Beta Theta Pi - Purdue University

BETA MU LINK BETA MU LINK B E T A T H E T A P I A T P U R D U E U N I V E R S I T Y • W W W . P U R D U E B E T A . C O M Spring 2021 F rom the house corporation perspective, the spring semester has been a quiet one, and that's a very good thing. There have been very few COVID-19 cases (three total as of this writing—two newly initiated members not living in the house, and one brother who moved home for two weeks following his positive test). The revised procedures at Purdue have helped to avoid the whole-house quarantine that affected us twice in the fall. There were no significant symptoms of those who tested positive, thank goodness! ADHERING TO PURDUE'S COVID-19 GUIDELINES We remain connected with university officials, meeting with them regularly to make sure the Beta Mu Chapter is following the Protect Purdue guidelines. The university is facilitating vaccinations for all students this spring prior to the end of the semester, and we encouraged all brothers to do their part in this pandemic and get vaccinated. HOPEFUL OF RETURN TO NORMALCY THIS FALL The university's plans for the fall are no different than the rest of society; the goal is to try to return to life as normal as possible, but also be as safe as possible. So, it's too early to project what things will look like, including football and Homecoming, but we will keep monitoring the situation. TAKING CARE OF THE HOUSE AND EACH OTHER The house remains in good condition with only a few minor projects planned for the summer. The brothers and our maintenance contractor are taking care of the facility and maintaining high cleanliness standards, and the entire facility is being optimized for studying with social distancing in mind. SUPPORTING THE FUTURE OF BETA MU Our fundraising challenge is off to a good start, and we truly appreciate the early responses. As a reminder, the pledge class of '94-'95 is challenging the rest of us by matching any donation of $1,000 or more. Please consider joining the challenge and essentially doubling your donation! And as always, we are looking for volunteers to serve on our board. If you're interested, please contact me. Thank you for staying connected to Beta Mu Chapter! Yours in _kai_, Tom Hoover '82 Beta Mu House Corporation President thoover6060@aol.com Hope on tHe Horizon in 2021—Beta Mu Looks Forward to return to norMaLcy Matching Gift Challenge Allows Brothers to Give Back to Beta at Purdue in Bigger Way O ne day in the fall of 1967, Kevin Comer '71 was in his freshman English class when one brief conversation with Barb Blackhall Pittman would change his life forever. Barb, who later married Dave Pittman '69, asked Kevin if he was going to join a fraternity, and he was strongly considering it at the time. Barb let Dave know about Kevin's interest and the rest is history. Kevin simply couldn't say no to Dave and the Beta Mu brothers, who all shared his passion for academics and athletics. "I was taken away with what a beautiful house it was. I was told the house was going to be remodeled in the spring and summer of 1968 and the brothers were going to move temporarily into Terry Courts for the spring semester," Kevin said. "In the fall of 1968, the house would be remodeled. Most of the fraternity houses at the time had cold-air dorms, but once the Beta house was remodeled, it had individual rooms." Kevin was impressed by how Beta Mu was self-governed. And he was thankful for the opportunities to serve as vice president and kitchen steward as an undergraduate. However, that was just the beginning of Kevin's legacy of leadership at Beta Mu. He served on the Beta Mu House Corporation for nearly 40 years— most of the time as treasurer. "I feel the long-term success of our Fraternity has been due to having a very strong and active board," Kevin said. "During my time on the board, we had extremely loyal and competent board members. We spent a great deal of time raising funds from our generous and loyal alumni and regularly updated the house and made it one of the best fraternities on campus." Kevin credits the likes of Bruce White '75, Stephen Bechtel Jr. '48, William Elmore '75, John Merrell '50, Andrew Stephens '79, A Legacy of Leadership at Beta Mu Kevin Comer '71 Shares How He's Benefited from His Service to Beta (Continued on page 2)

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