A Pi Kapp Minutewords of the archonFounding Archon Torres-Palma introduces ΘΜ, PKP’s newest chapter

The Founding Fathers of Pi Kappa Phi First, welcome back Initiated and Pre-Initiated brothers! Please visit

the Brothers Page for a welcome message in our brother’s only section. For those of you coming to this website for more information about Pi Kappa Phi at UMass: welcome! Starting here is your first step in learning more about our associate chapter. This message will outline what I, as the president of the chapter, think Pi Kappa Phi is all about and will share with you where we have been and where we are going.

To me, Pi Kappa Phi is about providing a climate for growth and opportunity. Our brotherhood consists of an environment that will provide an individual’s pathway to success by boosting morale and values within which each man can achieve his full potential, achieve the highest level of personal and professional satisfaction, and be recognized internally and externally as a leader at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Our brotherhood consists of men devoted to self-improvement and making a difference in our community through academic excellence and community service. Our motto is, “leaders by choice” and by showing interest in our fraternity is your first step in demonstrating that you are choosing to lead. Pi Kapp makes better men by providing a network for our brothers where their interests and talents can be combined with productive.

PI KAPPA PHI FRATERNITY - THETA MU CHAPTER SPRING 2007

A PIKAPP MINUTE PAGE 1

Race to 30K

Theta Mu is sponsoring its 2nd annual 5K road race in Amherst on Saturday April, 28, 2007. All proceeds from the benefit are donated to Push America and the Special Olympics of Western Massachusetts.

Information about the race, and to make a secure online contribution using Push America’s website, please visit pikappumass.com

Eric Buscka, the Push America executive officer for Theta Mu is seeking 30,000 in raised funds for this year’s race with 25% of the money donated to our partner organization, The Special Olympics of Western Massachusetts.

continued on page 4, Race

Push America and the Journey of Hope; Jerome Rogich rides across the country for the disabled

JEROME ROGICH, a sophomore biology major at the University serves as the Outdoors Committee

chairman and has planned paintball outings, hikes and cook-outs. This summer he will participate as a cyclist in the 2007 Journey of Hope team.

Jerome will bike 3,900 miles from San Francisco to Washington D.C. along with 70 other brothers of Pi Kappa Phi from chapters around the country to raise money and awareness for Push America.

Jerome has raised over $5000 for Push. He says, “the outpouring of support I have received from my friends, family, and even the university administration has been unbelievable.” Rogich values his participation in the fraternity and with Push America, “through my

volunteer work I have learned a great deal about what people with disabilities can do. I have also realized that there is a need nationwide to educate people on the abilities of people with disabilities.”

New member education begins with service retreatTHETA MU and the Beta Class returned to Camp Hemlocks in Norwich, CT. The Easter Seals Camp is a familiar location to Theta Mu, as several brothers participated in the October GAP Weekend. In that spirit, Associate Members Brian Ambrozavitch, David Anderson, Kegan Fielding, Chrisitan Young, Matt Rosenthal, Chris Silvia, Kurt Jalbert, Adam Hemingway, Andrew Moffet, Joseph Macdermott, and Matthew McDonald learned about service first hand. They spent half of their time improving the camps infrastructure and interacting with the special-needs campers. They also spent a great deal of time together talking, learning, and growing. They learned through a series of “Witness Talks” what C.L.A.S.S. truly means. Brothers Brian Gilb, Kevin Libby, Ryan Smith, Robert Petrie, Varun Vuppala, Kyle Wood, and Nick Druar all shared what it means to be a brother of Pi Kappa Phi. “This trip was a bonding experience for not just the Associates, but all those in atten-

dance” says Brother Scott Lee, the Chapter’s Warden and New Member Educator. Brother Brian Gilb, who coordinated the service retreat remarked at the effectiveness of the retreat, “they have grown to be a more cohesive group, and have a better understanding of what Pi Kappa Phi, and service mean to us.” With the beginning of their Pi Kapp Journey is only just beginning, the Service Retreat indicates that we one can only expect more great things from the men of the Beta Class of Theta Mu.

PI KAPPA PHI FRATERNITY - THETA MU CHAPTER SPRING 2007

A PIKAPP MINUTE PAGE 2

Contributions to Jerome’s ride across the country can be made online, using Push America’s secure online website:

www.secure.pushamerica.org/jeromerogich

Above: Beta Pre-InitiatesBelow: Beta class participates in a service retreat.

Senior SpotlightsΘΜ says so long to its graduating brothers

Matthew Noah Pearlson, #001

Matthew served as the first Archon of the UMass-Associate Chapter and currently serves as the Historian.

He is a graduating senior in the Department of Chemical Engineering. His research interests are in alternative fuels, and energy efficiency technologies. He has been recognized with several awards for his academic achievements including the 21st Century Leaders and William Field awards from the University, as well as nominations for the Rhodes and Goldwater scholarships. Matthew will move to Seattle in June and begin a career with Microsoft Corporation.

Diego Torres-Palma, #002

Diego currently serves as the Archon, and previously held the positions of Vice Archon and Secretary. Diego

has served as a Teaching Assistant for Applied Calculus and has been a member of such organizations as UMass Golf, the American Society of Civil Engineers, Engineers

Without Borders, Academic Honesty Board, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Diego was also recently nominated for the Senior Leadership Award for demonstrating outstanding leadership and service to the campus. He plans to pursue an MBA after working for Pi Kappa Phi National Headquarters as a Leadership Consultant.

Christopher Caton, #015

Chris is the business manager of a law practice in Northampton. He is also the cofounder of a

program to provide free legal services to indigent victims of domestic violence, where his main role is the training of undergraduate students to work as interns for attorneys participating in the program.

TJ Kelly, #016

TJ is the fraternity’s Publicity Chair and designed the ΘΜ website, and served on the Recruitment

Committee. Outside the fraternity, TJ works as a Campus Tour Guide and Student Admissions Representative and a web-technician for the Center for Student Business. He was a member of the UMass Drumline for four seasons and has been a Co-Manager at Sweets & More Snack Bar in Orchard Hill. TJ is investigating opportunities with

Pearl Corporation, the largest drum manufacturer in the world, to join their web-site development team.

James Sanderson, #033

James works as a Resident Assistant in Washington Tower. He is the founder of the Kinesiology

Club here at school. Off campus, James is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine. I will be attending a doctoral program in Physical Therapy starting in the Fall 2007 semester at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Ryan Leblanc, #037

Ryan currently serves on the Push America Committee. Outside the fraternity, he is a member of

SHARE (”Students Helping Area Reach-Out Efforts”) where he formerly served as treasurer, the American Society of Civil Engineers, Commonwealth College, XE (Chi Epsilon), a Civil Engineering Honor Society, and is an undergraduate research assistant in the Environmental Engineering Department. Ryan also works as a senior bartender for UMass Catering. Along with his major, Ryan has a minor in Engineering Management. Ryan will begin a career as a Civil Engineer after graduation

PI KAPPA PHI FRATERNITY - THETA MU CHAPTER SPRING 2007

A PIKAPP MINUTE PAGE 3

Checking in with brothers abroad

Matthew Sloan, #004, a junior in the Department of Biology, is study-ing abroad with

the International Scholars Pro-gram. Matthew has been abroad since December 2006: I spent this past winter studying in Senegal, a French-speaking country on the coast of West Af-rica. I studied the impact of “mi-crocredit” on improving the qual-ity of life in villages around Sene-gal. Microcredit in pricipal helps individuals in underdeveloped countries with small loans from individuals in the developed world. After traveling and looking at these microcredit businesses, I flew to Southeastern India to study sustainability and Eastern Medicine practices. Here I will spend the rest of the spring se-mester learning about the impacts of globalization on South India, touring historical sites, and learn-ing to integrate sustainable prac-tices into my life. I will be spending this summer in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam volunteering as a doctor’s aide in a children’s orphanage. I hope to integrate all I have learned in my travels when I return to the ‘States in mid-August.

To read more about Matt’s experiences in Sene-gal and India visit www.livingroutes.org and click under the Weblog section. Matt’s accounts and photos can be found under “Senegal Winter ‘07” and “Aurovi'e Spring ‘07”.

Alumni UpdatesJoe Piedrafite, #020Joe graduated Cum Laude in 2006 earning dual degrees in Communication

and English after interning at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival in France. After kicking around like a lost tumbleweed in the desert post-graduation, Joe accepted a position in the Marketing department at the Museum of Science in Boston. He works in the courses department; creating and developing the course catalog and programs for the Museum, catering to both the student and adult population.

During the summer and fall, Joe is a drill/music instructor for the Oakmont-Overlook Marching Spartans, a high school marching band in North Central Massachusetts. Last fall, the Marching Spartans were crowned USSBA Division IIIA State Champions and received a Gold Medal at the MICCA State Finals, securing 5 stars in all captions; a perfect score.

Joe is also a member of the UMass Club and is on the UMass Alumni steering committee. He is a proud Pi Kappa Phi legacy; his father is a brother from Xi Chapter, at Roanoke College.

Mike Czabaj, # 011After graduating, Mike

accepted a position as a systems analyst at MassMutual in Springfield, MA. He started in early August with a 6 week training course in mainframe computer programming. To his amazement, Mike excelled in the course even though he had never taken any programming classes before. Once the six weeks were up and his training complete, he was thrown to the wolves. Again Mike stepped into an unfamiliar place and exceeded the expectations of most.

Still feeling a bit out of place, Mike joined the company’s intramural basketball league. Over the winter months he met many new people, made some friends and got some exercise. Sadly, the team got knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. Mike is currently learning as much as he can about the company and programming while dealing with the day-to-day hassle of working on a production support team where system problems are no rare occurrence.

PI KAPPA PHI FRATERNITY - THETA MU CHAPTER SPRING 2007

A PIKAPP MINUTE PAGE 4

5K RACE FOR $30K (CONT.)

PI KAPPA PHI FRATERNITY - THETA MU CHAPTER SPRING 2007

A PIKAPP MINUTE PAGE 5

CalendarFriday, March 30 – April 1

New Member Retreat: Camp Hemlock – Hebron, CT

Saturday, March 31

“Beat the Ironman” Competition – Fitchburg State College

Sunday, April 1

Formal Chapter – Brother’s Only

Monday, April 9

300 The IMAX Experience – Reading, MA

Thursday, April 12

Smith College Date Auction for Push America

Saturday, April 14

Alumni Initiation

Sunday, April 15

Open Chapter – Executive Council Elections

Friday, April 20 – April 21

5 College Relay for Life

Sunday, April 22

Push America/5k fundraising in Amherst area

Wednesday, April 25

UMass Alumni Association Etiquette Dinner

Saturday, April 28

Morning: 5K Road Race

Afternoon: UMass v. Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse game

Evening: Theta Mu and PKP Alumni dinner

Sunday, April 29

Formal Chapter – Brother’s Only

Beta Class/Pre-Initiate Hike up Mt. Toby

Friday, May 4

Beta Class Initiation

Saturday, May 5

Brotherhood Paintball

Saturday, May 26

UMass Commencement

CLOSING BENEDICTION

As we look to the future, may our bonds of friendship remain strong in the years to come; and may we remain steadfast in our choice to enrich our lives through our relationships.

This group of men is fortunate enough to possess an indelible spirit and tremendous heart. For all of us, may the love of our friends fortify our futures together. In the words expressed by Helen Keller:

“the best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.”

Bless Our Fraternity. - Chaplin Libby