Mu - Spring 2006

Pi kappa Phi at Duke University:

Pi Kappa Phi: Mu Chapter

Mu Muses

THE ALUMNI NEWSLETTER OF THE MU CHAPTER OF PI KAPPA PHI FRATERNITY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

Inside this issue:

April 2006

Mu Chapter Returns to Duke

Chartering Tentatively Set for September 15th, 2006

While

the goal of achieving a strong and classy brotherhood at Duke University is always the primary focus of the Mu Chapter, the more recent goal of Chartering has taken precedence of late over all other activities.

We, the associate members of the Mu Chapter Colony are proud to announce that this colony of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity will tentatively be chartering the weekend of September 15, 2006!

All the remaining work for the weekend will be spearheaded by the new Executive board including our new Archon Mike Kralovec and new External Vice Archon Chris Bierbower. Work has already progressed well with many of the logistical needs of the weekend already resolved.

This summer will be far from an easy one for the brothers of the Mu Chapter Colony, but it is a challenge that we all look forward to with a single minded

purpose and enthusiasm that one can say is only found in the brothers of Pi Kappa Phi. We look forward to having as many of our alumni as possible attend the weekend so that they can share in what will be a day we will never forget! For more information on how you can attend this please contact our Historian Tariq Mohideen (tnm3@duke.edu).

This momentous occasion is one that we are all looking forward to as it will truly be one of the greatest moments in our lives. From the beginning of this year onwards the brothers have been circling the wagons in mass effort to finish all that is necessary for chartering. Thanks to the inspirational zeal of Archon Matt Zullo and Vice Archon Shiv Agarwal much of the work necessary for finishing the Chartering brochure was completed ahead of schedule.

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Spring Rush a Success!

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PUSH Week Raises over 2, 4 $2000 Alumni BBQ, April 21

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Meet the Mu Men

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Contact Mu

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A few of the men of Mu Chapter relaxing on the steps of Duke Chapel

Spring Rush an Overwhelming Success!

The recent Mu Chapter Colony officially took part in Duke’s spring fraternity rush for the first time in the early months of 2006, and an unbelievable rush period it was! Rush chairs Mike Kaplanis and Galen Vaisman with the help of Vice Archon Shiv Agarwal put together a month of amazing, non-stop fun for associate members and potential members alike. Rush events ranged from theme events at off campus

Mu Chapter Returns to Duke

clubs, to delicious BBQs, to getting together to watch and cheer on all the Duke teams.

Rush was capped off with a “Wedding Crashers” theme party at George’s Garage just off Duke’s East Campus. The event was so jam-packed and enjoyable for all that it is clear that Pi Kapp cannot be outdone.

Continued on Page 2, Rush

PLEASE NOTE: • Mu Chapter Chartering is tentatively set for September 15th, 2006.

Please attend!

• Mu Chapter will host an Alumni BBQ during Reunion Weekend on Friday April 21, 2006 from 48pm, please RSVP to Scott Tabakman (smt18@duke.edu, 914-299-9980)

Pi Kappa Phi at Duke University: Mu Muses

Page 2

Rush (continued from Page 1) Continued from Page 1 In short, we’re happy to report that Pi Kapp brought in the biggest (AND BEST!) associate member class of all fraternities at Duke!

Thirty men of class signed on to join the ranks of Pi Kappa Phi this past spring.

Among these men were nineteen freshman, nine sophomores, one junior and one senior. With the incoming class, Pi Kappa Phi’s Mu Chapter Colony has become the largest (AND BEST – see a trend?) fraternity on campus.

With the spring rush complete Mu Chapter looks forward to official chartering in September of 2006. Throughout the rush process we worked to define and solidify ourselves as a unique organization that can blend decorum with fun, academics, and service. With every new preinitiate of Mu Chapter, we move closer to becoming the extraordinarily strong chapter that Pi Kappa Phi deserves to have at Duke!

hope that alumni can visit and take part in our chartering ceremony, tentatively set for the weekend of September 15th, 2006. Please, do not hesitate to contact current historian Tariq M o h i d e e n (tnm3@duke.edu).

We look forward to alumni input and support in the growth of our chapter. Moreover, we

PUSH Week Raises over $2000 Pi Kappa Phi brought in the largest rush class, thirty wonderful Men, at Duke during the 2006 Spring Rush Credit: Duke Chronicle, Feb 9, 2006

“...the men of Mu far exceeded our own expectations and Push Week raised an overwhelming $2000 for Push America and even more importantly, it also raised awareness for people with disabilities “

Liuda mans the dunk tank, glad to know that all his troubles are for a good cause, Push America!

As

the Duke University Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity begins the re-colonization process, the brothers of Mu are implementing our Push America plan. Like many chapters across the country, disability awareness is a big part of our programming.

This spring, we hosted “Push Week,” a weeklong event aimed at educating people about the mission of Push America and raising awareness for people with disabilities. It is relatively easy to raise funds for a cause, but it is admittedly more difficult to raise awareness. This was the goal of Push Week – to not only raise money, but more importantly, to raise awareness for an issue that affects so many people nationwide – from the Duke faculty, staff and students to our fellow brothers.

That being said, we hosted a “Movie on the Quad” on Monday, March 27 as a kick off to Push Week. We showed the widely acclaimed documentary, “Murderball” as a means to demonstrate that disability does not mean "inability." People who live with disabilities are people first.

Although they may have to do things a little differently than an able-bodied person, they have jobs, play sports, and join frater-

nities just like everyone else – they are your fellow classmates, your colleagues, or even your brothers. And it is of the utmost importance that people take with them this message of “people first” from any of our activities if nothing else.

Murderball follows the life of quadriplegic rugby players as they contend for the Special Olympics gold medal and all the trials and tribulations along the way. It was a heart-touching story that affected many of our brothers in attendance as well as several community members who joined us.

On Wednesday, March 29, we participated in Campus Council’s annual “Old Duke Party,” an event on the quad featuring performances by many Duke student groups. In an effort to show that a fraternity can provide effective, non-alcoholic campus wide programming, the brothers of Mu provided original entertainment in the form of festive carnival-like attractions.

This event promoted the ideals of Push America and raised awareness for those with disabilities in an uplifting manner.

We provided the Duke community with a “Pi Kappa Phrye,”

cotton candy, sno-cones and even a dunk tank.

And finally, Push Week culminated in an “Empathy Dinner,” a formal, sit-down dinner hosted by the brothers of Mu and catered by Maggiano’s Little Italy.

We at Pi Kappa Phi do not condone a sense of “sympathy” or merely “feeling sorry” for those with disabilities for it does not help anyone. It is passive and therefore, yields no tangible results or benefits. Through this Empathy Dinner, however, we hoped to not only provide educational opportunities simulating what it “might be like” to live with a disability, but create an open forum for issues faced by people with disabilities.

As members of Pi Kappa Phi, our commitment to people with disabilities is important and educating ourselves and others in Continued on page 4, Push

April 2006

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Duke Reunion Weekend

Alumni BBQ, Friday April 21, 4-8pm

The current associate members

of Mu Chapter at Duke University look forward to seeing any and all Pi Kapp alumni who live in or around Durham, or who will be returning to Duke for the Spring 2006 Alumni Reunion Weekend. We hope that if you are coming back to visit during the weekend of April 21st-23rd, that you will take part in the first annual Mu Chapter Alumni BBQ to be held on Friday April 21st from 4-8pm at the Picnic Shelter on Central Campus.

We look forward to meeting the men who gave us the gift of

Pi Kappa Phi at Duke University, and to hear your stories and suggestions, as well as to develop the bonds of brotherhood that will last throughout the years. Likewise, we find that as a general rule, the men of Mu chapter know how to cook, and they really know how to eat!

If you will be gracing us with your presence on campus please let us know! Shuttles will be running to and from the BBQ at your convenience. Please RSVP to Scott Tabakman via email at smt18@duke.edu or by phone at 914-299-9980. If you need any-

thing while you are on campus, do not hesitate to ask for our assistance, be it a ride from the airport, a suggestion on where to eat, or a tour of some new parts of campus.

We look forward to meeting you all at some point, and we hope you can make the trip during Reunion Weekend.

Please stop by the PKP Alumni BBQ during Duke Reunion Weekend, 4/21/06 4-8pm

Meet the Men of Mu Chapter We all know that Pi Kappa Phi is built upon utmost excellence.

As “leaders by choice”, the brothers and associate members of Pi Kappa Phi are selected because of the quality they can put into the fraternity, and choose Pi Kappa Phi because of the quality they can take out of the fraternity. As such, the men of Duke University who have acted to re-colonize Mu Chapter look forward to developing an organization full of the best, brightest, and boldest men at the university. We hope that we can live up the standard set by Pi Kappa Phi’s around the country, as well as those who were at Duke not many years ago.

The men of Pi Kappa Phi lead and succeed in producing positive changes on campus. Archon Matt Zullo (Trinity ’06 from Belle Mead, NJ) was, during his junior year at Duke, the Central Campus Council President, who oversees all programming and projects on Central Campus.

Meanwhile Matt is also the founder and chair of the Duke Transfer Orientation Program, which has benefited many in making the transition to Duke easier for those undergraduates who have elected to spend time at another college. In Matt’s footsteps, Pi Kapp George Pradhan (Trinity ’07 from Bluefield, WV) succeeded as this year’s Central Campus Council president.

Chris Kallmeyer (Trinity ’06 from Houston, TX) is currently the president of the Duke University Union, which oversees all major attractions on campus, the “Last Day of Classes” ceremony, as well as most of the film, TV, and musical organizations on campus. In his sophomore year, Chris was treasurer of Duke’s Campus Council, overseeing funding for nearly all social and philanthropic events on campus.

Hasnain Zaidi (Trinity ’08 from Abu Dhabi, UAE) was his freshman class treasurer in his freshman year, is currently sophomore class president in his sophomore year, and was elected junior class president for

next year (we hope the trend continues). He’s also a member of Duke’s Campus Council.

In addition to these legislative roles on Campus, men of Mu Chapter can be found just about anywhere on campus. You might find associate members John Korman (Trinity ’06 from Greer, SC), president of the Duke Conservative Union, in a friendly political scuffle with Secretary Josh Solera (Trinity ’06 from Los Altos, CA), a member of the Duke Democrats.

Senior Jay Crowley (Trinity ’06 from Boston, MA) and Sophomore David Melton (Trinity ’08 from Lakeland, FL) are both heavily involved with the First-year Advisory Council, which helps to run freshman orientation as well as supports freshman during their first year of college.

Additionally, David is a justice on the Judicial Board for Duke’s Student Government.

Continued on Page 4, Meet

“We hope that we can live up to the standard set by Pi kappa Phi’s around the country, as well as those who were at Duke not many years ago”

Pi Kappa Phi: Mu Chapter

PUSH (Continued from page 2) Continued from Page 2

Pi Kappa Phi 07 Bryan Center, Box 90840 Durham, NC 27708 Email: Dukepikappsexec@googlegroups.com

Pi Kappa Phi Leaders by Choice

www.dukepikapp.org

our community on the subject of disability will help us all become a more knowledgeable advocate to those affected by disabilities.

Sometimes the best way to learn is through volunteering and interacting with people with disabilities. And the Empathy Dinner did just that – gave the Duke community a first-hand experience of the day-to-day activities of those with disabilities.

At said dinner, we had the over 100 guests simulate three categories of disabilities: cognitive, physical and sensory. Guests were asked to eat their dinners blindfolded, with earplugs in, fingers taped, using their non-dominant hand, in silence, etc. to simulate being blind, deaf and mute, among other disabilities. This

Men of Mu Chapter feed the masses at the “Old Duke Party” raising money and awareness for Push America

activity was followed by a talk about understanding how difficult it actually is to perform simple functions that we rarely think twice about, like eating dinner, with a disability and to demonstrate how incredible people with disabilities truly are.

In addition to these events, the brothers of Mu “tabled” all week long. We publicized our events to the Duke community through said tabling to secure high attendance as well as raise funds through selling t-shirts that our own brothers designed.

In the span of a week, we were able to sell all 200+ t-shirts and raised about $1000 for Push America.

In all, the men of Mu far exceeded our own expectations and Push Week raised an overwhelming $2000 for Push America and even more importantly, it also raised awareness for people with disabilities and sparked a lot of interest in Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity.

Meet (continued from Page 3) Continued from Page 3 The Mu Chapter colony is not lacking in the athletics department either, Seniors Mike Kaplanis (Trinity ’06 from Raleigh, NC) and Beau Tooley (Trinity ’06 from Windermere, FL ) are in the huddle on Duke Football Team, Freshman Nick Trombold (Trinity ’09 from Austin, TX) runs the 400 meter for Men’s Track, while Andrew Cheeseman (Trinity ’07 from Port Jefferson, NY) was the president of the Duke Men’s Crew Team.

Scott Tabakman (Trinity ’06 from Katonah, NY), Jay Crowley, Will Pitt (Trinity ’07 from Chattanooga, TN), Hasnain Zaidi, David Melton, and John Whitman (Pratt ’08 from Salisbury, MD) are all active emergency medical technicians, with more Mu Chapter members in current EMT classes. Mu Chapter also represents many religious organizations on campus.

Jay

Crowley is quite involved with the Catholic Student Center, Jay Ramesh (Trinity ’07 from Bronx, NY) is the vice president of the Hindu Students Association, and Hasnain Zaidi is a member of the Muslim Students Association.

While Pi Kapps at Duke are making a difference on campus, we also make a huge impact off campus.

Understanding the need for better education in the United States, Vice Archon Shiv Agarwal (Trinity ’06 from Richardson, TX) started an organization at Duke called Donaid (www.donaid.org) which raises money for the charity DonorsChoose, which uses donations to obtain exactly the materials that teachers request and feel are necessary for students to learn effectively. Similarly, Dan Kimberg (Trinity ’07 from Ardsley, NY) started a chapter at Duke of a program called Breakthrough Collabora-

tive, in which Duke Students will teach and tutor disadvantaged middle-school students over summers. 75% of the participants of such programs have become the first of their families to attend college! Sonny Byrd (Trinity ’07 from Rock Hill, SC) led other students in travels to Louisiana this past year to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina.

On science and engineering fronts, Mark Johnson (Trinity ’07 from Clinton, NJ) is a cofounder of a synthetic biology group who is working towards developments that could make gene therapy financially feasible.

Mike Kralovec, Archon-elect, (Pratt ’07 from Flossmoor, Il) won a scholarship from the Pratt Engineering Alumni Council to develop a powered lawnmower that never requires gasoline.

With a rush class of 30 this past spring, the Mu Chapter colony is

ever expanding with men of class, who will make a difference both on campus and off. We strive to uphold the highest standards of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity and of the men who came before us as Pi Kapps at Duke University. We are confident that we are doing a good job, and we will continue to so long as the name Pi Kappa Phi stands for hard work, philanthropy, and leadership.

Any comments, questions, suggestions, or inquiries about becoming involved should be sent to Historian T a r i q M o h i d e e n (tnm3@duke.edu).

April 2006

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We invite all Mu Chapter Alumni to contact the Mu Chapter Historian, Tariq Mohideen via email at: tnm3@duke.edu or by postal mail at: Pi Kappa Phi 07 Bryan Center, Box 90840 Durham, NC 27708 Please register for the Mu Chapter Alumni Yahoo! Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DukePKPAlums

We at Pi Kappa Phi’s Mu Chapter wish to thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. We hope you will stay in touch with us, as we have much to learn from those who have come before us. Thank you for charting the path we walk!