ACADEMICS • SERVICE • LEADERSHIP
Rush Chairmen, Fall 2025: Nathan Guzek, 219/263-3030, [email protected] & Charlie Cook, 765/414-0716, [email protected].
What you see below is the Spring 2025 schedule for your reference. The Fall 2025 schedule will be posted when available. In the meantime, feel free to contact Nathan and/or Charlie listed above for information.
Pi Kappa Phi prides itself in being the best chapter. In fact, in was given the 2023 RB Stewart Award in April 2024 as the top fraternity at Purdue. It was the 11th such recognition in the last 15, an unprecedented achievement.
The chapter stands on three principles – academics, leadership and service – and seeks potential members who have achieved in those areas previously or strive to be among the best now. So, if you have been a valedictorian, a national Merit finalist or semifinalist, graduated from high school with honors, athletic team captain, elected to a leadership role such as class president or on the student council, been part of a community service project or especially worked with people with disabilities, talk to us.
ACADEMICS • SERVICE • LEADERSHIP
Additional Information:
Recruitment (also known as fraternity “rush”) at Purdue is the process of joining a group in the Greek or cooperative housing system. Rushing a fraternity can be a life-changing experience, providing many benefits to members that would not otherwise be experienced during and after college. Rushing one of the 40 campus Interfraternity Council chapters is the first step in experiencing all that Greek Life has to offer.
Purdue has one of the largest Greek systems in the country, with more than 7,000 undergraduate students involved in Greek and cooperative life. Many of Purdue’s most influential and famous alumni were involved in Greek life while at Purdue, including Neil Armstrong, Orville Redenbacher and Drew Brees.
Pi Kappa Phi at Purdue was established on campus in 1922. Since then we have initiated nearly 2,500 members and been influential in many campus events. Since 2008, Pi Kapps has been named the top fraternity at Purdue 11 times (RB Stewart Award) out of the last 15. It has been the top chapter of Pi Kappa Phi in the nation 4 times (Founders Award). Chapter members have won countless intramural titles. In 2019, Pi Kappa Phi received the North American Interfraternity Conference’s Award of Distinction, recognizing it as one of top 5 fraternities in the nation (out of 6,000 plus fraternity chapters).
Each semester, the Purdue Interfraternity Council (the governing body for fraternities) hosts a “Meet the Greeks and Cooperatives” event on campus. In the fall semester, it’s typically held outdoors either on the Memorial Mall or the lawn north of the Krach Leadership Center. In the spring, it’s typically held in one of the ballrooms of the Purdue Memorial Union.
Afterwards, individual chapters host recruitment events (also known as “rush functions”) at their fraternity houses. While there, you should meet as many of the brothers that you can to learn about them and how the chapter operates.
Recruitment Terminology:
Rush, aka new member recruitment. This is an opportunity to meet brothers at various chapters. There is no commitment made by you to visit chapters during rush, nor are there any guarantees you will receive an invitation to join (aka bid). It’s an opportunity to learn about the members and the chapters. If you find fraternities that you are interesting in potentially joining, you are encouraged to attend as many rush events as possible. The earlier the better and meeting as many members as you can helps.
Bid. This is an invitation to join the chapter. You are welcome to visit as many chapters as you wish and get as many bids as you want. However, once you accept a bid you are committed (it’s not a contract, it’s a commitment) to that organization.
Legacy. This is when you have a relative who is a member of a specific chapter. Preference is generally given to those who have relatives among the chapter’s membership or alumni rolls. There is no guarantee that a legacy will receive a bid at Pi Kappa Phi.
Induction. This is a formal event at the start of the new member education (aka pledgeship) starts where each member of the class commits to seeking to become an initiated member into the chapter.
New Member Orientation/Pledging. After accepting a bid, there will be a formal ceremony welcoming you into the new member education plan. New Member education programs can be 2 to 12 weeks long, depending on the fraternity. The most common timeframe is completion in the same semester as you start, typically in the 7- to 10-week timeframe.
Initiation. This is a formal ceremony inducting you into a chapter. It occurs upon your successful completion of the new member education process. If you so choose, you typically can relinquish your bid (quit) to a chapter up to initiation time. It’s during the initiation ceremony that you typically learn the secret meaning of the chapter. At Pi Kappa Phi, initiation occurs after the start of the semester following induction. Our initiation order is determined by the prior semester GPA (reinforcing the chapter’s commitment to academic achievement).
ACADEMICS • SERVICE • LEADERSHIP