise State at Fedex Field on September 6th. Virginia Tech's basketball team is also performing at a very high level this season. They finished the regular season tied for 3rd place in the ACC after being predicted to finish 8th. Coach Seth Greenberg has the Hokies playing tough and winning down the stretch – two key characteristics that will be essential for the Hokies to continue winning in the upcoming games. The Hokies will be playing in the NIT Tournament as a #1 Seed against Quinnipiac and will hopefully make a tournament run.
2009 Football Season
Record: 10-3
th
Loss, 24-34 Win, 52-10 Win, 16-15 Win, 31-7 Win, 34-26 Win, 48-14 Loss, 23-28 Loss, 17-20 Win, 16-3 Win, 36-9 Win, 38-10 Win, 42-13 Win, 37-14
September 5 September 12th September 19th September 26th October 3rd October 10th October 17th October 29th November 5th November 14th November 21st November 28th December 31st
vs. Alabama Marshall Nebraska Miami at Duke Boston College at Georgia Tech North Carolina at East Carolina at Maryland N.C. State at Virginia vs. Tennessee
Philanthropy Events The Delta Alpha chapter has been very active in Philanthropy events this semester. In the Fall semester, Pi Kapp participated in 7 philanthropy events, placing 1st in three of them. The first philanthropy won was Sigma Kappa's Ultraviolet Nights. This philanthropy consisted of several events: Sigma Smile (make Sigma Kappa's smile for points), Wild n' Crazy Greeks (a two hour field events competition), D.P. Dough Day (fraternities get points based on how much food they buy from D.P. Dough, a calzone restaurant), and Sigma Hold'em Tournament (a casino and card competition). Money raised from this philanthropy goes to fund Alzheimer's research. The second philanthropy won was Pi Beta Phi's Hoopfest. This event consisted of Pie a Pi Phi, collecting childrens books at Rita's, and a basketball competition. Money raised from this philanthropy goes to eliminate illiteracy. The third philanthropy won was Alpha Delta Pi's Safari Hunt. This event consisted of a banana eating contest, a limbo competition, a runway competition, and a tug-of-war competition. Money raised from this philanthropy goes to support the Ronald McDonald House. Pi Kapp worked hard and won more sorority philanthropies than any other fraternity on campus last semester. The brotherhood has already been active this semester in philanthropies as well. Pi Kapp won Delta Gamma's Anchorsplash philanthropy earlier this semester, which consisted of a fundraising competition, a fundraiser dinner, a runway competition, pool games, and a dance competition. Pi Kapp placed in every event, beating out every other fraternity in total points. Anchorsplash is one of the largest philanthropic events on campus, making this event a huge success for the fraternity. Brother Kevin Wertheim was a crucial part of this success, organizing teams and events for the fraternity. The Delta Alpha chapter hosted our own very successful philanthropy last semester. We hosted War of the Roses, a week long event where sororities compete in several competitions. All of the money raised by the event went to Pi Kapp's national philanthropy Push America (Push America serves people with disabilities, encouraging empathy rather than sympathy). The sororities compete in an empathy dinner (where each girl receives a disability at the door), a Sorority Feud competition (like the game show Family Feud) and finally culminating in a powder-puff flag football tournament. Pi Kapp congratulates Alpha Delta Pi for winning our philanthropy last semester. War of the Roses raised over $6,000 for Push America, making it the most successful philanthropy the Delta Alpha chapter has ever hosted and making our chapter one of Push America's top-10 fundraisers! Pi Kapp thanks all the sororities, and is looking forward to another record-breaking War of the Roses next year!