10 chapters celebrating their charters in May

We have quite the list of active collegiate chapters celebrating their charters this month! If your chapter has gathered to celebrate in some form or another (virtually) we’d like to know.

Send us a short headline and we’d be happy to feature it on our website and in an upcoming edition of our Temple Magazine.

1. New York Alpha Omega at Hofstra University – 05/1/2016

2. Wisconsin Lambda at University of Wisconsin – 1/07/1922 (rechartered 5/02/2015)

3. Georgia Gamma Tau at Georgia Institute of Technology – 05/03/1969

4. Louisiana Omicron at University of Louisiana at Lafayette – 05/04/1941

5. Georgia Delta Rho at University of Georgia – 05/06/1967

6. Arizona Alpha Zeta at Arizona State University – 05/07/2016

7. Texas Tau Mu at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – 05/16/1970

8. Michigan Omega at University of Detroit/Mercy 05/18/1957

9. New York Sigma at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – 05/23/1925

10. Ohio Alpha Beta at Case Western Reserve – 05/31/1941

Kansas State Chapter Celebrates Centennial Founding

Today, the Kansas Iota chapter at Kansas State University celebrates its Centennial Founding – the 100th anniversary of their chartering! 

This week, Kansas Iota members hosted several high school men via Zoom to further their recruitment efforts and discuss their chapter's promising future. Taking this special week a step further, the Brothers of Kansas Iota plan to initiate new members this weekend.

Although local plans for a formal celebration are postponed until the Brothers and extended Phi Kap family can gather safely, collegiate members and alumni are encouraged to share their memories or photos on the chapter's private Facebook group.

If you do not have a Facebook account or are a member from a different chapter and wish to submit congratulatory remarks, please use this VideoAsk form. We will share your special message with Kansas Iota Brothers!

The Fraternity Board of Trustees has published the following resolution:

Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity
Resolution 

Whereas, the Iota chapter of Phi Kappa Fraternity was founded on April 9, 1921 at Kansas State University, establishing the ninth Chapter of Phi Kappa Fraternity; and 

Whereas, Phi Kappa Fraternity and Theta Kappa Phi Fraternity produced the only true merger in collegiate fraternity history on April 29, 1959, combining the strengths of each legacy association into a unified collegiate fraternity to be thenceforth known as Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity; and

Whereas, Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity remains a national social fraternity founded on five ideals: Fraternal Engagement (duty to man), Intellectual (duty to self and parents), Social Impact (duty to society), Spiritual (duty towards God), and Leadership; and

Whereas, Kansas State University has been a steady host and partner with Kansas Iota Chapter, working together in a common goal of developing young men into productive and ethical members of society; and

Whereas, the brothers of Kansas Iota Chapter of Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity at Kansas State University have maintained the Charter of the Alpha Chapter for 100 years; and

Whereas, the sustaining alumni corporation whose consistent presence and guidance is in no small measure responsible for reaching this auspicious milestone;

Now therefore be it Resolved that the Board of Trustees of the Fraternity, call upon all Bothers around the world to salute the Brothers of Kansas Iota Chapter at Kansas State University on the occasion of the chapter’s Centennial Celebration and to pray for its continued prosperity.

In Witness Whereof, I hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of Phi Kappa Theta National Fraternity to be affixed this 9th Day of April 2021.

Doug Dilling
Kansas Iota ‘85
National President

1960-61 Ohio Alpha Beta (Case Western Reserve University) alumni reunite via Zoom

What can you do if you’re a group of fraternity brothers who haven’t seen or interacted with each other for 50-60 years? Well, let us tell you. There was a group of four Phi Kaps who had been in sporadic contact with each other over the years. One of the four, Dave Ehlke, sent an email to the other three in early June and suggested that they initiate a Zoom call.

This was eagerly welcomed since everyone had been sequestered for weeks because of the pandemic. During the call, it was agreed that they should invite other Phi Kap brothers into the call for the following weeks. The group quickly grew to eleven.

After some discussion, the participants decided to schedule weekly Zoom calls and generated a prioritized list of discussion topics. And so it began. It’s interesting that each member enthusiastically attends these zoom calls.

The weekly Zoom meetings started with discussions of:

• “What are you most proud of in your life since graduation?”

• “How did you meet your wife?”

• “What are your favorite fraternity memories?”

Some then and now photos of the brothers attending the virtual reunion.

Some of the other planned discussion topics identified so far include:

• “How has the virus impacted you and your family?”

• “What types of investments have you made?

• “What are the favorite places that you’ve visited?”

In addition, a permanent record of everyone’s life after graduation, lovingly called the “Geezer Report”, is being created by each person. The report is a short review, written by each member, in their own words, which describes their jobs, their family and what they are currently doing. One member, John Lozan is the editor of these reports.

So, what have we learned from these sessions? Well, as you see from the map, the brothers are currently scattered across the country. How did they get there? In addition, we found that the careers of the group members are more varied than you might expect from a group of graduate engineers. One member is a real estate developer (Tom Prioreschi). One owns a winery/vineyard (Gerry Pasterick). Six were business executives (Con DeLetis, Dave Ehlke, Maynard Isabell, Al Muren, John Lozan, and Frank Stilwagner). Two of the brothers are physicians (Joe Crawford, Don Macko) and one was a college professor/provost (Dave Schrady).

Another interesting observation is that many of them have advanced degrees and one member, (Joe Crawford) has 5 degrees. Only one member, (Dave Schrady) actually followed and used his degree in Operations Research. Three were entrepreneurs with their own businesses, (Dave Ehlke, John Lozan and Tom Prioreschi),

The members have been married an average of 51 years.

Besides the usual hobbies of golf, hiking, travel, cruising, there were some unusual hobbies including racing cars (Dave Schrady, Al Muren), collection of credit cards (Con DeLetis), photography/slide shows (John Lozan), ham radio (Joe Crawford), oil painting (Don Macko).

Examples of giving back include; criminal justice reforms (Dave Ehlke), food bank/homeless projects (Frank Stilwagner), scholarships and educational reform (Con DeLetis), civic and non-profit involvement (John Lozan), others supporting non-profits financially (Gerry Pasterick, Al Muren, Joe Crawford, Maynard Isabell,)

While each brother took a different path in life, each has agreed that there was real value in the bonds formed during those early years at Case and in the fraternity. There were many things that the college/fraternity life prepared us for.

Some of the common threads were: the importance of family, the value of education, a life well lived, grateful for opportunities, no significant regrets. In addition, all continued to be in relatively good health (for octogenarians).

It’s been a fascinating and positive reunion. How have you remained in contact with your Phi Kap Brothers?

Let us know by contacting us for a news story!

How Our Chapter Grew

Dr. Brown formed a personalized program for our house. This program hit home with all the brothers, talking about individuals and their struggles and putting those things into perspective as a brotherhood.

Neil Patel
RPI, ‘20
Chapter President

On October 8th, 2018 the New York Sigma Chapter at RPI was extremely honored to hold its first brotherhood retreat with Dr. Michael Brown of DMB Coaching.

Over the course of the last year many brothers have gotten to meet Dr. Michael Brown at the Boysie Bollinger Leadership Academy and IMPACT18.

After each of those events, many non-attending brothers were excited by the ideas and impact Dr. Brown had on their fellow brothers. With all this excitement, it was only right to have Dr. Brown come visit the chapter.

Over the past year the chapter struggled with passivity and ideals, Dr. Brown formed a personalized program for our house. This program hit home with all the brothers, talking about individuals and their struggles and putting those things into perspective as a brotherhood.

The key moment for us was when Dr. Brown had us write down something we are currently struggling with personally. After reading each of those anonymous struggles, many were taken back about how the Fraternity serves as that support system that each of us as individuals need.

Using the strategies taught by Dr. Brown, the Chapter formulated their personal values which allowed us to establish our first recruitment guidelines. These guidelines specifically show who were are as a chapter and why we do the things we do.

The executive board had a meeting with Dr. Brown the following morning. Despite leading a discussion from 10AM to 6PM and hanging out with the brothers from 6PM to 10PM, Dr. Brown was still lively.

He allowed us to ask questions about what we struggle with and how to implement what we talked about as a chapter.

Overall, our Chapter went into the retreat knowing about what it means to be good leaders and an even better brotherhood but being able to still be critical about these things allowed us to be even more efficient in these areas.

Also, being able to talk about tasks we struggle with made everyone more cognizant of where we look to improve!

Neil Patel
RPI, ‘20
Chapter President