Phi Kappa Tau - Cornell University

P H I K A P PA T A U 2 I f you'd told me years ago I'd be cooking for Gordon Ramsay on national TV, I'd have chuckled and kept dicing onions. Yet here I am, reflecting on a wild ride. Food has always been my anchor, sparked by Sunday dinners with my mom in Edison, New Jersey. During the pandemic, I started @chefarnav on Instagram to stay connected to that passion and was floored when people rallied behind me. That led to Fork In Road, a backyard pop-up with my family, serving global tasting menus from our makeshift kitchen. Every penny went to charities like Feeding America, showing me food's power to inspire. From there, I wrote Chef Arnav's Signature Guide to Gourmet Cooking and joined Clove 12 Restobar. Then came Next Level Chef. As the youngest contestant, I was intimidated—until Gordon picked me first. I finished seventh out of 24, earning praise for creativity and heart, fueled by my roots and grit. At Cornell, I run CENA, a student culinary venture, with my Phi Kappa Tau brothers as my biggest fans. Leading the chapter in 2024-25 taught me leadership, and their support—from taste-testing to watch parties—embodies brotherhood. With my family, friends, and fraternity behind me, I've learned you don't need a fancy kitchen to create something extraordinary, just passion and people who believe in you. In phi, Arnav Kamulkar '23 A Wild Ride W hen Edward Killam '68 started at Cornell University in the late '60s, campus and fraternity life was much different than today's social landscape. He is grateful for the comfortable home that Alpha Tau Chapter provided during his college years and has supported Phi Kappa Tau in various capacities beyond college. FRATERNITY EXPERIENCES "Fraternities initially were viewed as a housing opportunity more than anything else," Edward said. He was impressed by Phi Tau's recruitment pitch when Frank Woods '66 visited his dorm during freshman year and joined shortly after meeting brothers at the house. While executive positions were less rigid during his college years, Edward served Alpha Tau Chapter as a recruitment chairman and helped other officers and the house managers. He has vivid memories of life in the chapter house and still recalls gathering with brothers in the basement to watch the 1969 Vietnam War draft on the house's only television. PROFESSIONAL VENTURES Rather than being drafted, Edward enlisted in the United States Army, though he was quickly discharged due to a prior knee injury from high school athletics. Following his one-day Army career, he attended graduate school at Colorado State University and found a job as a CSU police officer. Edward later worked as a university police detective before moving to Aspen, where he spent years in multiple police department roles, culminating as a detective sergeant. Once the opportunity arose to begin working on private legal cases, Edward pivoted and became a forensic investigator and security consultant for four decades. He eventually earned an A.A.S degree in police science and then a master's degree in forensic anthropology from CSU. He relocated his business to Boulder, working for 25 more years before retirement. SUPPORTING PHI TAU During his time at CSU, Edward served as a resident advisor for Alpha Sigma Chapter and lived in the house in Fort Collins. Years later, while living in Boulder, he was invited to a Phi Tau gathering in Denver, where a national officer approached him about reestablishing a chapter at the University of Colorado. "I agreed to serve on the Board of Governors, which were the alumni members advising the house and helping them get rechartered," Edward mentioned. "We recruited the founding members, started having meetings, and found a temporary rental house. Eventually, we reoccupied the Psi Chapter house and were rechartered." E D WA R D K I L L A M '6 8 O N P H I TA U E X P E R I E N C E S , L I F E B E YO N D C O L L E G E Devoted to the Fraternity Edward on his way to the Aikido dojo. "Phi Kappa Tau provided a good social, personal, and professional anchor at Cornell." Edward then served on the house corporation Board of Directors as a liaison for house operations and management agents until his retirement and relocation to Michigan. While he hasn't revisited Alpha Tau since the 75th anniversary celebration in 2005, Edward has financially supported the brotherhood and enjoys staying updated on Phi Tau's thriving Cornell chapter. "I've remained relatively close with a handful of Alpha Tau brothers—one of whom I was in the freshman dorms with, one of my pledge class members, one of my roommates and the house manager. Before his passing, Warren Clark '69 was instrumental in organizing recent Zoom meetings where we had brothers reconnect." Edward currently resides north of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is married with two children. His daughter graduated from Cornell in 2008, while his son graduated from Colorado State. You can connect with him at edwardkillam0@gmail.com.

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