Letter from the Outgoing President

To our Respected Alumni:

The year of my presidency has come and gone all too fast. Eric Schonberg forewarned me of how fleetingly his time as president passed, but I naively persisted in believing it would be the longest year of my life. Following in Eric's footsteps, I ran on a platform to improve upon the things he achieved and also put forth new ideas that the following president could build upon in like manner. After my election, Phi Psi remained the premier Greek letter organization. Again, we boasted a pledge class in the high teens, decidedly averting the complacent rut we found ourselves mired in a few years before. Our grades remained at the top of fraternities, while our relations with sororities and other on campus organizations is the best it has been in recent memory. Penn Beta is extending its influence beyond campus into the Meadville community in an attempt to make a difference off campus. Not only this, on campus, Phi Psi remains the standard against which other fraternities measure themselves.
I would also like to reach out to our Alumni. What would you like to see the current chapter do with respect to Founder's Day, Homecoming, Alumni Newsletters, etc? We want to make your experience as Alumni as fulfilling as possible, and, with your help, we can succeed. Moreover, help us enrich our chapter with the wisdom and resources you possess. Please share philanthropic, recruitment, or social ideas that served you as undergraduates. We unceasingly seek sound ideas to improve the chapter. Lastly, I look forward to seeing you all May 1st for Founders' Day. I expect this year to be even better than those previous.
Fraternally,
Philip Talarico…

Letter from the Incoming President

Dear Sirs:

I feel truly privileged to have the honor of writing this letter on behalf of all the Brothers at Pennsylvania Beta as their newly elected president. Updating you all on the goings on of our beloved Fraternity is my first concern as transition ushers in change. There have been numerous achievements worthy of note, and new, ambitious goals for the future are now set in place. My predecessor, Phil Talarico, has completed his term as president, leaving me very large shoes to fill. He accomplished a great number of things during his time as president, not least of which the pledge class that he (with the invaluable assistance of our Rush Chairman, Case Kunick, and the Brothers as a whole) helped to bring in this spring semester. With 16 new gentlemen on the path to Initiation, our total enrollment has swollen to 40 men.
Looking to the future, we seek to maintain this high standard of recruitment with spring pledge classes consisting of no less than 15 quality young men. We aim to make the Phi Psi 500, our renowned community service commitment, a semester accomplishment rather than an annual one. The incorporation of our own signature philanthropy event to this goal is also in the works. Also, facilitating further interaction with all of you, our alumni, is of paramount importance. We would love to see you come back to campus and participate in a philanthropy project with us, or attend a special chapter meeting scheduled for a weekend so you can attend. Your support means more to this chapter than you know. We look forward to seeing you, and working with you in this coming year. Together, we can ensure our fraternity continues its rise to unparalleled heights.

Fraternally,
Andrew Jockers…

News

Election results:
Toward the end of the Fall 2009 semester, we elected our new executive officers. The honors go to President Andrew Jockers '09, Vice President Stephan Jean-Louis '09, Treasurer Michael Gallo '09, and Corresponding Secretary Keegan Henrikson '09. Also, Phi Psi now boasts two IFC executives as Cory Muscara '09 was elected head of public relations and Case Kunick '08 was appointed head of recruitment. We also have the pleasure of welcoming former Pennsylvania Beta President, Eric Neuenschwander, as our Alumni Advisor.

This Semester at Penn Beta:
By the end of this spring semester, our chapter will initiate 16 new members, giving us far and away the largest pledge class among all fraternities. In addition, our chapter's overall GPA from the fall semester was a 3.09. This hard work earned Phi Psi the highest GPA among all fraternities. In January, President Andrew Jockers attended our national Presidents' Leadership Academy in Indianapolis, accompanied by Rob Hippert '09 and Matt Donahoe '09 who attended the Recruitment Boot Camp program. Also, in March, Ben Quinn Elmore '07 will attend the Cabo Leadership Academy in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The chapter once again made its presence felt at Make A Difference Day, contributing over 250 hours of service to construct wheel chair ramps in the Meadville community. Lastly, this past fall, we had the honor of inducting our newest member, Derek Dye, into our beloved fraternity. Recently, Derek spearheaded our "Hope For Haiti" benefit, raising $375 to aid the nation in disaster relief.

Founders' Day:
The current Brothers of Penn Beta cordially invite all of our venerable alumni to the 155th anniversary of our beloved chapter of Phi Kappa Psi at Allegheny College. The event will be held Saturday May 1st from 4:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. in the Tippie Alumni Center. This Founders' Day, we are honored to have our National Director of Alumni Relations and Associations, Brother James Denny, as the keynote speaker. Last year, this event was $25 and will be similar in price this year. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served at 4:00 p.m. followed by dinner at 5:00 p.m. Please RSVP online at http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/240629/penn-beta-founders-day-registration. We hope to see all of you there.