PI KAPPA ALPHA has been an important part of my life, starting before I was born.
My father and his brother were two of twenty founders of Gamma Psi Chapter at Louisiana Tech in 1940. In addition, the founders chose my mother as the first Dream Girl of Gamma Psi.
I pledged PiKA in the fall of 1964, my freshman year at Louisiana Tech. I was part of a pledge class of 70, one of the largest in the entire PiKA system nationwide. About 35 of us were initiated in the spring of 1965.
I grew into a man under the tutelage of the upperclassmen, enjoyed the many on and off campus parties, learned social skills, and was launched into my campus leadership positions by my brothers. But, most importantly, I bonded with those young men in a very powerful way. I have many close friends from decades in Atlanta, but emotionally I am still closer to those men from my fraternity than any others.
We were lucky to go to college in the 1960s. First, everything was against the rules, so there were plenty of chances to break the rules and not have it mean much. Next, great allowances were made for misbehavior back then. If people or property weren’t badly damaged, it was usually let go with a slap of the wrist. Today people get sued for hurting someone’s feelings. And we had wild parties, but with limits when it came to the girls. Being a gentleman was important in those days, and that was our standard. We really liked and respected the girls. Having said all that, we experienced a version of Animal House. And I was Hoover. I was the one who dealt with the Dean of Men and the University administration. My brothers nicknamed me “Dean”.
I became a leader on the Louisiana Tech campus. I gained an early start on leadership in the spring of my freshman year when my brothers elected me to the Interfraternity Council. I was in place there when an opportunity arose and I was selected by the men of all the fraternities as President of the IFC my Sophomore year. In the spring of my Junior year I ran for President of the Senior Class and won. That victory propelled me to the Student Senate my Senior year. In the spring of my senior year I was elected President of my chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha. Sadly, I had to resign after a few weeks to work on my academics, which had taken a nose dive. I was selected by the faculty for Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.
Our chapter was a powerhouse group of young men. We won the campus All Sports trophy 3 of the 4 years I was at Tech. We had many campus leadership positions. Our chapter had many varsity athletes, including all conference players.
Our group of brothers from the late 60s has stayed close, hosting a reunion periodically. We are so joyous in keeping in touch, including an email circle.
In 1999 I contacted Pike National to inquire about endowing a scholarship at Gamma Psi Chapter. I became a close friend of Pat Haynes, then Director of Development. For many years I traveled back to Ruston to personally award the scholarship, taking my mother with me for the first ten years. The chapter typically hosted a banquet with girlfriends and I was the featured speaker. It was fulfilling to meet the young brothers and hear about the chapter. It was a thrill to see my mother meet the current Dream Girl.
In 2005 I decided to create a reunion of all the Dream Girls in the history of Gamma Psi Chapter. It turned out to be the ONLY such reunion ever created in the history of PI Kappa Alpha. It was just magical.
I was introduced to the National Leadership of Pi Kappa Alpha at the National Convention in Palm Desert in 1999, and was soon thereafter asked to join the Board of Trustees of the Pi Kappa Alpha Foundation. I served for nine years, and helped build the modern Foundation, convincing the Board to adopt a policy of blending lifelong volunteers with newly identified brothers to make up the Board.
The National Headquarters of Pi Kappa Alpha is located in Memphis, Tennessee. The building itself is named the Memorial Headquarters, to honor all the Pi Kappa Alpha brothers who have given their lives in the service of our country.
In 2007, at a Board meeting of the Pi Kappa Alpha Foundation, the Chairman explained that the Memorial display inside the rotunda was out of date and not befitting our fallen Pike brothers. He stated that a design had been developed and that it would cost a certain amount to build. I told our Board that three of the names on the memorial were founders of Gamma Psi Chapter lost in WWII combat, and therefore dear friends of my father and my mother. In their memory I committed to fund the lead gift for the new Memorial.
I have been flattered twice to be asked to address the Regional Leadership Conference held in Atlanta each spring, in 2013 and 2023. I delivered basically the same talk each time, “Lessons Learned about Life and Leadership”. It was just such a pleasure to address the 500 attendees and share my life experiences with them.
