Pi Kappa Alpha - Epsilon

Delta Gamma Sorority held their 35th Annual Anchorsplash Philanthropy this week, benefiting Service for Sight. The girls raised over $22,000 throughout the course of the week through a series of different events which pitted Fraternities against each other in different competitions. Pike won first place in the "Sink the Anchor" fundraising, donating over $700 in spare change throughout the week. Pike also brought home first place in the Pool Games Competition, which was composed of a swim meet, a bellyflop contest, and synchronized swimming competition. Pike also won their 2nd consecutive Anchorsplash Talent Show; one of the biggest events held in sold-out Burruss hall each year. A video of Pike's Talent Show performance can be seen by clicking here. 

Congratulations to brothers Cory Jez, Travis Dalrymple, Dan Stevens, Scott McAlister, Caleb Sharp, Jake Boykin, Taylor Hunter, Peter Kraines, Phil Deverna, Neil Campbell, and Conor Goree, who performed in the talent show.

The Interfraternity Council of Virginia Tech, the organization that governs over 30 IFC organizations at Virginia Tech, published its year in review newsletter recently.  The Newsletter is sent around the campus and community so that everyone can see the positive impacts that Greek Organizations have in Blacksburg.  Pike stood out once again, being noted for dominance in athletics, success in philanthropies, and overall excellence as a chapter (being one of only 3 chapters to receive Academy of Excellence recognition).  

The brothers of Pi Kappa Alpha welcome in the next decade with a newly elected Executive Council. Our new President, Chris Walker, is very optimistic about the future of the Epsilon Chapter and believes we can further improve upon our already strong base over the coming semesters. The new Executive Council brings in many fresh new personalities who are eager to serve the Fraternity. The future looks bright for Pi Kappa Alpha as our Fraternity strides confidently into the Spring semester of 2010.

Nine brothers attended this summer's Pike Academy in Memphis Tennessee from July 30th through August 1st. The brothers brought home with them a wealth of knowledge that will be put to great use within the chapter during the upcoming year.

Epsilon recieved several awards at this year's conference. We recieved the Scholarship Award, International House Workday Award, 100 Man Chapter Award, The Raymond L. Orians Chapter Excellance Award, and the Chapter's Ninth consecutive Robert Adger Smythe Award. The Smythe Award is the top honor a Pi Kappa Alpha chapter can recieve. This selective and prestigious award is annually given to only 20 of the 221 chapters nationwide. We congratulate everyone for making this year such a successful one, and look forward to continuing this success.

The success from last spring's Anchorsplash routine has only gotten stronger.  Earlier in the summer the Fraternity was contacted by ESPN about performing their routine at the Official ESPYs afterparty.  More information about the ESPYs can be found HERE.  16 Brothers were flown out to Los Angeles, California in mid-July to rehearse and perform variations of their routine at Club Nokia in Downtown LA.  They performed with recording artist and performer "Tippy," as well as putting on a new routine in tribute to the late Michael Jackson.  Certainly nobody ever imagined that our routine would reach this kind of magnitude and the chapter hopes to continue their success in the coming semesters.  A video of the original Anchorsplash routine can be found HERE. Also check the Photo Gallery for pictures from the event.

Epsilon Chapter had a successful night at the 2009 Greek Awards on April 20th. At the ceremony, Pi Kappa Alpha was honored to receive the Chapter Choice Award for Fraternity Sportsmanship. We also took home Awards from the Standards of Greek Excellence including Outstanding Chapter Recruitment, Outstanding Community Relations, and the Academy of Excellence Award.

On an individual basis, a few of our members were also honored to receive recognition. Jeff Beyer made us proud by becoming the Fraternity Athlete of the Year. Matt Collette also earned recognition by becoming the VT Intramural Athlete of the Year. We are very proud of them both for their individual efforts as well as the brotherhood as a whole for earning these awards.

Pike put together a stellar performance this Thursday night to achieve first place in Delta Gamma's Anchorsplash Talent Show. Using blacklights, white jumpsuits, and a little bit of levitation our act was able to bring the sold out crowd inside Burress Hall auditorium to their feet. Twice. We are very proud all of our brothers who created and participated in this act and want to give a special shout out to Gregg Curtin and Brandon Sewell for all the work they put into making this year's act a sucess. Sewell's brother was kind enough to capture our performance in HD and the video can be seen HERE. After this monumental sucess, the brotherhood continued on to win the entire week of Anchorsplash after a successful showing at the pool games and synchronized swimming contests.  The whole brotherhood deserves a pat on the back for all the time, money, and effort that went into this week's philanthopic events. Below is a picture of our Talent Show performance.

Side Note: In July, 16 Pike Brothers traveled to Los Angeles, California to perform for the 2009 ESPY Awards VIP after-party at LA LIVE Club Nokia. ESPN provided 16 brothers with airfare, accomidations and meals for two nights. The performance was a huge success, and part of it can be seen HERE.

Pike's team won 1st place by beating out Kappa Sigma in the finals to claim this fall's IFC Volleyball Championship. Our team was able to pull off a major comeback in the 3rd game of the semi-finals returning from a 12-7 deficit to win the game 15-13 and win the overall match against Sigma Chi. Congratulations to our participating players for their hard work: Cory Jez, Jeff Beyer, Jon Kappeler, Mike Paleos, Andrew Plofchan, Jeff Jackson, John Oliver, and Elliot Freed.

Pi Kappa Alpha came out victorious for the Homecoming week competition earlier in October, as well as having the added bonus of having a Pike brother win the distinguished honor of homecoming king. We are very proud of our brother, Matt Tuttle, for his hard work in earning this title. We appreciate the help he recieved from his fellow teammates on the Varsity Football team and also the other members of the Virginia Tech campus who chose to vote for him as well.  We also extend our gratitude to the lovely ladies of Alpha Phi, without their support this week would not have been possible.