Letter from the Current President

To our esteemed alumni,
           It is with great pride that I have been able to watch Penn Beta flourish over the past year.  Our outgoing president, Eric Schonberg, has made conscious strides in improving our goals from last semester.  Now, I have the honor of doing so.  Our membership, scholarship, and participation in National’s programs have put us at the forefront of chapters within Phi Kappa Psi.  It is with great pleasure that I can guarantee that Penn Beta will only become stronger and more reputable. The drive and inspiration among the active brothers has transferred over to our pledges in an awe-inspiring way.  Every single one of our 17 pledges has the desire and will to put Penn Beta back on top at Allegheny.  A great atmosphere is sweeping across Penn Beta as everyone is excited to see what we can accomplish in the next year.  One of our major goals is to improve on alumni relations.  Great efforts have already been made and we hope to strengthen our ties at our Founders Day, April 25th, 2009, at which National President, Brother Paul Wineman, will be the keynote speaker.  In this letter you will find more information about Founders Day and the great improvements we have made at Penn Beta over the year.  As we approach initiating 1,900 members over the illustrious 154 continuous years we have been at Allegheny, it is with great honor that I write this to you.  I look forward to seeing you in April.

Liver Ever, Die Never
Phil Talarico…
President of the Penn Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi

Letter from the Past President

To our esteemed alumni:
           It is with great pleasure that I have the opportunity to share with you all that has been accomplished in the past year at Penn Beta. In December, 22 freshmen accepted bids to join our chapter, the highest number any fraternity at Allegheny has seen in over a decade. In addition, we recently achieved the highest fraternity GPA on campus, thanks in large part to the unwavering commitment the Brothers have shown to their academic endeavors. While it seems as though my term as President ended all too soon, I cannot begin to describe how happy I am with all that our chapter has accomplished. Needless to say we are the most respected fraternity on Allegheny's campus, both in the eyes of our peers as well as the administration. Should you choose to come visit us at any time between now and the end of the year, I trust that you will be very pleasantly surprised by the character of the Brothers who have worked so hard to get us to where we currently are. I encourage you to attend our Founder's Day celebration in April so that we may see some familiar faces, as well as get to know those who haven't made it back to Meadville since they graduated years ago. It has been my distinct honor to serve as the President of the oldest continuous chapter of any fraternity in the United States, and I truly believe that with stronger alumni ties, the next few years for Penn Beta will be unlike anything Greek life at Allegheny has ever seen. All the pieces of the puzzle have come together, and the picture they create is absolutely astonishing. It is very bittersweet for us seniors who will be graduating, since we will not get to experience it firsthand. However, in our wake we will leave a legacy of grand achievements that all Brothers of Penn Beta, past and present, should celebrate for years to come. All that I ask of you is to visit us in April to honor the organization that has played such an integral role in each and every one of our lives. Until then,

Live Ever,
Eric Schonberg...

Other News

Election Results, Housing Corps., and New Members
Toward the end of the Fall 2008 semester we elected our new top four positions.  The honors go to President Phil Talarico ‘07, Vice President Michael Broderick ‘07, Treasurer J.P. Bobrow ‘07 and Corresponding Secretary Noah Goodling ‘07.  Moreover, for the second year in a row, a Phi Psi has been elected to preside over IFC as Brother Justin Weimer '07 was elected Interfraternity Council (IFC) President.  We also have the pleasure of welcoming Brother John Hurst to take charge of our housing corp.  Brother Hurst has been very active over the past year in strengthening alumni relations.  If you have any questions about alumni support please contact him at hurst.johng@gmail.com.  Lastly, this past Fall, we had the honor of inducting our newest members, Joel Suen and Andres Robelo, into our beloved fraternity.

Founders Day 
We would like to invite all of our venerable alumni to the 154th anniversary of Phi Kappa Psi here at Penn Beta on April 25th, 2009 from 4:00p.m.-7:00p.m. in the Tippie Alumni Center.  This founders day, we will be especially honored to have our national Phi Psi President, Brother Paul Wineman, as the keynote speaker.  Brother Wineman has a special bond with Allegheny College as his father was a 1918 initiate here at Penn Beta.  Last year, this event was $25 and should be very similar this year.  A pre-dinner reception will begin at 4:00p.m. and dinner will begin at 5:00p.m.  We hope to see all of you there. Please inform us by March 30, 2009 if you would like to attend by emailing talarip@allegheny.edu or calling Phil Talarico at
(412) 657-1190.

Election results & IFC
By the end of this spring semester, our chapter will initiate 17 new members with a 3.05 GPA (Fall 2008).  This will give us not only the largest pledge class among all fraternities, but the highest pledge class GPA.  In addition to this, our overall GPA from the fall semester was a 3.16.  This hard work earned Phi Psi the highest GPA among all fraternities.  Another important aspect of Phi Psi is leadership development.  In January, two of our brothers attended Phi Psi Recruitment Bootcamp in Indianapolis. Additionally, our president, Phil Talarico, will attend the Cabo Leadership Academy in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico this spring.

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