Phi Kappa Psi - University of Michigan

THE SOPHON Michigan Alpha Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi University of Michigan Winter 2023 A Fraternal Franchiser Blake Martin '92 on Business and Brotherhood P hi Kappa Psi offers young men the chance to seek more—more friendships, more responsibilities, and more experiences that last a lifetime. Blake Martin '92 hoped to make more connections on campus, and Michigan Alpha provided an experience greater than he ever imagined. GrowinG the Brotherhood Blake became very involved with Michigan Alpha operations as an undergraduate, including serving as recruitment chairman, helping with initiation events, and working on various committees. Going out of his way to help the chapter served him well as Blake prepared for his career path after college. estaBlishinG Business After college, Blake utilized his newly developed leadership skills as he led a startup for home care in Detroit. The company grew into a franchise, leading to Blake spending nearly two decades in an executive leadership position. He also began a franchise named FranNet of the Heartland, helping entrepreneurs find their footing in business ownership opportunities in Nebraska and Western Iowa. WHO WE ARE Our beloved fraternity has a climate of respect for individual liberties. Brothers should represent Phi Kappa Psi and conduct ourselves so as to bring respect and honor to not only us alone, but also to our fraternity. Each day offers us new opportunities and possibilities for improving the way we council and guide our brothers and give aid to all who are less fortunate. We should continue to remember that loyalty to our fraternity should not weaken loyalty to our college or to our country. WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING This past year, our Housing Corporation was successful in recertifying our residence for occupancy, updating the bathroom basement, and providing various repairs to the house throughout the year. Wolverine Scholarships have been provided to two of our students for academic success (see the box to the right). The football season progressed with a Big Ten Championship win over Purdue and an admirable defeat against TCU in the college football playoff. We are looking forward to another successful basketball season too. WHERE WE ARE HEADING Michigan Alpha maintains strong relations with the national fraternity and looks forward to continued participation with national programming and alumni. We will be hosting a virtual Founders' Day event this year, which will hopefully be the last year we host separately, considering the pandemic concerns of the last two years. Please reach out or post to our Facebook group if you have a great idea for engagement with the chapter or if you need support in any way. Finally, I call for us to revisit what has made our noble fraternity successful in the past. Let us foster what our creed and culture mean to us as we identify strategies to improve our chapter housing and standing with the university. I call for us to return to our values as described in our Red Manual provided by the national fraternity and to strive for noble perfection. In the Bond, Daniel Adsit '11 Housing Corporation Treasurer Liberty, Equity, and Fraternity T he Wolverine Scholarship is awarded each semester for academic achievement. Each winner is a brother in good standing who earned a GPA of 3.5 or above in the previous semester. Congratulations to each brothers' success! Parker Lynch '20 is a senior studying economics with a minor in entrepreneurship. After graduation, he will be working in New York City for a commercial real estate lending company. Ryan Mulliken '21 is a junior and the outgoing president of ΦΚΨ. Ryan plans to study abroad for the second semester, and he looks to have a government internship this summer in Washington, D.C. Winter Wolverine Scholarships Recognizing HaRd WoRk The opportunity to lead a group of peers, the need to make public presentations for these roles, and experience with making decisions that impacted others really did help me a lot more than any single academic class when I entered the business world. (Continued on page 3) Striving for a Better Brotherhood

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