ALUMNI WEEKEND 2008
Save the date, this year’s Alumni Weekend will be held the weekend of April 25-27.
The biggest thing to note was actually something the good old RPI decided to do. As of February 12th of this year, RPI has officially purchased the Best Western in downtown Troy for the purpose of turning it into student housing beginning the fall of 2009. As a result, those of us that normally make that our home for any weekend visits must now look elsewhere. We checked into the other hotel in downtown Troy (the Franklin Inn and Suites), but all of their rooms are already booked or blocked off for other groups holding functions that weekend.
There is plenty of available lodging in Latham and the Wolf Road area, although these are a distance from downtown where most people will remain after dinner on Saturday night. Several alumni have made reservations at the Econo Lodge in Rensselaer which is a short cab ride over the river and there is also availability at a Red Carpet Inn near downtown. The details of these places are below.
Econo Lodge, 110 Columbia Turnpike, Rensselaer (http://www.econolodge.com/ires
Red Carpet Inn, 500 Northern Blvd, Albany, (http://www.redcarpetinnalbany
As for the rest of the weekend, we already have the Knickerbocker Arena in Troy for the Active vs Alumni hockey game on Friday night. Ice time starts at 10 PM, so make sure to bring your skates. We will also be gathering at the house Saturday afternoon to catch up with the actives, see how the house is doing and enjoy a little BBQ. This year’s Alumni dinner will be held at the Pearl Restaurant in Downtown Albany starting at 7 PM.
As I said, more information to follow shortly. Hope to see you all there.
Fraternally Yours,
Patrick DiCaprio ‘05
NYKT Alumni Secretary
NEW ALUMNI WEBSITE
For those of you that may not have noticed yet, the NYKT website was renovated a few months ago. As well as giving the site a facelift, there are also several new features, with a few more on the way. For those of you that still have the old Yahoo page bookmarked, please update those links to point directly to:
For starters, I switched over to a more blog based format to make it easier to provide timely updates provided by alumni and pertaining to the NYKT in general. This is an RSS feed for all those news junkies that wish to subscribe. There is also a page in which you can update you contact information as well as provide an update about yourself.
I am working on several totally new features, including a photo album where alumni can share memories from their time at the house. I am also looking on setting up a place where actives and alumni alike can post information pertaining to employment opportunities that may exist.
If anyone has any suggestions they would like to see on the website, please feel free to email me at: patrick.dicaprio@gmail.com
CLASS CAPTAINS WANTED
The NYKT Alumni Association is currently looking for individuals interested in acting as a class captain. We are looking for alumni that stay in touch with many of the guys that graduated around the same time as themselves and would like to help spread the word about alumni events and help us stay in touch with as many alumni as possible.
We are trying to find a way to stay in touch with more alumni and felt this may be a nice alternative to sending out mass mailings. Duties would not be overly extensive, mainly just helping maintain the lines of communication with as many alumni as possible. If you are interested, please send an email to patrick.dicaprio@gmail.com and let me know.
HOUSE LITHOGRAPHS AVAILABLE
Several years ago, the Alumni Association had lithographs made of the black and white sketch of the house seen on the front page of this newsletter. At the time they were numbered and sold as a fundraiser to go towards upkeep and improvements to the house.
Since it has been several years since we sold these as a fundraiser and many brothers have moved on to become alumni of the house, we have decided to offer the remaining prints once again. Any brother that donates $100 or more to the NYKT Alumni Association will be presented one of these numbered commemorative lithographs. We will first offer these at this year’s Alumni Weekend. After that, we will make them available via mail.
All proceeds from the fundraiser go directly into improvements to the house. In recent years, we have performed needed work on the boiler, refinished the hardwood floors on the first floor, and remodeled the kitchen. We do have several larger projects that will be needed soon, including replacing the roof, so any donation, no matter the size, is always appreciated.
FROM THE REX
NYKT Brothers,
My name is Joe Hughes and I am glad to address you as the new Rex of Pi Lambda Phi. I am a Junior Mechanical Engineer and am originally from Worcester, Massachusetts.
As you all know this has been a trying year for our chapter. We were placed on suspension this past semester and were unable to recruit or participate in RPI Greek life. After being elected, the new executive board members met with the Dean of Students and the Dean of Greek Life to discuss the repeal of our suspension. We then drafted the necessary petition to be submitted to the administration. After the meetings and talking with the deans we are confident that our suspension will be lifted in the spring.
Together, the brotherhood decided that even though RPI would not recognize it, we would spend a day at Habitat for Humanity this fall. We worked in their new warehouse and were told afterward that we saved them days of labor and want us to come back again soon. Next semester we will also be helping the school run some health programs on campus. We are looking to show the administration that even though it has been a tough year for us, that our fraternity will still be worthy of their 5 star rating.
With our inability to rush in the fall we will be radically redesigning the spring rush to hopefully recruit a large pledge class in the spring. This will be very valuable experience because it could help us get two strong pledge classes a every year instead of one. With a large class graduating this spring we are all focused and devoted to rushing new members.
It has been a trying year at 300 Pawling Ave, but I am confident weather we are reinstated this spring or next fall we will continue our tradition of excellence. The new executive board is enthusiastic and optimistic that the changes we are making will help us make Pi Lambda Phi stronger than ever.
Fraternally,
Joe Hughes
Rex, NYKT Chapter
Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity
FROM THE ARCHON
Brothers,
My name is Wyatt Parsons, the newly elected archon of the NYKT chapter. I am originally from Catasauqua PA, and a sophomore studying nuclear/ mechanical engineering.
Our chapter has fallen on tough times this last fall semester. Since we were on suspension we couldn’t have a rush, however we are trying our best to get off suspension and have a full rush in the spring. I am currently trying to get the entire house TIPS trained, and get us to host a couple of speakers on campus.
With an increased budget for spring rush, I hope to have the always-popular Jell-O wrestling, and go snow tubing at a local mountain. With the loss of a big senior class this year, spring and fall rush are crucial, and I am eager to meet the challenge.
Fall rush next year, I hope to do many of the events that led me to join this house; Jell-o wrestling, roof toss, and a trip to Ommegang brewery. One of the great things about this chapter is our close ties with our alumni. I encourage any of you to join us at our rush events, and to share your experience as a Pi Lam. I know that our brotherhood will need to work hard to take many steps forward, but I believe we will ultimately benefit from it.
Fraternally,
Wyatt Parsons
Archon, NYKT Chapter
Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity
FROM THE SCRIBE
Brothers,
I am Ben King, a junior Electronic Media, Arts and Communication major here at RPI. I call Scotia, NY, about a half hour from school, my home. In the upcoming year I hope to further build already strong bonds with not only my active brothers, but also with you the alumni. I ran for and was elected the new Scribe because meeting alumni and reuniting with old friends at alumni weekend and the annual turkey dinner are two of my favorite events each year. Also, I feel that your advice is invaluable, as you have all been through the experience of being a Pi Lam at Rensselaer.
In the coming weeks, we plan to work out the details of our 54th alumni weekend. Last year we had a fantastic turnout that truly blew me away and I really hope that this year will live up to last and we are even planning to order engraved shot glasses for all attendees.
This year Rory Horan, ’06, was named the “Young Alumni Representative.” This new position will be one for a recent graduate who has been a part of the current brotherhood to further relay information from the chapter to the alumni and further bridge the gap. Rory’s first idea was for more frequent updates from the brotherhood, which we plan to do following this message and the busy work we are doing trying to get the chapter reinstated.
However, I also encourage you to also update the current brotherhood with how things are on your end. Visits to the house at times other than our bi-annual gatherings, advice and even e-mails with any achievements or interesting stories you may have are always exciting for us to hear. Our inboxes are always looking for funny new websites to get us through the day too and I would love to here from all of you on a regular basis. You are, after all, my brothers.
Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
Fraternally,
Ben King
Scribe, NYKT Chapter
Pi Lambda Phi
FROM THE MARSHAL
Brothers,
My name is David Giamalis, I am a junior Electrical Engineer. I am the current Marshal of the Kappa Tau chapter of Pi Lambda Phi.
Last year’s work week was filled with many projects in our ongoing effort to maintain the house. As we normally do every few years, the driveway was resealed and new gravel was laid down. The porch was stripped and sanded down and a new coat of red paint was applied. The electrical work for the lights on the volleyball court was finished up, as was the wiring for the lights on the wiffleball field. Inside the house, the dining room received its annual new coat of paint, with it now being a medium blue with white trim. The dropdown ceiling in the bar was repaired with new tiles and support beams to replace a few that had been bent or misshaped. The process of replacing all of the wiring in the house began, with all of the Ethernet cable and coaxial cables on the third floor being replaced. Over the summer, a new boiler was installed to replace our old boiler after if finally gave out. Although we ran into a few issues, everything was sorted out and the boiler is in working order. An additional hot water tank was also installed to ensure that we no longer run out of hot water as quickly as we used to.
For my future plans with the house, I have a rather daunting list. The main project that I will be looking into is repair to the porch. Whether or not the issue is simply new support beams or whether it is in need of foundation work is what we are trying to determine at the moment. Putting down some actual sand for our volleyball court is being discussed, as it can also double as an ice skating rink in winter. I plan on just in general improving the yard of the house with some minor landscaping and replanting of hedges in the front and sides of the house. Inside the house, I will be putting down new tiles for the floor in the Pink Head and Red Head. The bar might also be seeing some new tiling, as might the dance floor. One of the more tedious tasks we are looking at is finishing what was started last work week and re-networking the whole house with new Ethernet and coaxial cables. I’m hoping that by doing this we will be able to improve the cable and internet quality by removing unnecessary splices and rotted cables. The kitchen will also be undergoing some remodeling, the shelving is starting to get a bit weak, so I am hoping to put up new cabinets and if possible add some more storage space in general.
Aside from the plans for the future work week, I am also conducting the usual upkeep of the house with inspections and weekly maintenance. I hope everyone has a great year, and we hope to see many of you in the spring at the Alumni Weekend. If anyone has any questions or suggestions, feel free to contact me.
Fraternally,
David Giamalis
Marshal, Pi Lambda Phi NYKT
FROM THE K.O.E.
Hello Brothers,
My name is Matthew Steen, and I am the Keeper of the Exchequer of the NYKT chapter for 2008. I am currently a sophomore chemical engineering student, and I am originally from Portville, NY.
Our finances have been very solid in the past due to the superb jobs that our past K.O.E’s have done, and I plan to do the same. There have been some changes made to the budget for the upcoming spring semester. We recently had a new boiler installed which is likely to decrease the costs of our gas and electric. This money will hopefully be used to fund a strong spring rush. In the past we have not taken advantage of this approaching semesters rush, but we are faced with a situation that requires us to do so. Also, with a large senior class that is expected to graduate, we are trying to keep an extra surplus so that house bills do not need to be raised due to the brothers that are leaving.
Fraternally,
Matthew Steen
K.O.E, NYKT
Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity