Brotherhood is more than Skin Deep.

Jan 13, 2008 / Congratulations New Initiates!!!

Spring semester is in full swing and Phi Kappa Sigma has the distinct pleasure of initiating the following new brothers into the fraternity:

1. Tolga Keskiner
2. Spencer Ballard
3. Dustin Murphy
4. Devlin Horton
5. Alex Markowski
6. Ryan Owens
7. Mike Malone
8. Bo Osborne
9. Liam Soren
10. Joe Kinchen
11. Andrew Hatfield

Great Job guys!!!

Nov 20, 2007 / Chapter Update

The semester is coming to a close, and exams are around the corner. This semester has been a rollercoaster of emotions and new obstacles. I for one can spaek for the rest of the chapter is saying that I think we all under estimated the struggles once we finnaly moved in the house.
Next year, I can confidently say that there is no other set of officers posed to take over and lead this chapter further than that of which the chapter has elected.
I am proud to announce the coming years officers.

Alpha - Alex James Prokos
Beta - Jonathan Schwartz
Tau - Zeke Slivka
Sigma - Jesse Stephens
Pi - London Warlick

Oct 26, 2007 / Core Values Video

Be sure to check out the new flash video thats been added to the site regarding our Core Values

http://www.charlottephikap.com/about_us.php?view=values

Sep 25, 2007 / New Members and Sports

Over the weekend the Gamma Lambda Chapter inducted 20 fine gentlemen, who have stepped up to the plate to see if they have what it takes to be a Skull. These men include:

1) Ballard, Spencer
2) Balsom, Dan
3) Barker, Jacob W
4) Coratola, Peter L
5) Cutler, Gregory K
6) Hatfield-O'Hearn, Andrew D
7) Horton, Devlin K
8) Ingraham, David A
9) Johnson, Michael M
10) Kinchen, Joseph D
11) Lloyd, Joey
12) Malone, Michael W.
13) Markowski, Alex R
14) Micalizzi, Paul W
15) Osborne, Robert W
16) Owens, Walter Ryan
17) Pata, Joe
18) Pittman, Dean M
19) Rudisil, Lance M
20) Soren, Liam M

Congratulate these men as they begin their journey to learn what being a Phi Kap is all about.

In other news... Our Co Rec Soccer Team, "Skulls and Zeta" improved its record last week to an outstanding 3-0 with a win over Team RooR (0-3). The team is playing outstandingly well together heading into its Wednesday match against The Swamp Donkeys (2-1). The game will be held at the Intramural Fields behind the new Baseball Stadium at 8pm. Please make it out to support your favorite team, and show some Skull Pride.

Continuing on with Soccer, Our Men’s 6v6 Team had a grueling game against soccer rival Kappa Alpha Order (2-1-1) to determine first place in the Men’s Open Greek League. After a very intense and physical match the game ended in a bitter sweet tie 3-3. Jesse Stephens scored off of an assist by Keeper Jonathan Schwartz while Brendan Kelly brought two goals home, the first assisted by Henny Chism, and the second from a PK. By the end of the Second Half, three Penalties Kicks and one Yellow Card were given out, it was clear emotions were ridding high. The sidelines were entirely full of fans for either side and it was clear that this was a eagerly anticipated match up. After the match both teams were sure that this wouldn't be the last time they would meet on the pitch. The teams next game will be Monday, October 1st, against Pi Kappa Phi (1-2) at 8:45 at the Intramural Fields

In Intramural Basketball our Men's team continued its dominance, improving its record to 3-1 with shut out victories, in a best-of-three series, over Pike[PKA] (1-3) and Kappa Sigma (1-3). Wednesday they are pitted against Delta Sigma Phi (1-3) in their last game of the regular season and with a win here will be heading into the playoffs winning an impressive four games strait. Lead by Capitan Mike Gutowski the Skulls basketball team appears to be playing at its best so far this season. The next game will be at 5:00pm in the Belk Gym on Campus this Wednesday, be sure to head out and show some support for our athletes.

Sep 11, 2007 / Top 10 FAQs for Potential New Members

1. What kind of grades do I need to get in?
A. Your grades should be the most important thing to you at UNCC and it’s even more important with Phi Kappa Sigma. Going to school and earning a degree is the reason why we are all here. You must have and maintain a minimum of a 2.3 GPA to be admitted into the Fraternity and retain good standing with Phi Kappa Sigma. For new freshmen, we will ask about your High School GPA. For UNCC students, we will ask you to submit your current GPA.

2. How can Phi Kappa Sigma help with me with my grades?
A. We have a wide variety of programs to help members keep their GPAs high. We maintain note and test files from previous classes for all members to study. We have computers and a quiet room in our house to study with and in. Quiet hours in our house are from 11pm-7am Sunday-Wednesday and may be extended for events such as mid-terms and finals. Our second Vice-President is in charge of the scholastic well being of the chapter and runs a team based academic program and a study skills program throughout the semester. Our chapter advisor runs a Scholastic Incentive Program to reward outstanding academic performance in the previous semester. We have organized study tables run every week. And chances are there is a brother in the house who has taken the class you need some help in!

3. I heard Fraternities can be expensive. How much will it cost to join?
A. During your new member semester you will pay $62 when you first pledge (about a week after rush) and $225 at the end of the New Member program when you are Activated. All of this money goes directly to our International office. After that our dues are currently $450/semester, which you don't pay during your pledge semester. About a third of your regular dues go to our International Office to cover things like insurance, administration and various programs, the rest goes directly to the chapter for local programming.

4. Cash, Check or Charge?
A. We use a third party payment service called Omega Financial, Inc. When you become Active, an account will be set up in your name. The Fraternity will then submit charges to your account and you will pay Omega through a variety of ways. These charges will include regular dues and optional things like T-shirts or special events. You may pay up front, all at once for a discount or on the payment plan, the choice is yours!

5. Show ME the Money!
A. Over $50,000 will be awarded for the 2007-2008 academic year from the Phi Kappa Sigma Foundation to undergraduates in our chapters. We have both need based and performance based scholarships of up to $5,000 a year available. Scholarships are awarded without restriction as to academic discipline or course of study to qualifying full-time students who will have sophomore, junior or senior status in the forthcoming academic year for their first bachelor degree. The scholarships may be used for any combination of tuition, room & board or books. There are also numerous internship and employment opportunities available with the International Office both before and after graduation.

6. What kind of time commitment is expected of me?
A. In general, Phi Kappa Sigma will normally take about 11 hours/week, both during New Member and Active Semesters. You can break it down as follows:
3 hours in chapter and committee meetings
4 hours participating in social events
3 hours with your brothers having fun playing sports and/or what we call brotherhood activities.
1 hour on the phone/email/internet communicating to make it all happen

This is the minimum. We often have 20+ hours of programming a week to participate in if you would like. This all of course doesn’t include time just “hanging out” in our house or studying for class. If you choose to hold an office with Phi Kappa Sigma, you can expect to work an additional 4-5 hours a week with your office. We also hold about 4-5 events a year that are overnight or weekend events, often traveling away from Charlotte. These events include the Fall Semi-Formal, Spring Formal, Leadership Conferences and visiting other Phi Kappa Sigma Chapters.

7. Speaking of the house, how do I get in?
A. In case you haven’t noticed, we have a beautiful, brand new Chapter house in the Greek Village. Right now only there is only one room to be filled by some lucky new member! We anticipate that there will be about 15 rooms available to be moved into Fall 2008, possibly a couple Spring quarter 2008. First Come, First Serve! Pledge Skull!

8. Can I join other campus groups if I pledge Skull?
A. Absolutely! In fact we require that every member belongs to at least one campus organization other than Phi Kappa Sigma. We encourage all our brothers to be as active in campus life as their time allows. This includes athletics (varsity, club, or intramural), music, student government and leadership, professional fraternities in your field of study, ROTC, money earning jobs, volunteer work, the list goes on!

9. What do you do to benefit the community?
A. Our National philanthropy is the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America. We will hold at least one fundraiser a semester dedicated to them. Our National community service is Habitat for Humanity and we will come out to one build a year. We also have a road in the local area that we volunteer to keep clean.

10. How can I learn more about the Skulls?
A. The best way is to talk with one of our brothers. Make sure they get your phone number and email address so we can let you know what’s going on. We have numerous groups on facebook.com to look at. Here are some other addresses:

http://www.pks.org/ - the home page for our International Office
http://www.charlottephikap.com/ - the home page for our chapter at UNCC

GO GREEK! PLEDGE SKULL!