Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity’s Beta Omicron Chapter at Northwestern State University is celebrating 70 years since its chartering in 1956.
Dozens of alumni and their families returned to Natchitoches on September 11-12 to commemorate the chapter’s rich history and accomplishments.
A welcome event Friday night at a local brewery bridged generations of brothers, all sharing fond memories of their undergraduate experience in the chapter.
Saturday morning, Pi Kapp student members led tours of the current Beta Omicron Chapter House, built in 2020 along Chaplin’s Lake. The weekend culminated with the Platinum Jubilee Luncheon at NSU’s Sylvan Friedman Student Union.
2000 re-founding Archon and current Beta Omicron Alumni Chapter President Wesley Breeden delivered welcoming remarks, before student Chaplain Christopher Aguillard gave an invocation.
Student chapter Archon Owen Stutzman gave an update on the recent successes of Beta Omicron Chapter’s student leaders, who were named NSU’s top fraternity the past two years.
1956 Chartering member Buck Tumminello delivered a speech on behalf of Beta Omicron Chapter’s first initiate and founding archon Jack P. McCain, Jr. and the Founders’ Generation Group.
On behalf of the National Fraternity, Ethan Norman, Senior Director of Alumni Engagement with the Pi Kappa Phi Foundation, presented chartering members with a certificate commemorating 70 years of membership.
Past Beta Omicron Chapter Rose Queens, the fraternity’s sweethearts, were also recognized at the luncheon. 2004 Rose Queen Laura Terrell-Lyles introduced those in attendance, who were presented with red roses, the symbol of the fraternity.
Three friends of the fraternity, Reatha Cox, Frances Watkins Conine, and Betty Lou Moore, were also named honorary roses for their contributions to the Beta Omicron Chapter over the last two decades. Cox, who is NSU’s Vice President For The Student Experience and Dean of Students, was a key figure in Beta Omicron Chapter’s re-chartering in 1999-2000 and has been a devoted mentor and champion for Pi Kappa Phi student leaders. Conine, who retired as NSU’s Vice President For The Student Experience and Dean of Students, previously served as Beta Omicron’s Chapter Mother. Conine’s father, John C. Watkins, was also a former archon of the Omicron Chapter at the University of Alabama. Moore was the last sweetheart of Phi Kappa Nu, the local fraternity that became the Beta Omicron Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity in 1956.
Alumnus and Chapter Ritual Advisor Shayne Creppel, PhD, along with student chapter Chaplain Christopher Aguillard and Warden Spencer Bowden led Pi Kappa Phi’s Memorial Service, honoring the lives of nearly 100 Beta Omicron brothers who have entered Chapter Eternal.
Breeden also closed the event with final thoughts about the chapter’s bright future and thanked the dedicated alumni whose efforts to support and sustain the student chapter have earned national accolades over the years. Supporters of the Beta Omicron Alumni Chapter’s Seventy For 70 campaign, a membership drive, were also recognized. Click here for more information and a listing of supporters.
A photo gallery for the event can be found below, as well as remarks from Founding Archon Jack P. McCain, Jr.
ABOUT THE BETA OMICRON CHAPTER
The 63rd chapter of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity history was installed at NSU on September 21, 1956 by a group of 29 students. These members of the local fraternity Phi Kappa Nu, which was founded in 1929, had embarked on a year-long process to affiliate with a national organization, having selected Pi Kappa Phi.
In the seven decades that followed the establishment of the Beta Omicron Chapter, more than 700 initiates have been welcomed into a tight-knit brotherhood that has rewarded its members with lifelong friendship and significantly influenced the successes of alumni. Beta Omicron Chapter alumni include successful CEOs, CFOs, state legislators, mayors, educators and coaches, attorneys, military officers, journalists, political consultants, financial advisors, ministers, Hollywood actors, law enforcement, celebrated chefs, small business owners, and health care professionals spread throughout the world.
A message from Beta Omicron founding Archon and first initiate Jack P. McCain, II:
“The 71 members of our original Founders Alumni Group all arrived on the NSC College campus between 1955 and 1962 with Freshmen shaven-heads and NSC beanie-caps, and a few less aches & pains.
Yet somehow, through exams, mischief, late-night debates, and occasional questionable decisions, we formed something real. Something that time has not managed to wear down for our remaining 16 Founder members.
In 1956 we transitioned from Phi Kappa Nu, a local fraternity, to Pi Kappa Phi, a national fraternity. Back then, none of us were thinking about titles or numbers. We were just a bunch of young men trying to find our place in the world, and just as our undergraduates are today, had absolutely no idea of the roads ahead of us. But today, I’m reminded that what we built together has lasted far longer than any of us could have imagined.
What I’m most grateful for, is that our fraternity wasn’t just a chapter… it was a beginning. It shaped the way we’ve worked, the way we’ve lived, the way we’ve raised families, and the way we’ve carried ourselves long after graduation. The world has changed a thousand times since then but, seemingly, the core values we learned together have held steady.
This year culminates our 32nd annual reunion luncheon since 1994 and it is not just a reunion. Today is really a reminder. A reminder that friendships can outlast distance, that laughter can outlast age, and that brotherhood — true brotherhood — can outlast just about anything.
The motto printed on the front of our Founders Group alumni directory reads, “We happy few . . . we band of brothers.” Robert Kelley (BO #17) took this from Shakespeare’s play, quoting King Henry V and which still remains so appropriate
for our undergraduate members today.
“We happy few . . . we band of brothers.””
