Kappa Alpha Order - University of Texas

T he Omicron Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order continues to excel in scholarship, leadership, service, and gentility. This past summer, we had an excellent recruitment and competed with FIJI, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Texas Rho (formerly Sigma Alpha Epsilon) for potential new members. With the addition of 43 new members, our chapter now stands at 175 members. We kicked off our semester with an alumni brunch at the KA Manor when the Texas foot- ball team played host to USC on September 15. Our members were extremely excited to have the opportunity to meet with alumni and share stories of what KA has meant to them. We thank all alumni who had the opportunity to make it out, and look forward to seeing you in the future. Socially, we are improving as well. Last semes- ter, we threw three large-scale parties—all of which went very well. This culminated in our Rose Ball date event, where chapter members, their dates, alumni, and parents all had the op- portunity to enjoy our Southern Belle presen- tation and end-of-the-year chapter awards and speeches. Additionally, this semester we are proud to have six chapter members in both the Texas Cowboys and Silver Spurs. With regard to scholarship, our chapter has seen incredible improvement over the past four years. When I was a pledge, KA was ranked 18th of 26 chapters on campus in grade point average. The past two semesters, we've been ranked fifth in the fall 2017 and fourth in spring 2018 with a GPA of 3.39. We are excited to improve our standing within these rankings. This semester has also marked the return of a special set of KA Omicron memorabilia to the Manor. Last semester, the executive board had the opportunity to meet with Clyde R. Little- field '50 on multiple occasions. Sadly, our re- lationship with Mr. Littlefield was short-lived, as he entered Chapter Eternal in May. However, Clyde was kind enough to return to us the crest and letters which hung above the front door of the Manor for so many years. We are extremely grateful for his commitment to our chapter. Lastly, I would like to thank all alumni who have donated to our campaign thus far. This past summer, the housing corporation completed the third stage of their renovations to the Manor. The chapter is extremely grateful for these improve- ments as they have made the Manor a far more enjoyable place to eat, sleep, and study. We wel- come all alumni to come by at any point to en- gage with chapter members and see the improve- ments to the house. Fraternally, Will Furst '15 Chapter President (512) 327-8778 wrfurst@gmail.com Progress Aplenty Being Made in Omicron Chapter Undergraduates Grateful for Alumni Support 4 OMICRON UPDATE Left: The executive officers gather for a photo at the most recent Kappa Alpha province council. The Omicron Chapter received two awards for academic excellence in 2017. Above: Nick Baker '15, John Cannata '15, Maks Gerner '15, Will Furst '15, and Ryan Markus '17 stand outside our spring blood drive that had more than 70 partici- pants—including members from several sororities. CHAPTER OFFICERS Number I (President) Will Furst '15 Number II (Vice President) Kerry Callender '15 Number III (Recording Secretary) John Cannata '15 Number IV (Recruitment Chairman) Bennett Sipple '15 Number V (Alumni Relations Chairman) Collins Meier '15 Number VI (Treasurer) Reed Giesinger '15 Number VII (Risk Management Chairman) Maverick Terry '15 Number VIII (Judicial Chairman) Marshall Grant '15 Number IX (Marshal/Southern Belle Chairman) Caden DiGiovanni '16

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