Oregon Alpha officially returns!

In June 2021, the Phi Kappa Psi national organization and the University of Oregon approved our plan to start the re-chartering process. On September 19, 2023, representatives from both organizations were on hand as we received our charter again at the 100th Anniversary event in Eugene.

becoming a chapter

The purpose of the re-chartering process, of course, is to become a fully recognized chapter. The national organization has a list of 46 criteria the chapter must meet to be considered. It’s a lot of work!

A couple key criteria include having 35 or more members with an average GPA at or above the IFC average, which was around a 3.2 last year. Other criteria address the organizational structure, financial systems, educational programs, community service, campus involvement and alumni relations.

To keep us on track to meet all the criteria, the alumni hired an expansion consultant to ensure the work was being completed on time. PJ Sarkar was living in the fraternity to watch over our tenant and he just happened to be the founder of the Arizona Beta chapter at ASU, which made him the perfect person for the job.

The Chapter Advisory team agreed to raise money from the alumni to pay the salary and expenses for the position so the House Corporation could focus it’s resources on the chapter house. To date, we have raised $57,000 of the $65,000 goal. It was money well spent. No volunteer alumni could have dedicated the time required to facilitate the process in such a short period of time.

PJ helped the chapter prepare and submit a 125 page charter application to Nationals on June 1, 2023. Later in the summer, as the 100th anniversary approached, we received word that our application was approved and representatives from nationals would be attending the 100th Anniversary to present it to us.

Moving into the house

The second major effort was to prepare the house for our chapter’s return. The House Corporation was leasing the house to the Alpha Sig fraternity which gave us income during our absence and funded improvements.

The timing was tricky, however. The Alpha Sigs needed to know in the fall of 2022 if we were renewing the lease for the 2023-24 school year. At that point, we had just finished rush and didn’t know if we would earn our charter and have enough members to financially support the house.

After much debate and consultation with the Chapter Advisory team, the House Corporation voted to allow our chapter to move into the house in Fall 2023. Everyone felt we had a high-quality core group of undergraduates that reflected our vision and had the drive to build. We just felt they would make it - and they did.

Coming together at the 100th

After several years of work by very dedicated alumni, everything came together at the 100th Anniversary. We revealed the shield at the letters on the front of the house once again and we received our charter the next evening. We have a lot to celebrate and are very thankful to brothers who donated expertise, time and money to make it all happen.