Representatives from the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity International Headquarters arrived in Madison Sunday and will be recruiting prospective founding members for the new UW-Madison chapter over the next month.
The Interfraternity Council voted in the fraternity last fall and it is scheduled to appear on campus in spring 2005.
Pi Kappa Alpha was originally chartered at UW-Madison in 1920 but has not been active since 1994, according to Eric Carr, expansion consultant for Pi Kappa Alpha.
Carr said recruitment for Pike's founding fathers is based on UW-Madison faculty and staff recommendations, which provide the most qualified candidates for the position. Pikes abide by what they term the SLAG theory which encompasses the four cornerstones of excellence: Scholars, Leaders, Athletes and Gentlemen.
Carr said these are all important attributes for the founding fathers to uphold in order to build and maintain a strong organization here at UW-Madison.
\In size, there's strength,"" Carr said. ""We want to be a prominent organization that does well in all areas of excellence.""
Interfraternity Council President Brandan Strickland said he is excited about expanding the Greek community.
""The Greek system here is only made up of about 9 percent of students on campus,"" Strickland said. ""Personally, I want to expand that. I think that if we're not adding new fraternities, or kind of stirring the pot a bit or getting some new blood in here, we'd be doing ourselves a disservice.""
Strickland said Pi Kappa Alpha's operations are similar to those of the other fraternities on campus in regards to community service, fundraising, and academic requirements, which is what made them appealing.
Additionally, the other fraternities on campus are excited to welcome Pi Kappa Alpha to UW-Madison, Strickland said.
Barb Kautz, fraternity and sorority program advisor, said she hopes the Pikes will ""appeal to a different group of students that are not currently involved in the Greek community.""
She said she believes the new fraternity will have a lot to offer the UW-Madison campus and community through campus involvement and philanthropic work.
""I think that other students really want to see our Greek community grow and if that's through expansion efforts, that's a great thing for UW's campus,"" Kautz said.
