Kappa Kappa Psi - Iota Pi Chapter

Our final meeting was held tonight, wrapping up another memorable year for the chapter. Adam Brover, retiring Vice President, installed our seven newly elected officers for the 2008-2009 school year in front of an attendance of all of our Active members and our two sponsors, J and Mr. Woodruff. We're all looking forward to what next year's Executive Council will bring to the chapter, and we also send out a big thanks to the retiring officers for everything they've done for us.

Brooke Lipson, our retiring Alumni Secretary, put together our new Alumni Ceremony as our final activity of the evening. Iota Pi said goodbye to its six graduating seniors as they leave us for bigger and better things. Our six seniors are:

• Nkechi "Roobicks" Ikpo, Business
• Brooke "Boobie" Lipson, Communications
• Colin "Admiral Flypaper" McKinney, Electrical Engineering
• James "X33RNt" Pool, Mechanical Engineering
• Rob "Shmash" Rodriguez, Math
• Scott "RoXtar" Turner, Aerospace Engineering

Congratulations to each of them, and to all of Iota Pi for another great year!

After only six hours of elections, Iota Pi has selected the seven members of its Executive Council for the 2008-2009 academic year. The new officers are:

• President: Josh Parker
• Vice President: Justin Paulson
• Recording Secretary: Katie Greenstein
• Treasurer: Leila Jewell
• Correspondence Secretary: Mark Fagan
• Alumni Secretary: Becca Juner
• Historian: Steph Monette

Congratulations to all of them! We're looking forward to what each of them will bring to their respective offices next year!

Iota Pi held its annual Spring Retreat this weekend at Cal Poly's Swanton Pacific Ranch outside of Santa Cruz, CA. The event was our only overnight retreat of the year, and we had many Actives in attendance even though Swanton Ranch is over three hours away! We bonded though games of ultimate frisbee, a lengthy hike, a spaghetti cookout (Did you know that if you hit a veggie burger with a big stick, it'll explode into a million pieces?), campfire stories (Colin has some pretty good ones, by the way), and sleeping together in one giant yurt ("Shut up, Jeff!"). All in all, the event was a memorable success! Congratulations to Iota Pi's Brotherhood Social and Ritual & Tradition committees for planning the various components of the event!

Eight brothers of Iota Pi traveled to Boise, Idaho to represent the chapter at the 2008 Western District Convention, hosted by the Iota Kappa chapter. From Friday evening through Sunday afternoon, these eight bros attended meetings, workshops, and other social events that not only took care of fraternity and sorority business, but also helped us bond with all of our brothers and sisters throughout the Western District!

Josh was seated as the delegate for Iota Pi as well as on the Nominations Committee, which interviews all the candidates for district office. Mark represented the chapter on the Jurisdiction Committee, recommending changes for the district constitutions. Leigh was seated on the Convention Site Committee, to decide where the 2009 Western District Convention would be held.

At the event, Iota Pi received a number of different honors. Erin headed up the construction of our chapter display, an edible candy land that showcased the projects we've taken on this year. Her efforts won us the award for Best Chapter Display!

At the annual talent show held on Saturday evening after the banquet, Josh and Lexie performed a rendition of the Evolution of Dance. If the standing ovation wasn't enough of an indication of the performance's awesomeness, then the award for Best Talent Show Entry that they won should be.

Josh and Lexie also presented Iota Pi's bid to host the 2009 Western District Convention to the Convention Site Committee. The Iota Alpha and Eta Omega chapters of Fresno State also presented a bid, and both schools were so qualified to host WDC 2009 that the committee couldn't decide on which one to recommend. After some late night preparation, Josh and Lexie addressed the entire delegation on Sunday morning to convince them to hold WDC in San Luis next year, and they were successful! The delegation voted in Iota Pi's favor, and we will be hosting convention in 2009!

Finally, Adam took his Vice President expertise to a district level. After receiving the recommendation of the Nominations Committee, Adam was elected to the office of Kappa Kappa Psi Western District Vice President. He'll be working next year with Zac Humphrey and Candace Roberts from ASU and Scotty Phillips from NAU next year on our District Council.

All in all, the trip to Boise was a complete success! Thanks go out to those eight brothers who represented us at the district level, and big congratulations to everyone who won the chapter an award, a seat on the district council, or the privilege of hosting WDC 2009.

We'll see everyone in San Luis next April!

Iota Pi hosted its annual Alumni Weekend, welcoming to SLO the many alumni of the chapter. On Friday, we attended the swing dance put on by the University Jazz Band (helping them set up and tear down, of course). Saturday was a day of fun in the sun with a BBQ, some volleyball, and a sandcastle building contest at Avila Beach, and later some relaxation at the Sycamore Hot Springs. Saturday concluded with a dinner at the Palazzo Giuseppe Italian Restaurant in downtown SLO.

On Sunday, the Brothers of Iota Pi were proud to initiate the nine members of the Tau class into the fraternity. The new initiates are:

• Mark Fagan
• Katie Greenstein
• Raechel Harnoto
• Jeff Healy
• Leila Jewell
• Steph Monette
• Phil Patterson
• Justin Paulson
• Aimee Ware

The Taus did an outstanding job learning our history in the Membership Education Program all quarter. They also organized a Musical Carnival for a local after-school program and organized an order of trendy sweatpants for the Cal Poly bands. So big congratulations to them!

By any measure, this Alumni Weekend was the most successful we have ever seen. Big thanks to our Secretary of Alumni, Brooke Lipson, for all of her work this year to make it all happen. You've set the bar for your successors, Brooke!