friday, february 27, 2004
news
the university daily kansar
3A
Fraternity to restart chapter
By Azita Tafreshi
atafreshi@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
With the help of its international organization, the University of Kansas' chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha is getting a chance at a fresh start.
Throughout the next three weeks Bryan Schubert, recruitment consultant for Pi Kappa Alpha, and Steve Sladek, chapter consultant, will work with the 10 existing members of the fraternity to restart the chapter. Schubert said.
He and Sladek were invited by the University and existing members of the fraternity to recruit new members as well as appoint and train new officers and committee chairmen.
They will meet with prospective members who have been recommended to them by administrators, faculty, sororities.
coaches and alumni, Schubert said.
Currently initiated members of Pi Kappa Alpha will also have to go through an interview process to be formally invited back into the organization, Schubert said.
Jon Corbin, Sioux City, Iowa, junior and president of Pi Kappa Alpha, and a fellow member went to the fraternity's national headquarters in Memphis, Tenn., in January to ask for help with their recruitment efforts.
"We're trying to get back to the days when Pike was a dominant fraternity," Corbin said. "In the '80s and '90s, Pike was huge at KU, and then it just kind of slowly fell off over the years."
Schubert said he attributed the chapter's low numbers to a 1997 hazing incident that led to the chapter's temporary charter suspension. Pi Kappa Alpha national headquarters reviewed
the chapter's membership and asked more than 80 percent of the men to leave, Schubert said.
"Since then, the chapter has never really recovered from that," Schubert said.
Corbin said it was also difficult for the fraternity to recruit new members without a chapter house because of stereotypes that "actual" fraternities have chapter houses. By not having a house, the members of Pi Kappa Alpha had the freedom to recruit as they saw fit, Schubert said.
"A lot of houses have to have a set number to meet quotas, and we can just get quality guys that we want," Corbin said. "We don't have to have a specific chapter size."
While he said he supports the expansion efforts, Jeff Hauber, member of PI Kappa Alpha, said that a smaller fraternity had its advantages. With fewer members, the men in the chapter get to
know each other better and establish trust, the Lawrence junior said.
"I have a couple of friends who are in other fraternities, and the big problem with them is that they don't really know the guys that they chose to live with and associate with." Hauber said.
Because they are meeting with the prospective members individually. Schubert said they would invite as many men into the group as they thought would seize the opportunity to start up their own fraternity.
He and Sladek will return April 3 to initiate the men they invite into the organization during the coming weeks, he said.
"It's a very quick rollover," Schubert said. "There's no pledging process or anything like that, so it's a very unique opportunity for a lot of men out there."
— Edited by Nikki Nugent
Taste of Asia closes Asian Week
By Marc Ingber
minger@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The Taste of Asia celebration will be a tasty grand finale to this week's Asian Festival.
Students can get buffet-style Asian cuisine and view performances by the different Asian groups tomorrow night during the week's culmination.
Dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m. at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave., and will be followed by performances at 7:30 p.m. at the Kansas Union Ballroom.
Victoria Li, Overland Park sophomore, and internal vice president for the Asian-American Student Union, said this year the group tried to do things a little bit differently.
Performances will include more singing and dancing, Li
Vinh Nguyen, Overland Park senior, made the horror film in his hometown. This was the first year the Asian-American Student Union has held a film festival.
Taste of Asia also will feature will feature cultural fashion show. All the Asian groups involved in Taste of Asia will participate in the show.
said, as well as skits that deal with issues like discrimination. The Japanese Student Union also will do a gymnastic performance.
Among the groups participating are the Vietnamese Student Association, the Korean Student Association, the Japanese Student Association, the Taiwanese Student
"We don't do much interaction with all the Asian organizations, so it's a great time to do that," Li said.
Association, the Hong Kong and Macau Student Association, the KU Cultural India Club and Alpha Phi Gamma, an Asian-based sorority. Students from each organization will don traditional fashions from their respective countries.
The dinner will consist of several different dishes including springrolls, dumplings, sushi, rice and bulgoli, a Korean beef dish.
Anna Kowalewski, Overland Park junior and Asian-American Student Union president, said that usually about 250 people show up for the dinner and about 300 for the performances, but she was hoping they could get more this year.
She said last year the Taste of Asia fell on Easter weekend and the group got about 300 people, so she was hoping this year they could get about 350 people to come.
Taste of Asia
Dinner: 5:30 p.m. at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries
Performances: 7:30 p.m. at the Kansas Union Baliroom
Cost for dinner: $7 for a single, $10 for a couple
John Tran, Overland Park senior, and external vice president for the Asian-American Student Union, said the most enjoyable part of the celebration was getting a large group of people to all work towards a single goal.
This year will be the 12th time the Asian groups teamed up to put on the Taste of Asia.
- Edited by Henry C. Jackson
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