Pi Kappa Alpha Iota Delta Chapter

Congratulations to the eight new Brothers of the Alpha Chi class who were initiated tonight!

Danny Beyrer
Nicholas Burger
Jesse Cherbak
Will Eckert
Scott Gallmeier
Ryan Morley
Paul True
Andrew Ulrey

On Sunday, May 4, 2008, 60 Brothers came out to compete and cheer on other Brothers at Rose’s Annual Greek Games Cup. The competition was comprised of six events: the chariot race, relay race, dodge ball tournament, tug of war, two liter bottle throw, and the classic Greek Pyramid. A seventh event, blood drive participation, took place a few weeks before. First place finishes included the chariot race, relay race, and field event. Pike also placed first in the Pyramid, the first time in four years. Overall, Pike emerged victorious for the third time in the past four years! Thanks to all the Brothers that came out for the day and the alumni that came back for the games. Watch the video below to see the Pyramid Team's winning run!

Earlier this quarter we reported on Pike's established presence in the many academic honors societies at Rose-Hulman, including the sweep of all executive positions in Eta Kappa Nu, the international ECE honors society.

Not to be outdone, members of Pike's freshman class have been recognized by their peers for their leadership qualities in being elected to be officers in Alpha Lambda Delta. Membership in Alpha Lambda Delta is only open to freshmen with GPAs above 3.5 and in the top fifth of of their class. The Chapter would like to congratulate Russell Bennett (ALD President), Nathan Jackson (ALD Treasurer), Jesse Cherbak (ALD Historian), and John McLaughlin (ALD Historian) for being inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta.

For over 12 hours from the night of April 18th and into the early hours of the next day, the men of Pi Kappa Alpha helped fight cancer at the annual Vigo Country Colleges’ Relay for Life. Rain couldn’t dampen the spirit of the Brothers as we honored and remembered those loved ones lost. Over 30 brothers raised $3,000 for the event, and Pike was recognized for raising the most money online, raising the most money of any Greek organization in the Miss Relay pageant, and for raising the 3rd highest amount overall, more than any other Greek organization! Special thanks to Brother David King for his work as our team captain and Brother Tom Eline for his work on the committee. The event was a success overall, raising over $20,000 for Relay for Life.

Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature activity. The funds raised at Relay save lives by funding cutting-edge cancer research, early detection and prevention education, advocacy efforts, and life-affirming patient services. Find out more at www.relayforlife.org

The local Pi Kappa Alpha Chapters at Rose-Hulman and Indiana State University are making their philanthropic efforts a priority. Instead of spending their respective Spring Breaks lounging on a beach, 21 Pike Brothers - 17 from Rose-Hulman and 4 from ISU - worked 8 hours a day for 5 days to help rebuild homes devastated by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

The Rose-Hulman Pikes worked through a program run by the Kenner, LA Vineyard Church. The church operates a full fledged reconstruction program with 5 full time staff and the ability to provide housing and 3 meals a day to over 30 volunteers on a weekly basis. Jeff Hirschoff, the Project Manager, says there is a clear ongoing need for help and they will continue to operate on a 3 to 6 month outlook.

David King, the Brother who organized the trip, said "It was the most fun and rewarding Spring Break trip I've been on. We will be back."

March 22, 2008 marked Pikes first involvement in a TREES event for 2008. Over 30 Brothers and Associates braved the cold, March weather to plant nearly 40 young trees at Fairbanks Park, Terre Haute South Vigo High School, and Terre Haute neighborhoods. TREES is a Terre Haute organization dedicated to improving the community by planting trees at Terre Haute’s parks, schools, and other areas. The organization relies heavily on volunteers from Rose-Hulman, and always receives enthusiastic support from Pi Kappa Alpha. Notable volunteers included Rose-Hulman President Dr. Gerald Jakubowski and Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett, who planted trees alongside Pi Kappa Alpha’s volunteers.

Grades are in from the 2007-2008 winter term and once again the Iota Delta chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha has proven its commitment to successful academic achievement. The chapter continually achieves the highest term and cumulative GPAs, over the Greek, men’s, and all-campus averages. This term, Pike brothers earned an average GPA of 3.18. Additionally, 8 Pikes achieved perfect 4.0 GPAs. Congratulations to them and to all brothers; their efforts contribute to Iota Delta’s sterling academic reputation at the premier undergraduate engineering institution in the country, the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Rose-Hulman has been ranked #1 for nine consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report.

Eta Kappa Nu is a prominent national Electrical and Computer Engineering Honors Society. Annually, the top 25% of the junior class and top 33% of the senior class are invited to join. Six of this year's fourteen initiates - Scott Fieldhouse, Ryan Roberts, Brandon Finan, John Stargel, Jonathan Kellerman, and Whitney Zimmerman - are Pikes. The 2008-2009 President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer are all members of Pi Kappa Alpha. The new executive board have big plans to make significant improvements to the activities of the Honors Society.

Pi Kappa Alpha is well represented among the academic honor societies at Rose-Hulman including Alpha Lambda Delta, Tau Beta Pi, Upsilon Pi Epsilon, Pi Mu Epsilon, Sigma Pi Sigma, and Blue Key. You can find out more information about these societies on Rose-Hulman's website.

Saturday, March 8 marked the return of comedian Steve Hofstetter to Rose-Hulman’s campus. Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity hosted the comedian at Hatfield Hall, in efforts to assist Big Brothers Big Sisters of Vigo County. The event was marketed to all of campus and also to the entirety of the Wabash Valley, selling tickets at five dollars for Rose-Hulman students and seven dollars for non-Rose-Hulman students.

The event, designed to assist the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Vigo County, coincided with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Vigo County “Bowl-for-Kids’-Sake,” an annual event that comprises one of the organization’s largest fundraising drives. This year the goal had been set to $50,000 in funds in order to further assist the youth in Vigo County. This goal was through the contributions of all who attended Saturday night’s performance by Steve Hofstetter.

Hofstetter’s performance appeared to be well received, with approximately four hundred people in attendance.

Chicago, IL-Pi Kappa Alpha is fortunate to have the premier leadership program in the Greek world. In recent years Pike University has grown from a small set of annual events to include six regional leadership summits in Philadelphia, Kansas City, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Chicago. Iota Delta regularly sends interested Brothers to the end of year Chicago summit. This year, the Chapter met its goal of sending 20 men to the summit; all classes, freshmen through seniors, were represented. The event culminated a successful year for the Pike University program.