Epsilon Mu - Fall 2007

E Mu Review

Pi Kappa Phi Epsilon Mu Chapter Fall 2007 Edition Bradley University

Hector Martinez: Making a Difference in the Community When staring at the long list of community involvement and accomplishments of chapter founder Hector Martinez, one can only be impressed. When asked what Hector loves about his involvement in the community, he said “I love trying to make a difference and helping others. I love to achieve things that haven’t been achieved before.”

Hector is currently a board member of four Peoria organizations and a committee member for four more. He volunteers for many others and his previous activities and accolades seem to be never ending.

“I like challenges. I love seeing the reaction on someone’s face who appreciates something that I have done, especially kids.” One example of his impact is his involvement with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. He has volunteered for the organization for six years. He was named Big Brother of the Year for 2005. His advice to those looking to become involved in

their community is that “Life goes by quickly so do it now! Take Gandalf’s advice: ‘All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you.’ ” There is no doubt that Hector’s experience as a Pi Kapp has impacted his life for the better. During his time in the chapter he held positions including founding Chaplain, Push Chair, and Social Chair and also completed an internship at the Pi Kapp National Office. He is currently a housing corporation board member and was previously chapter advisor.

He contributes much of his success to the fraternity. “I learned that we must learn to all get along by accepting our differences, embracing our strengths and appreciating our diversity. I learned that great new ideas are not developed when we all think and act alike.” Hector concludes that “Epsilon Mu gave me a home

away from home and a family to turn to when I needed them most.”

Inside this issue:

25th Anniversary Cele- 1-2 bration A Huge Success State of the Chapter

2

Alumni Updates

2-3

Doing Something Constructive

3

What’s New on Campus

3

Remember When?

4

Hector with his Big Brother/Big Sister Li’l Bro, Tyler Huffman.

They have been paired up for five years and took a trip to British Columbia this past summer.

Upcoming Chapter Events: • I-Week is November 25th-December 1st for our 7 associate members.

25th Anniversary Celebration a Huge Success

• Elections are on December 2nd.

Epsilon Mu celebrated 25 years on the weekend of April 2729th, 2007. With attendance of over 50 alumni, the actives and all their guests, the weekend was a huge success. The weekend consisted of an open house on Friday night, a softball game, BBQ, and Roseball Formal Saturday, and a pancake

• Finals are December 13th -19th.

breakfast Sunday morning.

Alums from across the country attended, including founders Jason McDowell, Danny Charleston, Paul Miller, William Furling, Jim Klein, Brad LaValley, Jon Lyon, Mark Brewner, and Tom Kopera. The open house Friday night was a

relaxed atmosphere with alums and actives getting to know each other. Later in the night, everyone sang brotherhood songs and alums told their best Pi Kapp stories. The active chapter members were embarrassed by the alumni at the softball game Saturday at Laura Bradley Park and everyone

• The Mid-Year Leadership Conference will be in St. Louis January 11th-13th, 2008.

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25th Anniversary (continued) All-House Photo in front of the chapter house on Saturday morning.

Derek Sloan at the plate for the active’s team.

enjoyed the BBQ with hotdogs and hamburgers cooked by the actives.

The Roseball Formal was held at the Hotel Pierre Marquette in downtown Peoria. The speakers for the event were Ed King, a Sigma Chi alum from Bradley and author of the epilogue of the White Diamond, and Dr. Phillip Summers. Dr. Summers was Pi Kappa Phi National President in 1992 and has held other positions on the National Council. The attending founders received the Silver Legion Award in recogni-

tion of being Pi Kappa Phis for 25 years. Current Chapter Archon, Scott Kenley, presented the Athlete of the Year award to Steve Evangelista, the Lamp-Key award for best semester GPA to Chris Assise, and the Alumni of the Year award to Kent Fleming. Other highlights of the night included Robert Priest’s performance of “Chi-O Through My Window”, a boxer shot, and the singing of “The Rose of Pi Kappa Phi.” With the DJ playing some great tunes, the dance floor was a busy place.

Alums said their goodbyes Sunday morning at a pancake breakfast at the house prepared by the actives. Some alums skipped the pancakes and just went for the obligatory Avanti’s! Overall, the weekend was a great success and an excellent way to celebrate 25 years on Bradley’s campus!

The active chapter would like to thank everyone that attended. Special thanks goes out to Kent Fleming for all his help in putting the weekend together.

State of the Chapter “Epsilon Mu received National awards for the highest level in Living the Ritual and Sound Chapter Operations.”

The Epsilon Mu chapter has had a very busy year. We have many accomplishments to be proud of. Our grades for the spring semester were second amongst all IFC fraternities, with a 3.07/4.0 GPA. Fall recruitment, the lifeblood of the fraternity, went very well. We were able to add more than 50% to our membership, gaining 7 associate members and bringing the total number of

members to 20. Greek Week was a slight disappointment as we finished outside the top 4, but we participated with pride in all the week’s activities. This year, Epsilon Mu received National awards for the highest level in Living the Ritual and Sound Chapter Operations.

We are also very proud of our support of Push America. We have raised over $1,300 for Push this semester from nu-

merous events including a Scaffold Sit, Toll Roads, a showing of the movie Murderball, and an Empathy Dinner at the chapter house.

In the coming semester, we hope to increase our sorority relations as well as increase involvement on campus, bringing Pi Kappa Phi to the forefront of Bradley’s campus.

•Congratulations to Mike

• Adam Novak got married

•Eric McMahill is living in

Unes for being named one of the Peoria area's Forty top Leaders Under Forty. Mike was recognized for his professional achievement, as well as community contributions and civic leadership. Mike serves as Mayor Pro Tem in the absence of East Peoria Mayor David Mingus.

on August 4th and is currently living in Lockport, IL.

Reynoldsburg, Ohio with his wife Stephanie and two daughters, Lindsey (19 months), and Meghan (2 Months).

-Archon Scott Kenley

Alumni Updates

Look at Tom Muzik go!

•Tim Gardner had his first child, Morgan Elizabeth, born on November 10th.

•Alun Harris-John is currently living in McHenry, IL and has a 9 month old daughter, Kayla.

•Dave Janes is working as a graphic designer for the Illinois Times in Springfield, IL.

•Kalle Kittelson is living in Wauconda, IL and has a boy on the way, due in January.

Fall 2007 Edition

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Alumni Updates •Steven Haubner currently

•Bob Kirk moved to Long-

•Brad Gordon lives in Peoria

lives in Lockport, IL and is now an Attorney for the Lake County State’s Attorney Office. He graduated from the University of Illinois Law School in 2006. He also completed in a Ironman competition in Wisconsin in 2005.

mont, Colorado in July from the St. Louis Area. His wife Celeste accepted a position at University of ColoradoBoulder.

•Mike Martin got married in October.

with his wife, Mary. He works as a manufacturing engineer at Boley Tool & Machine Works, Inc. and Mary works at WMBD TV. He enjoys following Bradley Basketball.

•Pat Maietta is living in Elm-

•Frank Rice is currently living

hurst, IL and has been married to his wife Colleen for 10 years. He also has 3 daughters, Maggie, Grace, and Maeve. He is a high school social studies teacher and head boys basketball coach.

in the southwest Chicago suburbs doing freelance video production.

•Dan Conwell is a Mortgage Consultant at Crown Mortgage and is living in Evergreen Park, IL.

Dancing at the Roseball.

•Thanks to those that helped with fall rush at the chapter this year including: Danny Charleston, Dan Mulch, Dan Conwell, Frank Rice, Kent Fleming, Mike Ferrer, Dave Janes, Matt Rodde, and Derek Sloan.

Spring Graduates posing before Roseball.

Doing Something Constructive

On November 3rd, the chapter completed another AccessAbility Project for Push America.

The chapter built a deck with a wheelchair ramp and benches.

The home is a group home for PARC, an organization that provides numerous services for people with disabilities in the Peoria area. The chapter arrived on site at 8 AM and got right to work. This is the third deck the chapter has built for PARC. With the help of Push Chair Bill Coons’ Father and Alumni Initiate Mike Coons, Bill’s Uncle John Fischer, and Mike’s friend John Waldmueller, we completed the deck by 4 PM. Push America paid for all the materials.

This was only one of many Push events that the chapter has had this semester. A scaffold sit on the quad during the first week of school raised money and awareness for Push. A Toll Roads in Buffalo Grove raised almost $1,000. On November 10th, the chapter hosted an Empathy Dinner. Everyone attending was given a disability at the door to simulate during their meal, raising awareness.

We continue to build the leaders of tomorrow.

Fall Exec Council: Archon: Scott Kenley Vice-Archon: Andrew Finley Treasurer: Matt Rock Secretary: Scott Taylor Warden: Matt Weaver Historian: Jon Fredbeck Chaplain: Bill Coons Visit the Active Chapter blog: pikappemureview.blogspot.com

What’s New on Campus The sounds of hammers and dump trucks has been common at the Pi Kapp house this semester because of the construction of the new Markin Family Student Recreation Center. It is located between the Chi Omega sorority and Morgan Hall on Glenwood Avenue. The new recreation center will be a huge upgrade

for campus and is scheduled to be completed in October of 2008. It will be 130,000 square feet and include five basketball courts, a 1/8 mile running track, pool, indoor climbing wall, and juice bar.

To make way for the new recreation center, the Sigma Chi house was demolished. They

have now built a new multimillion dollar house located on Fredonia Avenue. Haussler Hall, as well as the field house, will be demolished eventually to make way for other new facilities including a new performance arena and a men’s basketball practice facility.

An artist’s rendition of the finished

Pi Kappa Phi Epsilon Mu Chapter

Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity 1530 W. Bradley Ave Peoria, IL 61606 Current Historian: Jon Fredbeck Phone: (847) 404-7681 E-mail: JFredbeck@Bradley.edu

Place mailing labels here

Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity “Leaders By Choice”

To become a part of the Alumni Chapter Yahoo Group, email Kent Fleming at bugradx2@yahoo.com.

Remember when? This is from the current chapter house’s dedication in September of 1990.

Fascinating Fact: The chapter raised over $8,200 for Push America that school year.