Beta Theta Pi - University of Wisconsin

ALPHA PILOT Alpha Pi Chapter of Beta Theta Pi at the University of Wisconsin FALL 2021 THE T his Alpha Pilot highlights the tremendous progress of our capital campaign. It also recognizes that the transformation of Alpha Pi has been about much more than raising money to restore our beloved 95-year-old chapter house. Will Paulson '23 spotlights a chapter of young men we can all be proud of. Max Lord '07 discusses the proactive governance and accountability changes that have been made to support the sustainability of Alpha Pi Chapter. Please note, many of these changes were designed to promote strong financial stewardship and ensure your donations have a lasting impact. For my section, I will focus on the investments we have made and would like to make going forward. With over 250 contributors through September, we have already more than doubled our next-best campaign. Thanks to your support and the ongoing efforts of 20 solicitors, the Preservation of the Alpha Pi House campaign has already raised nearly $1.3 million. By the year's end, we will have completed several renovation projects, made major safety and security upgrades, and overhauled the entire HVAC system. Included in the many improvements already completed are upgraded bathrooms, a new boiler and furnace, the addition of a gym, the first-floor restroom and attic apartment, and numerous upgrades to the basement and first floor. The remaining long-term building/renovation projects highlighted in our strategic facility assessment by Potter Lawson are within our reach. With your help we would like to: • Complete masonry and window repairs and replace the existing vinyl flooring on the first floor with something more in line with the historical character of the building. • Reconstruct the original lakeside veranda and provide additional doorways to outdoor terrace from living and dining spaces, per the original design. • Restore the penthouse so it is once again the focal point it was designed to be. We are within $200,000 of the goal we first announced at the Spring Jubilee in 2019. Whether you are topping off your original pledge or pledging for the first time, every gift is critical regardless of the size. Seeing the early success of the effort Sam Haack '19 initiated with young Betas has been especially inspiring. Let me know if there are any brothers we may have missed that you would like us to contact, or use this opportunity to reach out and encourage their participation yourself! Please be sure to join fellow alumni and actives at Homecoming on Oct. 30, to see the changes in our home and feel the renewed spirit of Alpha Pi. If you can't make it, there will be several other open house opportunities this fall, including alumni-sponsored gatherings for home football games versus Michigan, Northwestern, and Nebraska. We have also highlighted "before and after" pictures on our alumni website at betawisconsin.org (event photos will be posted there as well). Damn glad to be a Beta! Yours in _kai_, Bart J. Kocha, #1613, UW 1980 Campaign Chairman (262) 210-7035 | blocha@wi.rr.com THE PRESERVATION OF THE ALPHA PI CHAPTER HOUSE Strategic Investments, Strong Governance, and Impressive Young Men I n January 1968 during a ski trip with their Alpha Pi brothers, Ted Kellner '69 and James Pearce '68 came up with a way to keep a terrific group of fraternity brothers together for a lifetime. Their plan was to create a fund—the Beta Fund—that would financially link their future together. Little did they know, their idea would still be going strong over 53 years later. Clyde Robinson '68 remembers receiving a letter from Ted the following year that said, "We have started the Beta Fund—send me a check for $500 and when Pearce finishes his law and MBA program at Stanford, he will draft the necessary documents to make it official." The Inception of the Beta Fund How These Brothers Have Stayed Connected over Five Decades (Continued on page 3) Beta Fund members meet for a convention.

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