The Upsilon Ups

Winter Edition December 2011 www.illinois-pikapps.com Pi Kappa Phi, Upsilon Chapter, University of Illinois Est. 1921

Members elect new board

Three new representatives take on leadership roles
Alumni Chapter Newsletter Chair

ALumNi BoArd 2012-2015 President

By Adam Nekola

CHICAGO - Following the Board of Directors meeting Saturday, Dec. 10, the new Alumni Chapter board appointed Gene Giannotta to continue serving as Alumni Chapter President. Giannotta (Y1030) was one of two members re-elected to the board. He and Kevin Spitz (Y1020) have served on the board since its inception in 2008. They are joined by three new members - all recent graduates of Upsilon Chapter.

Sky Opila (Y1037) and Tommy Carrato (Y1056) will serve as VicePresident and Treasurer, respectively. Both are former Archons of the undergraduate chapter. They are joined by Daniel Schriks (Y1062), who served as Push Chairman while an undergrad. A combination of experience and youth is invaluable to the Alumni Chapter right now. The excitement these new members bring is very inspiring, Giannotta said. Members are elected to at-large positions and appointed to specific offices by the board itself. Follow-

ing the general membership meeting, the board went into executive session to decide who would fill which office. Having been President for three years, Giannotta was reappointed to the post for one year. Genes done a great job. Hes the reason the Alumni Chapter has preserved to this day, Spitz said. Gene has had very good vision. He feels his work is not complete. Several new members joined in the days prior to the election, so they could participate in the vote. One of See New Board Page 4

Gene Giannotta
Vice-President

Sky Opila
Treasurer Secretary

Tommy Carrato Dan Schriks Kevin Spitz

Chaplain

PreSideNtS Letter

Each year sees Chapter improve

New Push America fundraiser planned for end of March
This has been a great year for the Upsilon Alumni Chapter and were hard at work on making 2012 even better. As we close out 2011, let me review a bit of what weve been up to and touch on our plans for next year. Our major event this past year was Upsilons 90th anniversary. We held a weekend-long event, from May 20-22, in Champaign and over thirty brothers joined us to mark the occasion. Past National President John Andrews and then-interim Chancellor Robert Easter also joined us for our banquet. Our year continued with another successful Day at the Races at Arlington Park, where about thirty alumni brothers and guests enjoyed a beautiful day of horse racing and a delicious buffet and beverage package. Homecoming was a success the Illini beat the Northwestern Wildcats in an exciting game (lets not talk about the rest of the season, though) and the chapter house was packed with brothers of all ages throughout the day. The Alumni Chapter also held its annual meetSee Letter Page 4

Happy FoundErs day

December 10, 1904

On a quiet December evening in 1904 in Charleston, S.C., three friendsAndrew Kroeg, Simon Fogarty and Harry Mixsonmade a choice to lead. Those three men chose to start their own fraternity. The three grew to seven; seven grew to eight; eight grew to 11. From the College of Charleston, they spread to nearby Presbyterian in 1907and then to California in 1909. In just over four years, Pi Kappa Phi had become a truly national fraternity. Over the course of a century, a fraternity with humble beginnings has grown into a brotherhood of more than 100,000 strongall because three men made a choice to lead. ~ From PiKapp.org

Winter Edition December 2011 www.illinois-pikapps.com

Upsilon celebrates 90 years

Alumni convene to reflect on chapters history

Pi Kappa Phi, Upsilon Chapter, University of Illinois Est. 1921

(Top) Guests greet each other at the opening of the banquet, held at Hawthorn Suites on May 21 in Champaign. (Above) Upsilon Housing Corporation President James Nelson speaks with Funmi Moka and Charles Moka (Y1029). (Right) Alumni Jacob Chodash (Y1077), Perry Chodash (Y1039), Tommy Carrato (Y1056) and Tim Lamkin (Y1017) speak prior to dinner. (Right) Guests listen as the evenings speakers deliver their thoughts.

(Top) Alumni Chapter President Gene Giannotta as the room is sat for dinner. (Above) University of Illinois theninterim Chancellor Robert Easter is entertained by Upsilon alumni Gunnar Schalin (Y541) and Joseph Stanton (Y563). (Left) Schalin delivers a speech during the evenings program. (Left) Alumni Chapter Chaplain Kevin Spitz introduces the next speaker.

Winter Edition December 2011 www.illinois-pikapps.com

Pi Kappa Phi, Upsilon Chapter, University of Illinois Est. 1921

Undergrads continue to thrive

Philanthropy highlights chapters mission
The Upsilon Chapter has continued to grow and make our name known here at the University of Illinois. One thing that makes us stand out from most chapters is Push America. Over the past year we have raised over $6,400 for Push America from our annual Camp Out on the Quad and an Empathy Dinner in the spring. Last spring we had over 100 people eat at our empathy dinner and raised over $1,200. The plans are to build off the empathy dinner in future years with additional events to create a multi-day fundraiser. This year at the Camp Out, we were able to reach our goal in just under seven days by raising $5,239. We had a great time out there this year and were graced with wonderful weather. The event also featured the new Pie a Pi Papp, which proved to be successful. This past summer Jay Chae was on the crew for Journey of Hope and has already decided he will be riding for it next year. Our continual effort for Push America makes us a top fundraising chapter every year. As our name still continues to grow on campus, so does our social calendar. This semester we had social events with all but four sororities. Although we have moved up socially, our chapter still strives for high academics. This past semester we were ranked sixth out of 45 chapters with an average of 3.25. All of these things make our house stand out in recruitment from others. Although recruitment is not quite done, we have been very satisfied with how everything has been going so far. I definitely could notice an increase of recruits who showed up because someone recommended us or they had heard good things about us. All the hard work that our brothers have put in since refounding shows because of where we are today. I would like to thank all you that have done so much for this chapter uNdergrAd BoArd 2012

ArchoNS rePort

ANNouNcemeNtS
Rick Barritt (Y1014) and Angela Simpson married on July 11, 2011. Kevin Spitz (Y1020) and Casey Roth married on Oct. 29, 2011. Sky Opila (Y1037) and Lauren Etmekjian married on Sept. 10, 2011. Alex Dierkes (Y1040) and Maggie married on July 3, 2011. Blair Schaefer (Y1016) married Amanda on June 2. Mike Reedy (Y872) and his wife Nicole welcomed their son, Luke. Gene Giannotta (Y1030) earned a Masters Degree in political science from University of Illinois at Springfield. Do you have any news to report? A new job? A baby on the way? Send us your news - wed love to fill up this column!

Eric Langenfeld
Archon

Chris Mulreed
Vice-Archon Treasurer Secretary Warden

Andy Luckman Ray Urban Casey Karmell Jon Kiefer

Historian

Griffin Price
Chaplain in the past and assure you that we are working hard to keep improving. In Pi Kappa Phi, Eric Langenfeld (Y1122)

coNtAct iNformAtioN
Your Alumni Chapter officers are here to help. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact them. President Gene Giannotta (630) 329-7516 gwgiannotta@gmail.com Vice-President Sky Opila (708) 227-1884 sky.opila@gmail.com Treasurer Tommy Carrato (847) 722-8232 tcarrato@gmail.com Secretary Dan Schriks (708) 846-4519 schriks2@gmail.com Chaplain Kevin Spitz (847) 989-5463 kspitz2@gmail.com Housing Corp. President James Nelson (630) 334-0177 james.nelson.ii@gmail.com

Annual Pi Kapp Open welcomes young alumni

Golf event turning into a tradition for recent alums
This August, about 30 Chicagoland Pi Kapps met in Lombard for the annual Pi Kapp Open. The event is organized each year by Bruce Swanson, from the Indiana chapter. He organizes the golf tournament at Ken Loch Golf Links, arranges to have all the prizes for the event, and coordinates the traditional dutch lunch at Hooters following the event. For Upsilon alum Tim Quirsfeld (Y1039), it was his third year participating in the event. See golf Page 4

Winter Edition December 2011 www.illinois-pikapps.com

Pi Kappa Phi, Upsilon Chapter, University of Illinois Est. 1921

Nekola continues to serve as Newsletter Chairman

New Board
from page 1 these was Mike Hua (Y1012). Hua recently relocated to New York, but was in town for work the weekend of the meeting. He became a member just prior to the meeting. I saw so much value in it, he said. The board set Dec. 28 as the date for their first meeting. Additionally in executive session, the board appointed Adam Nekola (Y1007) as newsletter chairman. Nekola had served on the board since 2008 and was primarily responsible for the newsletter. He decided not to run for re-election in order for more people to become involved. I felt it was time to allow others some leadership opportunity. They can rely on me to continue my involvement, he said. The election drew attention from alumni across the nation, with many mailing in proxy votes or writing letters of encouragement. John Shustitzky (Y595) wrote to share his thankful sentiments. I appreciate your leadership of the alumni chapter, and I know that many of us who are older alumni do as well, he said. It is comforting to know that there is an active group of alums who are keeping the traditions alive. To ensure the Alumni Chapter tradition continues, the board is currently tasked with developing a strategic plan for the coming years. Topics include fundraising, donations, this newsletter, and annual events. The annual meeting in December will be one of the events alumni can count on each year. The board announced at this years meeting that they are looking into an annual bowling tournament to benefit Push America each spring. These events can be looked forward to each year. Weve got big plans for the future, and with our growing alumni support, we are confident we can achieve our goals, Spitz said. n

Letter

from page 1

golf

from page 3

ing at Morettis in Edison Park (Chicago), where we had dinner, reviewed our work for the past three years and our plans for the future, and voted in a new Board of Directors. On that note, I want to thank our outgoing officers for their hard work to set a successful foundation for our alumni chapter. Adam Nekola has been an invaluable part of Upsilon since his time as Archon during the rechartering. We worked closely on establishing the alumni chapter and hes been my right-hand man for the past three years, producing awardwinning newsletters along the way. Hell stay involved as our Newsletter Chair. Nick Stoczanyn, our outgoing treasurer, was also invaluable in setting up our finances and providing us with great ideas like the Arlington event and our still-in-the-works fundraising system. Stocky has been committed to alumni brotherhood since his time as undergrad treasurer and that energy made our alumni chapter stronger. Its been an honor to work with them and a greater honor to call them my brothers. On behalf of the new Board and the rest of our alumni, thanks for all youve done and best of luck in everything you will do. Speaking of the new Board, I want to welcome our three new members: Sky Opila, Tommy Carrato, and Dan Schriks. Sky and Tommy are former archons, and, along with Dan, all

Mark your calendars - the first annual Upsilon Alumni Chapter Push bowling fundraiser is tentatively planned for March 31, 2012!
three bring great new ideas and energy to our organization and Im excited to work with them and our hard-working Chaplain and fellow Board veteran, Kevin Spitz, in the coming years. And that begins with our plans for 2012. Were currently hard at work planning our first-ever Push America alumni fundraiser, a bowling event tentatively scheduled for the end of March in Chicago. You can also expect the other usual events, from the Day at the Races to Homecoming and our Founders Day/Annual Meeting in December. Our other major goal is finally putting our newsletters on a regular schedule you can expect two print ones in the mail (summer and winter) and two digital editions between those, for a total of four each year. In addition, were going to be making a big push to recruit new graduates into the alumni chapter and take a greater role in Initiation and the Graduating Senior Ritual. All in all, the past three years have been a great success. Weve established a solid foundation from which to work in the coming years. Our alumni, young and old, now know that there is a place for them beyond graduation, and have been incredibly supportive and more involved as time has gone on. If youve joined or donated to the alumni chapter in 2011, thank you for your support, and if not, I encourage you to do so with the enclosed form and envelope. Your membership dues and contributions help make these communications, our events, and, in the future, support of the undergraduate chapter, possible. I wish you a very happy, successful, and blessed 2012 and hope we can count on your continued support in the coming year! Fraternally, Gene Giannotta (Y1030)

In Champaign some of the best times I had were when we would put a team together every year for the Gamma Phi Beta Gator Golf philanthropy event, Quirsfeld said. For me, theres really nothing quite like spending an afternoon out in the sun with brothers, beers and birdies -or in this case, bogeys; lots of bogeys. He added that its good to see alumni from different age groups interacting, but even more encouraging that many still enjoy getting together for brotherhood activities. Quirsfeld participated in a group with Nick Stoczanyn, Tony Cutinello, and Byron Housten. Housten went on to win the putting contest for the event, as the participant with the fewest total putts. The event is held each August. n

Welcome, to our newest members!

Several members joined since our last e-newsletter, many specifically so they could vote in the December election.

Ac memBerS

Sean Costello (Y1018) Ben Dobbins (Y1071) Will Duryea (Y1006) Brian Flynn (Y1078) Mike Hua (Y1010) Sky Opila (Y1037) Blair Schaefer (Y1016) Dan Schriks (Y1062) Alex Stezskal (Y1055)