Phi Kappa Theta - Iowa State University

FKQ CLONE PHI KAPPA THETA FRATERNITY n IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY n SPRING 2018 Iowa Xi on the Path to Success Undergraduates, We're Proud of You! H appy spring, Iowa Xi brothers! The Iowa Xi chapter members have been rocking it since the renovation took place. The chapter has seen a huge increase in mem- bership and participation in the Greek community, and new scholarship efforts are yielding success. The chapter earned a cumulative fall GPA of 3.13 with a 53-man roster! This led to 13th place in the IFC academic rankings and a 0.35 bump since this point last year. We'd like to give a special thanks to Jenny Gibbs, Iowa Xi's facul- ty advisor, for helping set a clear path and individual goals for each member in the house to follow. Jenny has been an extraordinary re- source, and we would not be where we are now without her. We also appreciate Davis Arbogast '18, fall chapter president, and Kyle Bergstrom '19, fall scholarship chairman, for righting the ship into a productive direction. It has been great to see the un- dergraduates match the enthusiasm for Iowa Xi that has been shown by all of the alumni support over the last sever- al years. Your contributions to the capital campaign, inter- net connectivity project, and of your time have been vital in attaining the success the chapter has reached. We are looking forward to another strong semester by the undergraduates, and your continued support is greatly ap- preciated. We hope you have a joyous summer. Fraternally, Clayton Short '15 Alumni Corporate Board, Alumni Relations Chairman ccshort@alumni.iastate.edu / (651) 440-4059 W hen Dave Feely '08 joined Phi Kappa Theta, the chapter had a mere 14 brothers, seven of whom were associate members. "I joined because it was a smaller fraternity at the time and I liked the guys I met. I stayed a part of the brotherhood because the chapter was beginning to change and really thrive." By Dave's graduation, the house was nearly at capacity. His experiences with the brothers of Iowa Xi taught him valuable lessons for life beyond the classroom. As a junior and senior, Dave was chapter president. His fondest mem- ories of living in the house include pairing up with other chapters for Greek Week and Homecoming, as well as one fall during which they tore out rotten wood from the back room in the basement of the house and filled it with sand from a prior beach party. "That was a lot of hard work," Dave recalls, "but we had a ton of fun and accomplished a great deal that day." Dave graduated from Iowa State with a bachelor's in electrical en- gineering and currently works as an integration and test engineer for General Dynamics. He originally interned at a defense company and worked for several different companies throughout his career. Dave encourages Iowa Xi undergraduates and younger alumni to "keep on keeping on" in their professional lives—in other words, not to get discouraged if they don't love their first few jobs. "Keep on looking for a good fit for you," he advises. "If you graduated from Iowa State, you will have plenty of opportunities and you'll be well prepared." Staying involved with Iowa Xi con- tinues to be a prior- ity for Dave. In the past, he served as an alumni advisor for Iowa Xi and contin- ues to stop by the chapter house every now and then to talk about his experiences. "My time in Phi Kappa Theta helped me learn to work with the same peo- ple every day, trying to accomplish lofty goals," Dave said. "It taught me how to deal with people who see things differently than I do, and how to handle confrontations so that everyone can keep working to- gether." Dave also meets up with brothers in the Twin Cities every now and then and tries to attend the yearly golf outing regularly. He regularly stays in touch with Greg Stein '72, an alumni mentor from his time as an undergraduate. "Greg still has a way of helping me see the forest for the trees and not losing sight of the bigger picture," Dave says. "He's had a tremendous, positive impact on me." Dave met his wife, Monica, long after graduating. They live in Burns- ville, Minn., with their 6-year-old daughter, Lois. Dave enjoys playing basketball in his spare time, as well as spending time with family play- ing board and card games. SMALL CHAPTER, BIG VALUES How Dave Feely '08 Grew alonG witH iowa Xi

• Cover