Theta Xi - Alumni Newsletter State of the Chapter Brothers, State of the Chapter 1 Words from the Pres. 2 AAB 3 Intramural Spotlight 4 Introducing Robert Reed 5 Alumni Golf Tournament 6 Crawfish 7 Alumni Interview Rick A. 8-9 Founders Day 10-12 First off I would just like to say that it was wonderful to have a record number of alumni come out to our 35 th annual Founders Day banquet. Alumni support is very important to our chapter so we thank you all for making time to share Founders Day with us. We hope to see you all come out and share good times with us as we will be hosting big events this semester. With that being said, a few dates you can mark in your calendar will be: April 12 th which is the Alumni Golf Tournament, it will be a great time to relax and play 18 holes of golf, eat lunch, and share a good time with your brothers. April 26 th is going to be our 18 th Annual Crawfish Festival and we are looking for that big turn out so we can raise our goal for the Special Olympics. Last but not least the Alumni Reunion on July 26 th at Dave and Busters in Dallas. I hope as many Alumni can come out as possible, we really enjoy your company and it is great getting to meet you guys. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email us at Phi Phi Kappa Alpha, Corbin Lopes Alumni Relations Chairman Pi Kappa Alpha- Theta Xi
2 Words from the President Brothers, First off I want to give thanks to every one of you that were in attendance to our Founders Day Banquet! As an active member, I can say that it really meant a lot to us to see so many Alumni present to support. As long as I have been a member that was by far the most Alumni I have seen at any event we have put together, so thank you for helping us make Founders Day such a success. You can rest assured that Theta Xi is the top fraternity on this campus. Our International Chapter Consultant, Matt Sampson, recently had his visit. During his visit, he held meetings with all of our office holding members. While doing so, we were being graded as a chapter as to how operationally functionally our chapter was. After the few days of his visit, he informed me that our chapter was to receive a 4.2 out of 4.3! Mr. Sampson proceeded to also let me know that the grade that we were given was the highest in his visit to the entire state of Texas! Last year during the visit, we received a 3.23, so as you can see, there has been a lot of progress for the chapter and we will continue to strive for success every day. The time has arrived for Pi Kappa Alpha to take over Greek life here on campus and do what we do best, dominate. With a lot of events coming up for the chapter, I encourage everyone to try and attend. International workday is April 5 th and as some have seen there are some things that need to be fixed at the land. This year we are going to build a new shed so that we can store all of our valuable equipment. Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated whether it be monetary or labor. On April 12 th there is our annual Alumni golf tournament. For that event there has been much planning and should be a great time for everyone, so you won t want to miss it! Finally, on April 26 th, our annual Crawfish Festival will take place. This event still needs some funding and most importantly, we need everyone s support to make it successful. It would be great to see a lot of Alumni out at these events! These events are going to determine our case for a chapter excellence award so the more success we have at them, the higher the chances are. We are already on our way towards an award, all we need now is a little extra push that will help us stand out. With everyone s help, I am almost certain that we can make a very strong case for the award. I m looking forward to rest of the semester and what it has in store for Theta Xi. See you soon, brothers! Phi Phi Kappa Alpha, Eduardo Arciga Chapter President Pi Kappa Alpha-Theta Xi 903-440-0466
3 Alumni Advisory Board To Alumni, First I wanted to say a big thank you for all that attended Founder s Day weekend! It was a great time and never have I seen that many alumni at one gathering. A special thanks to the chapter and a few key alumni that helped make that day a huge success. There will more alumni events to come and I ask that you try to attend one alumni event per semester. I would like to list a few more alumni events. International workday is set for April 5 th. This is a time that alumni can come and help beautify Pike Land. This year we will be building a storage shed for mowers and other necessary items. Next will be the alumni golf tournament at Westridge Golf Course in McKinney on April 12 th. Last, but not least, Crawfish is set for April 26 th. Please try to attend one of these events of not more to show your support for the chapter. Next, I would like to say that the International consultant has been down this past week and is very impressed to say the least with the chapter. He has also spoken with the Greek Advisor on campus and has great things to report back. This is good news for Theta Xi. Also, the chapter has submitted the Greek Awards packet on campus. The chapter has applied for every award possible and I can see this being huge for Theta Xi. Last, I would like to personally thank the generous anonymous alumni that made the substantial donation of new ritual gear to the chapter, replacing the original 35 year old set. It is acts like this that has kept Theta Xi moving in the right direction. On that note, Pike at TAMU-C is at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to alumni donations. Theta Xi has always done more with less but when other chapters are spending 3-10 times as much on recruitment alone than Pikes, this separates us from the crowd and not in a good way. We all hate to not be #1 in everything and that pertains to this as well. Internationals have a new slogan of pay it forward. We will never be able to pay back what Pike has done for each of us individually but we can pay it forward. As I did at the Founder s Day banquet, I challenge YOU to Pay it forward. A few items the chapter needs are a storage shed and water at the land. These alone will cost close to $3300. Do what you can to help our beloved Theta Xi. If donating, please send check payable to Pi Kappa Alpha, Theta Xi Chapter to: Pi Kappa Alpha, Theta Xi Chapter c/o Eddie Garcia 2303 Bois D arc Street Commerce, TX 75428 In The Bonds, Matt Rosenbalm Theta Xi Chapter Advisor mrose1868@yahoo.com 214-287-4031
4 Intramural Spotlight My name is Dakota Brewer, the spring 2014 Intramural Chairman for Theta Xi. I am a freshman here at TAMUC majoring in Radio and Television, also a member of the University Choir and Cheerleading team. My hometown is Gunter Texas and I joined Theta Xi in the fall of 2013, one of the best decisions in my life. I d like to update you all on Theta Xi s tradition of domination in intramural sports on campus. We are continuing the Theta Xi tradition of winning and sportsmanship. To start the beginning of the school year last fall, we played Sigma Chi in the championship and received first place in Ultimate Frisbee. Soon after that flag football came around; we dominated our opponents beating some fraternities such as Delta Tau Delta 56-0. We later played in the championship and had our injured quarterback Cameron Calcote still lead us to a double digit victory against Kappa Sigma. The next major sport was volleyball, and sure enough we placed 3 rd overall. However, while all the major sports are happening our chapter constantly participates in single day tournaments for intramurals such as badminton, racquetball, and pickle ball. We then placed first in the dodge ball tournament. After all these events we are leading the Greek Cup by over 100 points, currently in playoffs for basketball, and undefeated in soccer, beating teams such as Kappa Sigma 10-0. With soccer playoffs, softball season, sand volleyball, and single day events, we look to continue a winning tradition and increase our point margin against other fraternities. If any of you find yourself in the Commerce area, please come join us at a game for support and brotherhood. Email if you are interested in attending any games that might be going on. Phi Phi Kappa Alpha, Dakota Brewer Intramural Chairman Pi Kappa Alpha-Theta Xi
5 Introducing our new Faculty Advisor Brother Robert Reed was voted our chapter s new Faculty Advisor in the Spring 2014 semester. We really appreciate all that Robert has done so far and we hope he is enjoying his time with us. Robert has been at several chapters and also joins in on some of the intramural games we have. Here is a little more about him. Robert Reed, was a Cross country and Track and Field athlete at A&M commerce while also being a member of the Theta Xi Chapter. After Robert s Graduation he became a Graduate Assistant who volunteered time to coach while teaching 5 classes for the Kinesiology Department. After 2 years teaching and volunteer coaching Robert was asked to be the head Cross Country Coach of A&M Commerce. In his first year as head coach he had his men's team place 3rd at LSC cross country Championships, and in indoor track had 2 of his distance athletes make it to nationals! Robert is exemplifying all the ideals of Pi Kappa Alpha and is one to watch in the future for more great success stories! Come out and support Robert Reed and our chapter track team members Danial Dia, Ray Mata, Tyler Hemenway and Justin Talley at the A&M Commerce home track meet on April 21st. (In the picture above) Location: Texas Tech Event: The Lone Star Conference indoor track and field championships People: Robert Reed, Tyler Hemenway Award: 2nd Place in the men's DMR (Distance Medley Relay) (Daniel Dia throwing at a Track meet)
6 Alumni Golf Tournament The Alumni Golf Tournament will be held at Westridge golf course in McKinney, Texas on April 12th. Alumni can arrive at noon. The cost of the event will be $110, this includes a sack lunch, green fee, cart fee, gps range finder, range balls, a coupon for a free round, hamburger buffet after play, and professional tournament service. Tee times will begin at 1pm, no shotgun starts. The earlier you arrive the more time you will have to hit all the range balls you want, assuming you don't get enough in the 18 holes. If you plan on attending please contact the chapter via email at. There is also a Polo shirt getting made by our very own alumni Jeff Loyd. The shirt will be a nylon non shrink material with an additional $25 cost. If you would like a shirt please send your money and size to Pi Kappa Alpha, Theta Xi Chapter: Tyler Hemenway 1815 Mayo Street, Apt #203 Commerce Texas, 75428 MUST HAVE MONEY BY APRIL 1st. Address to Westridge Golf Course: 9055 Cotton Ridge North Rd, McKinney, TX 75070 Phone Number (972) 346-2212 Dates to Remember Alumni Golf Tournament- April 12 th Pi Kappa Alpha Crawfish Festival- April 26 th Alumni Reunion in Dallas-July 26th
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8 Pikes of the Past, Where are They Now? Rick Alvidrez 1) What was your pledge class and who initiated you? I was part of the Charter class that was initiated in 1978. We had a somewhat different experience from subsequent Theta Xi classes because were never technically pledges. We were all new to the fraternity experience with no one to really show us the way. 2) What have you been up to since you became an alumni of Theta Xi, professionally and personally? After I graduated from what was then ETSU in 1980, I went to law School at SMU. I graduated from SMU in 1983 and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico and joined one of the larger law firms here. I moved to another law firm about seven years ago. I have now been practicing law for more than 30 years which is hard to believe. Most of my practice involves representing public utilities in various matters. I am married to Joanne Callison Alvidrez and we have a ten year-old boy and an eighteen year-old girl. My boy is into video games, sports and school - in that order. My daughter is headed off to New Mexico State University next fall so we are heavy into the senior year activities and preparations for her going away to college next year. 3) What are some of your activities today, special interest or charities you promote? I enjoy the outdoors in New Mexico. There is some beautiful county here- ranging from bad lands to mountains with tall pines. It s all great. I am an avid motorcyclist. I have three motorcycles, each with a different purpose, but all used to explore the remote areas of the state and the Southwest. As far as other interests, I have been involved with the state and local bar associations as well as the local chamber of commerce and other civic and business organizations. My wife and I are both involved with church activities.
9 4) What are some of your favorite memories from being a Pike at Theta Xi? The best memories all involve spending time with my brothers. We were a tight knit group and there was always something going on, or we initiated something. There was never a dull moment. Although we have all gone our separate ways over the years, the friendships and bonds last a lifetime. 5) What advice do you have for the active members of Theta Xi? Make the most of your time while you are active members. Learn. Get involved. Make a difference.
10 Pi Kappa Founders Day, March 1, 2014 The Entire Group The Presidents
11 The Charters Alpha Males
12 Theta Xi first and most recent Dream Girls, Debbie Mikez Conard and Sarah Hughes Steve Harper Family and Outstanding Member Award Winner Corbin Lopes The Chapter and Dates