Pi Kappa Alpha - University of Texas

BETA MU CONTINUES TO STAND OUT ON UT CAMPUS PI KAPPA ALPHA • UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS • SPRING 2024 INSIDE: Spring 2024 Graduates • 2 A Look Back • 3 Our PIKE Scholars • 4 Alumni Profile • 6-7 T exas Pikes have concluded a terrific 2023-24 school year. The new executive council (introduced on page 4) and brothers are continually working to enhance the chapter, strengthen the brotherhood and enhance operations as the group celebrates its 104th year at Texas. The chapter is enjoying the new 2400 Leon fraternity house and is taking excellent care of the facility in its fourth year of occupancy. Members are grateful to the many PIKE alumni donors whose generosity made the new house possible. We are grateful for our alumni volunteers—big thanks to longtime chapter advisor Doug Phelan' 65 for his years of service and the recent transition to Cole Martinez '16 as the new advisor. Alumni Advisory Board Chairman J.D. Swancoat '12 and board members continue to add immensely to our overall programming. Baret Meazell '91 leads the alumni association, and Bert Dement '66 is president of Beta Mu Building Co. This school year was a successful one with various academic, brotherhood, social and service events. Beta Mu welcomed 27 members in the fall and 22 in the spring, resulting in a solid chapter of 115 members at the end of the school year. Additionally, 23 seniors graduated and departed the university; we take pride in their contributions to the chapter and wish them the best in their future endeavors. The social calendar included tailgates during football season, our traditional Texas vs. Oklahoma road trip, SWAMP Party, formals and several philanthropic projects. These endeavors raised over $10,000 for Dell Children's Medical Hospital through the official UT student charity Texas Thon Pancake Night partnership and more than $5,000 for a men's mental health charity at our Texas Throwdown PIKE/Texas Darlins-hosted basketball tournament. Furthermore, Pikes volunteered many hours by tutoring at elementary schools, serving animal shelters and participating in Texas' Greek Day of Service. We are thankful for the work of Jack Tanner '21 for the Greek community as a two-year president of the Texas Interfraternity Council. Academic performance is a priority. The UT Austin grade reports from the fall 2023 semester show Pikes averaging 3.34, with last fall's new member class carding an impressive 3.55 GPA. More than one-third of Pikes held GPAs of 3.75 or higher, and seven brothers earned perfect 4.0s. Looking ahead, Beta Mu eagerly anticipates recognition at the biannual PIKE International Convention in Oklahoma City in August. Following our success at summer's 2022 Convention in Louisville, where Beta Mu received numerous awards, including the PIKE Scholarship Award, and PIKE University awards, we aim for another outstanding showing. Beta Mu's house corporation was honored with the PIKE House of the Year Award at that Louisville Convention, and our Alumni Association was recognized as one of the top 20 national operating boards for the tenth- consecutive year. Rush remains a priority for PIKE, and we are always excited to meet new UT Austin students interested in joining PIKE's 104 years of Austin traditions. We welcome alumni rush referrals, and interested students can register for rush on the "Rush" page of texaspike.com or send a note to rush@texaspike.com. There has never been a better time to take pride in being an undergraduate or alumnus of Texas Pi Kappa Alpha. We encourage Pikes, parents and friends to visit us whenever they are in Austin. Community service is an expectation at PIKE. Thanks to these brothers for walking dogs and volunteering at the Austin Animal Center several times this year. Pikes have been active in Silver Spurs since the 1930s. Current Spurs are Conner Escobar '22, Zach Schaefer '22, Jake Bleacher '20 and Aidan Burke '20.

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