Published August 11, 2016
MONROE, La. — Members of the University of Louisiana Monroe’s Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity
set a new record for consecutive wins of the fraternity’s coveted Robert A. 'Smythe'
award by winning their 18th consecutive at the Pi Kappa Alpha Convention held in New
Orleans.
The award is given to the top 10 percent of Pi Kappa Alpha chapters each year. This
win marks the 23rd Smythe award in the last 25 years for the ULM chapter.
The award is based upon excelling in 16 areas of operation, including: academics,
community service, campus involvement, athletics, management, health and safety, new
member education, and alumni relations.
“The ULM chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha definitely deserved their 18th consecutive Smythe
award," said Laura Jennings, Director of Student Life and Leadership. "This sort of
legacy is almost unheard of for any type of group. Every year I am consistently more
impressed with our Pike chapter because they continue the raise the bar for themselves
and continue to meet that goal. We could not be more proud to work with such excellent
young men.”
Nineteen ULM students (the most from any Pike chapter in North America) joined Tommy
Walpole—Executive Director of Auxiliary Enterprises and the fraternity’s university
relations adviser—at the four-day event.
Those students included Ben Sylvestri, Morgan Wiggins, Will Frith, Wyatt Medlin, Spencer
Perkins, Evan Sinclair, David DeGraw, Austin Green, Bryan Deloach, Michel Elliot,
Jacob Hale, Josh Usie, JT Roberts, Cody Crnkovic, Alec Shell, Hank Pipes, Chase Campo,
Jacob Lester and Zoe Poole. Over 50 Pike alumni made the trip to New Orleans to witness
the chapter set the new consecutive win mark.
During the convention the group was recognized for earning—for the sixth consecutive
year—an overall grade point average higher than a 3.0.
Other highlights of the trip included the ULM chapter receiving the Raymond L. Orians
Award for Chapter Excellence, which honors overall chapter performance from the previous
year. This marked the chapter’s 31st consecutive Orians award.
The group was also recognized for 100 percent participation in the undergraduate donor
club, which is sponsored by Pi Kappa Alpha’s Educational Foundation.
Also recognized was the fraternity’s commitment to attending Pike’s Leadership conferences
known as Pike U and the groups recruitment, alumni and housing programs were recognized
as some of Pike’s best.
The ULM Pi Kappa Alpha Alumni Association was also named as a William R. Nester Outstanding
Alumni Association. This was the group’s 17th time to be recognized as one of the
organization’s best alumni associations in North America. In addition, two alumni
of the fraternity were recognized as some of Pike’s best. Joseph Beard, who serves
as the Chapter Advisor was one of nine selected as a part of Pike’s Inaugural Class
of Young Alumni of the Year and Adams Rodgers, who serves the chapter as its Continuing
Education Advisor was selected as the top volunteer from Pike’s Delta Region which
consists of all volunteers in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi.
The fraternity is also known for its award-winning streak on campus.
They were named ULM’s 2015-2016 Organization of the Year. The chapter has won the
award 14 times in the 17-year history of the award. The group was also crowned Greek
Week Champions and they won their 8th consecutive All-University Athletic Championship.
Pi Kappa Alpha has 220 chapters in North America and is headquartered in Memphis,
Tenn.
The Pi Kappa Alpha chapter at ULM was founded in 1972.
