Have you ever driven down Third Street and seen that empty plot of land between Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma? Believe it or not, that used to be the place that housed the men of Pi Kappa Alpha since its original chartering at Indiana University. In the years following World War II, PIKE chartered its Delta Xi chapter at IU. Yet, competing with the fraternities that had been established at IU for over 100 years proved daunting, and the chapter fell silent after only four years. Pi Kappa Alpha was re-charted in 1965, and developed a rich tradition of excellence until 2002. However, like many fraternities that fall to the cycle, Pi Kappa Alpha was kicked off of campus and their house was demolished by IU. Fast forward to 2007, PIKE was re-founded and charted for a third time.
Competing against the historic and illustrious fraternities on IU's campus in order to restore the chapter to its former stature proved to be an extremely challenging mission. In fact, PIKE's membership dropped to critically low levels in 2012 with only 27 members on its roster while the average chapter size of the other IFC fraternities was 105. Recruitment was terrible, finances were poor, social standing nonexistent: Delta Xi was the lowest of the low, often referred to as the "GDIs with letters on their chest." But its members had a vision to rise on a path of excellence, and that is exactly what we did.
I joined PIKE in the fall of 2013 with its largest pledge class since recolonization, composed of 33 guys who wanted to do fraternity differently. Truthfully, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I knew we were destined build some sort of legacy for those that come after us. By using the national fraternity's resources and alumni, by the end of the 2013-14 academic year, Delta Xi had nearly tripled the size of the chapter, improved financial standing, established an award-winning alumni advisory board, formed a housing corporation and became a finalist in Division I recruitment out of all Pi Kappa Alpha chapters nationwide.
At the beginning of the 2014-15 academic year, Delta Xi restructured its programming to align with our values, with an aim to become the best fraternity we can be. We strived to focus on our philanthropy, increase our social connections and continued to recruit genuine men and leaders who were committed to establishing a legacy on IU's campus. By the end of this school year, we finished with nearly 100 members and were awarded IFC's Chapter of Excellence. But the crown jewel of our goals, housing, was realized when we got the final seal of approval from the university to purchase land as a student organization this semester.
Pi Kappa Alpha by no means claims to be the best chapter on campus with the greatest social standing, and it is still often thought of as a bunch of losers. People can think what they will, but it is not by listening to our critics that we have gotten to the position we are at now. We are a living testament to those who believe in a worthwhile cause, with enough passion and tireless efforts, can achieve whatever the goal is in aim.
The house may provide us some legitimacy, but after contemplating it, the house was never really the goal: The goal was to become a great fraternity. The house, really, is more of a by-product of our success. Using the house as a springboard to greater motivation, PIKE will continue to set high standards to become a great fraternity, as we still have a long, long way to go.
