Phi Kappa Psi - University of Texas

A L P H A A V A L A N C H E Page 2 Brothers enjoyed a special performance by Jerry Jeff Walker. Texas' famous mascot, Bevo, gets in on on the celebration. Bobby Baker '82, Tom Pennington '80, Bennett Grayson '81, and Spencer Stewart '91. TEXAS ALPHA GROUNDBREAKING W ow! What an amazing Grand Arc Council in Phoenix this summer. Over 600 brothers and guests focused on learning, leadership, and having a great time. It's always inspiring to see students from across the nation come together for the business of running our fraternity. As one of the few with undergraduate majority on the national board and at the convention level, Phi Psi stays attuned to the needs and concerns of students—they are the lifeblood that keeps us going! I was honored to be elected as fraternity secretary and to be able to join the board while Scott Noble '81 serves as president. It's very rare for two men from the same chapter—especially two who were undergraduates together—to serve on the executive council at the same time, but it provides an opportunity as well. I'm joining a solid team of board members who are committed to working together and to making Phi Psi a stronger organization. Brother Noble is championing some exciting new initiatives and we're looking at a number of ideas from our convention to improve current programs. You'll see some interesting changes to the risk management program, a move to consolidate chapter officer training to a central national event, initiatives to get more alumni engaged with their chapters, and ways to recognize our past GPs and military veterans, as well as improving our communications to alumni. I'm involved in legal research to see how the fraternity might be more involved in identifying internship experiences with alumni and matching undergraduates to those opportunities. Summer internships are an area of great need for students and an area where colleges and universities simply can't, or aren't, filling that need. We know Phi Psi alumni with internships to offer would prefer to hire a brother if they can, but there's not a process to make it easy. We'll know more about what we can do in early 2015. For the last 20 years it's become common for our elected board members to move up through the offices, so long as they do good work. So my commitment is really for the next eight years: if our members continue to support my service. This makes a lot more things possible, as truly transformational programs take several years to implement. The next years will be exciting ones for Phi Psi and for Texas Alpha. I look forward to meeting many of you as I travel and to seeing the new house at Texas become the model for our chapters everywhere! Amici, Tom Pennington '80 Phi Psi Fraternity Secretary Tom Pennington '80 Honored to Be Elected Phi Psi Fraternity Secretary Desmond McWhirter '93, Brant Miller '93, Mark Brady '93, Andrew Schumacher '94, Spencer Stewart '91, and Jeff Woodyard '93. A longtime Phi Psi tradition, the Wilkirson family: Dan Wilkirson '74, John Wilkirson '77, and Michael Aaron '11 surrounded by their family members. Jack Irwin '62 and Trip Ruckman '64.

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