Despite the inarguable 'weirdness' of Homecoming, it was still invigorating to be at the house and catch up with the brotherhood. The Alpha Theta meeting was a good one, albeit a bit long. But you know, I'm sure that was driven by the passion and focus of the committed alumni who love the house and are working hard towards our shared goal: To bring back the active Pi Kappa Alpha chapter to Cornell University in 2012.
The Pi Kappa Alpha House Will Return to CornellWe're at that point now where we have a strong core of brothers committed to getting the house back on campus. And they're all working well with both the University and the Pi Kappa Alpha national organization to ensure that this gets done in the right way.
It's not easy and it's not quick. We'll get into it more soon, but in a nutshell we're now on track to colonize next year. Hats off to the Alumni Advisory Group (AAG), who have devoted so much time and effort to navigating the treacherous waters during these times of unclarity on a campus that has been rocked by recent tragic events.
The Brotherhood at its BestElsewhere in this issue you'll read all about Zulufest 2011. This incredible gathering was designed to celebrate the life of Jeff (Zulu) Rosenberg, taken from his family, and us, much too soon. I kind of think that Jeff and Gibber were sitting up there in heaven, momentarily interrupting their weekly bridge game with the angels and saints or whomever, and peered over a cloud's edge to smile at the friendships and fun that live on. The Zulufest, wonderfully organized by Jeff Lowe and his team, was to the me the perfect example of what this all means and what it can become.
This Old HouseI'm sure you're curious how the physical house holding up. The answer is an upbeat pretty good. We've fully rented out the house to boarders and we're appreciative of the gentle living style that they enjoy. Ricky Cháchra, the house manager, has been doing an especially great job of keeping everything moving in the right direction.
And when you're next in Ithaca, please do stop by, say hi and take a look around. You might not be able to go into your old room during this rental phase, but all brothers are always welcome to visit and spend time in the common areas. I think you'll be happy with what you see.
However, after much consideration, I want to be forthcoming about our financial needs. The rents we collect from out tenants are enough to cover our property taxes, utilities, insurance and a small amount of routine maintenance expenses due to normal wear and tear. We do not collect enough money to comfortably handle major repairs that are all too frequent with a 100 year old building. We were hoping to begin to build a small cash reserve for larger expenses this year but the boiler failed prematurely and had to be replaced at a cost of $15,000. So, we’re not going to be able to save any money this year. The exterior of the building has some significant sections of rotted wood and failing stucco that need repair, followed by a paint job. The estimated cost for this is about $65,000.
It’s never the perfect time to ask for help. Certainly not now. Many of us have lost large sums of money with our investments, many of us own properties that are under water, some of us with many years of our careers ahead are without work and a great many of our alumni have children in college.
When Beta Theta chapter is reestablished and shows the signs of vitality that we all hope for, we envision a capital campaign to renovate the property on a grand scale and to create perhaps a scholastic endowment among other things. But, that is in the future.
If any alumnus is truly in a position to help with a portion of our $65,000 current repair and maintenance need, please let me know. It is deep generosity to give to a much needed but non-glamorous cause.
Committed AlumniThis year several alumni attended Pike University. A report is filed in this issue. The good news is that this just highlights the continued level of alumni commitment and our ongoing, ever-strengthening partnership with National.
Don't Be ShyAnd especially during these times, if you have any questions or issues about the house, or any good ideas that you'd like to share, I'd urge you not to hesitate to reach out to me. We've got a ways to go before we jumpstart Beta Theta 2.0, but we're already pretty excited.
We as Pikes know that the Cornell Greek community is one of the best in the nation. Our brotherhood prospered at 17 South Avenue, building lifelong friendships, incredible, if not indelible, memories, and enhanced social and professional skills and networks. We want to pass this legacy on to future brothers by restoring Beta Theta to Cornell. To achieve this goal, we must appreciate that Cornell's Greek community is facing the same risks from high risk drinking and dangerous membership practices that caused our chapter to lose its status. To rejoin this community, we need to understand and respond to these challenges.
The February death of George Desdunes, an SAE brother, in "a hazing episode that included mock kidnapping, ritualized drinking and coerced drinking", was a tragedy that shocked the Cornell Greek system to its core. In response, Cornell's first response was to accelerate already planned changes to the Fraternity and Sorority Recognition Policy. The two principal changes to the policy were: (1) restrictions on Greek interaction with freshmen in the first quarter of the academic year; and, (2) a prohibition on freshmen attending Greek social events where alcohol is served prior to their becoming full members. President Skorton announced the second response in a NY Times Op-Ed in August 2011 titled "A Pledge to End Fraternity Hazing". In his Op-Ed, President Skorton stated that the fraternity system continues to foster hazing through "pledging" - which he defined as "the performance of demeaning or dangerous acts as a condition of membership" - and that it must stop. He encouraged fraternity and sorority chapters to suggest alternatives for inducting new members.
A working group was assembled to respond to Skorton's challenge on behalf of the entire Greek community. Greek undergraduate (IFC, PHC and MGLC) and alumni leaders (AIFC, APHC and AMGLC), Travis Apgar and Kara Miller of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, and representatives of the faculty and international fraternal organizations comprise this working group. The group is developing recommendations this year that will be implemented during the 2012-2013 academic year. As a member of the Alumni Interfraternity Council (AIFC), I joined the working group and was asked to serve as co-chair with Corinna Romantic, '12, the current undergraduate Panhel president.
To kick start our efforts, we are undertaking a number of projects - defining hazing and pledging, researching past efforts to eliminate hazing, interviewing/surveying key constituencies and subject matter experts, collecting best practice models, developing communication protocols, and examining approaches to implementing cultural change. We are looking forward to learning more about our subject before beginning to construct and recommend reforms.
Our challenge is fairly simple in my opinion. We need to welcome new members on the basis that you do not need to intimidate or humiliate people in order to form strong relationships. If we embrace this view, we can achieve our objective of restoring PiKA at Cornell.
Nearly forty Cornell Pikes gathered at Citi Field in New York to watch the Mets beat the Phillies and celebrate the memory of classmate and fraternity brother Jeff 'Zulu' Rosenberg. Zulu passed away one year earlier on September 17, 2010, after waging an epic battle with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare form of bile duct cancer. Joining the Pikes were Jeff’s wife, Coleen Price Rosenberg, their daughter Gracie and twin sons Grant and Bradley, and other family members and friends. Originally diagnosed with the disease on June 24, 2008, Jeff was expected to live only 6-8 months. Not satisfied with that prediction, however, Jeff and his family fought the disease valiantly for over two years.
Jeff graduated from Cornell in 1986. Following his graduation from Cornell, Jeff attended Albany Law School, where he served as Executive Editor of the Albany Law Review. He was an associate with Dewey Ballantine and later Hunton & Williams in New York and London, before moving down to Georgia to continue his law practice and later serve as General Counsel of several companies, his last position as Vice President and General Counsel with SecureWorks, an information security company. He served as President of his Pledge Class.
Known throughout his years at Cornell as 'Zulu', Jeff was a larger than life figure who was passionate about many things, most notably his family, his fraternity, his alma mater and the Mets. This year’s celebration, dubbed Zulufest, brought together friends and fraternity brothers from across the country, many who had not seen each other in over twenty years, with a goal of raising money for his children’s college education.
Plans are already underway for Zulufest 2012. “Jeff was a great Cornellian and a great Pike, and nothing would have made him happier than to see his classmates come together for something fun,” said Jeff Lowe ‘86 , the event organizer. Pikes present included Ed Catto ‘85, Adam Ratner ‘87, Dave Fagan ‘87, Jeff Schwartz ‘87, Barry Lawrence ‘84, Jon Kaiden ‘88, Dave Bloom ‘85, Hans Rempel ‘85, Brett Nussbaum ‘87, Steve Bloom ‘85, Jim Miller ‘88, Mark Martin ‘85, Casey Sayre ‘83, Rob Erlichman ‘87, Bill Page ‘85, Bill Dinan ‘83, Dave Zodikoff ‘86, Kevin O’Connell ‘85, Bob Forness ‘87, Paul Wessel ‘83, Mike McCoy ‘84, Mike Greenberg ‘85, Jon Flaks ‘86, Jeff Horowitz ‘86, and Marc Rockford ’82.
Beta Theta was well-represented at Pike University in New Brunswick NJ on the weekend of November 4th & 5th. Bob Forness '87, Tom Helfrich '64, Ralph Oliver '76, and Tom Sporney '75 attended the volunteer/alumni education track presented.
Discussion sessions included
The weekend concluded with Bob, Ralph & Tom S. recounting Beta Theta memories to Towson & Maryland undergrads, and performing a rousing rendition of Itsy Bitsy Spider to Executive Vice President Justin Buck, Supreme Council, and MHQ staff in the Hyatt bar. Bruce Wolfson [Beta Pi - Penn] was not amused.
Following Homecoming, Alpha Theta representatives spoke with Director of Expansion Dan Stockton in October regarding upcoming plans for colonization. This would include an initial trip(s) that may include any of these possibilities:
Headquarters staff is hosting a small dinner at a conference in St. Louis at the end of November. Dan has invited Travis Apgar, Kent Hubbell, Kara Miller, and anyone else from Cornell who will be in attendance. MHQ will also be attending a meeting hosted by Cornell at the same conference. Dan is confident that meeting will provide a few more details and, more than likely, will allow us to follow up and set a date to meet in the spring.
At present, it is unknown whether colonization will commence mid-semester fall 2012, or spring 2013.
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Updated Alumni Notes
Stag Lake invitations were embellished with a poem this year to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the annual Independence Day & Boat Race Extravaganza.
Dennis Arndorf '75, Chip Baines '78, Chuck Baker '75, Joe Fiteni '76, Barry Marcus '75, Ralph Olivier '76, Tom Sporney '75 and wives were guests of Justus "Don't need no stinkin' Facebook" vonLengerke for the party on July 2nd. Interest in the 5th Lager Cup seems to be waning after five years, so rumours swirled about new rules for next year.
The mid-Atlantic contingent crashed Doug Sacha's parents' house in Severna Park for brew & grille on Saturday July 9th, to catch Doug '76 on his way back to Cincinnati from holiday at Virginia Beach. Arnsdorf, Olivier, Sporney & their better halves heard stories about things that never happened many years ago. The obligatory photo of napping Arnsdorf was taken.
Paul S. Ostrowski '75
April 9, 2011
Eugene M. Spalding '69
March 11, 2011
Rogers Thackaberry '47
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