Pi Kappa Alpha seeks recognition

Pi Kappa Alpha, more commonly known as “Pike,” has not been officially recognized by St. Joe’s since 2002.

After the fraternity repeatedly violated university policy, the Office of Greek Life broke ties with the student group, revoking its privileges to rush on campus, appeal for funding, or reserve campus facilities for organizational use.

But the times might be changing for the once ostracized fraternity. According to Jacquelyn Rossetter, assistant director for Greek Life and special programs, St. Joe’s and Pike have recently reestablished contact and are currently negotiating the fraternity’s reinstatement as an official campus organization.

“They’re not recognized yet,” Rossetter said. “They are in the process of getting their recognition back. There is still a lot of paperwork that they still have to fill out and get back to us. So they’re kind of in limbo right now, because they haven’t turned in their paperwork, so they’re not technically recognized.”

The paperwork Rossetter referred to includes the normal contract required for any group to become a recognized organization.

Rossetter was among the first to attempt to reestablish contact with the fraternity upon her arrival at the university in 2007. According to Rossetter, the presence of an operational fraternity that’s free from the regulations and security of the university is unsafe.

“Just from a personal standpoint, I don’t like having ‘undergrounds.’ I think it’s dangerous in a lot of ways. One, you don’t know what’s going on with them, and a lot of times they kind of—not by choice or on purpose—but get away with things that other chapters wouldn’t,” she said.

Since then, Rossetter has worked with former Pi Kappa Alpha President Seth Kupilik, and current president, Marco De Prato, to reestablish campus/fraternity communication.

In addition to possibly reclaiming their previous campus privileges, the fraternity has also appeased the concerns of their national chapter by trying to return to campus.
 

“From what I heard from them, their nationals kind of wanted them to be recognized,” said Rossetter. “It’s not good, for a number of reasons, for the nationals to have an

According to Rob Dieterele, ’10, a three-year member of Pi Kappa Alpha, the desire to honor the wishes of their national fraternity has also served to motivate each member to regain the university’s seal of approval.

“Were recruiting members who will be more beneficial to our chapter in terms of what our goal is, and our goal is basically to follow the university’s standards,” said Dieterele.

Dieterele also said that being back on campus will allow the fraternity to resume regular activity and contribute to the university’s mission.

“We want to rush on campus and do community service and it’s hard for us to set all those things up if we’re not members of the school community,” he said.

Former Student President of Greek Life Vache Astourian, ’10, was unable to identify the specific incident that resulted in the university’s ultimate refusal of recognition, but pointed out that the current members of Pi Kappa Alpha were not involved in the dispute.

“Before I came here four years ago, they weren’t in very good standing with the school. They had done some activities that were against school policy and pretty much common decency,” Astourian said. “ But I know that the guys that are here now are not the same people that got the fraternity in trouble. They are just looking to come back and be part of the community, which is wonderful for Greek Life, because fraternities in general just get a bad rep.”

In addition to Rossetter and the fraternity’s presidents, the national chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha has also been involved in restoring the relationship.

“We have a whole board of alumni who are helping out,” said Dieterele. “A group of 5 or 6 guys that have helped us out through this whole thing and getting us recognized again and we’re real appreciative.”