THE KILT
Spring 2015
Pi Kappa Alpha - Beta Sigma Chapter
Contents
- Carnival Schedule
- President’s Report
- Buggy
- Rush
- New Member Education
- Community Service
- Athletics
- Alumni News
- Alumni Donations
- In Beta Sigma PIKE History
- Beta Sigma Alumni Association
- Alumni Advisory Board
- Contact, and Feedback
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Please ensure your contact information is up-to-date at: http://goo.gl/uJDkvG.
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Carnival Schedule
We have plenty of events lined up for Carnival this year. Hope to see you there!
Friday, April 17
8am - 12pm: Prelim Races
at the Buggy Course
12pm - 1pm: Open House
at Pi Kappa Alpha's new house (105 Margaret Morrison St)
* This is an informal open house, alumni that are interested in checking out the new house may come by after the races, and walk through before heading to the luncheon.
12pm - 3pm: PIKE Alumni Luncheon
on campus (Connan Room, University Center)
4pm - 6pm: PIKE Alumni Happy Hour
at Hofbrauhaus (Southside Works)
Saturday, April 18
8am - 12pm: Final Races
at the Buggy Course
12pm - 1pm: Open House
at Pi Kappa Alpha's new house (105 Margaret Morrison St)
* This is an informal open house, alumni that are interested in checking out the new house may come by after the races, and walk through before heading to the BSC meeting.
12pm - 3pm: BSC Annual Meeting with Lunch
on campus (Giant Eagle Auditorium, Baker Hall)
4pm - 6pm: PIKE Alumni Happy Hour
at Mario's East Side Saloon, upper deck (Shadyside)
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Pikes at the Fence.
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President's Report
 The chapter is progressing well as we continue to grow and develop with the new house on campus. The overall recruitment this academic year was successful with additions of members from Varsity sports, various clubs on campus, and different academic years.
As we continue to participate on campus, brothers are finding success. Recently, the IM dodgeball team won the championship among many comments about “what is a bylaw?”. The basketball team did well, but could not repeat their championship run like last year. The Sports Analytics club, founded by a current Junior brother, was recently recognized by the school. This is one of many clubs that brothers are part of on campus. Brothers participating in athletics have also enjoyed success. The club hockey team won their championship recently and other teams are starting up their seasons or engaging in off-season practices.
To wrap it up, the buggy team is preparing for raceday. Free rolls have started back up and late-night push practices are already showing promise. We look forward to meeting those coming back for Carnival weekend.
Gabe Renna, SMC
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Buggy
 Despite a cold and snowy Pittsburgh winter canceling most Spring rolls, we're optimistic that we'll be highly competitive on Raceday. Our rookie drivers, Anna and Alicia, are becoming quite comfortable in Banshee and Raptor. We have a push team that includes speedy veterans Doug O'Connell, Avinash Patel, and Gabe Renna, as well as some fast freshmen football players. We're ramping up for the last few weekends of rolls, and hope we'll see you on Raceday!
David Power, Buggy Chairman
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Rush
 This spring the rush committee focused on spending time with rushees one on one rather than entirely at large events. Certain brothers were given a small budget to take rushees out to dinner in an effort to get to know them better and judge whether or not they would be a good fit for the brotherhood. However, we still held several of our classic events, such as the pig roast. Pittsburgh weather was not especially cooperative as per usual, but we rented a large tent and space heaters as an additional venue besides the house. We ended up pledging six new members, giving us a total of 17 for the year.
Robert Reynolds, Rush Chairman
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The Spring 2015 pledge class.
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New Member Education
 I am proud to announce that we are currently pledging 6 new outstanding members into our Beta Sigma Chapter this spring semester. With a mid semester QPA of 3.34 this class is proving their skills and showing off their S.L.A.G. We are looking forward to their unique project idea of painting the walls of the main floor of the chapter house. We are all looking forward to their upcoming initiation and their additional support in the house.
Carter Sharer, New Member Educator
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Community Service
 As community service chair, I help run our Safewalk Program every Sunday and Monday night, where we offer escort services to students on their nightly walk home. Additionally, I am our group leader for 1000plus, a CMU volunteer initiative that attracts over 1000 volunteers each semester. The brotherhood will be helping clean up a designated area in the city on April 4th.
After Spring Carnival, we will be joining the sisters of Alpha Phi for a Schenley Park cleanup. Alpha Phi is extremely excited for this event, and it will be a great opportunity to expand our community relationships. A river cleanup is in the works with the sisters of Kappa Alpha Theta, but this is dependent on the weather warming up soon. Finally, throughout the second half of Spring semester, the brotherhood will be partaking in Downtown Beautification, as we help clean up the Pittsburgh Downtown after a harsh winter. If any local alumni are in need of service, or know of unique opportunities, feel free to reach out to the brotherhood. We welcome the suggestions!
T.J. Murray, Community Service Chairman
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Pikes at the Matthew Tembo Soccer Tournament, the chapter’s largest philanthropy.
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Athletics
 My goals are to have at least one team/participant for every sport offered in the IM program and to be more competitive in some of the more popular ones, and we are currently doing a fantastic job. We’ve had great turnouts for various sports offered and have definitely not sacrificed winning. In Basketball, we transitioned from usually competing only in the recreational league into the competitive league, and thrived by making the playoffs in our first year. Also, we recently won the competitive dodgeball league, defeating the likes of SAE and the varsity Basketball team along the way. As we move forward, I’m looking forward to a great deal of success for PIKE teams in soccer, softball, and golf.
Andrew Nickell, Athletics Chairman
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Alumni News
The alumni news section is pretty scarce this time around. Please send any news or updates you’d like to share with fellow alumni to secretary@pika-bsaa.org. The deadline for news for the Fall 2015 Kilt will be October 1, 2015.
Please join us in congratulating Brother Joe Thomas (’34) on his 100th birthday, which was this past March 22nd. Brother Thomas is a long-time benefactor to PKA and started the Joe Thomas Leadership Award in 1981 to recognize student members of the Beta Sigma Chapter exhibiting exemplary leadership. Since then 23 chapter members have been awarded over $6,000. The Award is administered by the PKA Educational Foundation with the assistance of the Beta Sigma Alumni Advisory Board.
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The chapter and the university recognized Joe Thomas for this 100th birthday.
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Alumni Donations
Please make a tax-deductible donation to the chapter by going to the Carnegie Mellon University donation page and indicating Pi Kappa Alpha as the recipient. Use of donations made through CMU is approved by the Greek Life Office in consultation with the Chapter Advisor and can be used by the chapter for a variety of educational purposes.
You can also make a tax-deductible donation to the PKA Foundation to benefit Beta Sigma chapter or the Joe Thomas Leadership Award. Consider donating to The PIKE Loyal Order or the Chapter Endowment Fund to help with the expenses of attending PIKE University. The Foundation’s mailing address is 8347 West Range Cove, Memphis TN 38103. More information can be found at www.PikeFoundation.org.
Please also consider donating to Beta Sigma Corp or to the Beta Sigma Alumni Assn. Both are registered 501(c)(7) organizations and although donations are not tax deductible they are sorely needed.
Beta Sigma Corp (BSC) is the housing corporation and supports the chapter by co-signing the lease (required by CMU), securing additional liability insurance required by CMU, paying for storage of fraternity assets (e.g., composites, scrapbooks, and the fire engine), assisting with furniture purchases, and other housing-related expenses approved by the BSC Board of Directors. Please help support this necessary (but unglamorous) work. Donations can be mailed to Beta Sigma Corp, c/o James Plymyer, 15406 Martins Hundred Dr., Centreville VA 20120-1197. PayPal donations to BSC can be made here: http://goo.gl/1lyKII.
Beta Sigma Alumni Association (BSAA) organizes and supports social interaction for Beta Sigma alumni. BSAA uses donations for social functions, such as food during Carnival, and to publish the KILT. BSAA administers the King Solomon Fund to support buggy. When donations permit, BSAA plans to increase the number and type of activities it supports both for alumni and the chapter. Donations can be mailed to Beta Sigma Alumni Assn, c/o James Plymyer, 15406 Martins Hundred Dr., Centreville VA 20120-1197. Donations can be made online at www.pika-bsaa.org.
Jim Plymyer, Treasurer, BSC and BSAA
Carnival Fundraiser
The BSAA will have t-shirts and hats available at Carnival. Supplies are limited, but let us know at info@pika-bsaa.org if you would like one and are unable to make it to Carnival.
You may donate what you like, but we are suggesting a $20 donation to the BSAA for each hat or t-shirt request. This covers our cost of $7.33 per hat and $11.07 per shirt, and helps contribute to the BSAA operating costs mentioned above.
See the hat and shirt designs below.
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In Beta Sigma PIKE History...
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Top left: Estimated 1930's photo of PiKA at the Carnival Parade.
Top right: Greek sing in 1960.
Bottom left: Terry Cox (‘59) setting up the crest outside 1079 Morewood Ave in 1963
Bottom right: PiKA Buggy in the 1970s.
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Beta Sigma Alumni Association
 What a first year for the Beta Sigma Alumni Association! After receiving our charter at Carnival this past year, we are just now starting to hit our stride.
Keshav Raghavan (VP Buggy) organized and lead a buggy meeting with the actives in February. It was well attended by the undergraduate along with several recent alumni. Brothers Sean Sechrist, Joey Raudabaugh, Keshav Raghavan, Eric Bruner, and Taylor Towle spent an afternoon coaching the actives and provided keen analysis to show them what it takes to run a competitive time at Carnival.
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Keshav Raghavan giving a buggy operations presentation to the actives.
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Sundar Swaminathan, our Social Chairman, has done an excellent job planning our first BSAA organized events this April, and we hope to see many of you out there!
In addition to his buggy contributions, Sean Sechrist (Secretary) has been busy working on the Alumni database, building our web presence, and providing all of us with valuable updates from the actives and our fellow alums.
Jim Plymyer has been a tremendous treasurer so far and been critical in helping us get both our finances and tax documentation set up and under control.
Taylor Towle (executive VP) is continuing to work with the actives to get a formal mentoring program in place between the actives and alumni base. If you would like to get involved, please contact him directly.
I would like to recognize Brother Tom Wood and all of the current Alumni Advisory Board members for all of the time and effort they put into the chapter. I would also like to thank Brother Fred Shamlian for volunteering to design our logo. He and his design team did an amazing job!
As we enter into our second year as an organization, I would like to see us put on more programming and continue to grow our relationship with the brotherhood on campus. If you would like to get more involved, please feel free to reach out to us! Our email address is info@pika-bsaa.org. You can find more information, as well as links to our social media pages, on our website at www.pika-bsaa.org. Joey Raudabaugh, President, BSAA
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Alumni Advisory Board
 There have been some struggles this past year as the chapter experiences life on campus. In the quad for those many years the PIKE Chapter was isolated from non-Greeks. In the present location it is difficult to Party and be respectful of the neighbor’s rights. The chapter continues to lose members, due to either waning interest or financial constraints. Many of us older alums were used to having meals provided and a healthy social budget at a cost less than the dorms or apartment living. That is no longer the case. It costs a great deal more time (16 hours of community service are required each semester) and money to be a brother today. They try to do too much with their limited manpower and become frustrated with their inability to meet their high expectations. I have announced to the leadership of the Chapter as well as the Alumni Groups that I will be stepping down from the Chapter Advisor’s position at the end of the semester. I am willing to work on a committee but I feel that the chapter deserves more attention than they are currently getting from me or the current Advisory Board. Please step up and help our young Brothers. I hope to see you at Spring Carnival this year.
In closing Please extend your Prayers to Ray Williams and his wife Pamela. Ray has been in a courageous fight with cancer and set to undergo surgery on April 13th. It will take many months before he will be able to see us again on campus.
Yours in phi phi kappa alpha - Tom Wood – 814-758-1572
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Contact, and Feedback
 The Kilt is being produced by the BSAA in collaboration with Evan Byrd, the alumni chairman, the rest of the actives, and the Advisory Board. Please let us know at info@pika-bsaa.org if you have any comments, questions, or feedback.
Please continue to visit the BSAA website, http://www.pika-bsaa.org, for news and links to other content and social media.
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