Update from Gary (1/25/12)
Dear alumni members and veteran actives:
Good morning. I mentioned in my previous email I would provide one more quick update on the chapter as information became available.
Some of you are aware, we had a fantastic initiation ceremony last weekend. We added twenty-three new actives. Our current active roster stands at 85 members, which includes a couple of our 5th year seniors.
We are continuing to compile any grade changes from the fall with the hope we will exceed a 3.0 for the chapter. Grade changes are due by the end of January. Regardless, we should finish the semester still in the number one spot. After compiling the member cumulative grades, I am excited to report we currently have 51 members with a cumulative GPA at 3.0 or higher. If we were to have our annual academic dinner this semester instead of the fall, I am not sure where Brownstones would seat everyone. Last fall, we had 34 men eligible to attend. Congratulations to the men of Theta Alpha!!! I am hopeful we will still have this issue to deal with this October…
Two weeks ago the executive members of the chapter attended the mid-year leadership conference in Dallas. The chapter came home with so much “hardware” in the form of bowls and plaques, we once again found it difficult to find a location in the house to display everything. We had two members (Brady Mitchell and Chris Brewer) complete the certified ritualist program. Following Sunday nights formal meeting, Chris and Brady did an amazing job explaining the ritual of initiation. The other area that received a great deal of attention was the chapter’s support of the Red Rose Society. I believe if PKP had their preference, every chapter in the nation would model their program after that of Theta Alpha. The national office is that impressed. We know it is a fantastic program and the group of moms and female family members has been one of the best things to happen to our chapter. I cannot thank Richelle Peterson enough for her leadership in the creation of this group. For this semester, the group has scheduled an induction for new members for late February and have already committed to handling the food for the chapter’s empathy dinner during No Boundaries Week as well as for any alumni event we schedule. I know our Historian, Kevin Buckley, is working on an activity for the spring. It is an important year we celebrate having completed the Greek alphabet with classes. Spring’s class will be Alpha Alpha.
I am pleased to report the University has completed the hiring of a consultant who will be working with the fraternity system on the development of a plan for new fraternity houses. Fred Pierce is located in California and has seen to completion the new fraternity system at San Diego State University and is currently working with Bowling Green State University in their development of new fraternities. Plans are to have Fred in Hattiesburg at the end of February for his first formal visit. He will work with the University constituents in the process of focus groups, financing, and construction. It is beginning to seem like “happy days are here”. I will keep you posted on future developments.
Well, this has ended up being a little longer than I anticipated, but as always we are just so proud of our chapter’s achievements it is difficult not to want to share it all. Thanks to all of you for your continued support. I truly appreciate all the nice comments you send. Again, as always, I am the one honored to have the opportunity to be associated with such a remarkable fraternity.
Fraternally,
Gary
Keenan Dollar Elected New IFC President
 Congratulations go to Keenan on being the first Theta Alpha to be elected IFC President at Southern Miss. Keenan is a Senior Public Relations Major from Wilmer, Alabama. He also played a key role as an Intern for Toby Barker's re-election campaign. We know he'll do good things for the IFC, Greek Life, and USM.
New Active EC & Other Things
Here are some more updates on the students.
A new Executive Council was elected and they're the following:
- Cully Leist - Archon
- Will Craft - Vice Archon
- Johnathan Faler - Treasurer
- Elliot Harper - Secretary
- Brady Mitchell - Warden
- Kevin Buckley - Historian
- Chaplain - Chris Brewer
- Push Chair - Ben Hollywood
We wish these guys well and know they'll do a fine job. We should also take a moment to thank Rudy Chopin and Carson Shoemaker for doing a very fine job and for serving our fraternity well.
Also, the actives just finished a week of fundraising for Push America. They had a profit sharing night at Caliente on Monday and Thursday Night was Push America Night at the Tavern with Theta Alpha Alumnus Glen Chandler and his band playing the event. Thanks Glen for helping...we're sure it was a worthwhile event and a lot of fun!
News from the Students
 · Updates on the Students: Bid day was this past weekend where the Omega Class was welcomed. 26 Students have signed bids this Fall and all seem to be Men of CLASS. Way to go brothers!
· Also word has it that a fourth brother has signed on for JOH 2012. This would be a first for four at one time...so I hope you'll consider helping our younger brothers with their fundraising as well as words of encouragement.
From Gary Kimble
 · The fall semester is off to a great start. The guys have already signed more recruits than anyone else and the quality seems outstanding. I am really excited about maintaining the high standards we have and our growth. We are hoping for a good 25-28 man associate class.
· Speaking of associate classes, this will be the final class for our chapter in the Greek alphabet, Omega Class. The chapter is really excited to have finally made it through the Greek letters and they are actually talking about a way to celebrate or commemorate the occasion. They have discussed inviting one member of every former class to help with January’s initiation or just an event this spring. It is quite a milestone. Ideas are very welcome and know, they are truly just in the beginning stages of generating ideas
· The chapter won the highest grades recognition for the spring and the only fraternity over a cumulative 3.0
· We will have our 4th academic dinner on October 25 at Brownstones. We have grown during the past four years from 22 to 26 to 28 to 35 this year. This represents about 56% of the chapter but when you figure everyone above a 2.75 gpa, the percentage of the chapter is like 76%. This event is sponsors mostly by parent contributions. Anyone interested in donating to the event is encouraged
· We had 2 men ride in the Journey of Hope and have 3 accepted for next summer: Jonathan Faler, Kalen Kenney, and Robby Smith.
· By December, we will have exceeded our goal of $10,000 for the PKP Foundation Chapter Investment Fund and be in the position to offer our first “grant” to a deserving member or for some positive use (student conference, etc). I cannot thank everyone enough for their contributions. As I have heard though from the PKP Foundation, the CIF is a fund which needs to have a good stream of donations to benefit the chapter even more for the long term
· The group of alumni and active members from all chapters met throughout last year talking about new fraternity houses. Everyone is pretty excited but the University has maxed out on its ability to borrow or mortgage any new property. Thus we have been seeking private sources or a combination of private/public/national offices route. We met this summer with a consultant of a private company out of California who has designed and help build new fraternity systems at San Diego State and Bowling Green, Ohio. We are continuing to consult with him for recommendations. It would be a great deal for him as the University could guarantee occupancy so he would be guaranteed his revenue. I am really hopeful we can finalize this for the upcoming year. The University is really hoping for some new houses by 2014 so we really need to work quickly to stay on this schedule. Pi Kappa Phi has more than twice the membership of any other fraternity on the campus
Report from Gary Kimble, Faculty Advisor
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