After years as a higher education administrator, Beta Omicron Chapter alumnus Larry W. Gracie entered retirement by inspiring college graduates to never give up in life. On Friday, May 10, 2013 Gracie delivered the commencement address at Pamlico Community College in Grantsboro, North Carolina. In April he retired as the school’s vice president of instructional services.
A weekend of lasting memories were made at Pi Kappa Phi’s annual Rose Ball Formal in New Orleans, Louisiana. Keeping with tradition, the Beta Omicron Chapter returned to the Crescent City April 19-20th, 2013.
Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity alumnus and business executive David D. Morgan, Sr. is investing in the future of several promising young leaders at Northwestern State University. Four members of the Beta Omicron Chapter were awarded scholarships at the 6th annual Beta Omicron “Extra Mile” Scholarship Banquet on Sunday, April 14, 2013.
More than a dozen teams of Pi Kappa Phi alumni, family and friends of the Fraternity, NSU Greeks, and community members teed-off in bright sunshine and cool weather for Pi Kappa Phi’s 7th annual Golf Tournament. On March 16, 2013, amateurs competed in the Beta Omicron Chapter’s two-person scramble.
A small piece of Northwestern State University’s history is now on permanent display at Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity National Headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. One of the only known surviving membership badges of Phi Kappa Nu Fraternity, the predecessor of the Beta Omicron Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi, was recently added to the collection at the Eldred J. Harman Museum.
Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity alumnus Alan Pasch is hoping to encourage and cultivate young leaders as the newly elected president of the Natchitoches Jaycees. Pasch was named to the post earlier in 2013, after previously serving on the service organization’s board of directors as executive vice president and chair of the toy drive.
The Beta Omicron Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity is being honored for its commitment to positively impacting the lives of people with disabilities through its philanthropy, Push America. The organization was recently recognized for its continued efforts to change the way society views people with disabilities and fraternities.
Over the weekend of January 11-13, 2013, Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity members from Northwestern State University joined others from around the nation to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Fraternity’s Mid Year Leadership Conferences.
Pi Kappa Phi alumnus Robert Crew and wife Jacque were recently awarded an Nth Degree by Northwestern State University President Dr. Randall J. Webb, recognizing their years of service to NSU.
Doug Ireland is the Town Talk’s 2012 Central Louisiana Sportsman of the Year, but he is not an athlete or coach — at least not in the sense that we are accustomed to seeing either an athlete or coach honored annually in this space.
Pat Todd Jr. made a $1,000 contribution to the Northwestern State University Foundation to enhance an endowed scholarship established in memory of his late father, Natchitoches businessman and Pi Kappa Phi alumnus Pat S. Todd, Senior.
The following is an open letter from Randy Smith, an alumnus of the Beta Omicron Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity at Northwestern State University. One year after his son underwent an extensive surgery, he asked to share his thoughts with the countless people who taught his family an important lesson about the bonds of brotherhood.
108 years after Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity was founded, the Beta Omicron Chapter at NSU marked the anniversary by welcoming its newest members and honoring those beginning the next phase of their lives. A semi-formal banquet centered around the spirit of friendship forged by the Fraternity’s founders.
Pi Kappa Phi member Jake Bryan has been named 2012 “Mr. NSU,” the highest honor a Northwestern State University student can receive. Bryan, along with “Ms. NSU,” Lauren Waguespack, were selected by the student body as part of a continuing tradition dating back to 1956.
A slate of seven alumni of the Beta Omicron Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity have been elected to guide the efforts of the chapter alumni association/ housing corporation. Lane Luckie; DJ Klucznik; David Morgan, Sr.; George Etheredge; Alan Pasch; Wil Adams; and Shayne Creppel will serve as the 2012-2013 board of directors.
Two Northwestern State University Greek organizations will honor the memory of deceased alumni by completing an annual cycling trek across Natchitoches Parish during this year’s Homecoming events. Members of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity and Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority will ride in memory of the late Sharon Sampité and the late Joe Sampité to raise funds for the Sharon Sampité, John and Allison Van Hoof Educational Scholarship administered through the NSU Foundation and the Sampité Family Baseball Scholarship administered through the NSU Athletic Association.
Their campout may not have taken them far from home, but the message that accompanies Pi Kappa Phi’s scaffold sit will travel across the Northwestern State University campus. Members of the fraternity took turns perched atop a construction scaffold in front of the chapter house from September 24-25, 2012.
It’s a great time to be a Pi Kapp — our chapter is growing and brotherhood is thriving! Just because you have left Natchitoches, it doesn’t mean you can’t be a part of the exciting things happening at NSU. We’ve never seen more alumni involved and committed to Beta Omicron’s future than right now. So many…
While the nation’s lawmakers were away for the summer recess, more than a thousand Pi Kappa Phi members and their families, including those from Northwestern State University, convened in Washington, D.C. for the Fraternity’s biennial convention. The 53rd Supreme Chapter held a special significance, as it coincided with the 35th anniversary of Push America, the Fraternity’s philanthropy.
A re-chartering member of the Beta Omicron Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity is among those killed in a U.S. Navy helicopter crash in Oman. Naval Aircrewman Second Class Joseph Patrick “JP” Fitzmorris, 31, of West Monroe, Louisiana was aboard a MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopter that went down July 19, 2012 on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
Last year, alumni of the Beta Omicron chapter were among the biggest supporters of the educational efforts of the Pi Kappa Phi Foundation. Of 226 total chapters, Beta Omicron was ranked 2nd in total contributions. Twelve alumni contributed $29,755 in support of educational initiatives of the Foundation in 2011.
Two members of the Beta Omicron Chapter Founders Generation Group have passed to Chapter Eternal, both after a battle with cancer. Among the first members of Pi Kappa Phi at Northwestern State University, John D. Mize and Mickey Frazier hold an important place in chapter history, especially as both men remained actively involved with the Fraternity throughout their adult lives.
Most college freshmen don’t step forward with the abilities to guide a student organization, let alone attempt to transform their campus culture. Two young members of Beta Omicron Chapter at NSU are answering the challenge to lead by example.
The cycling trek lasts just days, but the lives touched along the Gear Up Florida route will never forget Pi Kappa Phi members like Ryan Jeffords. The Northwestern State University junior led a team of 35 cyclists across Florida to re-shape the perception of people with disabilities. On May 13, 2012, this 800-mile cycling event kicked off on the shores of Miami, traveled through the Florida orange fields, reached the Gulf coast, passed through Orlando, wound back to the Atlantic coast and culminated at the State Capitol in Tallahassee.
Sampité, who died Friday at the age of 81, served five terms as mayor of Natchitoches from 1980 until his retirement in 2000. He was known for wearing white socks, a carryover from his coaching career before becoming mayor, and for the “I Love Natchitoches” stickers that he distributed by the thousands over the years.
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