Pi Kappa Phi started as an idea of three friends at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. In 1904, we were founded as Nu Phi, the "non-fraternity." Since then, over 90,000 men have initiated into Pi Kappa Phi, and over 120 chapters across the nation bear out letters. This past winter, Pi Kapps celebrated our 100th anniversary.  Learn more about our past and present at national's website: www.pikapp.org

In 1921 Pi Kappa Phi first came to the University of Illinois, making us one of the earliest Pi Kapp chapters and earning us a single letter chapter designation (Upsilon). The chapter thrived on campus for many years, but because of low recruitment in the late 90's the chapter couldn't maintain itself. The brothers returned their charter to the national headquarters and asked for it to be recolinized a few years later.

Three years passed. It was time to bring Upsilon back to campus. Many men were interested, but only 10 were strong enough to carry the dream into reality. For two years these men gave their dedication, hard work, and sacrified time to building the chapter.

On February 19, 2005, twenty-seven men initiated into Pi Kappa Phi and earned the Upsilon charter back.

Like every great story there are points of conflict and resolution.  The tale of Pi Kappa Phi Upsilon Chapter is no different.  Since 1921 when the local chapter of Gamma Sigma Kappa became Pi Kappa Phi, there have been many ups and downs.

 
Beginning in the early 1990s, the Upsilon Chapter experienced numerous set backs and internal conflicts that ultimately led to its closing of chapter in 1999.  While the physical condition of the house had always been anything but perfect and its capacity had limited the number of live-ins, those were only minor reasons as to why the chapter was ultimately forced to hand back its charter. 

One of the main reasons that led to its fate was the lack of recruitment and low member retention.  The Upsilon Chapter suffered from these problems because of internal conflicts.  For almost a decade the house was torn between the definitions of being a true Pi Kapp.  As a result, the chapter could not function properly and began to seclude itself from the campus Greek system.  Lack of campus exposure and social events were major consequences of this internal struggle. 

To make matters worse, while different pledge classes struggled to find a common ground, new recruits saw this internal turmoil and decided to all but remain with Pi Kappa Phi.  Quickly membership fell from a strong 70 men in 1992 to merely 30 within two years.

As the Chapter saw its size shrink to unimaginable lows, little was done to reverse this trend.  The house lacked cohesion among the brothers and suffered from a lack of leadership from the executive council.  For many years Upsilon Chapter did not have a clear direction of where it wanted to be in the future and thus remained with only its 30 odd members and decreasing campus exposure.

      

After a decade of continuously low recruitment, in 1999 the Upsilon Chapter faced an inevitable solution: the return of the charter.   The then chapter advisor Mike Lowery was saddened by these turn of events but did encourage and support this decision lead by the archon Jeff McMahon.  In 2000, having given back the charter, Pi Kappa Phi Upsilon closed its doors on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus.

The recolonization of the Upsilon Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity at the University of Illinois’ Champaign-Urbana campus began in earnest in the early days of February, 2003.  The National Headquarters of Pi Kappa Phi began its recruitment effort with three expansion consultants - J. Todd Cox, Brandon Tudor, and Nathan Holic. 

These alumnus brothers began their recruitment by visiting with local sororities to ask for the names and contact information of men who fit the C.L.A.S.S. profile.  Armed with their first good leads, the consultants began sending out e-mails to the men asking them to come to an information session to learn about the wonderful opportunities that Pi Kappa Phi could afford them.  These sessions were held in the Illini Union. 

Attendance at the first few meetings was sparse, but the expansion consultants were not deterred.  With each information session, more men were coming out, and after the sessions, there were activities in the Illini Union’s pool hall and bowling alley.  On one particularly special occasion, potential brothers had the chance to meet with members of the Omega Chapter at Purdue University, who came to answer questions about the fraternity.  Once the consultants had met with a potential recruit and deemed him worthy of a bid, they met him for lunch and extended to him a bid to become a founding father.

Within a few weeks of the info sessions and lunches, several eventual founding fathers were accepting their bids, and it was time to move forward with the organization of the new Chapter.  The expansion consultants had recruited roughly 20 men and had from them chosen the first executive council, led by Mark Peluse, the chapter's first Archon. The Fraternity registered itself as an official student organization with the University of Illinois.  And on Sunday, March 2^nd the chapter met for its first meeting in the Illini Union, which was run by Nate, Todd, and Brandon.

In the following week, the expansion consultants along with the help of the newly formed chapter recruited approximately 14 more men, to bring their total number to 34.  On Friday, March 7^th, the men gathered at the local YMCA for their pre-initiation and installation retreat.  Running this event was Kenny Oubre.  Saturday we spent an extensive amount of time learning about sound chapter operations.  On that Sunday, the chapter cooked breakfast for the ladies of Gamma Phi Beta as they provided the most potential new member names to the consultants.  After breakfast, the leadership consultants left us to our own ways and that very evening, March 9^th we held our first independent chapter meeting in the cafeteria of the Armory House Dorm. It was also that evening that the chapter was forever banished from Armory house, following a serenade from Gamma Phi Beta (to thank us for breakfast) and about a dozen noise complaints.

During the remaining months of the spring 2003 semester the Upsilon Associate Chapter accomplished many tasks.  Chairmen were appointed and the basis for a committee structure was formed.  The Chapter forged a Constitution and Bylaws and a Code of Conduct. A recruitment program was put together, along with member education and service standards.

For the next year and a half the chapter strived to build an image on campus, to make a strong brotherhood, and to set the chapter so that nothing will ever destroy it.

But tragedy struck just before classes began in the fall of 2004. Charles Moka Jr, the chapter's Archon and most spirited leader, passed away on August 19th due to a pre-existing medical condition. The chapter was forced to push on in his memory, because it was the way Moka would have wanted it. Adam Nekola, the Vice-Archon at the time, took over presidential duties and started the chapter with their preparation to charter.

Six months to the day after the passing of their leader the men of the Upsilon Associate Chapter initiated into Pi Kappa Phi and earned a charter from the National Organization. Upsilon was officially back at the University of Illinois.