Pie’d by the Illini

by Laurel Hart, Scott Jung, and Matt Kelley Nu Xi- ΚΚΨ

University of Illinois

The University of Illinois collegiate band program is one of the oldest in the nation, formally established in 1905, with roots decades earlier. For more than a century, Illinois Bands have cultivated a rich culture of musicianship, history, and excellence. The Nu Xi chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, in comparison, is quite young. Established in 2016, the chapter had modest early growth, culminating in a 2019 fundraiser dubbed “Pie’d of the Illini,” a play on one of the staple pieces of the Marching Illini “Three-In-One”. Our young chapter had only a handful of years before the world was wracked by a pandemic, dampening our growth, togetherness, and outreach capabilities behind isolated computer screens.

Despite this new “normal,” Nu Xi’s brotherhood persisted. With meetings moved from Harding Band Building to Zoom rooms, business and camaraderie were conducted as normally as possible. The endurance paid off, welcoming the two largest classes of brothers in our history in spring of 2021 and 2022. As togetherness returned to normalcy safely, so too did opportunities to serve and fundraise, allowing at last for the return of “Pie’d” in October of this year.

The event took place on the lawn of the Harding Band Building in Champaign. Friends, family or passers by had the opportunity to pay for a plate full of whipped or shaving cream to throw into any of our Brothers’ faces! A total of 25 Brothers were on the hot seat over the duration of the event. To close the festivities, tickets were sold to raffle the opportunity to ‘pie’ Section Leaders of the Marching Illini, Graduate Staff and even our Chapter Sponsor - and director of The Marching Illini - Professor Barry Houser.

“Pie’d” was coordinated primarily by Nu Xi’s Finance Committee which consists of a sixth of our active membership. Outside of that committee, which handled payments, timing and many logistical items (including acquiring five pairs of lab goggles), we had much help from other facets of our chapter with pulling this together. One example of this would include our Tech committee, who

In the chaos caused by COVID, records of the previous "Pie'd" event were lost. This meant that going into the fundraiser, our chapter did not have a starting point to build upon. It was a learning experience for everyone. We had to figure out how many supplies to buy, how much to charge for a ticket to ‘pie’ someone, and even how much this event would cost. To let future "Pie'd" fundraisers go more smoothly, we made a special effort to record every step of the process in a way that future classes could easily reference.

Another consequence of not having a basis for the event was that a lot of pieces came together at the last minute. This added a lot of unnecessary stress during the week leading up to "Pie'd". One of our Brothers having to run around buying whipped cream the day of the event is something we all look back and laugh at, but it is not something we want to repeat next year. The earlier things are acted upon after planning them, the better.

The big surprise of this event was that it turned out to be massive for recruitment. Because our chapter is still fairly new, we have not yet fully integrated into the band program at the University of Illinois. Due to the involvement of many Marching Illini staff and section leaders, many people who otherwise might not have been interested in KKY showed up to the event. "Pie'd" was a great opportunity to show our peers what KKY is, and how fun it can be. People want to be a part of an organization that does big, fun events like "Pie'd".

It took everyone in the Nu Xi chapter to make "Pie'd'' of the Illini come together. Whether it was planning the details of the event, or volunteering to get pied in the face (some of us over 10 times), everyone did their part. Seeing this event come to life after all the hard work we put into it was truly gratifying, and was a great demonstration of what brotherhood can accomplish. "Pie'd" was a big return for us, and we are certain that it portends bigger and better events in the years to come.