Rekindling old friend-ships, reliving past eventsand celebrating the accom-plishments of 85 yearswere on the agenda theweekend of June 8 and 9for the Omega chapter(Purdue University).

“I’ve seen people heretonight I haven’t seensince I left school (in1971),” David Lane, for-mer national council presi-dent and Omega alumnus,said. “And because of thatbrotherhood developedyears ago, we could strikeup a conversation like itwas yesterday.”

Lane, who traveled 650miles to attend the week-end’s festivities, found thatfour of his pledge brotherswere among the 57 Omegainitiates and 10 guestswho attended the chapter’sfirst-ever, large-scale sum-mer alumni event.

“We learned a lot fromeveryone here tonight,”Lane said. “What we wentthrough as pledges andbrothers means a lot moreto us now than as stu-dents. It’s those sharedexperiences 40 years agothat had a dramaticimpact on your personal

lives, our career choicesand on our character.”

The weekend’s activitiesincluded golf, varioushouse improvement pro-jects and a formal banquetover a two-day span. Atthe two-hour Saturdayevening banquet, housingcorporation president, JaySeeger, chapter represen-tative Geoff Zindren,chapter advisor PatKuhnle and Lane spoke.Afterwards, a travelingmicrophone allowed allthose in attendance to

OmegaliteAUGUST 2007 PURDUE UNIVERSITY

THE • PI • KAPPA • PHI • FRATERNITY

Omega ofPi Kappa Phi, Inc.Housing CorporationP.O. Box 2700West Lafayette, IN47996-2700

Chapter web address:http://www.purdue.edu/pikapps

CorporationOfficers

JAY SEEGER

PRESIDENT

3817 Old Farm RoadLafayette, IN 47905765/742-4529, work765/474-1986, homejay@shf-law.net

BRANDT HERSHMAN

VICE PRESIDENT

6142 Maderia LaneLafayette, IN 47905574/581-2000, cellb.hershman@insightbb.com

STEVE BOHNER

TREASURER

194 Twin Springs Ct.Carmel, IN 46234317/846-3008, home317/844-2250, work317/844-2296, faxsteve@langdonancompany.com

PAT KUHNLE

SECRETARY

720 Chelsea RoadW. Lafayette, IN 47906765/743-1111 ext.

205, work765/743-6087, fax765/743-1256, cellpkuhnle@purdueexponent.org

Omega alumni toast anniversary

As his wife, Gay, looks on, alumnus Jim Berlien toasts the Omega chapterupon its 85th anniversary at the June 9 banquet attended by nearly 70brothers and guests.

Continued on Page 2

OMEGALITE AUGUST 2007 PURDUE UNIVERSITY

regale the audience with old stories.“Today, we celebrate 1,701 initiates, 85 years and an

extremely strong chapter,” Kuhnle said. “I ask you tojoin me in congratulating ourselves and the undergrad-uates by assisting the chapter in some capacity – byfinancially supporting our efforts, volunteering in somerole and by recognizing our amazing accomplishments.We’re third most in terms of chapter initiates in PiKappa Phi, we’ve never been shut down – we’re theonly single-letter chapter that can say such eventhough it’s been close – and we have the longest-stand-ing continuous housing in all of Pi Kappa Phi.”

The Saturday banquet ended with a toast to thechapter and its 85 years by Jim Berlien of FortWayne, who afterwards led the group in singing thePurdue fight song.

“As we reflect upon our careers, as husbands andfathers, we realize that so much of what we are todayis attributable to what we experienced at Omega yearsago,” Lane told the group.

The oldest alumnus in attendance, 77-year-old J.T.Wolfenden of Shaker Heights, OH, praised the 102-man chapter for its success and was warmly apprecia-tive of those who traveled so far to be at the event.

“You planned and executed a beautiful weekend forthe 85th anniversary of Pi Kappa Phi,” Wolfendenwrote in a letter to the chapter afterwards. “I appreci-ated seeing the many improvements at the chapterhouse and the fine fellowship of the returning gradu-ates.”

Brent Wunderlich of Buena Park, CA, was recog-nized as traveling the furthest by coming more than2,100 miles to be at the event. Others traveled fromthe states of Washington, Florida and Texas. Theycame to celebrate the past but also the hope of thefuture.

Student responder Zindren, a Terre Haute nativeand education major, explained how he became a PiKapp – a move he values more today than as a fresh-

man.“It’s four years and

three majors later andI’m coming to the endof my Pi Kapp jour-ney,” Zindren said. “Inthat time I have spenta year and a half onthe executive councilas secretary and vicearchon. I’ve madeexcellent friends andI’m leaving with evenbetter stories.

“I also have to saythat I love how I’m

ending my journey with the chapter,” he said. “It hasgrown as much as I have and I am proud of theachievements we’ve made.”

Those achievements have included being No. 2 inathletics last year, No. 9 in academics and size (out of41 Purdue fraternities), raising $8,500 for PushAmerica, being named a Pi Kappa Phi ChampionMaster Chapter and having numerous membersinvolved in campus leadership positions including thecurrent IFC president.

“Today is my birthday,” the 22-year-old studentresponder Zindren said. “I can’t think of any otherway of spending the day than with a room full of peo-ple that I can call my friends; that I can call, mybrothers.”

Continued from Page 1

JT Wolfenden, Lois Wolfenden, Bob Rust, JamesJackson and Barbara Ann Jackson.

Don Porth, Brent Buroker, Bryan Williams, MarcZubeck, Mike Porter, Mark Nigh, Matt Stuve,Steve Beeler and Ken Johnson.

Ian Koehler, Tim Kamerud, Brian Heiwig, SallyHeiwig, Mike Wilkins, Mark Chyba, David Ringand Brad Rochford.

Greg Linder addresses theaudience during the micro-phone pass at the 85th.

OMEGALITE AUGUST 2007 PURDUE UNIVERSITY

Years ago, heads of state wouldvisit the place where an Omegaalumnus is calling his temporaryhome.

However, a palace is downtownBaghdad, Iraq, can hardly be con-sidered a vacation site nowadays.Stationed in the former strongmanSadaam Hussein’s RepublicanPalace, Naval Cmdr. Tim Boyer(Omega 1247), works with a multi-national force in planning securityfor the military.

“Working in the RepublicanPalace has been interesting,” Boyerwrote in an email in July. “It’s apretty large place – lacking thegrandeur that it most probably hadbefore, say 2003, or so – but stillfairly posh compared to where onecould be working over here.”

He described his accommoda-tions inside the so-called “heavilyfortified Green Zone” as hot – wellover 100 degrees – brown anddusty.

“Overall, it’s pretty secure. Thebiggest threat is the indirect fire inthe form of mortars or rockets thatare lobbed in from time-to-time.”

Boyer, 39, is nearing the end of afour-month assignment inside Iraq,but it’s hardly his first duty in thearea.

“My other tours in the theaterhave been served deployed in thePersian Gulf aboard aircraft carri-ers. So, while having spent numer-ous hours flying above the country,this has been the first time on theground.”

During his various six-monthassignment on ships, he was aNaval Flight Officer aboard the E-2c Hawkeye and the USS GeorgeWashington.

Permanent assignment for Boyernowadays is in Texas, where hiswife resides. He works for the JointInformation Operations WarfareCommand in San Antonio, provid-ing support for troops in the MiddleEast.

“As with any deployment, it’s

tough being away from my wife,Lisa, but at four months this isshorter than the standard six-month sea deployment that I amaccustomed to, and far shorter thanthe 15 months that a lot of myArmy counterparts are servinghere,” he said. “It’s been easy tokeep in touch with the homefrontvia email and the occasional phonecall.”

Much of Boyer’s duties are clas-sified, but in essence he’s an on-the-ground planner.

“I have been working in theInformation Operations cell here atMNF-I (Multi-National Forces-Iraq),” he said. “We basically pro-vide the staff and supporting com-mands with planning, integrationand coordination of the elements ofinformation operations in order toinfluence the adversaries’ actions.”

The 1991 Purdue graduateearned a Master’s degree inMilitary Operational Art andScience from the Air Command andStaff College, in 2006.

“It (the advanced degree) workswell for what I’m doing here, butit’s probably not real marketable onthe outside,” he joked.

After receiving the Master’s

degree and then serving in Iraq,Boyer was promoted to NavyCommander. “It’s a pretty coolplace to pin a new rank on,” hesaid.

He finds his interaction withinternational support forces, meet-ing Gen. David Petraeus and theU.S. Iraqi Ambassador as mostmemorable.

“It has been a great personalexperience that I have found quiterewarding,” Boyer said. He antici-pates being sent back home toTexas in August.

One of his undergraduate broth-ers, James Briggs (Omega 1213),has kept in contact with Boyersince their Purdue days.

“Although Tim and I don’t talkor see each other as frequently aswe once did due to life pulling usall over the place, I still considermyself fortunate to include him asa friend and brother,” Briggs said.“Whenever we do speak, it feelslike hardly a day has passed sinceour last conversation.”

Briggs is both surprised and notsurprised that Boyer has made acareer in the military. OthersBriggs has known have spent one

Alumnus assists multinational forces in Iraq

Continued on Page 4

Cmdr. Tim Boyer, an Omega alumnus, poses in his Navy garb inBaghdad, Iraq. Boyer assists in intelligence for the multinationalforces in the fortified “Green Zone.”

OMEGALITE AUGUST 2007 PURDUE UNIVERSITY

Copies of the alumni directorywill be updated for the Oct. 27homecoming celebration and areavailable for mailout.

There are a limited number ofcopies of the 58-page directory,which was handed out at the June9 anniversary banquet. Alumniwho wish a copy may obtain oneby contacting chapter advisor PatKuhnle (his contact information ison the front page of theOmegalite).

Also, a new alumni question-naire is included in this mailing.All alumni who fill out a form willbe included in an updated versionof the directory that will be avail-able at homecoming. If you fill outa questionnaire and cannot makeit to homecoming, a copy will bemailed to you just for filling outthe form.

The new versions of the directo-ry includes email information, soplease send the enclosed form andreunite with your alumni broth-ers.

The Omega of Pi Kappa Phiupdates the alumni directoryevery five years when we cele-brate another milestone anniver-sary.

or two tours of duty.“On one hand, I’m not surprised

he is still in the Navy, due to hispassion and enthusiasm, the peoplehe has worked with and the qualityof his assignments,” Briggs said.“At this point, I cannot imaginehim working anywhere else.

“Given all the negative news wereceive on a daily basis from Iraq, Iwas of course concerned for Tim’ssafety … but Tim has always hadan unique ability to defuse any sit-uation with jokes and laughter,which quickly alleviated my con-cerns.”

Briggs is the CEO and co-founder of Briabe, a company basedin the Los Angeles area with officesin New York and Washington state.Briabe is a marketing firm for con-sumer products for telecommunica-tions and technology firms. AndBriggs, who earned a bachelor’s ofeconomics degree from Purdue andan MBA in marketing from PennState, has worked for Verizon,Verizon Wireless and BT Infonet.

Although in Iraq, Boyer was alsosomewhat connected to Omega’s85th anniversary celebration inIndiana. He emailed his alumniquestionnaire and sent greetingsfrom Iraq, which were conveyed atthe June 9 celebration.

After learning of Boyer’s assign-ment overseas, Marc Zubeck(Omega 1139), told his family a fra-ternity brother was in Iraq.

“My son, Michael who is 8, saidwe should pray fo him so that hegets home safely,” Zubeck said. “Wehave been praying for all the soli-diers since the start of the war andspecifically for any soldiers weknow who are in harm’s way.”

Zubeck first made contact withBoyer soon after the June alumnievent.

“I noticed that Tim had an emailaddress and decided to send him amessage,” he said. “My first corre-spondence was one of ‘thanks’ forservice and of prayer for his safereturn.”

AlmanacWEDDINGS:June 2, 2007

Ryan Rossiter (Omega 1441)and Charity Huff, Terre Haute,IN.

July 7, 2007Jon Majerski (Omega 1594)

and Courtney Russert, CrownPoint, IN.

July 14, 2007Phil Jones (Omega 1598) and

Erin Kighlinger, Indianapolis, IN

July 28, 2007Travis Conley (Omega 1497)

and Erin Weatherwax, WestLafayette, IN. Erin is the youngersister of Todd (Omega 1529) andKent (Omega 1545) Weatherwax.

Sept. 1, 2007Matt Clark (Omega 1583) and

Jainie Ehrenzeller

Sept. 22, 2007Peter Todd (Omega1457) and

Lisa Mleczko, Milwaukee, WI

Continued from Page 3

Mr. & Mrs. Ryan Rossiter Mr. & Mrs. Jon Majerski

Alumni directories available

���85TH ANNIVERSARY

OMEGA ALUMNI DIRECTORY

����1922 2007

85

This is what the cover of the58-page directory looks like.

OMEGALITE AUGUST 2007 PURDUE UNIVERSITY

Alumni financial support for thechapter and housing corporation incelebration of the 85th anniversarywill continue through the first halfof 2008.

The kickoff for alumni giftsstarted in June with the anniver-sary celebration on campus.Through the end of July, $13,830has been donated to the housingcorporation by alumni. Most of thatamount has been designated tospecific project funds – Past,Present and Future.

• The Past helps reduce themortgage on the property thatstands at $230,000. A total of$2,660 has been donated to thateffort thus far.

• The Present helps supportchapter improvement projects, suchas the $15,000 fund-raising effortto air condition the first floor;$2,975 has been donated thus far.

• The Future represents dona-tions to the Omega ChapterInvestment Fund, an account foreducational purposes, held by thenational organization’s Pi KappaPhi Foundation; $2,080 has thusfar been earmarked for this effort.

There has been $6,115 in unre-stricted gifts as part of the cam-paign.

Please consider giving, or addingto your previous gift to one of theabove funds. Donations for ThePast or The Present should bepayable to “Omega of Pi KappaPhi.” Payments to The Futureshould be payable to “Pi Kappa PhiFoundation.” All financial supportshould be sent to: Omega of PiKappa Phi; PO Box 2700; WestLafayette, IN 47996.

Please refer any questions youhave to chapter advisor PatKuhnle. His contact information ison the front page of this Omegalite.

The following people have finan-cially supported the 85thAnniversary Campaign and at leastone of its three objectives – Past,Present and Future.

“THE PAST”mortgage reduction

282 Edward Masline425 Ted Michaud435 Tom Hahn448 W. Kelley Carr490 David Peggs509 Duane Davis520 Al Kirchner566 Robert Hall589 Gordon Shaw632 Mike O’Reilly672 Ron Lema720 Warren Cline736 John Anglin759 Bob Harvey852 Tim Tubergen858 Bernard Platt1251 Dan Coppersmith1258 Tim Smith1272 Todd Spaulding1283 Jeff Rollo1367 Matt Bouma1415 Rob Curtis1517 Brad Eckerle1457 Peter Todd1480 Brian Huseman1488 Brent Wunderlich1542 Matt Maczka1591 Brandon DeliaPsi 436 Bill Newell

“The Present”chapter improvements/AC

418 JT Wolfenden436 Richard Lowe464 Robert Rust509 Duane Davis530 Christos Ziogas634 David Davis672 Ron Lema835 David Lane852 Tim Tubergen1176 Doug Davis1180 Don Porth1251 Dan Coppersmith

1272 Todd Spaulding1278 Jake Rohleder1281 John Bowling1384 Ryan Davis1437 Jayson Munoz1457 Peter Todd1488 Brent Wunderlich1591 Brandon Delia1599 Tim Kamerud

“THE FUTURE”Omega CIF account

418 JT Wolfenden612 Michael Kerr621 Hugh Flanagan951 Jay Seeger1197 Pat Kuhnle1461 Kevin JohnsonPsi 436 Bill Newell

Undesignated Gifts197 Ed Thomson295 William Swager325 Grafton Houston436 Richard Lowe449 Jack Powers506 James Jackson528 Larry Hines534 Phillip McCarthy571 John Weaver634 David Davis636 Fred Lyijnen722 Jack Berlien724 Mike Ohaver769 Jay Hackleman785 Jim Seeds827 Phil Newhouse819 Jim Berlien835 David Lane852 Kim Tubergen1030 Lars Kneller1031 Mark Higgins1077 Steve Bohner1168 Matt Stuve1179 Carl Gerlach1191 Steve Noth1197 Pat Kuhnle1243 Kirk Felbinger1277 Pat Lyons1279 Jae Sparks1286 Mike Porter1292 Scot Swenberg1437 Jayson Munoz1459 Nate Damasius1519 Pat Schweigel1597 Sean Cowley

Anniversary giving continues through early ’08

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OMEGALITE AUGUST 2007 PURDUE UNIVERSITY

A later-than-normal homecom-ing will give Omega alumni a sec-ond opportunity to reconnect withthe chapter during its 85th yearon the Purdue campus.

The traditional homecomingfare of a pregame meal and alum-ni gathering will occur in conjunc-tion with the noon, Oct. 27 gameagainst Northwestern.

Alumni who wish to order tick-ets as part of a Pi Kappa Phigroup can do so by sending in

checks payable to “Omega of PiKappa Phi” in the enclosed enve-lope by mailing it to the PostOffice box listed on the front pageof the Omegalite. Tickets are $45each and the deadline for sendingin payment is Sept. 15.

The schedule to be followed athomecoming includes:

• 10:30 to 11:15 a.m., lunchprovided at the chapter house.

• 11:30 a.m., leave the house

for the Purdue-Northwestern foot-ball game.

• Noon, gametime.• 6 p.m. to ?, Post-game infor-

mal alumni gathering at WhereElse? Bar, 304 W. State St. (in theVillage). Please note that all pub-lic establishments – includingbars – are now smoke-free in WestLafayette. If you choose to smoke,you must do so outside the busi-ness.

Make plans to attend Oct. 27 homecoming

Initiates who attended in the June 8& 9 festivities418 JT Wolfenden464 Robert Rust506 James Jackson632 Mike O’Reilly724 Mike Ohaver759 Bob Harvey785 James Seeds804 Dennis Dayton819 Jim Berlien835 David Lane

857 Mark Wilson890 David Brown964 Greg Klein897 Jay Seeger951 Greg Linder1031 Mark Higgins1168 Matt Stuve1077 Steve Bohner1139 Marc Zubeck1168 Steve Beeler1179 Carl Gerlach1180 Don Porth1191 Steve Noth1197 Pat Kuhnle1206 Ken Johnson1262 Mark Nigh1265 Brent Buroker1268 Bryan Williams1278 Jake Rohleder1286 Mike Porter1295 Sean Keegan1379 John Cimino1394 Kevin Hofer1401 Porter Draper1405 Jim Taller1408 Jeff Babich1412 Gene Ward1436 Tom Bentley1450 Andy Paker1488 Brent Wunderlich1506 Phil Leslie1509 Jerry Budd1571 Ian Koehler1599 Tim Kamerud1611 Jason Cooper1616 Mark Chyba1622 David Ring1659 Brian Heiwig

1649 Mike Wilkins1629 Geoff Zindren1645 Jason Wade1650 Jeremy Schutz1658 Brad Rochford1669 Troy Wright1677 James Vasil

85th anniversary attendees

Bob Harvey and Mike Ohavershare a light moment beforethe 85th anniversary banquet.

Brent Buroker cleans up extramortar used to fill in cracksalong the Grant Street lime-stone retaining wall as part ofthe 85th improvement projects.

Davd Brown, Mike O’Reilly,Mark Wilson and Jay Seegershare a moment with theirspouses at the 85th.