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A.P.R.E.S. Ski

RPI Alumni Brothers Create Event Subsidies Program

by Justin Sines
Duquesne University, ‘11

The Board of Trustees of the New York Sigma Chapter at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created an Alumni Program for Regional Event Subsidies, or A.P.R.E.S. Ski, to help establish and fund alumni programing for graduated RPI brothers and their families. With the creation of this four year pilot program, members of the RPI Alumni chapter hope to establish a strong and engaged alumni base.

Brother David Fogg (RPI, ‘00) states that APRES Ski “incentivizes brothers to organize events in their areas by removing the financial burden of event costs.” He believes that by creating more alumni social opportunities, not just in the New York region but across the country, that his brothers will continue to be connected to and value the Fraternity and be more inclined to “Give, Expecting Nothing Thereof.” APRES Ski founders also hope that they can use this momentum to create a series of annual or recurrent events outside of the Troy, NY area and ultimately increase total annual donations.

Event logo from 1996.

Since the unveiling of the program in May 2018, they have already exhausted the first allotment of semi-annual funding. Within the first few months, events have been held in Boston, MA, Newport, RI, Portland, OR, and the San Diego area, with a regional Alumni Weekend in Austin, TX and a pledge class reunion for the class of ’96 scheduled in the upcoming months. The program is forecasted to see an increase of 50% attendance to alumni chapter sponsored events over its first year.

The pilot program is funded through the Board of Trustee’s Alumni Chapter General Fund, and Fogg believes this to ‘represent an investment in ourselves.’ A four year commitment to the pilot program provides stability until the program becomes established. Members of the Alumni Chapter trust that the program will continue to be funded by alumni donations, whether to the general fund or via ear-marked donations to APRES Ski. Fogg states, that “based on the early success, we expect alumni to continue their enthusiastic support of the program.”

The APRES Ski program hopes to increase brother participation in Alumni-sponsored events, and create a larger group of alumni who continually participate in those activities.

Brothers interested in sponsoring events in their areas can find additional information and applications on the NY Sigma Chapter website: pktskilodge.org/apres-ski, or contact the program administrators at apres_ski@pktskilodge.org

The Chapter is known on campus as “The Ski Lodge”. Après is French and means “after”, so although A.P.R.E.S. is an acronym for “Alumni Program for Regional Event Subsidies”, the name A.P.R.E.S. Ski means “After Ski”, or how brothers become alumni after the Ski lodge. Brotherhood extends past the time spent as a collegiate member in college.

Does Your Chapter Have What It Needs To Complete Ritual?

As a brotherhood, it is the Ritual that bonds us all together. However, not all of our brothers are able to experience our Rituals the way they were meant to be experienced.

We recently surveyed our chapters and only twelve of them said they had the tools needed to complete the Ritual properly.

Below are those chapters.

  1. Arizona State University

  2. Eastern Illinois University

  3. Georgia Institute of Technology

  4. Iowa State University

  5. Missouri University of Science and Technology

  6. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

  7. Trine University

  8. University of Illinois

  9. University of San Diego

  10. University of South Dakota

  11. University of Texas at Austin

  12. University of Wisconsin

Are you an Alumnus interested in helping your Chapter with Ritual supplies? Please complete the form below:

Addressing Mental Health in Your Chapter

by Dan Bureau, PhD
University of New Hampshire, ‘95
Board of Trustees
Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Memphis

News-Blog18-DBureau2.jpg

You call him brother.

You call him friend.

You look out for him when it comes to lots of things, but do you look out for his well-being? In particular, do you look out for his mental health?

It can be tricky to identify if someone you care about in the fraternity is experiencing a mental health problem. Particularly for men, there is so much pressure to appear to have it calm and together. Pressure to come across like things do not bother you. The reality is that very few people can manage this pressure well. As the pressure becomes too much, it may be an indicator that your brother has a problem with his mental health.

Now, feeling stressed is a natural thing. Stress is the body’s response to managing all that is going on and sometimes when too much is going on, you are going to feel tense, stressed, upset. So, having some stress is not a problem and could potentially be good for you.

But when stress does overwhelm someone and it goes unchecked, there is potential for a number of mental health concerns, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, thinking problems, personality changes, problem behaviors (think overuse of alcohol or demonstrating a lack of concern or civility to others), and even suicide ideation. Student debt can also play a factor. The reality is that even with the very minimal differences in actual mental illness between men and women, men are far less inclined to seek help. This results in a number of issues for us in Phi Kappa Theta.

You call him brother.

You call him friend.

You look out for him when it comes to lots of things, but do you look out for his well-being?

In particular, do you look out for his mental health? If you don’t look out for his mental health, there’s a good chance you’ll miss an opportunity to be the best brother you can be.

Your obligation is to find the resources on your campus that can help. This may be having the Counseling Center conduct a stress management workshop for the chapter. It could be walking your brother over to the Counseling Center. Whatever it is, find out on your campus who you can turn to in order to address mental health in your chapter.

Phi Kappa Theta is launching a partnership with the JED Foundation. A number of other fraternities including Alpha Chi Rho, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Delta Upsilon, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Sigma Chi have announced national partnerships with the JED Foundation. The JED Foundation’s website provides a number of resources that can be helpful in learning about mental health and mental illness. Check them out today! Look for a launch of the partnership between Phi Kappa Theta and the JED Foundation launched sometime by the end of this year. In the meantime, “seek him with hours to kill and reach out to him with hours to live”, can guide you. A meaningful statement within the ritual and an explanation for why looking out for your brother is so important to his well-being and yours.

About Dan:

DanBureau18A.jpg

Dan Bureau joined Phi Kappa Theta at the University of New Hampshire, and graduated in 1995. He later earned a PhD. in Higher Education and Student Affairs at Indiana University. Dan works for the University of Memphis as the assistant vice president for student affairs. He also volunteers for the Council for the Advancement of Standards through the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors. Dan enjoys spending time with his family, playing tennis and staying fit.

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Brother Paul Allen Passes

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INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA | Tuesday, October 16, 2018 – Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity is saddened to report the passing of our dear Brother, Paul G. Allen (Washington State University, ‘75). Brother Allen died from complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on Monday afternoon. He was 65 years old.

Brother Allen was most recently with Phi Kappa Theta Brothers from across the country during the 2017 Biennial Convention, where he was honored with Phi Kappa Theta's Man of Achievement Award. As an introduction to his acceptance of the Award, Phi Kappa Theta created this video to highlight why we honored him as a Man of Achievement.

During his acceptance speech, he shared his belief that we were in an era where "Each of us will feel called by different causes and opportunities to serve and Phi Kap's emphasis on servant leadership reminds us that each one of us has the opportunity to make a difference." View the full video presentation of Brother Allen's Man of Achievement Award Presentation:

Paul Allen was without a doubt our most famous living Phi Kappa Theta brother. Brother Allen is famously known as a co-founder of Microsoft alongside Bill Gates. He left Microsoft back in 1983 due to health circumstances, devoting his time to philanthropy, space and tech ventures and sports. He was an avid sports fan, owning the Portland Trailblazers and the Seattle Seahawks. He is also Founder and Chairman of Vulcan Inc.

He was as driven in his philanthropy as he was in his business. Brother Allen never stopped asking the question “What could be?” and he was not afraid of tackling some of our most pressing issues – or even showing his love for a community by saving a professional sports team. He saw the world around him and continually looked for ways to make a difference and make it better. His Fraternity experience was so profound that he personally made possible return of our Phi Kappa Theta chapter to Washington State University and he provided resources to ensure that it would excel. It is a model we want to emulate.

Brother Allen was truly a role model servant leader who lived our motto: Give – expecting nothing thereof.

Jeff Jowdy (University of Georgia, ‘83) Foundation Chairman

Paul’s ideas and actions have meant so much to the world. Allen spurred the rebirth of the Alpha Delta Chapter at Washington State University. In 1993 he joined together with a group of collegiate brothers who sought to reestablish Phi Kappa Theta at Washington State University. He led and funded construction of the chapter house, completed in 1996. Giving life to a Fraternity that continues to promote brotherhood, leadership and lifelong friendships just as it did for him. Paul’s vision and generosity opened the door for hundreds of Phi Kaps to enjoy the same comradery that he treasured from his days at Phi Kappa Theta.

Our condolences go out to his family, his corporate peers and to his own chapter, Washington Alpha Delta at Washington State University, who benefited from his generosity and support the most.

Adrian Gonzalez (University of Texas at Austin, '78) Fraternity President.

Brother Allen was a visionary leader who changed the world through technology and serving the world through impactful philanthropy.

View the Statement made by Vulcan and his family regarding the passing of Brother Paul G. Allen.

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Founded in 1889, Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity currently has 40 collegiate chapters across the United States. Phi Kappa Theta actively develops men to be effective leaders who passionately serve society, Fraternity and God.