CREIGHTON _KAI_

Hello everyone! This is my second time serving on the executive board of our chap-ter. Last year I was the VP of Finance, and I switched to VP of Communica-tions because it was more in line with my major and computer talents. It’s a very unique and humble experience to serve as a leader of this great colony for two years, and I am proud to say that we are establishing a solid founda-tion for the future. Following a trip to Tulsa, OK, in February, our executive board has been busy working to prepare our chapter as we continue our journey for our charter at this year’s 175th Gen-eral Convention at Miami University in Oxford, OH. (For quick refresher, we were founded on August 8, 1839,

in Oxford, which is why the 175th is in Oxford this year.) Needless to say, the 175th Gen-eral Conven-tion will be a blast, and it will be an e x p e r i e n c e like none of us have ever been apart of before. Our administrative office is pre-dicting that over 1,500 undergraduate Betas will attend, along with hundreds of alumni and friends of Beta. We have been very busy since our first newsletter, growing from 40

fine gentlemen to an astounding 65 Men of Principle. As a founding fa-ther, I can’t express how proud I am to see this colony grow and blossom on Creighton’s campus. Mark it down on your calen-dars: Saturday, June 16, 2014, will be our second annual College World Se-ries tailgate alumni event in Omaha. Stop by for some food and refresh-ments! I’ll see you there! (Check our social media for updates and details.)

Yours in __kai__,

Josh Bucy, ‘15V.P. of Communications

LETTERFROM THE DESK OF THE EDITOR

Brother Betas and Friends of Beta, As this semester comes to a close, I look back on the extraordinary success we have achieved since Janu-

ary. We start-ed the semes-ter with our third annual Crepes for Kids phi-l a n t h r o p y b e n e f i t i n g Comple t e l y Kids, an af-ter school

program benefiting underprivileged children in the Omaha area. We then proceeded to complete the most suc-

cessful recruitment in our colony’s history adding another sixteen quality men to our brotherhood. This brings our total number to 65, also the largest we have ever been. We have achieved incredible levels of intra- and inter-personal growth as well. We further developed our brotherhood through a retreat at the farm of Drew Schramm, ’15 and several other events allowing meaningful friendships to form. We still have a number of ex-citing things planned for this semes-ter including a volleyball tournament philanthropy and formal. We are all very excited for August and the 175th General Convention where we will hopefully receive our official charter.

I look forward to sharing these things with you all as we grow and progress. I would like to thank you all for your continued support. It means so much to all my brothers and me.

Yours in __kai__,

Logan Heinzen, ‘15President

LETTERFROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

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Clockwise L-R: Crepes for Kids, an annual philanthropy event, partnered wtih the Corner Creperie and raised over $900 this year; brothers showed off their roller skating skills at a date event; Ben Edwards, ‘16 (center) was elected Inter Resi-dence Hall Government president and is shown with outgoing representatives Sonnie Lee, ‘16 (left) and Kellan Slattery, ‘16 (right); Beta won this fall’s Welcome Week lip sync contest with selections from the movie The Hangover

Left: New members initiated in fall of 2013Above: Beta Dinner Club eats at Sinful Burger

This spring’s overnight brotherhood retreat was held at the farm of brother Drew Schramm, ‘15 in Moville, Iowa.

THE PULSEWHAT’S GOING ON AT CREIGHTON

INITIATIONAPRIL 5, 2014

Led by Vice President of Recruitment Michael Baldovino and Assistant Vice President of Recruitment Kellan Slat-tery, the chapter welcomed 15 new members following this spring’s formal recruitment.

The next few months were an exciting time for the new members as they attended weekly education meetings to learn more about the fraternity’s history under the direc-tion of Michael Lazzeri, Vice President of Education. New members were also paired with big brothers and integrated into the family system.

Ryan Kwapniowski said, “I’m excited to be able to gain new experiences and friends while developing my involvement with the community through service and philanthropy events.”

“I am excited to be part of a brotherhood that will make me a better indidvidual and leader,” Merrit Coughlin-Smith added.

Our new brothers are very talented. Included among this class are two Eagle Scouts, seven varisty athletes, and six members of the Freshman Leadership Program. In their free time, this group of brothers enjoys an array of activities such as Pokemon, hunting, coin collecting, and rock climb-ing, and playing and watching sports.

Initiation was held at the Alpha Tau chapter in Lincoln, NE.

Front (L-R): Jairo Chavez, Ben Edwards, Garrett Mercado, Adam Bohan, Sam Walker, Tom Peterson, Adam SkeboBack (L-R): Alex Tarter, Nick Maxwell, Michael Van Erdewyk, Tommy Hayek, Michael Carlson, Ryan Kwapnio-wski, Merritt Coughlin-Smith, Evan Dalton

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Charles Henry Hardin James George SmithJohn Holt Duncan

Michael Clarkson Ryan

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John Reilly Knox Samuel Taylor Marshall

David Linton

Thomas Boston Gordon

Spencer Cloud, roll no. 36Class of 2015

Henry David Thoreau said, “Nothing makes the earth seem so spa-cious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longi-tudes,” and I found that to be true last autumn when I studied abroad for a whole semester. I had spent only two short se-mesters in the amazing fraternity of Beta Theta Pi (one as a new member and one as a full member) when it was time to leave it all behind and live in Argentina with no one that I knew, a language that I wasn’t quite yet fluent in, and a culture unlike anything I had experienced before. Although the year I spent as a Beta was short, I already knew the bonds that I developed within the fra-ternity would last a lifetime, and I knew these bonds would give me something to look forward to upon returning this spring and reduce my apprehensions

about living abroad. At first, living in Buenos Ai-res was both exciting and strange. I was in a house with two “parents” I never met before and nine “siblings” from various parts of the world (and a dog, which I think most Creighton University Betas can agree is a plus). Although experiencing Buenos Aires’ lively nightlife was enjoyable, I always remembered to stay composed as a Man of Principle which, of course, is not the same as having no fun. I made new friends from my new Argentine school and from the local venues, and I relished in the op-portunity to explain my experience in Beta to whomever was eager to listen. And the Beta Theta Pi chapter here at Creighton even helped me through some rough times abroad, such as when some members simply let me know they had me in their thoughts when my backpack, along with numer-ous valuable possessions, was swiped right out from under my nose.

After finishing the semester’s fi-nals, I had made so many new connec-tions that a part of me didn’t want to leave. All of these friends were about to make my world both bigger and smaller; bigger because the longing for them would make the world more spa-cious, and smaller because I knew that hearing about the weather in Venezue-la or the holidays in Italy would simply be a Facebook post away. The goings-on at Creighton University and Beta Theta Pi were also just a Facebook post away, but, for me, only hearing about Beta through the internet for another semester would be insufficient. Although a part of me wanted to stay in Argentina, I needed to ex-perience the brotherhood I left behind again for real, not just electronically, which made leaving South America not so difficult after all. I knew that when I returned, I would be return-ing to not just the Men of Principle, but more importantly, friends in Beta Theta Pi.

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FEATURESTUDY ABROAD

Mitchell Knutson, roll no. 23Class of 2012

It seems like just yesterday I was having a conversation with Mi-chael McPhee about a fraternity called Beta Theta Pi. In actuality, what seems like yesterday is actually coming up on three years ago this fall. Since graduation in May 2012, life hasn’t slowed down. I accepted a position at First Data as a Financial Analyst, and I also began my MBA from Creighton in fall 2012. I’ve had a chance to keep in touch with fellow alumni of our chapter and have come across other Betas as I’ve been on vari-ous trips. The one constant is I have always been able to see the Beta spirit in any of the Betas I have come across. Life hasn’t slowed down for

the men of this chapter, either. They have continued to grow in numbers and quality. It makes me quite proud to see how far my brothers have taken the chapter. What’s particularly cool is seeing how much each brother has grown. The sophomores and freshmen I was a founding father with are now juniors and seniors and are at the prec-ipice or coming up on the precipice of what the next step in their lives will be. I know they are all hard workers and will be able to take their Beta spirit out into the world. They have helped to take Beta Theta Pi from a circle of four brothers to over 60 members since its inception in the fall of 2011. Needless to say, I am incredibly proud of all the hard work my brothers have put in and will continue to put in.

Beta Theta Pi has been and continues to be a home that I can come back to; that is why I continue give back in any way I can. After all, we are all bridge builders and creating bridges to span the great chasms of life so that those who come after us won’t be caught by the pitfalls. In a couple months, I will be walking across another stage. This time it will be to accept my diploma from my MBA. I plan on sticking around Omaha for a while and apply-ing to PhD programs in Management this fall. My end goal is being a profes-sor at a university and a faculty adviser for a chapter of Beta Theta Pi. Between now and then, I plan on staying involved with my home chapter and continuing to be a bridge builder.

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JOIN US IN OXFORDA u g u s t 7 - 1 0 , 2 0 1 4

COST$150 per undergraduate (includes lodging)$150 per alumni (does not include lodging)

HOW TO REGISTER www.BetaThetaPi.org(800) 800-BETA

QUESTIONS Josh Bucy (joshuabucy@creighton.edu)Megan Vadnais (megan.vadnais@betathetapi.org)

CHARTERINGThe Creighton colony will petition the Convention for its charter and chapter Greek letter designation

ALUMNI CORNERCONNECTING BROTHERS OF ALL AGES

Clockwise from top left: Beta Bash, featuring Raising Cane’s chicken, sold out and raised over $500; the Beta Re-lay for Life team members, which took place on campus in March; the new executive team attended the Keystone Leadership Conference in Tulsa, OK; spring initiation at the Alpha Tau chapter at the University of Nebraska; seniors at their last undergraduate initiation

facebook.com/cubeta1839 @Beta_Creightonflickr.com/photos/cubetathetapi

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