I believe that the ideal chapter is made
up of men who are bound together in a
common loyalty which transcends any
personal selfishness who realize that
membership means personal responsibility
in bearing their share of the financial
burden of the chapter and the National
Organization who bring credit to the
fraternity by striving to attain the
highest possible standards of
scholarship
whose safeguard the reputation of their
chapter by keeping a careful watch over
their personal conduct who uphold
faithfully the traditions and activities
of their college
who prepare themselves diligently to
shoulder their full responsibilities as
citizens
I believe my chapter can become an ideal
character
and I shall do my share to make it so
good afternoon brothers on behalf of the
National Council it is my distinct
pleasure to welcome you to our first
ever supreme chapter virtual experience
I'm so glad that you've decided to join
us today for this celebration of
fraternity for some you're probably
skipping out on work right now and for
others you may be taking a break from a
summer trip this afternoon I'm here in
my office and Ames Iowa just minutes
away from the campus of Iowa State
University go cyclones and of course our
Alpha Omicron Chapter and I know we have
brothers who have joined us from our all
parts of the country some even from
around the world despite our physical
distance from each other I'm impressed
at how many brothers were able to come
together here virtually some of whom
would not have been able to join us with
our regularly scheduled convention what
an amazing way to be together so
regardless of where you are or what
you're doing from your office or your
living room sofa today I'm incredibly
appreciative you have all made such a
big effort to be with us this afternoon
we were originally scheduled to gather
starting today in Baltimore for the 57th
supreme chapter meeting but due to the
dangerous situation surrounding all of
us with kovat 19 the National Council
made the very difficult decision to
cancel supreme chapter I cannot express
to you how disappointed I am and miss
seeing each of you in person to share
how proud I am of pi Kappa Phi how
appreciative I am of each of you for
what you do to make our beloved
fraternities so great and to say thank
you thank you for your servant
leadership to our fraternity instead of
dwelling on what could have been I've
chosen to focus on what we can do and
will do to celebrate pi Kappa Phi and to
prepare ourselves for the journey that
lies ahead as you've already probably
started to figure out this virtual
experience today is going to
a little bit different than any other
supreme chapter that we've had in our
116 year history while we've tried to
keep some of the key components to make
supreme chapter so memorable such as the
state of the fraternity address in our
election of the next National Council
this is not a business meeting instead
of a full convention we will be updating
you on key items and pi Kappa Phi plans
to navigate the challenges that lie
ahead so officially the 57th supreme
chapter meeting that was to be held
starting today
will now become our 2022 meeting the
best part of taking a four day event and
condensing it down into a two-hour
experience is that we get to keep some
of the experiences that we love the most
about supreme chapter while making this
virtual experience more accessible to
more people to attend
we have 174 chapters in attendance and
some chapters have even have multiple
delegates with us perhaps more
impressive are the more than 450 alumni
advisors spouses and guests who are
joining us this afternoon
people were signing up to join the
chapter the supreme chapter virtual
experience just days ago and we'll see
how many actually joined today but we
think this year's virtual experience may
be one of the best attended meetings in
pi Kappa Phi history despite being
separated and physically distanced from
one another today we have some exciting
opportunities to network and connect
with brothers such as for those who are
who have been inducted into the new
physis AIA T there will be a virtual
gathering today at 5:30 Eastern Standard
Time
this afternoon the ability experience
will be hosting a founders 5k run that
you can join in on this coming Saturday
from your neighborhood and share your
results through social media as we hold
on to this longtime tradition despite
all being physically distanced our
chapter advisor symposium which is
traditionally held in conjunct
with supreme chapter has been moved 100%
to online and we will be holding the
symposium the first two weeks in August
for our chapter advisors and lastly I've
heard several chapters who will be
having a virtual chapter event either
later this evening
or sometime this weekend to celebrate pi
Kappa Phi all said we have a very busy
schedule for you over the next two hours
in just a moment I'll send us to
Washington DC and to our national
chaplain David Corey before I do let me
say one more time thank you thank you
for joining us today and welcome to our
supreme chapter virtual experience
brother Corey Thank You Jeremy brothers
I'd like to open us up in prayer this
afternoon wherever you are right now
would you take a moment and bow your
heads with me Heavenly Father in
Almighty Arcon we gather this afternoon
with heartfelt thanks thank you for
giving us this blessing an opportunity
to be here together in fellowship and in
Brotherhood we believe we are living in
historic time with millions still in the
grip of Koba 19 we humbly cry out to you
for help
repeat in our day will you have done
throughout history Almighty Arcon in an
hour were many places in the world are
being shaken by political religious
racial and ethnic tensions we thank you
for empowering us to walk in love and
unity and Brotherhood deeply examine our
hearts so we can repent of every form of
bias and Prejudice toward other humans
based on their political affiliations
ethnicity nationality race or religion
fill us afresh with empathy in love
understanding and forgiveness as the
world around us Rupp's in tension and
pain we humbly ask you to heal our lands
from hatred and the division it fuels
almighty Archon we lift up our brothers
who have finished their
on this earth and cross that bridge the
chapter eternal well you have thanks for
these men for their sacrifice and
loyalty and their work building this
fraternity we ask me pour out your
blessings on their families may your
guidance and protection be with us today
they may we ever keep in the mind the
lofty ideals and purposes of this
fraternity in your name we pray amen
thank you for joining me in that prayer
and now while we're all sitting with a
reverent spirit please join me in paying
tribute to our founders as we do at
every supreme meeting of our Brotherhood
William will you ring the bell for me
let us now join together to celebrate
the continuing lives of our founders
whether Andrew Alexander Crowe jr.
brother Simon Fogarty jr. brother L
Harry Mixon these men continue to live
with us through this great fraternity
their beliefs ideals and values are ours
their spirits are with us to this day
they were three who are so diverse in
personality but so unified in their
friendship that they were fully
complementary their long clothes joyous
and comforting years of friendship
projected into permanency and extended
to the horizons in the form pi Kappa Phi
our founders had a dream a dream of
man's unification through an
organization which transcended mere
friendship to become a brotherhood a
brotherhood which has spread to
international boundaries let us be
thankful for brothers Krogh Fogarty and
Mixon have gone forward to pave the way
for those of us yet to follow let us be
glad and by their lives
let us not consider what might have been
but let us renew our thanks for the
difference in the many lives touched by
these men through the many years of pi
Kappa Phi thousands of lives have been
better remember well the words of
founder Mixon when he last commented on
the founding of our fraternity the
success of pi Kappa Phi can be
attributed to two things from the
beginning we had the right principles
but in that regard we were no different
from other organizations with start
bravely but fall so there must have been
another reason why we did not fall after
authority had passed from our shoulders
there were other men ready able and
willing on whose shoulder is this mantle
fitted and there came a never-ending
stream of men devoted zealous able and
fervent
yes in 1904 we sparked the idea but as
to those men who came after us and are
continuing to come in a steady unbroken
stream that we owe our wonderful typify
we have given you the past as we know it
the future we will leave with you Thank
You brothers back over to you Jimmy
Dave thank you for that prayer and for
that wonderful tribute brothers and
Friends of pi Kappa Phi as the current
national president of our beloved
fraternity I stand before you this
afternoon to deliver the state of the
fraternity address admittedly standing
in front of a camera knowing that this
presentation will be delivered virtually
is a bit unnerving and as you can
imagine disappointing there is no place
that I would rather be right now than in
Baltimore celebrating our convention
with you in person the most disappointed
people in our household are my three
children Annie
Lillian Ben who were crushed to learn
that we would not be traveling to
Baltimore for supreme chapter the bond
friendship and love that they have for
their pi Kappa Phi friends fills my
heart every time I hear them speak about
the experiences that they have had
attending supreme chapters from their
earliest memory our biannual gatherings
rekindling special relationships that
are parallel to the bonds of brotherhood
knowing the passion that they have for
pi Kappa Phi as non-members as do the
children of many other alumni who
regularly attend our convention gives me
great hope for the future of our world
and of course for the future of
fraternity also giving me hope is our
undergraduate members in a period of
time where positivity is needed
you continue to persevere through some
unbelievable life journeys on your
college campuses across the nation I am
so proud and so appreciative of the way
you are leading your chapters during
these turbulent times in how you are
keeping the mission vision and values of
Pi Kappa Phi alive what an amazing two
years it has been serving as your
national president I am honored that you
have trusted me to carry out this
historical volunteer role for our
fraternity I want to thank my fellow
National Council members
who have served by my side for these
past two years as well as to those
council members who have served with in
the past together this current National
Council along with Tony noche
Chad purse and Ernest Johnson who are
the chairs of the other three entities
of pi Kappa Phi have formed a fantastic
team to ensure that pi Kappa Phi remains
committed to its mission vision values
and strategic priorities and lastly I
want to thank the headquarters staff for
the amazing work that you do for pi
Kappa Phi you come to work each day with
one goal in mind to make pi Kappa Phi be
the best fraternity it can be and to
provide our members with unparalleled
opportunities and experiences there is
no doubt in my mind that mark Timmy's
and his team are the very best staff in
the entire fraternal world thank you to
mark and thank you to the headquarters
team when I reflect on the past two
years a common Latin phrase comes to
mind ad astra per aspera or through
hardship comes the Stars following the
56th supreme chapter in Chicago we all
returned to our campuses and homes
filled with excitement and hope as we
were in an era where pi Kappa Phi was
prospering as an example we were we were
expanding on new flagship campuses
across the country our membership
numbers were swelling and our average
chapter size ranked us in the top 10 in
turf eternally while some of these same
trends and statistics are still true
today the environment surrounding
fraternity and sorority life feels
different it is different and we are
going about our business differently we
have all experienced incredible highs
and some disappointing lows in recent
months through our collective efforts we
have many things to celebrate and to be
proud of that has been accomplished in
the past two years that I'd like to
share with you today many chapter and
membership numbers
which ranked pi Kappa Phi as one of the
largest fraternities in the inter
fraternal world some of those statistics
include 165 chartered chapters nine
associate chapters over eleven thousand
student members nearly one hundred and
twelve thousand living alumni and
fourteen new chapters have been opened
in the last two years with the health
and safety of our new members in mind we
introduced a new model associate member
education program that provides a shared
member education experience for all new
members the fraternity restructured its
chapter development team in order to
provide better and more consistent
customer service to our chapters as well
as increased recruitment support the
fraternity remains committed to
providing mental health resources and
education to our students our higher
education steaming committee made
recommendations to the National Council
around opportunities to improve such
offerings pi Kappa Phi must do more to
ensure our members have access to mental
health resources when presented with
personal life challenges continuing to
grow and take pi Kappa Phi to new
campuses remains a priority and I'm
excited to share with you that next year
we will expand be expanding to Creighton
University and Wake Forest University
first time expansions on both of these
campuses in addition to our
recolonization efforts at two other
universities where we have been before
those are at the University of Texas
Tyler and Valdosta State and lastly we
have continued a high level of inner
fraternal involvement and leadership
through the NI C and local ifcs
mark Timmy's continues to serve on the
ni C Governing Council driving change
that is being seen and felt on campuses
nationwide pi Kappa Phi has and will
continue to face challenges that should
and will inspire and motivate us all
while we have added 14 chapters in the
two years as previously mentioned we
have also closed 23 chapters over that
same period of time pi Kappa Phi
continues to be adversely affected by
the past actions of just a few brothers
who have made poor choices which are now
affecting the cost of liability
insurance for us all which is a
requirement for membership in our
organization and while the kovat 19
pandemic and the social injustice
inequalities caused unrest personal
hardship for many and a feeling of
insecurity for the future pi Kappa Phi
will be empathetic forward-looking and
constantly seeking opportunities to
better support our members during these
turbulent times a little later you will
hear from our CEO mark Timmy's who will
share with us that continued support and
resources available to our chapters as
we deal with covin our fraternity has
rebounded in the past from war pandemics
economic downfalls and challenges and
struggles within higher education our
leadership is strong at all levels of
the organization our undergraduates and
alumni are leading with passion and
vision I am confident I am confident in
pi Kappa Phi eventually we will rebound
from the effects of kovat individually
as chapters and as a fraternity pi Kappa
Phi will continue to do more to advocate
support and provide opportunity for
members of color through improved and
expanded diversity equity and inclusion
efforts across the organization a newly
appointed Standing Committee the
diversity actually equity and inclusion
Standing Committee will review policies
practices and programs of our fraternity
from the diversity and inclusion lens
and make recommendations to the National
Council for implementation there is no
playbook
how any of us including pi Kappa Phi as
an organization should handle the major
crises such as we as a society are
facing today I refuse to call this the
new normal as many refer to it as there
is nothing normal about what we are
going through and just as we have done
before and will do again we are called
into action to help a brother help a
chapter and to help our beloved
fraternity we cannot only look inward
our fraternity prepares the best and the
brightest to solve problems and lead in
our schools businesses nonprofits in
communities fraternity has never been
more relevant than now I challenge you
to go out and do fraternity B fraternity
and grow the fraternity it has been a
privilege and I am humbled to serve as
your national president for the past two
years and I look forward to being here
with all of you celebrating the impact
of pi Kappa Phi on the lives of our
members and friends for many years to
come thank you and god bless our
fraternity and now I'd like to send us
down to Paris Tennessee to receive an
update about the fraternities finances
from our national treasure
James Smith brother James Thank You
Jeremy welcome to my home in Paris
Tennessee I'm quite confident this is
the closest this small West Tennessee
town will ever get to hosting a national
event for pi Kappa Phi so I'm very
thankful that you have joined us today
to celebrate our Brotherhood and share
this uncommon experience with me our
brothers and in some strange way Paris
Tennessee two years ago in Chicago
William Sigmund who was our national
treasure at the time stood before the
formal gathering of our Brotherhood and
summarized ten years of excellent
financial progress today
not standing at a podium much less
standing before you at any formal
gathering of our Brotherhood these very
circumstances are a testament to the
state of affairs being vastly different
today compared to two years ago our
fraternity enjoyed a long era of
aggressive growth and record high
college enrollment numbers combined
those two things meant a period of
financial prosperity for the fraternity
we built strategic reserves and
increased the amount of services and
programs offered to students and alumni
members we reaped the benefits of a bull
market and positioned ourselves well
then March 2020 hit us and the world
changed campuses were physically closed
classes were cancelled recruitment was
cut short and initiation stopped
altogether right in the middle of the
academic semester the fraternity
immediately shifted into a survival mode
first because we lost a significant
amount of spring revenue due to a loss
of pre-initiation and subsequent
initiation fees we focused on
outstanding revenues we did this by
collecting accounts receivable as
painful as it may have been to do at the
time and by addressing all of our
expenses second we made tough decisions
on what operational expenses to cut in
the remaining budget year this spring we
cut as much as possible and did whatever
we could to halt spending and slowed our
cash spend in large part we were
successful some major areas of cost
reduction included evaluating our
programs that have the most associated
costs and making changes to the services
offered based on campus closures putting
a hiring freeze in place
and reducing the number of leadership
consultants we traditionally hide her
pulling the print issue of the spring
2020 star in lamp magazine and opting
for a 100% digital issue so as with
pride I stand before you today to say
that despite all of these setbacks and
significant revenue loss after timely
adjustments we have ended the fiscal
year with an effectively break-even
budget the National Council worked with
a few select of our most struggling
chapters and provided some definitely
incentives on aged invoices because we
did not want to further sync these
struggling chapters into deeper
financial distress due to kovat 19 next
we immediately began planning for the
fall
currently we anticipate revenues will be
down just over 1 million dollars because
of delays and recruitment campus
closures and Families incurring a
household income loss to mitigate these
anticipated losses we plan to continue
to downsize programs while trying to
provide a similar level of service
though this may mean different delivery
mechanisms like going virtual instead of
having in-person support services to
stabilize the organization in the short
term the National Council plans to
utilize a portion of our strategic
reserve to subsidize the budget we have
decided to only use a portion of that
reserve at this time however because we
are rather concerned that this
disruption may affect Fraternity
operations in the upcoming years now all
of this discussion thus far has been
about what we call the operating budget
however we also have a risk management
program budget which is allocated funds
designated for insurance and risk
management programs
this budget presented an equally
staggering and challenging issue pi
Kappa Phi is insurance rate
increased 43% over the last year this
presented us with a second nearly 1
million dollar problem not even a month
after Kovac 19 hit the United States
this huge increase in our premium cost
caused the National Council to approve
an increase in our risk management
program fee by 20 percent up from - up
from 300 dollars of student from up to
300 dollars of student from 250 dollars
the National Council decided it was best
to cap the student fee at $300 though
that action alone only solved half of
our problem the council decided to use
our strategic insurance reserves to
subsidize the cost of insurance to
reduce staff and to strategically cut
our risk management program expenses to
develop a realistic budget in light of
the added expenses due to the insurance
increase additionally to further assist
our chapters on the insurance front we
implemented an extended pay ahead
discount opportunity from May 21st to
the end of last month June 30th I
anticipate the National Council to also
direct the staff to continue making
roster objections to adjustments on
insurance invoices into the fall a new
measure that was not previously an
option further with the cancellation of
supreme chapter in Baltimore those fees
paid by chapters will now be used to
prepay a portion of PI cap college for
chapter officers in January and the
staff is aggressively looking at ways to
negotiate contracts and further reduce
the registration fees for PI cap college
for chapter officers so what does all
this mean it means several things first
we originally anticipated our student
growth rate to slow slightly with
declining freshman enrollment rates but
now coupled with the effects of Kovan 19
I'm concerned our membership will drop
sharply
our Vice archons and recruitment efforts
will be more important and critical now
than they have been for the last 20
years second we have no more surplus our
staff is working to provide a consistent
and competitive experience with a sparse
budget
additionally the National Council has
opted to utilize a portion of our
reserves in the short term to try and
stabilize the rising cost of fraternity
in an unstable market and academic
environment third we're entering a new
normal a normal that I fear will be
detrimental to us if we choose to remain
our current course kovat is one thing
that will impact us but as Jeremy has
said and I believe we'll get through
Covent and be stronger on the other side
but if our student members continue on a
course of high-risk behavior which leads
to increased insurance costs then we
will have no option but to increase the
risk management fee each year this is
the second substantial increase our
membership has faced in the last five
years
in fact the student fee has increased 50
percent compared to five years ago today
in order for our rates to return to
prior levels lower levels we will need
several years of obtaining a clean risk
management record there is a direct
relationship between behavior and our
claims history there is a direct
relationship between behaviour and the
cost of fraternity there is the so
current reality that we all need to
focus on myths our current climate and
chaos the cost of fraternity is getting
more expensive the biggest driver of
this is the cost of our insurance there
are studies that suggest that if we
continue to see costs increase at the
pace of the last 10 years over the next
10 years we will reach a level that is
no longer affordable for the
majority of students yes
coughs rise for most things over time
that's a fact but the pace of change we
are seeing now in the insurance market
can be slowed and that is within our
control it boils down to how we decide
to change our behavior this choice is
pretty clear if we continue to see the
pace and severity of risk management
incidents we have seen over the past few
years the cost of fraternity will
increase or if we all choose responsible
behavior and more importantly hold each
other accountable for responsible
behavior and ensure the gift of
fraternity for the next century and
Beyond in conclusion the National
Council and your headquarters staff
continues to do an excellent job of
stewarding funds and planning for the
future
what we need is financial integrity on
all levels now more than ever we need
every single adviser every single
chapter officer and every single member
to work with the National Council you're
being called upon to practice fiscal
responsibility to budget expenses and
protect the revenues of our members more
carefully and better than before to
manage responsibly your risk management
efforts our future depends on you and I
have confidence in you and I thank you
if you have questions I'm happy to
answer them at a later time and if
you've heard my call today and you were
ready to get involved as an advisor or a
financial adviser for your chapter or
any local chapter I know our staff would
love to get you connected but now thank
you for joining me here in perhaps Paris
Tennessee and I'll send you back to
Charlotte in our national headquarters
where Mark Timmons is standing by mark
thank you James
brothers and friends as well you've
heard from Jeremy and James we all know
this has been an unprecedented and
challenging time for
our country and the fraternity as well
it is sobering to hear the update from
brother Smith about our fraternity
finances and as we are adapting and
working to overcome covent in our
communities we too as a for Turing will
adapt and pave our path forward I am
proud of how our students have pivoted
so quickly this spring to the pandemic
how they continue to engage their
brothers through virtual communication
support and involvement this spring we
weathered the first wave of impact as a
result of the kovetz storm but what is
our path forward first we must keep the
health and safety of our members and
friends foremost in our minds this means
understanding and implementing kovat
protocols for both prevention and
response we must develop a plan and
follow it we must stay informed we need
to work with local authorities and our
campus partners on them we will be
challenged by social distancing and
social gathering restrictions
this also means individual
responsibility by every member in
understanding and complying with them we
also need to know if someone is
contracted Kovan or been exposed so we
can respond appropriately we must
continue to embrace the virtual
engagement of our members whether
through June chapter meetings engagement
activities or just simple connection
more importantly just as we continue to
operate in a different virtual way we
must continue to recruit new members and
educate them we are inspired by the many
chapters who've embraced this challenge
and have been successful and our staff
is continuing to develop resources to
help support these virtual efforts this
fall please continue to work with the
national staff and utilize the shared
ideas resources and support as we head
into the fall semester in addition to
the already mentioned resources the
staff has also created a chapter support
plan that the archons and executive
councils are working on to help guide
their planning and chapter operations
for the year ahead if you've not had a
chance to start working on this
please reach out to your chapter
relationship manager to get started you
will also continue to see updated
resources and support in the areas of
engaging members mental health officer
training and our prevention education
programs now we know the chapter
financial resources have been strained
we understand that some members will not
be able to return recruitment may be
reduced and we may have smaller chapters
despite this and as James alluded you
must maintain financial integrity
through proper budgeting expenditures
re-examination of the local due
structure and perhaps offer increased
flexibility in payment plans at the
national level we have not increased
member dues we have waived some fees
creative incentives and provided liberal
payment plans to chapters in need as
their members who return to school but
cannot afford to be active the National
Council has just recently authorized a
one-semester kovat financial hardship
status for others we will be piloting
early alumni status mechanism as well
chapter relationship managers will be
able to provide more information to
archons and secretaries on these status
change opportunities as the fall
semester begins regretfully and as we
warned in January at the pike kept
colleges for chapter officers the cost
of insurance continues to skyrocket due
to our behavior and the resulting claims
I assure you we are working with our
insurance group on cost-effective
solutions however the number one way to
reduce our insurance costs remains the
same we must reduce our claims another
huge challenge will be keeping our
chapter houses if our student members
want to maintain a residential
experience on their campuses they must
continue to meet their obligations to
live in the chapter house participate in
a meal plan or pay outside member parlor
fees to support its operation I believe
Tonino Chi will speak to this in a few
minutes when we hear from Pike epified
properties but this
applies to all of our chapter houses not
just those managed by properties so at a
time filled with so much disruption and
uncertainty where do we find inspiration
in this challenging time we should look
to what remains steadfast we should look
to our ritual and student Creed pi Kappa
Phi will assist support and defend our
brothers we will bear our share the
financial burden of the chapter and the
national organization we will shoulder
our full responsibilities as citizens
most of all this is an opportunity for
pi Kappa Phi to shine and show the true
meaning of fraternity we wish you great
success and know you are up to the
challenge so now I'm going to send you
down to the state I love Jacksonville
Florida home of the annual Florida
versus Georgia football game and the
home of steamboat bill to the chairman
of the ability experience board
Chad Perce Chad
hi mark thank you so much I'm honored to
be here today with you guys as the
current chairman board chairman of the
ability experience has been an
absolutely crazy ride since about midway
through March and I want everybody here
that's in this meeting and experiencing
the virtual supreme chapter that your
board is supremely grateful and there's
been a lot of work from all of our
brothers all of our fraternity members
all of our fraternity staff ability
experience staff families and friends
that have been able to sustain the
ability experience as really just a
treasure of our fraternity and for that
I'm grateful so in March about halfway
through probably many of you are on
spring break and the world changed so
with Kobe 19 we've had to pivot very
very quickly and I'm proud of the staff
I'm proud of you as my Brotherhood to be
able to change the way we look at
service to change the way we look at
opportunity to grow an opportunity to
impact others so on the heels of that
was the first really big decision that
the ability this experience had to make
and that was looking at cancelling
events due to social distancing and the
first casualty of that was this year's
gear at Florida so I've seen a lot of
things happen in my life but the
struggle to make that decision by Basile
and the staff was absolutely kind of gut
wrenching because the importance of the
event is not just
the money that it raises but it's the
people that it impacts not just those
and our friends with disabilities but
also our brothers that are growing into
servant leaders through those
experiences but we had 17 cyclists and
crew members participate this summer in
a virtual Bureau at Florida and it was
absolutely amazing raised nearly sixty
five thousand dollars which was a huge
blessing to the organization and to
those to which it benefitted
collectively cycled almost 10,000 miles
virtually so on trainers daily rides and
the like and interacted and had pretty
much amazing experience with over a
thousand of our friends with
disabilities so what that looks like is
virtual friendship visits dances bingo
game nights you name it it was
absolutely impactful for everyone on the
heels of that is now the virtual journey
of hope and build America they've
already launched some of their first
rides and their first friendship visit
had over 85 people with three to four
facilities out of California for virtual
bingo and what we're looking at and how
we're seeing that landscape change is
that our interactions to us while
earlier I mentioned how soon can be a
little bit of a challenge the reality is
is that our friends with disabilities
have had to change a lot in their lives
more so than you might understand or
recognize many of the group homes have
been completely socially isolated and
distanced though summer camps no
opportunity to see our brothers that are
coming across the country to meet with
them isolated away from family and
friends one of the things that's come
from that has been our naval Gaming
inclusion program where quite honestly
I've been able to see a lot of our
able-bodied brothers get absolutely
wiped off of off the court or out of the
game with by some of our friends in
either fortnight or rocket League or
whatever the case may be
as we start to change the way we move
forward the way we interact moving
forward I really want to implore you
guys for your help because really
standing alone as either ability
experience staff or pi Kappa Phi staff
we need your feedback we need your ideas
on how to expand these types of programs
are going to be able to reach out to
those with disabilities to to really
kind of figure out how we're going to
tackle the fall right because we're
running out of we're running out of time
and so what we have so far though for
you to include in either your ability
week or the roses are plenty of virtual
opportunities whether it be bingo game
night enable gaming there's all types of
things that we want to provide to you so
please talk to somebody at the ability
experience to help you with your fall
programming I need you guys to take
action right because we're in tough
times but we are in great times because
so many good things are coming from this
so as I wrap up I really just want to
thank pi Kappa Phi for 43 years of
loving our philanthropy well keeping us
strong continuing to give us
opportunities to provide service and
building leaders within pi Kappa Phi
from sunny Florida it's hot here I'm
about ready to die I want to throw it
over to Tony noche and the Northeast to
talk about the amazing things that
they're doing at properties so thank you
guys
thanks shed
indeed the Northeast is great in fact
that fool saw and produced three mister
pi Kappa Phi Zin this history with the
most recent being Keith Shepard who was
honored last summer in Louisville I am
excited to address this group of
brothers on behalf of Phi Kappa Phi
properties during this first ever
virtual supreme chapter Y Kappa Phi
properties was created 55 years ago by
durwood Owen with a simple mission to
help pi Kappa Phi fraternity chapters
acquire construct improve finance or
manage housing that is competitive on
their respective campuses
fast-forward 55 years and from that idea
properties now owns and manages chapter
houses for 25 percent of our fraternity
house chapters for unn house chapters
it's important that they understand that
Phi Kappa Phi properties is also there
for them to assist with their housing
needs whether it is in securing a
property to lease or require for the
chapter for our chapters that are
fortunate enough to have a chapter house
this year more than ever we need your
help
kovat 19 has impacted all of our lives
in some manner and pi Kappa Phi
properties was not spared in order for
pi Kappa Phi properties to continue to
fulfill its mission we have to be
fiscally responsible and financially
sound managing these magnificent
properties requires a steady source of
revenue to offset the expenses of
ownership and maintenance when schools
closed in March due to the quarantine
our undergraduate brothers were sent
home our only source of revenue stops
but our expenses continued
fortunately our board and our staff had
contingency plans in place for
unforeseen events and we've been able to
weather the initial storm
however our long-term survival depends
on our student members living in a
fraternity house is a once-in-a-lifetime
experience don't miss that opportunity
if you enjoy the benefits of having
fraternity house you have to live in it
or won't be there for long for most of
you your undergraduate college education
is a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience
joining a fraternity affords you with
another amazing and unique opportunity
to live in a fraternity yes once you
graduate and join the working class you
will have plenty of opportunities to
rent an apartment but you'll never have
another opportunity to experience
fraternal living I would not trade my
fraternity experience for anything and
living in my chapter house was one of
the best experiences of my life I
challenge each of undergraduate brother
to live in their chapter house for at
least one year during your college
experience I guarantee you won't regret
it thank you for your support of Phi
Kappa Phi properties and now I believe
our brother from Alpha Iota is up next
from Houston Texas Ernest Johnson the
chairman of our foundation's board of
trustees thank you Thank You Toni and
hello from Houston Texas I'm Ernest
Johnson chairman of the pi Kappa Phi
Foundation and a graduate of Auburn
University Alpha Iota chapter on behalf
of the Board of Trustees and the staff
of your pi Kappa Phi Foundation I send
my warmest wishes for good health and
safety to you and your family in your
chapter brothers I recently read an
article by an economist whom I like to
follow and in the comment section of all
people his daughter posted the following
comment always wondered what it was like
to live during the time of the civil war
Spanish flu
Great Depression civil rights movement
Watergate in the Dust Bowl just not all
at once I think that sort of sums up the
environment that we find ourselves in
today these are unprecedented times in
the life of our nation and in the times
of Pi Kappa Phi but I know our
fraternity will navigate them
effectively just as we have during other
times of national crisis I'd also like
to thank the thousands of donors who
have generously provided funding to the
pi Kappa Phi Foundation over the past
two years your generosity us to provide
greater support to our brothers and
the fraternity some of you have even
chosen to give during this pandemic and
we really appreciate your generosity
during these trying and stressful times
peyote I found the pinecone 5 foundation
is built on the idea that our brothers
can change our world for the better
for almost a hundred and sixteen years
students alumni and Friends of the
fraternity have given their time talents
and treasure to ensure that our
undergraduate and graduate members have
the tools to lead our nation as the
fraternity continues to innovate new and
implement exciting ways to engage our
brothers virtually tygo five foundations
stand as a proud partner helping to
provide the necessary funding to further
its mission during this health and
financial crisis through academic
recognition scholarships the fraternity
leadership grants in our historical
preservation initiatives pi Kappa Phi
Foundation has provided just shy of 1
million dollars in financial support to
Phi Kappa Phi in its chapter since the
last supreme chapter these funds have
ease the burden of tuition rewarded
academic success and help students
continue their postgraduate studies if
you're a student member please take the
time to look at what our scholarship
offerings are and apply we want to help
you fulfill your academic potential
under the leadership of our vice
chairman Rick Burke from Drexel we're
revising the foundation strategic plan
to ensure the continued growth of the
foundation and in turn the expansion of
the resources available to the
fraternity the ability experience in pi
Kappa Phi properties this strategic plan
will provide guidance and groundwork to
the pi Kappa Phi foundation during this
decade to ensure the continued support
of these organizations over the past six
years we've undertaken two major
campaigns under former chairman Nathan
Hightower we launched the common loyalty
campaign that raised over seven million
dollars of unrestricted funds for the
foundation under the leadership of John
Andrews we initiated the make earmark
Planned Giving Campaign it's currently
underway
there's notified brothers who have
included pi Kappa Phi in their legacy
plans and encouraged others to do so
brothers from around the country have
committed just under 13 million dollars
to the foundation in their estate plans
well surpassing the campaign goal of
twelve million dollars typically we
would have celebrated the culmination of
this maker Marc campaign at this year's
supreme chapter but because we cannot be
together in person this year we're going
to extend the campaign through the
summer Alumni Reunion to be held in st.
Louis in 2021 so we hope those of you
that are listening that have not
included pi Kappa Phi in your estate
plan might consider doing so over the
next 12 months these brothers are laying
the groundwork for pi Kappa Phi is
financial stability for the next century
and for that we all owe them a great
amount of gratitude your ongoing gifts
are going further than ever to support
the leadership and scholarship
activities of Pi Kappa fine it's more
important than ever to support the pi
Kappa Phi foundation on behalf of the
Board of Trustees I would ask you to
consider adding pi Kappa Phi to your
legacy plans and making a leadership
gift this year to not only continue but
to expand the support of our student
members and the grinev returning so
while we can't be together this summer
we do look forward to seeing you in st.
Louis in 2021 the summer Alumni Reunion
at that time we'll be hosting our next
in-person new Phi Society event and will
induct all those members who are
eligible to join at this year's supreme
chapter all attendees of the 2021 summer
alumni reunion will also be granted one
year of credit towards new Phi L agility
we'll have additional details following
this convention again we're disheartened
by the current health risks that have
prevented us from celebrating with you
in Baltimore but please know how much
the board the staff the volunteers and
students appreciate your continued
generosity your time and your talent on
behalf of the pi Kappa Phi Foundation
thank you very much what you've done for
what you continue to do and for what I
know you will do thank you
remember the bell our brothers
for acid has rung to bring us together
henceforth when it rings let it bring
you physically and spiritually together
with your brethren for as the star and
lamp have shown forth the purposes and
ideals of this fraternity from its
beginning let the sound of the Bell move
across your life and from this threshold
remind you of our steady friendship and
love one for the other
I can't wait for us together in st.
Louis in person next summer the summer
Alumni Reunion is such a great time of
friendship and relaxed Brotherhood with
a new fight celebration there's an
additional incentive to attend next year
so mark your calendars those dates again
are July 29th through August 1st 2021
just as will anticipate the announcement
of a few pi Kappa Phi Awards in st.
Louis a year from now at the summer
Alumni Reunion
it wouldn't be a supreme chapter
experience if we didn't have a number of
special men to recognize this afternoon
as well it is my distinct privilege to
recognize some of pi Kappa Phi
most outstanding students and alumni
members let's begin our awards
celebration with our inner fraternal
leader of the Year award pi Kappa Phi
continues to lead the Greek world on a
national level through our values
educational programs and commitment to
service similarly our inner fraternal
leader of the Year award recognizes the
undergraduate member who demonstrates
the most outstanding leadership in the
inner fraternal community on his campus
as a student leader Steven served his
chapter as both secretary and Archon and
now serves as the IFC president at the
University of Florida as IFC president
he oversees a Council of 24 chapters and
over 2,600 fraternity men during his
time as IFC president he created thrive
IFC the council's first initiative
centered around wellness and Brotherhood
support for the community and he also
started to refocus the council's efforts
towards sexual assault prevention
education the recipient of the inner
fraternal leader of the Year award is
Steven grebe
from the Alpha Epsilon chapter at the
University of Florida
congratulations Steven I promise there's
a roaring virtual round of applause
happening for you right now next brother
Howard Baker from the Alpha Sigma
chapter at the University of Tennessee
was a politician and a diplomat who
served as a Senate Majority Leader White
House chief of staff in the United
States Ambassador to Japan in honor of
his commitment to global leadership the
Howard H Baker leadership award is given
annually to a student member of pi Kappa
Phi whose leadership extends across the
campus community leadership in pi Kappa
Phi is ultimately about a commitment to
not just better the fraternity but to
better the world around us today I'm
happy to recognize an outstanding leader
who has been involved in leadership
positions within his chapter on his
campus and for congressman theodore
deutsch of florida as a student body
president he wrote and established
legislation for mental health student
safety diversity and inclusion in campus
involvement in addition to serving as
philanthropy chairman for his chapter he
was involved in two different
professional fraternities outside of pi
Kappa Phi and he was inducted in the ad
astra society in 2019 today it is my
honor to present the 2020 howard h baker
leadership award to luke turner from the
Kappa Delta chapter at Florida Atlantic
congratulations Luke the Phillip M
summers student of the Year award is the
highest honor bestowed on an
undergraduate member selected from more
than eleven thousand undergraduate
members the winner exemplifies the
ideals of pi Kappa Phi in his chapter on
his campus and in his community today's
recipient is a PI cap college for
emerging leaders graduate a past Archon
and secretary a two-time member of the
Council of archons and a two-time PI
alpha he not only participated in these
programs but he also went on to serve in
leadership roles as the project manager
for Build America as an intern for PI
cap College for emerging leaders and
most recently served as a student
representative to the nominating
committee in addition to his service to
pi Kappa Phi and the ability experience
he also served his campus as the IFC
president what a wonderful list of
accomplishments for this brother I am
proud to present the 2020 Philip M
summers student of the Year award to
patrick lucid of the Delta Delta chapter
at Truman State University
congratulations Patrick next we have two
alumni awards to recognize pi Kappa Phi
Hall of Fame and mister pi Kappa Phi the
pi Kappa Phi Hall of Fame consists of
selected alumni members who have
distinguished themselves in the fields
of business industry the arts sciences
and other professions the inductees are
chosen by the National Council on an
annual basis and past inductees include
former chairman of Accenture Jo forehand
former baseball infielder Joe Sewell
former United States Senator Howard
Baker and author Thomas Wolfe this
afternoon we'll recognize our two 20/20
pi Kappa Phi Hall of Fame inductees and
they are Kelly a Bergstrom from the
Alpha Omicron chapter at Iowa State
University and durwood W Owen from the
XY's chapter at Roanoke College Kelly
had a distinguished career in real
estate
including serving as CEO and president
of JM B properties company one of the
largest real estate investment and
management firms following his
successful tenure as at JB M properties
Kelly started his own company
Bergstrom Investment Management which he
continues to lead very successfully
today with his daughter Allison in
addition to his professional career
Kelly has modeled the way as a
successful philanthropist including
service as
chairman for the Iowa State University
and the University of Florida
foundations for the pi Kappa Phi
Foundation and creating the top ranked
Kelley a Bergstrom real estate Center at
the University of Florida on a personal
note I have known Kelley for 28 years
dating back to when I met him after
joining the Alpha Omicron chapter in
1992 Kelley is a mentor a brother and a
friend and I am so appreciative of the
time he gives to me to many others and
to nonprofit and educational
organizations across the country it is
my honor to announce Kelley Bergstrom as
one of our 2020 Hall of Fame inductees
congratulations brother Bergstrom for 35
years durwood Olin was recognized and
respected throughout the Greek world as
a top fraternity executive in an inter
fraternal thought leader he served as
president of two major inner fraternal
organizations those being the fraternity
executives Association and the
fraternity communications Association he
created fi PG a risk management
association and the fraternity risk
management trust an inner fraternal
captive insurance company durwood is
considered a legend by many longtime
inter paternal leaders and the impact
that he has left not only on pi Kappa
Phi but the entire inner fraternal world
is astonishing he has done so much to
benefit our great fraternity and only
more firmly solidifies his standing in
the annals of pi Kappa Phi history
durwood is in a class of his own when it
comes to his successes and
accomplishments as a fraternity
executive Durbin we are eternally
grateful for all that you have done to
care for and build the inner fraternity
industry pi Kappa Phi and the impact
that you've made on thousands of
brothers as an executive director
executive director emeritus please join
me in congratulating our 2020 Hall of
Fame inductee brother durwood Owen the
mr. pi Kappa Phi award is the highest
honor that is bestowed upon a member of
this fraternity 55 brothers have
received the mr. pi Kappa Phi award
including Kelley Bergstrom and durwood
Olin previously mentioned as our newest
Hall of Fame inductees having served as
chapter Archon area governor national
president chairman of the pi Kappa Phi
Foundation and in many other roles
throughout pi Kappa Phi this year's
recipient has displayed a lifetime of
service and dedication to our fraternity
and in each role he fulfilled the list
of accomplishments are significant as
the chairman of the pi Kappa Phi
Foundation Jon chaired the largest and
most successful fundraising campaign in
our organization's history raising over
nine million dollars Jon went on as the
leading impetus for the make earmark
Planned Giving Campaign urging brothers
to recognize the fraternity in a legacy
gift to date the campaign has raised
over thirteen million dollars in
expected gifts from a hundred and
forty-one brothers and families these
are just a few of the significant
accomplishments in the in a lifetime of
service that Jon has made to our
fraternity I am proud to announce
brother John Andrews of the Delta Delta
chapter at Truman State University as
our mr. pi Kappa Phi 2020
congratulations John all of our award
recipients will be more formally
recognized at a future appropriate time
and this concludes our award
presentations this afternoon again I'd
like to offer a heartfelt
congratulations to all of our Award
recipients this year stick around just
after our programming and our
communications team will provide more
information on the screen about our
other summer award recipients
congratulations to every
as we get underway with our next segment
let me tell you a little bit more about
our meeting today and how your National
Council and I'd arrived at its format
with the cancellation of the in-person
meeting we realized the most essential
work our body had to accomplish and
ultimately the single item we wanted to
offer was the election of our new
officers to a pulled our normal election
pattern and term lengths of two years to
accomplish this we researched and tested
a method provided to us under the South
Carolina non profit Act using power
provided during an emergency being
amidst a global pandemic and not having
an in-person business meeting we
carefully amended the election procedure
to allow for electronic voting as you
know ballots were made available to all
members who duly registered for our
virtual experience today following the
South Carolina non profit Act and our
own existing supreme laws we were able
to propose the slate of nominees that
were put forth by our nominating
committee last fall you voted and we had
a great turnout thank you to everyone
who shouldered their full responsibility
as citizens and voted before we
announced the results of the 2020
election I'd like to recognize our
current National Council these men that
I've served with some of them for two
years and some of them for many more
have given diligently of their time
talents and resources over the past two
years during my term as national
president each man has gone above and
beyond
in helping to guide the fraternity
through extraordinary times and
circumstances I am extremely grateful
for their service to our fraternity I
would be remiss if I didn't recognize
Logan Ulrich Logan was appointed as a
student representative to the National
Council last fall and he has served as
chairman of the Council of archons he
has served this diligently by
representing the voice of our
undergraduate membership
providing advice and guidance to the
National Council into our national staff
I would like to also ask you to join me
in virtually thanking the men who have
served diligently over the past two
years as your national council I'd like
to now turn our attention to the 2020
national council election on behalf of
the credentials committee I am pleased
to report that we had a hundred and
sixty five undergraduate chapters 226
alumni members and 56 alumni chapters
and housing corporations represented in
our electronic voting process this year
collectively there were eleven thousand
four hundred votes represented in this
election
additionally we should note that
chapters who held any aged outstanding
debt to the National fraternity war had
been suspended consistent with the
fraternities Conduct code in accordance
with our supreme laws did not have their
votes counted at this time it gives me
great honor to announce to you our new
national council national president
William T Sigmund Alpha Sigma chapter
Tennessee national vice-president and a
president-elect James M Smith alpha ADA
Sanford national treasure Joseph a Brady
the third Epsilon Omicron Villanova
national secretary
Michael S boy beta ADA Florida State
University national historian David T
Corey Alpha ADA Sanford national
chaplain Andre L Turner 8 a row chapter
Texas state national Chancellor Allen P
dooster House Zeta Epsilon chapter
George Mason
it's also my pleasure to announce that
Matthew casler from the theta mu chapter
at UMass Amherst has been appointed to
serve as the Student Representative to
the National Council for the next year I
would like to offer a sincere and
resounding congratulations to all of the
newly elected members of our new
National Council to make this official
let's install them gentlemen please
raise your right hand and repeat after
me i calling your full name William
Sigmund I James - I David Torres Corey
I'm Alan - straps I Joseph Brady I Andre
Turner
I'm Michael Lloyd in accepting the
office to which I have been elected to
on the National Council of pi Kappa Phi
on solemnly pledge myself to discharge
to the best of my abilities all the
duties of this office and at all times
both by example and precept uphold the
dignity and honor of the fraternity to
be governed by its Constitution and
supreme laws faithfully to work for its
betterment and so help me God again
congratulations to our new National
Council
it now gives me great pleasure to
introduce you to our new national
president William Sigmund is poised to
be an outstanding leader of our
fraternity in addition to calling
William my fraternity brother he is a
dear friend and someone whom I consider
to be a mentor to me brothers and
friends of pi Kappa Phi I call upon our
new national president who's coming to
us from the national headquarters in
Charlotte North Carolina
brother William Sigmund national
president of pi Kappa Phi Thank You
Jeremy brothers and Friends of pi Kappa
Phi it is with great appreciation and
honor that I am called into this
leadership role of our great fraternity
we live in unusual times some would even
argue unprecedented whatever you call it
the reality is this multiple
life-altering events have converged in
the midst of vastly polarized
ideological perspectives for some this
means confusion and uncertainty as to
what to do next and truthfully all of us
are affected in some way as individuals
in our communities the companies we work
for the causes we love and that includes
pi Kappa Phi brothers friends the good
news the one thing you can be certain of
as a brotherhood we are strong enough to
thrive in any environment our motto
guden des pasa Hamas nothing shall ever
tear us asunder not only provides
comfort but it also invokes confidence
this is what fuels my certainty that we
will not only overcome these challenges
but we will look back on them years from
now as a time that made us stronger
but there's another motto I'm reminded
of that I first learned years ago as a
boy scout be prepared our road together
is a lifelong journey one that has had
and will continue to have many difficult
turns but at every level individual
chapter and so on we must recognize in
this moment that the weeks and months
ahead could offer some of the most
difficult turns we've faced in a long
long time it is in that context that for
the next few minutes I
to focus on the three key things we must
address this year as we face this
versity head-on first our undergraduate
chapters must have our full support as
they face a changing landscape on their
campuses nearly all of our chapters will
face university or state driven
limitations on how they typically
operate virtual rush deferred rush
social distancing at events reduced
housing occupancy etc aren't just
hypotheticals these are scenarios
already announced by many schools many
of our chapters are already working on
their own to adapt to these changes and
frankly we need that kind of energy to
continue and we need it from all of our
chapters but they cannot do it alone we
also need our headquarters staff board
leadership chapter volunteers and
frankly all of our alumni laser focused
on our undergraduate chapters we must
work diligently to align resources and
invest in their stability and recognize
that these efforts for some chapters
could be the difference between survival
and closure but even if all this works
out perfectly I still must appeal for
one more thing from our undergraduate
members it is critically important that
you respect and embrace the changes
occurring on your campuses I appreciate
that some of these will seem unfair
excessive or even unnecessary but please
remember these changes have been put in
place for your personal health and
safety as well as your campus community
and your loved ones but that
common-sense appeal doesn't work for you
there's another reason why this is so
important the response to kovat 19
introduces new rules into an already
hypersensitive compliance environment on
your campuses be assured this will be
another inflection point for chapter
content conduct issues at your school we
must go into this leading by good
example and expecting university
administrators will have zero tolerance
for non-compliance bottom line all this
comes back to that the stability of our
undergraduate chapters is our number one
priority if we all do our part we will
not only maintain but thrive in the face
of these challenges this leads to my
second point with our dependency on
alumni volunteers to support our
chapters we must accelerate our efforts
to engage all alumni both in support of
our
undergraduate chapters but also in
support of each other think of it like
this
we currently engage alumni in three ways
as volunteers as event participants and
as donors for many of you attending this
event today you're already engaged with
all three and I thank you for that but
unfortunately the vast majority of our
alumni are not engaged at all and that
needs to change as a vertical as I've
reflected on this I've concluded it's
probably not as hard as we think in fact
the answer likely lies more in things
we're already doing and how expand their
impact more so than it does in inventing
new things let me give you three
examples first alumni chapters we
currently have over 90 alumni chapters
and housing corporations which also
often double as an alumni chapter most
of them are already doing it the right
way some will need to improve but where
we really need to focus is on the
chapters where there is little to no
alumni engagement second chapter
volunteers some of our chapters have a
full slate of advisors others have none
every one of our undergraduate chapters
need and deserves quality advisors we
have to address that gap with urgency
and continuity and the first step is
creating transparency and accountability
around the volunteer needs and the
process for filling them bottom line our
regional and chapter volunteer structure
needs work and we need to ensure that
most important advisor roles are always
filled third virtual alumni engagement
opportunities if the kovat experience
has taught us anything we've learned we
could have meaningful engagement
virtually for example the ability
experience has conducted virtual cycle
exhibit cycling events in virtual
friendship visits pocket pride has
conducted a nationwide virtual happy
hours trivia nights etc our housing
courts and alumni chapters have
conducted virtual meetings we can easily
expand all of these ideas to other
alumni and with technology frankly we
have no excuses
bottom line we need to redouble our
efforts around alumni engagement
continuing things that are working and
fixing those that aren't the
headquarters staff and the alumni
relations Standing Committee will take
the point on this but don't wait this
can be and arguably should be organic if
you see a need or want to get more
vault please raise your hand the third
and final area of focus is very unique
to these times for the last 20 years or
so in large part that's the success and
stability of our greater fraternity has
largely been fueled by strong chapter
growth and broader alumni engagement but
with relative certainty we have entered
a different landscape one where the
direct one where the trajectory is no
longer assured in this new landscape the
impacts on how we operate how resources
are deployed and what we can afford to
do will drive changes
we must act proactively and responsibly
and every decision made
we'll begin with ensuring our member
experience continues to yield a high
return on investment brothers friends
there will be tough decisions over the
next six months or so but with the focus
on strong chapters improved alumni
engagement and ensuring the stability of
the greater fraternity
I am confident we will be stronger than
ever as we move beyond these times
before going any further there are a few
people I need to acknowledge first the
virtual nature of this event doesn't
allow us to properly recognize our
outgoing national president Jeremy
Galvan in due time we will still make
that happen but for today but for today
let me just say Jeremy well done brother
I'd also be amiss not to not thank his
family Jen Annie
Lilly and Ben none of us get to do what
we do without the support of our family
and we thank you for sharing Jeremy with
us this long to my wife Elizabeth my son
Marshall and my daughter Jordan thank
you you've loved me in spite of my bad
dad jokes and supported my many passions
with your time and involvement even when
there were probably a thousand other
things you'd rather do to my parents who
taught me that good is it the same as
great and that if life gives you lemons
make lemonade thank you to my chapter
brothers in the Alpha Sigma chapter at
the University of Tennessee you took me
in 35 years ago as a scrawny kid from
North Carolina embraced me and
ultimately gave me my first opportunity
to be a leader in our fraternity go Vols
and finally to my PI cup of five family
and it's
specially the countless volunteers and
staff I have served with and continue to
serve with thank you for continuing to
inspire commit to and believe in the
fraternity experience folks these are
difficult times difficult times require
more than just actions they require
values-based leadership and when our
values drive our actions good things
happen when they don't we are in trouble
but we know this we've done this before
the ability experience ladder of risk
mental health resources date rape
prevention we have an endless list of
programs and initiatives where pi Kappa
Phi has led with its values but we can't
look back there is always more we can do
on June 8th we released a public stating
statement regarding our position on
diversity equity and inclusion now I
want to be clear the expectations in
this statement were not new but if we
are to be true to our values there are
times where we must say them again
sometimes our brothers need to hear us
say it again in folks saying it is the
easy part in the days that follow the
statement social media post and email
response is varied some were supportive
some wonder what took us so long some
criticized the narrowness of the message
and painfully a few a few were fueled by
hate hate not directed at Jeremy mark or
me the signers of the message but hate
directed at our black brothers the ones
who needed our support the most in that
moment as I reflected on all of the
responses good and bad I was immediately
drawn to our ritual just as we are on a
journey today our ritual takes us
through a journey we learn lessons we
are taught that we can depend on our
brothers in times of need we are taught
to guide assist and defend every brother
of pi Kappa Phi we learned that our
shared values are the foundation of our
Brotherhood but beyond these lessons and
probably more importantly there's an
oath we all take an oath to affirm those
lessons for the whole of our life folks
our oath is our oath and if we don't
treat every brother of pi Kappa Phi with
dignity and respect
if we don't try to understand and
embrace each other regardless of race
religion ethnicity ability sexual
orientation HIV HIV status regardless of
whether we're from the Alpha associate
chapter or a Kappa Epsilon chapter or
any chapter in between or for that
matter anything else that makes us
different the reality we will be torn
apart said another way our values and
the motto we so Revere will be
meaningless brothers this is not easy
and I don't pretend to have the answers
what I do know is that we can't ignore
this the larger society around us is
infected by instincts traditions and
learn behaviors that exclude based on
differences but as a brotherhood we
can't embrace our differences and all we
have to do is what we've always done
before lead in our statement of June 8th
we announced several actions that we are
moving forward with this starts with the
appointment of our brother James Dukes
ADA PI chapter at Coastal Carolina
University as the chairman of our new
national Standing Committee on diversity
equity and inclusion there will be so
much more to follow if you hear nothing
else remember this leaders act with
intention and purpose just saying what
needs to be said isn't enough we must do
what needs to be done and lead the way
pi caps
know how to lead with our values and our
actions so I'll close with this as an
organization our stated vision is this a
future where every pi Kappa Phi embraces
his role as a leader but service before
self and improves the world around him
as much as this vision is for our
Brotherhood it is also called action for
every single one of us it's also a call
for self-reflection
and it called a lead a few months ago I
read a book by brené Brown she has spent
the entirety of her career studying the
concepts of courage vulnerability shame
and empathy as I read braving the
wilderness the quest for true belonging
and the courage to stand alone I was
drawn to her contrast of true belonging
verse just fitting in and then something
hit me our fraternity needs strong
chapters we need committed alumni but
above all else we need men who represent
our values every day of their life and
are willing to stand alone to defend
those values I fear sometimes in our
efforts
build strong groups we lose ourselves
and too often fail the test when we need
to have the courage to stand alone
simply put too often we create a culture
where it's better for our brothers to
just fit in
we can't just settle for fitting in we
must strive to create a Brotherhood
experience where we can all truly belong
that sense of belonging means I can
bring my whole self to my pi Kappa Phi
experience it means I will be embraced
and encouraged as an individual to speak
up to challenge and to make things
better it means a single voice even the
voice of a guest or a new member will be
respected when they have objections to
the way we are doing things it means we
value diversity and we reject all forms
of racism hate and bigotry and finally
it means our journey never stops that
the small steps and changes we make
today will lead us to giant leaps
tomorrow with each stride getting
getting us closer and closer to
achieving our vision our vision to lead
serve and improve the world around us
brothers friends in these trying times
my wish for you more than anything is
that you remain healthy and happy I
sincerely miss seeing each of you in
person but I also know that day will
come soon enough if not before then I'm
definitely looking forward to seeing a
record number of you at our 2021 some
are alumni reunion in st. Louis and
finally it's my distinctive personal
pleasure to announce that our 57th
supreme chapter will be held in Tampa
Florida please enjoy the sneak peek of
where we'll be in 2022
behold how good and pleasant it is for
brothers to dwell together in unity on
behalf of the National Council once
again thank you for joining us this
afternoon for our first ever supreme
chapter virtual experience it was great
to have so many brothers and friends
join us today for this celebration of
fraternity I personally can't wait to
see you at the summer alumni reunion in
st. Louis next year and again in 2022
for the 57th supreme chapter meeting in
Tampa Florida before we go in case you
joined right on time at 3 o'clock today
stay on the meeting for a few minutes
afterwards to watch some closing slides
about summer Award winners save the data
announcements current volunteer
opportunities and other pi Kappa Phi
news as a reminder for our undergraduate
brothers there are regional town hall
meetings with your chapter relationship
managers coming up shortly please check
your emails for communication which
includes zoom access information as for
our new 5 members I look forward to
seeing you shortly for new 5 virtual
toasts reminder communication and zoom
access information was sent to each of
you this morning brothers as our time
today draws to a close it's just an
fitting that we invoke a blessing I
would like to invite you to bow your
head with me once more as we pray
Almighty Archon and Heavenly Father we
gathered this afternoon with heartfelt
thanks thank you for giving us the
blessing and opportunity to be here
together in fellowship and in
brotherhood with this court's
surrounding us fill in our country and
our world we asked you to be our guide
in everything that we do we asked you to
stir our hearts today and put our body
of brotherhood into action may the men
of Pike amplify go out and have a
positive impact for the betterment of
our communities I mean that positive
impact spread throughout the United
States
the rest of the world may the guidance
of protection of the almighty Archon be
with us until we meet again Amen god
bless our fraternity
you
