Pi Kappa Phi - University of Central Florida

	SPOTLIGHT

	Visitors Facts & Accolades Famous Pi Kapps Fraternity Symbols Chapter History Eta Psi Chapter History An In-Depth Look at the first two years by Nathan Holic The University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida, founded in 1963 (as Florida Tech) in northeast Orlando as an engineer's training ground for nearby NASA, developed over the course of thirty years into a bustling metropolitan university (its growth paralleling the exponential population swell of Orlando, as the city literally transformed from citrus farms to resorts and theme parks). In the 1990's, as the school's enrollment seemed to increase by thousands each year, new residence halls and an official Greek Park were built to help foster a better "campus community." From just 1500 students and only a few small buildings in the late 1960's, to a prominent prototype of a Division I-A campus (with nearly 28,000 students) in 1998, UCF had truly evolved. Into this scene came Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. As UCF looked to offer more clubs and organizations for its students, the Office of Greek Affairs looked to build upon the 16 already-successful fraternities. Every non-represented national fraternity was contacted, and after a vigorous screening process, four national fraternities were selected to make presentations to an Expansion Committee. Sigma Nu, Theta Chi, Beta Theta Pi, and Pi Kappa Phi made their presentations in September 1997, and Pi Kappa Phi was chosen as the first new fraternity to establish in a new era at the University of Central Florida. Meanwhile, Pi Kappa Phi was also evolving nationally, with its brand-new Journey Program and with its ground-breaking efforts for Push America. The Journey of Hope was not even a decade old, and Gear-Up Florida was still an experiment. The Expansion The colonization began the first week of March 1998, when four men from the National Headquarters spent the entire month on the UCF campus. Senior Expansion Consultant Jon Jordan, Senior Leadership Consultant Jeff Esola, Leadership Consultant Larry Keller, and Push America Director of Placements and Grants Eric Schmidhausler, recruited day and night-tables outside the Student Union, information sessions in the evening, presentations to UCF's eight sororities-and eventually selected 43 men to begin the Pi Kappa Phi Associate Chapter at the University of Central Florida. Among them were players for UCF Football and UCF Rugby, Mr. UCF, members of the Student Government Association, and two Orientation Team members. Alpha Eta chapter (Samford University) alumnus David Meador was selected to be the first Chapter Advisor for the young group. The Installation Retreat was held from March 27-28, 1998 at Camp Joy in Apopka, Florida. Director of the Journey Project Steve Whitby drove from Charlotte, North Carolina to assist with the retreat. Elections were held that Saturday, and the first Executive Council of Pi Kappa Phi was sworn in, with Mikael Duckworth serving as the associate chapter's first Archon. The First Semester (Spring 1998) Immediately the associate chapter began the challenge of building a fraternity and an image from scratch, creating a reputation and creating a presence in the Greek Community. With only a month left in the Spring semester, the 43 men scrambled to participate in as many activities as possible. Pi Kappa Phi played in the Greek Week Tug-O-War, held its first "official" chapter meeting on Sunday, March 29 at 7:30 PM in the Student Union. The men also serenaded each of UCF's sororities on April 5 for the honor of winning a partner for Homecoming 1998 (the objective for the serenade being simply to introduce the fraternity), and that night they were rewarded with a phone call from Pi Beta Phi Sorority notifying them that they had been selected as their Homecoming Partner. Classes for the spring semester ended on April 22. The young associate chapter had only 27 days to bond and form a brotherhood before everyone left for home for the summer. As a result, summer was a difficult time, and the group nearly didn't re-form in the Fall. The First Year (Fall 1998-Spring 1999) A total of 18 members (including 3 officers) left Pi Kappa Phi over the summer, leaving the associate chapter with a depleted core of 25 men. Fortunately, however, under the leadership of Duckworth and Vice Archon Joe Sarrubbo, the chapter shrugged off the loss; many of the remaining members attended a Recruitment Conclave at Stetson University in DeLand (hosted by Chi Chapter) and worked together to recruit an unheard-of tally of 38 new members during Fall Rush. These men (many of whom were freshmen, and would be able to see four full years of fraternity life, from the dream of "new fraternity" to the reality) to truly build the UCF Associate Chapter into a leading fraternity on campus, but first they focused on their immediate goal of earning a charter from Pi Kappa Phi National Fraternity. Homecoming 1998 was an incredible success, and the Pi Kappa Phi-Pi Beta Phi team placed in several of the competitions. The associate chapter worked with zeal to place members in different student organizations, to gain notoriety and respect, and to make itself as visible as possible; Pi Kappa Phi was seen in nearly every sorority philanthropy event, nearly ever major campus event. The chapter's first fundraiser, a bowling tournament between sororities, helped them to raise $1000 for Push America. Pi Kappa Phi continued its progress in its second full semester, Spring 1999, recruiting a competitive total of 9 men. Everything seemed to be falling into place smoothly and easily, and a Chartering date of March 27 was set with an impressed National Headquarters. Much work still had to be done in the Spring semester, but rarely did an associate chapter earn a charter in just one year (to the day) of its inception. And on March 27, 1999, after the chartering brochure and alumni recommendations were received by the National Headquarters (and approved), the Zeta Zeta chapter (University of North Florida) and the Chi Chapter (Stetson University) initiated 50 men into the fraternity, and National President J. Patrick Figley (Chi Chapter) installed the group as the Eta Psi Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi. The extravagant Chartering Banquet was held at the Renaissance Resort in downtown Orlando, capping off a sometimes-stressful, always-memorable year of hard work. All seemed perfect for Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity at the University of Central Florida. The Second Year (Fall 1999-Spring 2000) Just below the surface, though, nearly undetectable, lurked discontent and exhaustion; the group had focused exclusively on "chartering," on earning a reputation, and these goals had been accomplished. Eta Psi won "Associate Chapter of the Year" at Pi Kapp College 1999, and Joe Sarrubbo won "Vice Archon of the Year" for his outstanding recruitment over the chapter's first year. The chapter even continued its successful recruiting in Fall 1999, picking up 31 new members for their "Alpha" associate member class, and earned the sorority of Alpha Xi Delta as a partner for Homecoming 1999. In the realm of Push America, the chapter's first Push America Chairman Nooie Hochheimmer, coordinated "Pushin' for Push," a wheelchair race through Greek Park. But Eta Psi's marathon pace was taking its toll, with so many members expending so much energy to ensure that Pi Kappa Phi was well-represented across campus. Only about 40 members had returned at the start of Fall, and with 27 of the 31 Alpha Class associates initiated, Eta Psi's membership numbers were barely above-average on campus, while the group's campus and Greek Community event participation were likely better than any other fraternity (and most sororities). So at the start of Spring 2000, the chapter experienced its second big membership dip, with many initiates simply quitting the fraternity. Despite 83 total men initiated in just one year of existence, Eta Psi's membership floated around 55 men. Once again, however, a core group of committed men rallied around the fraternity (led by two-term Archon Chip Volke), and Vice Archon Mark Mestrovich and Rush Chairman Nathan Holic recruited 16 new members in Spring 2000, the top total of any chapter on campus; the chapter used this as a source of tremendous pride and built upon it, solving internal issues and setting the stage to become not just a good "young" chapter, but a great and formidable fraternity at UCF. By the time the semester had ended, Pi Kappa Phi had won Greek Week (with Delta Delta Delta sorority and Kappa Sigma fraternity), placing first in every event, and with the addition of the new initiates, Eta Psi's initiation total reached 100 men by its 1-year chartering anniversary. Two brothers were selected to serve on the Interfraternity Council; two were selected as Orientation Team members; brother Chris Riehl was named Mr. UCF; and several brothers had earned positions within Student Government. This was what fraternity was supposed to be. The group had re-learned the essentials. The foundation was in place. Eta Psi Today As of Pi Kappa Phi's Centennial, Eta Psi has grown and matured along with the University of Central Florida. With over 100 active members, plans for an on-campus fraternity house, three Mister UCF's, a Homecoming King, a Homecoming Week victory, a Greek Week victory, Intramural Division Championships in nearly every sport, several consecutive years of "Most Involved Chapter" awards from IFC, its first Eta Psi Chapter Advisor (brother Joe Regenstein), and nearly 250 total initiates in just 5 years, Eta Psi has proved a strong addition to Pi Kappa Phi's community of Florida chapters. The future looks bright, as well, as UCF plans to hit an enrollment of 48,000 by the end of the decade, with a strong Greek Community to lead the way for the campus…and Pi Kappa Phi leading the way for the Greek Community.

Visitors

Facts & Accolades
Famous Pi Kapps
Fraternity Symbols
Chapter History

Eta Psi Chapter History
An In-Depth Look at the first two years
by Nathan Holic

The University of Central Florida

The University of Central Florida, founded in 1963 (as Florida Tech) in northeast Orlando as an engineer's training ground for nearby NASA, developed over the course of thirty years into a bustling metropolitan university (its growth paralleling the exponential population swell of Orlando, as the city literally transformed from citrus farms to resorts and theme parks). In the 1990's, as the school's enrollment seemed to increase by thousands each year, new residence halls and an official Greek Park were built to help foster a better "campus community." From just 1500 students and only a few small buildings in the late 1960's, to a prominent prototype of a Division I-A campus (with nearly 28,000 students) in 1998, UCF had truly evolved.

Into this scene came Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. As UCF looked to offer more clubs and organizations for its students, the Office of Greek Affairs looked to build upon the 16 already-successful fraternities. Every non-represented national fraternity was contacted, and after a vigorous screening process, four national fraternities were selected to make presentations to an Expansion Committee. Sigma Nu, Theta Chi, Beta Theta Pi, and Pi Kappa Phi made their presentations in September 1997, and Pi Kappa Phi was chosen as the first new fraternity to establish in a new era at the University of Central Florida. Meanwhile, Pi Kappa Phi was also evolving nationally, with its brand-new Journey Program and with its ground-breaking efforts for Push America. The Journey of Hope was not even a decade old, and Gear-Up Florida was still an experiment.

The Expansion

The colonization began the first week of March 1998, when four men from the National Headquarters spent the entire month on the UCF campus. Senior Expansion Consultant Jon Jordan, Senior Leadership Consultant Jeff Esola, Leadership Consultant Larry Keller, and Push America Director of Placements and Grants Eric Schmidhausler, recruited day and night-tables outside the Student Union, information sessions in the evening, presentations to UCF's eight sororities-and eventually selected 43 men to begin the Pi Kappa Phi Associate Chapter at the University of Central Florida. Among them were players for UCF Football and UCF Rugby, Mr. UCF, members of the Student Government Association, and two Orientation Team members. Alpha Eta chapter (Samford University) alumnus David Meador was selected to be the first Chapter Advisor for the young group.

The Installation Retreat was held from March 27-28, 1998 at Camp Joy in Apopka, Florida. Director of the Journey Project Steve Whitby drove from Charlotte, North Carolina to assist with the retreat. Elections were held that Saturday, and the first Executive Council of Pi Kappa Phi was sworn in, with Mikael Duckworth serving as the associate chapter's first Archon.

The First Semester (Spring 1998)

Immediately the associate chapter began the challenge of building a fraternity and an image from scratch, creating a reputation and creating a presence in the Greek Community. With only a month left in the Spring semester, the 43 men scrambled to participate in as many activities as possible. Pi Kappa Phi played in the Greek Week Tug-O-War, held its first "official" chapter meeting on Sunday, March 29 at 7:30 PM in the Student Union. The men also serenaded each of UCF's sororities on April 5 for the honor of winning a partner for Homecoming 1998 (the objective for the serenade being simply to introduce the fraternity), and that night they were rewarded with a phone call from Pi Beta Phi Sorority notifying them that they had been selected as their Homecoming Partner.

Classes for the spring semester ended on April 22. The young associate chapter had only 27 days to bond and form a brotherhood before everyone left for home for the summer. As a result, summer was a difficult time, and the group nearly didn't re-form in the Fall.

The First Year (Fall 1998-Spring 1999)

A total of 18 members (including 3 officers) left Pi Kappa Phi over the summer, leaving the associate chapter with a depleted core of 25 men. Fortunately, however, under the leadership of Duckworth and Vice Archon Joe Sarrubbo, the chapter shrugged off the loss; many of the remaining members attended a Recruitment Conclave at Stetson University in DeLand (hosted by Chi Chapter) and worked together to recruit an unheard-of tally of 38 new members during Fall Rush.

These men (many of whom were freshmen, and would be able to see four full years of fraternity life, from the dream of "new fraternity" to the reality) to truly build the UCF Associate Chapter into a leading fraternity on campus, but first they focused on their immediate goal of earning a charter from Pi Kappa Phi National Fraternity. Homecoming 1998 was an incredible success, and the Pi Kappa Phi-Pi Beta Phi team placed in several of the competitions. The associate chapter worked with zeal to place members in different student organizations, to gain notoriety and respect, and to make itself as visible as possible; Pi Kappa Phi was seen in nearly every sorority philanthropy event, nearly ever major campus event. The chapter's first fundraiser, a bowling tournament between sororities, helped them to raise $1000 for Push America.

Pi Kappa Phi continued its progress in its second full semester, Spring 1999, recruiting a competitive total of 9 men. Everything seemed to be falling into place smoothly and easily, and a Chartering date of March 27 was set with an impressed National Headquarters. Much work still had to be done in the Spring semester, but rarely did an associate chapter earn a charter in just one year (to the day) of its inception. And on March 27, 1999, after the chartering brochure and alumni recommendations were received by the National Headquarters (and approved), the Zeta Zeta chapter (University of North Florida) and the Chi Chapter (Stetson University) initiated 50 men into the fraternity, and National President J. Patrick Figley (Chi Chapter) installed the group as the Eta Psi Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi. The extravagant Chartering Banquet was held at the Renaissance Resort in downtown Orlando, capping off a sometimes-stressful, always-memorable year of hard work. All seemed perfect for Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity at the University of Central Florida.

The Second Year (Fall 1999-Spring 2000)

Just below the surface, though, nearly undetectable, lurked discontent and exhaustion; the group had focused exclusively on "chartering," on earning a reputation, and these goals had been accomplished. Eta Psi won "Associate Chapter of the Year" at Pi Kapp College 1999, and Joe Sarrubbo won "Vice Archon of the Year" for his outstanding recruitment over the chapter's first year. The chapter even continued its successful recruiting in Fall 1999, picking up 31 new members for their "Alpha" associate member class, and earned the sorority of Alpha Xi Delta as a partner for Homecoming 1999. In the realm of Push America, the chapter's first Push America Chairman Nooie Hochheimmer, coordinated "Pushin' for Push," a wheelchair race through Greek Park.

But Eta Psi's marathon pace was taking its toll, with so many members expending so much energy to ensure that Pi Kappa Phi was well-represented across campus. Only about 40 members had returned at the start of Fall, and with 27 of the 31 Alpha Class associates initiated, Eta Psi's membership numbers were barely above-average on campus, while the group's campus and Greek Community event participation were likely better than any other fraternity (and most sororities). So at the start of Spring 2000, the chapter experienced its second big membership dip, with many initiates simply quitting the fraternity. Despite 83 total men initiated in just one year of existence, Eta Psi's membership floated around 55 men.

Once again, however, a core group of committed men rallied around the fraternity (led by two-term Archon Chip Volke), and Vice Archon Mark Mestrovich and Rush Chairman Nathan Holic recruited 16 new members in Spring 2000, the top total of any chapter on campus; the chapter used this as a source of tremendous pride and built upon it, solving internal issues and setting the stage to become not just a good "young" chapter, but a great and formidable fraternity at UCF. By the time the semester had ended, Pi Kappa Phi had won Greek Week (with Delta Delta Delta sorority and Kappa Sigma fraternity), placing first in every event, and with the addition of the new initiates, Eta Psi's initiation total reached 100 men by its 1-year chartering anniversary. Two brothers were selected to serve on the Interfraternity Council; two were selected as Orientation Team members; brother Chris Riehl was named Mr. UCF; and several brothers had earned positions within Student Government. This was what fraternity was supposed to be. The group had re-learned the essentials. The foundation was in place.

Eta Psi Today

As of Pi Kappa Phi's Centennial, Eta Psi has grown and matured along with the University of Central Florida. With over 100 active members, plans for an on-campus fraternity house, three Mister UCF's, a Homecoming King, a Homecoming Week victory, a Greek Week victory, Intramural Division Championships in nearly every sport, several consecutive years of "Most Involved Chapter" awards from IFC, its first Eta Psi Chapter Advisor (brother Joe Regenstein), and nearly 250 total initiates in just 5 years, Eta Psi has proved a strong addition to Pi Kappa Phi's community of Florida chapters. The future looks bright, as well, as UCF plans to hit an enrollment of 48,000 by the end of the decade, with a strong Greek Community to lead the way for the campus…and Pi Kappa Phi leading the way for the Greek Community.