It’s that time of the semester where prospective new members have an opportunity to broaden their student experience by seeking out membership in one of Purdue’s 40 fraternities.
Pi Kappa Phi, 330 N. Grant St. that is across the street from Purdue’s Grissom Hall, may very well be the fraternity of your future.
Fraternities may have specific charisms, such as ones oriented toward a specific major (engineering or agriculture, for example) or a specific faith tradition (Jewish, Lutheran and Catholic as examples). Others, while they may be have faith-based traditions, are broader in their appeal. Some chapters focus on other areas such as academics, social, community service, athletics and/or philanthropy.
Pi Kappa Phi nationally was founded on common Christian values – faith in God and brotherly love. Locally, our chapter embraces those values and adds its own identity.
The Purdue chapter focuses a lot on academic achievement, philanthropic service, campus leadership and being well-rounded men.
In fact, due to its superior programming and achievement, it has received unprecedented recognition. Pi Kappa Phi was the named the RB Stewart Award winner in 2018 signifying it as Purdue’s best overall fraternity. Furthermore, it has won the award 8 of the last 11 years.
What sets Pi Kappa Phi apart from other chapters? As noted above, it’s through superior programming and achievement. Consider the following:
• Academic Achievement. While statistics are not yet available for the fall 2018 semester, the two semesters prior to that Pi Kappa Phi has had a 3.13 (spring 2018), and 3.27 average GPAs (fall 2017). That ranked No. 5 and No. 2 out of Purdue’s 40 fraternities.
• Philanthropy Dollars. Pi Kappa Phi ranked No. 4 ($10,813, spring 2018) and No. 1 ($112,354, fall 2017) in fraternity philanthropic fund raising the past two semesters.
• Service Hours. Pi Kappa Phi ranked No. 11 (829 hours, spring 2018) and No. 1 (5,040 hours, fall 2017).
• Membership. The chapter was No. 3 in chapter size (159 members, spring 2018) and No. 5 (145 members, fall 2017).
• Campus Involvement. Chapter members are expected to belong to various student organizations and honoraries. We have the top leaders in many campus-wide organizations including: Interfraternity Council (2019 president), Old Masters Central Committee and Purdue University Dance Marathon (3 of the top 23 positions).
“Our guys are involved throughout the campus in nearly every organization there is,” said Jack Russell, spring recruitment chairman. “We focus on grades and our philanthropy events, too. Furthermore, the brotherhood you will find at Pi Kappa Phi is unlike any other you will find on campus.
“We are one of the most diverse group of guys on campus, yet we all come together as brothers, not a group of individuals.”
Overall Purdue Greek rankings can be found at:
Other statistics from the spring 2018 semester bear out the academic achievements of the chapter members.
• 59 members, or 37.6 percent, are on the dean’s list or have earned semester honors.
• 107 members, or 68.2 percent, earned a 3.0 or higher GPA.
• 17 members, or 10.8 percent, earned a 4.0 GPA.
Of our 12 December 2018 graduates, two have joined the military (one as a Navy mass communications specialist and another as a Naval aviator), one is a project manager for Clear Object and another is a customer experience consultant for West Monroe Partners just a few examples of what our graduates are doing.
Prospective new members should attend the spring recruitment events listed on the chapter’s website pull down menu about recruitment.
The recruitment (also known as rush) schedule can be found at:
It is in the best interest of those interested in Pi Kappa Phi to attend events as early and as many times as possible. The recruitment process at Pi Kappa Phi is extremely competitive as it is not unusual for several hundred men to be interested in joining each semester. There is no lower or upper limit as to the number of bids (offers to join the membership), but the ratio in recent semesters has been one bid for every 10 prospecrive new members through the door.
For more information about the recruitment process, contact Jack Russell, spring recruitment chairman, [email protected] or [email protected], 501/940-3612.