Gamma Iota - Summer 2009

The Gamma Iota Star and LampVolume 22, Issue 1 August 5, 2009

It has been another great year here at the Gamma Iota chapter

of Pi Kappa Phi at LSU. In late November 2008, we initiated

our target number of new members with 30 fall rushees ultimately joining the fraternity. Our 2009 formal rush will start August 20. Please contact Vice Ar-chon Paul Kepper with any potential rushees. In late November, we also ushered in a new executive board

member lead by Archon Steven Nelson, who you can read about on PAGE 4( a full list of the new board is listed above). Our efforts for Pi Kappa Phi’s national philanthropy, PUSH, which benefits the dis-abled, was another successful one. The chapter, led by PUSH Chair Jim Rabalais(PAGE 3), raised over $13,000 in 2008. ranking us 6th in the nation among chapter. For more about PUSH, check out PAGE 3.

Snow fell on the Pi Kappa Phi house on De-cember 11,2008.

Archon Steven Nelson#225-937-3400

Vice Archon Paul Kepper#504-812-2352

Treasurer John Stribling#512-560-5611

Secretary Chad Gourgues#504-439-2007

Warden Andrew Cochrane#281-793-1194

Chaplain John Farrell#972-877-1668

Historian Jim Rabalais#281-728-1970

PUSH Chair Joel Raborn#225-978-5885

House Manager James Loetzerich#504-909-6657

ΓΙ [email protected]









2009 Executive Board

Chapter Report: Gamma Iota growing and thriving

Alumni Spotlight on House Dad Ryan McGwyer

Ryan McGwyer, ΓΙ 190, pledged Gamma

Iota in the fall of 1997 as a member of the Eta class, and lived in the fraternity house for two years as an active brother. Originally from Wiscon-sin, Ryan chose to attend LSU because he believes it to be “the best college in the nation.” After graduating in December of 1999, Ryan traveled the country teach-ing golf les-sons. He lived in eight cities over the course of the next seven years, ranging from the states of Arizona, to Minne-sota, and Florida. After learning about golf from some extremely esteemed mentors over these seven years, Ryan returned to Baton Rouge in August of 2006 to found Santa

Maria Golf Academy at Santa Maria Golf Club. Though he began the business solo, the opera-tion has grown to include two additional employ-ees, including NFL scout Chris Landry who has his own radio show on Fox Sports Radio.

As if Ryan did not have enough to keep him busy, in addition to run-ning a small business, he has served as the Gamma Iota House

Dad since 2006. In the past three years, Ryan believes the chapter has “definitely gotten larger” and is made up of even higher quality men than when he was an active brother. He says that the two biggest messages he tries to impart on the actives are responsibility and respect.CONT., P. 4

What’s Inside...-Alumni Updates, p.2-PUSH Report, p.3

-Inside the Chapter, p.4-Picture Gallery, p.5-Honors & Awards, p.6

- Jack Anderson Jr., ΓΙ 83, and his wife Janice just had a new baby! Her name is Madelyn Grace Anderson. She was born April 7, 2009. 5lbs 6oz. His family now resides in Castle Rock, CO @ 1375 Elm Fork Pl, Castle Rock, CO 80104 Phone 303-551-5104.

- Robert Yokem, ΓΙ 424, was married on July 24, 2009 in Baton Rouge to Lori King. Robert graduat-ed from LSU in May 2009.

- Chris Castleman, ΓΙ 367, is to be married this No-vember to Jana Williams. Chris graduated in Decem-ber 2008 from LSU with a degree in Accounting.

- Jason Vick, ΓΙ 231, was married on June 27, 2009.

- Dennis Fink, ΓΙ 307, was married on July 11, 2009.

- Kevin Tschirn, ΓΙ 291, was married on July 25, 2009.

- Kyle Robinson, ΓΙ 332, was married on June 5, 2009 to Jeanne Leveque Robinson. Kyle and Jeanne live in Baton Rouge.

- Ben Knapp, ΓΙ 250, has a new cell phone number: 225-205-7341. About 4 months ago, he switched jobs and now works for the Louisiana Legislative Audi-tors.

- Paul Chenevert, ΓΙ 53, and his wife Michelle welcomed their first child in Decem-ber; daughter Noëlle and mother are doing fine. Paul also was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Vir-ginia Army National Guard after his tour in Iraq training

a battalion of Iraqi Mecha-nized Infantry soldiers. With over 20 years in the military, Paul is also ready for military retirement. Paul continues his civilian career with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and Michelle began a new ca-reer with the Department of Homeland Security. They have also recently moved to Springfield, Virginia, which is located in the Washing-ton, DC metro area. Their new phone number at home is 703-461-8449.

- Terry Park, Jr., ΓΙ 165, moved to Chicago, Illinois in January 2007. He was married in August 2008 to Suzanne “Suzie” Park. They can be contacted at 504-909-9994. Terry works at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Lincoln Park, Chicago.

- Michael Park, ΓΙ 282, currently works for Broad-moor Construction in New Orleans.

- Casey McDonald, ΓΙ 313, is a partner and co-owner of “Remember Me, Mono-gramming & Specialties” in Lafayette, LA. He is also Director of Lacrosse Opera-tions at Next Level Sports Academy, and is an assistant coach to the Lafayette Lions lacrosse team. Casey’s cell phone number is 337-315-2503 and his address is 113 Brighton Drive, Lafayette, LA 70503.

- Jon Hansen, ΓΙ 126, re-cently changed jobs and is now a Middleware Systems Engineer with Zions Man-agement Services Company.

- Glenn Mediamolle, Jr., ΓΙ 178, currently resides in Mandeville, La. He is

the Engineering Manager for Fairwinds International in Covington, La. He was married in 2004 to his wife Melissa and they have one son, Blake, that will be two years old in September.

To submit updates for future newsletters, please email John Bennett at [email protected].

A l u m n i U p d a t e s

PiKapp alumni at the annual Pigskin Crawfish cookout, held on March 21.

Homecoming 2009 The chapter will again be hosting a homecoming party before LSU’s game against Louisiana Tech on November 14. All alumni are encouraged to come and visit. Fes-tivites will begin around noon. Don’t forget to stick around for Pull for PUSH on sunday. For more information, con-tact Jim Rabalais.

Gamma Iota has an established volunteer relationship with the McMains Children’s Developmen-tal Center, located in Baton Rouge. One-fourth of the total funds raised for Push America by Gamma Iota each year return to the McMains Center through Push America’s

“Circle of Giving”. Also, some brothers volunteer there on a weekly basis.

Through the Mc-Mains Center, Gamma Iota learned of the Hopkins family, who desperately needed a wheelchair ramp to enter their home, yet could not afford one. The Hopkins’ two daughters are afflicted with a rare chromosome disease that exhibits symptoms similar to cerebral palsy; subsequently, both daughters require walkers for mobility. Additionally, the grand-mother of these two girls resides in the same home and must be trans-ported in a wheelchair.

Gamma Iota members took the initiative to apply for an AcessABILITY grant from Push America, Pi Kappa Phi’s national philanthropy, to secure funding for

a sidewalk and ramp for the Hop-kins family. The grant application included locating a contractor, and submitting design sketches, cost estimates, and pictures of the work site. Push America paid for the ramp and sidewalk materials, and twenty fraternity brothers provided the labor over two weekends in October of 2008. Everyone left the project with a sense of accomplish-ment, and Mrs. Hopkins waved goodbye with a tear in her eye.

The Brothers of Gamma Iota continued the tradi-tional fundraising events of the past with Pull for PUSH, the invention of brother Kyle Devillier, ΓΙ 404, and Strongman,

coordinated by brother and weightlifter, Andrew Talley, ΓΙ 402. The ef-forts of PUSH Chairmen Jim Rabalais and Joel Raborn were instrumental in the successful events. The winners were all given donated prizes, including the girls of Delta Gamma(pictured to the right) who received a crawfish boil on the front lawn, cooked by brother Alex Farge, ΓΙ 405. Thanks to all who contributed, we look for-ward to seeing even more participation.

Mrs. Hopkins is seen with a smile on her face after these brothers finished a long day of work on her new wheelchair ramp.

P U S H A m e r i c a

Giving back to the Community

The McMains Center was present-ed with a check for over $3,000 from Gamma Iota this year.

15 teams of 4 competed in this year’s tournament. They are pictured here in front of Hunter’s Run Gun Club.

Brothers Paul Kepper and Stephen Maffei stand with the victorious girls of Delta Gamma after the Strongman Sororities competition.

Fundraising stronger than ever

Pull for PUSH 2009This year’s Pull for PUSH skeet shooting tournament will be held November 15, the day after LSU’s Home-coming football game. Teams are forming now so get a group together and come compete. Prize and silent auction donations are also welcome!

Pi Kappa Phi’s newest Archon, Steven Nelson, ΓΙ 446, is a Biological Sciences major from Baton Rouge. He is a 2006 graduate from Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, LA. He hopes to enter into Dental School

in New Orleans, LA in the fall of 2010. In addition to his present Archon duties, Steven has served as 2007 Interfraternity Council Rep-resentative and 2008 Vice-Archon in his three years of fraternity membership.

I n s i d e t h e C h a p t e r Archon Steven Nelson, pictured here with girlfriend and Gamma Iota 2009 Rose Queen, Molly Landrieu, a member of Delta Zeta.

Responsibility is stressed through cleaning and mainte-nance of the fraterni-ty house, and respect is required for forty young men to live together.

He is always willing to take some brothers out to the driving range to help them improve their golf skills, for Ryan believes that “Every-one here is going to be some sort of pro-fessional, whether it

be a doctor, lawyer, accountant, engineer or anything else. Golf is a profes-sional’s game, and college is the perfect time to hone your skills.”

Gamma Iota is thankful for Ryan’s love of golf he is always will-ing to share with us, as well as the vital leadership role he fills at the fraternity house.

McGwyer, cont.

Below(Clockwise from top left): Seniors at semi-formal, Pure Country party after the Georgia football game, “Beach after ‘Bama”, Bid Day activities, and Christmas Cocktail.

T h r o u g h o u t t h e Y e a r . . . Page 3Approximately 20 PiKapps went on the LSU coordinated ski trip this year. This year’s location was Winter Park, Colorado. It is a weeklong trip at the end of Winter Break.

Many members of the chapter volunteered at this year’s Karnival Krewe de Louisiane charity ball. Brothers assist in the parade’s operations and are then allowed to join the party and bring dates.

PiKapps enjoying the Mardi Gras festivities.

Right: The 2009 Rose Court was announced at the formal in Panama City, Florida. From left to right: Maria Wink-Pi Phi, Shannon Line - Delta Zeta, (Rose Queen) Molly Lan-drieu - Delta Zeta, Caroline Barnes - Delta Gamma, Amanda Comeaux.

For the Swampwater party, the front yard is transformed into a swamp, including a pond.

These two PiKapps are dressed in theme for a Pi Phi date party.

A w a r d s & H o n o r s

Chris Aleman, Brother of the Year

Chris Aleman, ΓΙ 387, was voted Gamma Iota’s 2009 “Brother of the Year.” The award was announced in April at formal in Panama City, FL. Winning the award surprised Chris and “caught [him] off guard”. Chris is a Psychol-ogy and Sociology dual major from Missouri City, located in the greater Houston area. He intends to graduate in Decem-ber of 2009. Chris pledged in the spring of 2005 as a mem-ber of the Chi pledge class and served as Academics Chair-man of Gamma Iota for two years.

Jim Rabalais, ΓΙ 448, was one of seven talented student leaders se-lected as a Pi Kapp Scholar by the Pi Kappa Phi Foundation. He is the first Pi Kapp Scholar from Gamma Iota Chapter and will receive a $1,000 grant from the Foundation. Jim is a Biological Sciences and Animal Sci-ence dual major from Lafayette, LA who hopes to enter medical school in the fall of 2010. Since pledging in the fall of 2006 as a member of the Omega class, Jim has filled roles in Gamma Iota as the 2008 Push Chair-man and the 2009 Historian. Jim was also selected as a national Outstand-ing Associate Member in 2007 by the Pi Kappa Phi Foundation.

In addition to Jim’s accomplishments being recognized by Pi Kappa Phi nationally, the fraternity as a whole is raising the bar in the classroom. The chapter now ranks sixth among fraternities on campus with a 3.0 GPA, it’s highest rank and average in years.

Brothers of Gamma Iota making their marks in the classroom

Aleman is pictured here with his girlfriend and 2008 Rose Queen, Savannah Ordoyne, a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

C o n t a c t U s

If you have any questions, comments or submissions for the newsletter, please email John Bennett at [email protected].

For information about parent and alumni events, contact Jim Rabalais at [email protected]

Flashback!Shown to the left is a Party Pic from the Delta Gamma - PiKapp “White Trash” ex-change in Feb-ruary of 2000.

House WishlistThroughout the sum-mer, the fraternity house has been under-going major renova-tions including new carpet and paint in the upstairs hallway. With these great new addi-tions comes the need to upgrade and improve

the house’s accessories and furnishings. With that in mind, here is a short list of items the fraternity would love to have donated:- Outdoor audio, including speakers for tailgating.-Outdoor furniture-Outdoor lighting- Indoor furnishings

- Billiards accessories (balls, sticks, cover)-Pictures and paintings for the upstairs hallway-Living room curtains

For information about donations, contact Jim Rabalais. No donation is too small! Thank you for your contribu-tions.

Gamma Iota - Summer 2009

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