Fall PI alPHa PHI

The Official Newsletter of Pi Alpha Phi

National Asian American Interest Fraternity

www.pialphaphi.com

08

generations

2008 National Convention The annual largest gathering of broth-

ers from across the country

National Initiatives

the Strategic Plan

Member Code of Conduct

Chapter Excellence Awards

Fraternity Updates Lots of great stuff happening across the

country

VISION Pi Alpha Phi is to be recognized and respected by campus leaders, college administrators, and the general public as the premiere Asian American Interest Fraternity. Pi Alpha Phi binds and inspires its members through the shared common values of Academic Excellence, Brotherhood, Leadership, Philanthropy, and Asian American Aware-ness. By applying these values in their everyday actions, our members become positive contributors to the community. - the Strategic Plan

Dear Brothers,

I’d like to take the time to introduce myself as your 2008-2009 National President as well as my executive board and appointed cabinet for this upcoming academic year. I also look forward to working with your Presidents as well as other officers. Some of the things that I would like to focus on this year would be develop a well established re-lationship national leaderhship and chapters.

At last year’s convention at UC Berkeley, I did a presenta-tion on our Strategic Plan that will provide us guidance on direction we should move our fraternity in. We are slowly gathering the right people and developing committees for the different areas we are focusing on. As I said be-fore many times, your national leadership is here to serve you and we wouldn’t exist without our chapters located across the US. Last year, many new ideas, concepts and programs were formulated and discussed. This year is the time to execute and put everything into action.

I would like to encourage all of you (undergraduate or alumni) to participate in helping out national leadership this year by either serving as a Chair position or committee. Please join me in congratulating your 2008-2009 Executive Board as well as Appointed Cabinet. If you have any questions or concerns during the upcoming year, please feel free to contact myself our any of us on Nationals.

GenerationsA publication of Pi Alpha Phi Na-tional Fraternity for its members, alumni, donors, and friends.

Pi Alpha Phi National Leadership

PresidentKeith Chu (UC Riverside)president@pialphaphi.com

Vice PresidentKen Hui (UC Santa Barbara)vp@pialphaphi.com

TreasurerSujay Karve (UC Berkeley)treasurer@pialphaphi.com

SecretaryJason JA Wang (UC Berkeley)secretary@pialphaphi.com

Alumni RelationsDavid Jung (MSU)alumnirelations@pialp-haphi.com

Membership Develop-ment and EducationDoug Radtke (UC Riverside)mde@pialphaphi.com

Risk ManagementBrian Gee (UC Berkeley)riskmanagement@pialp-haphi.com

from the President’s Desk

2008-2009 National President Keith Chu

new national googlegroups

Pi Alpha Phi has created 2 new googlegroups to help facilitate communication among the brothers.

A googlegroup is an online group that helps users connect with people, access information, and communicate effec-tively via e-mail and on the web.

An actives’ group was created to help undergraduate mem-bers communicate with each other across the country. An alumni group was created to help alumni communicate with each other.

The two new groups may be accessed at:

http://groups.google.com/group/natl_paphi_actives

http://groups.google.com/group/natl_paphi_alumni

the Strategic PlanIn the past 5 years, our fraternity has endured several setbacks to the organization:

tremendous bad publicity that the media conveyed as a “gang brawl among rival asian fraternities” resulting in the stabbing death of a student

80% of chapters’ GPA’s fall below the all-men’s average on their campus

dwindling membership (in past 8 years, average chapter size has plummeted 50%)

7 hazing investigations3 criminal investigations3 suspended chapters1 de-activated chapter8 suspended students1 signifcant lawsuit

As a fraternity, we could choose to follow the path of dwindling membership, civil lawsuits, and criminal investigations, leading to the eventual downfall of our fraternity.

In 2007, the fraternity’s leadership chose a different path. In 2007, the national leadership began the process of serious self-assessment and reflection. Pi Alpha Phi established a Strategic Planning committee and began the process of establishing long range goals critical to the survival and success of our fraternity.

The first focus group was held at the 2007 national convention in Irvine, CA. Several key themes were developed:Clear, focused vision and goals for the FraternityMonitoring of performance milestones toward meeting the established goalsIncreased emphasis on the need for undergraduate

Pi Alpha Phi stands at a crossroads.

commitmentIncreased reliance on alumni volunteers for continuity and mentoringStrong communications to inspire and empower chapter and alumni membersEffective use of technology to facilitate communication and efficienciesEffective use of expert advisors’ experiences to provide new perspectivesSWOT analyses were conducted with members across

the country. At the 2008 national convention in Berkeley, the fraternity approved its Strategic Plan.

The Strategic Plan is not about finding a perfect combination of programs, rules, and regulations that will turn Pi Alpha Phi into the best fraternity in the anywhere. While our strategic plan will have these things, the Strategic Plan is really about People. It is about people and attitudes and striving for more than mediocrity. It is about making sure our actions match what we SAY we stand for. It is about how defining who and what we are.

Our great brotherhood is built on more than just partying and pledging, but we have allowed ourselves to be defined by these things. Our Strategic Plan allows us to return to the Pillars of what our Fraternity was founded upon: Academic Excellence,

Brotherhood, Leadership, Philanthropy, and Asian American Awareness.

While our Strategic Plan contains goals and strategies, it will mean nothing if we do not back it up. Words on paper are meaningless and passive. Pi Alpha Phi is an organization of men. It is only as good as the men in it. WE are the ones driving OUR Strategic PLan and make Pi Alpha Phi the best it can be.

The Pi Alpha Phi Strategic Plan can be found online at: http://www.pialphaphi.com/PAPhi-Strategic_

VISION

Pi Alpha Phi is to be recognized and respected by campus leaders, college administrators, and the general public as the premiere Asian American Interest Fraternity. Pi Alpha Phi binds and inspires its members through the shared common values of Brotherhood, Academic Excellence, Philanthropy, Leadership, and Asian American Awareness. By applying these values in their everyday actions, our members become positive contributors to the community.

New Membership Development Program

In order to increase members’ commitment to the fraternity, the fraternity is examining the root of its new member process.

The program gives a new voice to the founding principles of the fraternity. We want to offer a mem-bership experience that calls on men to become leaders and give them the tools to achieve that goal. The new member program will aid the individual members, builds the fraternity, and strengthen the community through a lifelong devotion to the pillars of the fraternity.

Our initiative is about a return to the founding vision and traditions of our fraternity. It is not a cookie-cutter approach. It is a framework for success. It is a tool to give the students complete ownership of the mission, vision, and goals of the chapter. It is a tool for the chapter to create and maintain success year after year after year.

The new program is the result of feedback from online surveys and focus groups on both coasts, to quantitatively ask “what sets Pi Alpha Phi apart from the rest? What makes Pi Alpha Phi special?

The following sections include sample answers from the various focus groups.

What characteristics do we look for in a new member?

• Discipline – they can compose themselves• Organization• Commitment• Enthusiasm• Dedication to leadership• Reliability/accountability

What makes Pi Alpha Phi unique & special?

• Asian American focus

We do the cultural performance show (dance) and par-ticipate in the campus Chinese new year festivities We work with other student associationsWe raised money for victims of the China earthquakeWorked with Asian Bazaar on campusBe involved in other Asian American organizations. We encourage our members to become leaders on execu-tive board of those groups.

• Gentlemen’s fraternity

This is beyond our reputation… “but reputation goes a long way.”We dress for success• We strive to be noticed• We see what other groups do and do what we like about them• There’s a mentality of other Asian fraternities that are more gang-like• We emphasize quality of quantityWe know everyone in our region, we know our national officers as people, There are other groups on campus where their pledges don’t even know each other be-cause they’re so big.Some groups aren’t really brotherhoods – they literally fight with each other• It was different from other organizations. One was a study group – a bunch of geeks. The other was all gang-ster. This was different.•It’s a gentlemen’s fraternity. I saw how they treated women and how they acted.• That it’s an Asian interest group• Tight brotherhood• Had more potential. I could see myself contributing the most to this organization.• I didn’t want to join an underground fraternity like oth-ers on my campus.

Best Practices

What are we doing really well? What are our best practices? What are some cool things other groups are doing that I wish we did?

• Alumni events – sporting tournaments, talent shows, dance shows• Just big events to get your name out and something to look forward to• Rush – making groups actually work• Maintaining tradition, somewhat uniformity among chapters• Thinking of new ways to work effectively• Being open to new ideas• Inter-chapter relationships are good• Retreats, lock-ins, philanthropies• Mandatory workshops• Getting insurance• Getting out of debt• Wish we could get our name out• Brotherhood events with other chapters• Big Bear retreat• Greek social events on campus• Paintballing with alumni• Big family dinners• Initiates/new members ‘shadowing” cabinet posi-tions•“Brolympics” – brotherhood events with small groups competing• Social regional brotherhood events• End of winter quarter elections so new positions can learn form old ones doing spring rater than pick everything up in the fall• Workout days (once a week? Scheduled, large time frame so that everyone can make it)• Brotherhood sporting events (competition among chapters i.e. football tournament)• Traveling to meet bros in other chapters

What skills do the brothers want and need in order to be successful as a member and in life?

• Time management• Accountability• Management• Honesty• Integrity• Organization• Public speaking• Resume builders• Responsibility• Moderation• Leadership• Life responsibility• Negotiation skills• Sense of professionalism –work does not equal play• Humility• Motivation/initiative• Money management

What do we need to eliminate in order to have an excellent experience?

• Recruiting quality rather than people who only want to party. People who want to run the house• Our negative relationship with alcohol• Lil Sis program – hooking up, belittling, using girls as rush and fundraising tools• Pointless pledging events – lessons only to justify events? BS!• Lowering standards to meet “goals”• Letting brothers slide – missed meeting, unpaid dues, tardiness, etc.• Lack of consequences• Poor prioritizing skills• Not teaching life lessons• Eliminate drugs

On April 19-22, Pi Alpha Phi joined with Sigma Omicron Pi sorority to change things up a little bit. In the Fall of 2007,

both organizations’ national cabinets were having similar difficulties regarding their national conven-tions. While both conventions provided a great time for their members, it was clear something was missingLeadership from both organizations participated in a national board training retreat held by the Na-tional Asian Pacific Islander American Panhellenic Association (NAPA).

Both Pi Alpha Phi and Sigma Omicron Pi have the highest expectations for our members and chap-ters, but in past years, sometimes these expecta-tions were not being met.

It’s not that our organizations are recruiting the wrong types of members or that we are failing to pass on our traditions of excellence properly, it was because our national leadership was failing to provide our membership the necessary tools to meet and exceed the expectations of our respec-tive letters.With that in mind, the leadership of Pi Alpha Phi and Sigma Omicron Pi began a series of epic brainstorming sessions and the idea of co-hosting a national convention sprang up.

The pursuit to live up to the reputation and sym-bolism of our letters, through continued educa-tion and inspiration through example: Celebrating our past to create the future.

While each group created its own schedule, the 2 organizations collaborated on 3 specific events:

Alumni Banquet - to honor and recognize both organizations’ alumni

Leadership College - to give each member the tools to become better brothers/sisters and mem-bers of the community

Club Party - because what’s a convention without some time to relax a little.

by Natl Presidents Jeremy Song (UCSD) and Kathleen Lew (Sacramento State)

Speakers

UC Berkeley - 2008 Chapter of the Year

Leadership College Attendees

CONVENTION 2008

The leadership college was the centerpiece of the personal and organizational development effort at the 2008 convention.

As two national organizations that share the same inter-ests and aspirations, Sigma Omicron Pi and Pi Alpha Phi invested significant time and effort in creating an array of educational workshops to meet the needs and inter-ests of all the fraternity’s and sorority’s members.

The program was created with the input of each and every member of the fraternity through outreach efforts of the convention committee.

All of our members are taught that our organizations strive to excel in continued education and excellence in all aspects of life. After crossing into Pi Alpha Phi, broth-ers are expected to make good on the letters, which literally means, “To advance through brotherly ties; the thirst for learning.”

All sisters of Sigma Omicron Pi are supposed to repre-sent their letters as “Sisters of Pedagogy”/sisters of educa-tion.

The letters our members wear proudly are representa-tions of the lifelong bonds and a history of academic excellence and strong leadership in the community. Ev-ery member is expected to to attend the amazing work-shops and utilize the materials to strengthen themselves and their organizations.

Some of the panels included:

Grad School Application Workshops sponsored by the Princeton Review

Asian Awareness and Community Involvement spon-sored by APIAVote

Member and Chapter financesAcademic PlanningChapter Operations ImprovementsMember MotivationRecruitmentAlcohol AwarenessCareer Guidance

April 20, 2008 - A full day of speakers, workshops, and other opportunities for chapter and self-improvement

by Jeremy Song (UCSD) and Kathleen Lew (CSUS)

the Leadership College

Cyndie Wang (UCB ‘95), Burt Foon (UCB ‘83), Wing Mar (UCB ‘49) Alumni Speakers

Our fraternity oftentimes talks about how recruit-ment is the lifeline of our organization and how we need to recruit 24/7. Unfortunately, we

oftentimes fall short of actually executing those state-ments. At this year’s convention, Pi Alpha Phi provided its members the opportunity to attend an all-day recruit-ment workshop hosted by Phired Up, the recruitment specialists. A few basic ideas that were discussed:

One area where our organization oftentimes kills itself is “eventitus”. We make all our members believe that they have to spend a lot of money and time and energy plan-ning a big event in order to lure rushees in. Newsflash:

Spectacle is cheap. Small is in.

Normal people (non-Greeks) make friends by doing simple, small activities together (lunch, coffee, working out). Recruit people by doing SMALL ACTIVITIES. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to throw a big event to lure people in.

People Don’t Join Organizations

It’s true. People don’t join organizations, they join peo-ple. Be honest. Did you join for a set of ideals, a calen-dar of events, and a bunch of t-shirts? Or did you join a group based on meeting one or two of the members? Most people can pinpoint the one person who recruited them into the organization. If we know this, we can focus our time on building one-on-one relationships, not “sell-ing the organization”. People are going to join the fra-ternity because of their personal relationship with you, so don’t waste your time, energy, and money on cool t-shirts, bar-b-que’s, parties; go out and make as many acquaintances and friends as possible, and watch them turn into members.

You can’t recruit who you don’t know.

It’s a simple concept. You really can’t recruit who you don’t know. If you want to build a successful recruitment process, the first step is NOT to hold big events, make t-shirts, or plan for house parties. The first step is to get to know (just meet) as many people as you possibly can. Quantity drives Quality.

The more names you have on your list. The more people you’ll have to choose from, and the more likely you are to get high quality members.

the Recruitment Workshop

small activity ideas

mixers, video games, meals, campus pro-grams, camping/hiking, poker, tailgates, local bands, tournaments, intramurals, workout, golf, billairds, paintball, bowling,

service event, ropes, alumni events

more recruitment tips:

5 f*n ways to master conversation

1. Family/Friends2. Firsts3. Favorites4. From5. Fun

... not Fraternity

The business meeting’s agenda at this year’s convention was extremely packed. In ad-dition to voting on chapter status for the

University of Washington chapter and listening to the chapter reports of all the chapters, the fraternity discussed several proposed national initiatives.

Among the major initatives that were passed at the 2008 Convention Business Meeting:

State of the Fraternity AddressNew active registrationpialphaphi.com website PreviewBrother of the Year AwardsChapter of the Year Award2008 Strategic Plan presentation and approval

Purchase of National Insurance policy2007-2008 Annual Report2008-2009 Budget ProposalUW Chapter Presentation

UW presentation for chapter status

fraternity business

Chapter Representatives discussing business

On October 18, 2008, Pi Alpha Phi held its elections for the 2008-2009 year.

Here are the results:Elected Positions:

PresidentKeith Chu (UC Riverside)president@pialphaphi.com

Vice PresidentKen Hui (UC Santa Barbara)vp@pialphaphi.com

TreasurerSujay Karve (UC Berkeley)treasurer@pialphaphi.com

SecretaryJason JA Wang (UC Berkeley)secretary@pialphaphi.com

Appointed Positions:

Alumni RelationsDavid Jung (Michigan State University)alumnirelations@pialphaphi.com

Membership Development and EducationDoug Radtke (UC Riverside)mde@pialphaphi.com

Risk ManagementBrian Gee (UC Berkeley)riskmanagement@pialphaphi.com

MU - Michigan state

As part of the fraternity’s self-evaluation that began in 2007, it became clear that many members do not have a baseline for the

expectations of membership once they join the fraternity. To help clarify the standards of conduct and personal behavior for its members, in June 2008, the chapter presidents unanimously passed the following Member Code of Conduct:

As a member or future member of Pi Alpha Phi Fraternity, I agree to adhere to the following to the best of my ability in order to promote a strong brotherhood:

1. I will know and understand the ideals and values of Pi Alpha Phi. I will strive to incorporate them into my daily life.

2. I will strive for academic excellence and to exceed the all-men’s average at my campus. I will practice academic integrity.

3. Each brother in this fraternity is a unique and important component of this Brotherhood. I will respect his beliefs, dignity, and character.

4. Pi Alpha Phi is made up of leaders. As such, I will always participate in my chapter by either serving on a committee or as an officer.

5. I will attend and be on time for as many Frater-nity related events as I can, be it of philanthropic, service, academic, or chapter related nature.

6. I believe in learning about the Asian American culture, heritage, and history. I will make every at-tempt to pass this knowledge to others.

7. I will learn and abide by the rules and regula-tions of Pi Alpha Phi.

8. I will meet my financial obligations in a timely manner.

9. I will not misues nor support the misuse of al-cohol or drugs. I understand that I am responsible for my actions when under the influence of any substance.

10. I understand that my personal behavior reflects upon the fraternity. I ALWAYS represent Pi Alpha Phi, whether or not I am wearing my letters. I will conduct myself with dignity at all times.

11. I will respect my property, the fraternity’s prop-erty, and the property of others. I will not abuse nor tolerate the abuse of property.

12. I understand Pi Alpha Phi is a lifelong commit-ment. I will promote our Brotherhood by remaining involved with the fraternity after graduation. I will encourage other alumni to do the same.

13. I will challenge all members of my fraternity to abide by this code and will confront those who vio-late them.

The code of conduct is not a policy, with fines or sanctions for those who break the 13 statements. Pi Alpha Phi’s code of coduct is intended to empower each individual member with the guidelines to hold himself and his brothers accountable

the Member Code of Conduct

The Chapter Excellence Awards were created this year to honor the excellent work of our chapters in pursuit of the

fraternity’s founding principles.

So much of the great work some chapters do goes unrecognized and is isolated to one chapter or geographic region.

The Chapter Excellence Awards is an attempt to recognize chapters for their accomplishments over the course of an entire calendar year to show continuity and consistency among the chapters.

Good chapters continually strive to improve their operations. The awards ceremony at convention is a great opportunity to show your chapter’s best practices as well as hear what great work other chapters are doing.

The Chapter Excellence Awards application can be found here:

http://www.pialphaphi.com/

Chapter_Excellence_Awards-2009.doc

chapter excellence awards

T he National Cultural Greek Leadership Conference (NCGLC) has been created as a means to give undergraduate members of

culturally focused Greek lettered organizations the opportunity to network and dialogue on issues that face them on campuses across North America.

This event will feature joint workshops and pre-sentations as well as a curriculum that will address specific issues facing the many councils within the Greek community.

Featured speakers include: Dr. Walter KimbroughDavid StollmanDavid ColemanRick Barnes

Although NCGLC is being hosted within the West-ern Region, attendance is open to and encour-aged by members of cultural fraternities, sorori-ties, councils and their advisors from across North America. The NCGLC Planning Committee and the organizations that support and endorse this event are all very excited for this ground breaking op-portunity to bring together members of all un-dergraduate fraternities and sororities to mutually benefit from cross council collaboration, network-ing, and high quality leadership development.

The conference takes place april 2-5, 2009 at the San Francisco airport Hyatt Regency.

Registration is open online at:

http://www.ncglc.org/Registration.html

pi alpha phi regional Brotherhood

The national leadership has chosen to take advantage of the programming opportu-nities at the NCGLC.

In order to assist the undergraduate members of our fraternity, Pi Alpha Phi is holding its Spring Regional Brotherhood Weekend at the NCGLC hotel.

Fraternity undergraduates are encouraged to apply for funding from their respective universi-ties to attend this conference. Not only do many campuses offer registration scholarships, but the NCGLC itself offers several scholarships for attendees.

Undergraduates are encouraged to apply by e-mailing bethconder@yahoo.com by February 15th, 2009.

april 2-5,2009San Francisco, Ca

Pi Alpha Phi

National Asian American Fraternity

www.pialphaphi.com

F 08

The Purpose of this Fraternity is to encourage higher scholastic achievements in the Light of Truth, and to promote that Bond of Brotherhood - from the Pi Alpha Phi Constitution

upcoming events 2009

presidents’ phone conferencejan 11

Founders Dayfeb 1

presidents’ phone conferencefeb 8

presidents’ phone conferencemar 8

regional meetingapril 4

presidents’ phone conferencemay10

conventionmay 22-25