Fraternity repeats as Purdue’s Best Chapter
Pi Kappa Phi was repeatedly honored at an April 8, 2011, Purdue Greek Awards Ceremony.
The chapter was presented the 2010-11 R. B. Stewart Award, recognizing it as Purdue’s best among 41 campus fraternities. It was the fourth consecutive time that Pi Kappa Phi has won the honor – the first time any chapter won it four times in a row.
“It was truly incredible receiving the award for the fourth straight time,” president Mike Lolkus said. “The members of our organization are truly exceeding expectations and doing things on campus that other fraternities are not.
“The fact that we have now won four years in a row pays tribute to those who came before us – who provided us due preparation to lead the fraternity – and aligns us to continue on this path as younger members take leadership in the chapter.”
Collin York and Ricky Rivelli were given Emerging Leaders Awards during the hour-long ceremony on campus. Pat Kuhnle won the Father Phillip Bowers Chapter Advisor of the Year Award. And, Pi Kappa Phi won a first-ever recognition, the Caliber Award of Excellence for effective risk management.
Pi Kappa Phi was named one of three finalists in each of seven out of eight judging sections. The eight sections are used to gauge effectiveness in various areas used to determine the Stewart Award winner. The seven sections in which the chapter was a finalist include: Recruitment (50 men recruited during 2010-12), social, scholarship, leadership, philanthropy, brotherhood and chapter pride.
The rules for judging the Stewart Award were changed for the second consecutive year. Last year, the award was based solely on a 300-word essay. This time around, however, essays and support documentation was used to help determine finalists.
Multiple areas contributed to the chapter’s recognition. They include a Fall 2010 Academic Awards dinner hosting Purdue administrators and honoring top academic achievers in a first-ever, Greek-wide banquet. Programming in various chapter activities – including philanthropy, new member recruitment, new member education and volunteerism – contributed to the chapter’s 2010-11 successes.
All year long, chapter members volunteer their time in a special needs class at Lafayette Jefferson High School – a program recognized last fall at a local school board meeting last fall. Last semester, Pi Kappa Phi hosted an all-Greek tennis tournament. In the spring, it hosted a weeklong War of Roses event, involving empathy training, visits to our volunteer relationship by other Greeks and a talent competition that drew 600+ people.
The chapter’s accomplishments have been noted by various members of the local media seven times this school year.
2009-2010 Purdue University Awards
The R.B. Stewart of Excellence from 2008 & 2009
Chapter programming at Omega is multi-layered and diverse. In 2008-09, for example, it raised $7,500 for the Pi Kappa Phi national philanthropic effort. It also had more than one-third of the chapter volunteer at a local high school with a special needs class. Furthermore, chapter members volunteered 426 hours in community service.It had alumni involvement in homecoming, the Pi Kapp 100 (a 100-kilomter cycling ride to raise money for Push America), new member recruitment, Founders Day (an event whereby we honor the date of our national founding) and the chapter housing corporation.
The Omega chapter finished fourth in fraternity intramurals and had championships in five individual or team sports. Academically, it had 52 percent of the chapter members at a 3.0 or higher, including four members with a 4.0 in the spring semester. It ranked second and sixth in fraternity grades in the two semesters in the 2008-09 academic year.Since inducting a fall pledge class of 30, the chapter membership stands at 127.“This period in the chapter’s history may be the strongest it has ever been,” chapter advisor Pat Kuhnle said. “The members individually are quality men and collectively they consistently continue to raise the bar of what fraternity means on the Purdue campus.In addition to the overall award, the chapter was named Purdue’s best in six of the nine categories used to judge the overall winner. Those individual awards included:
• Outstanding Chapter Management
• External Relations
• Leadership Development
• New Member Development
• Philanthropy
• Social Development