Installing Officer:
Grand President Amy Burnham Onken,
Illinois Epsilon
Philanthropic Events:
Bingo for Books and Hoops for Halos
Installation of Kentucky Alpha
A local group, Tri Xi, was formed in 1921. The name was chosen because it rhymed with Pi Phi, whose charter was the goal. The group officially became a chapter of Pi Beta Phi on October 9, 1925. The Initiation Ceremony took place at the home of Ontario Alpha Emma Woerner, a 1925 Lake of Bays Convention initiate. The Installation Banquet took place in the Red Room of the Seelbach Hotel. The general plan of the program was that of the ship Tri Xi arriving at the port of Pi Beta Phi, carried out in detail through place cards, decorations and more.
Living at Kentucky Alpha
The Kentucky Alpha Chapter does not have a traditional house. The chapter has a suite in a residence hall on campus that members enjoy using. It has a chapter room, TV room, kitchen, a large front porch, two bathrooms as well as various offices and storage spaces. It is very convenient, and it is used for various meetings, practices and initiation.
Before the residence hall was built in the early 2000s, the chapter had a house on Greek Row. It sat across the street from the suite and there are several items that were carried over from the old house to the current space. The main double doors between the TV room and the chapter room contain two panels of stained glass that were salvaged from doors within the old house. Kentucky Alpha has been on University of Louisville’s campus for nearly 100 years and has had many spaces even before the house on Greek Row and the current suite. In the TV room there is a piece of art for each past location the chapter members have used next to a large wooden carving of the crest that has been with the chapter for many years.
Panhellenic Groups on Campus
Alpha Omicron Pi, Chi Omega, Delta Zeta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Kappa and Zeta Tau Alpha.
Philanthropic Service
Miniature golf competitions, wing-eating contests, Bingo for Books and Hoops for Halos are all philanthropic events that Kentucky Alpha hosts. Hoops for Halos is a basketball competition involving fraternities, sororities and other campus groups
Notable Alumnae
- Sue Grafton, author
- Julie Wray Herman, author
- Ruth Wilson Cogshall, artist, actress, creator of the Pi Phi paper dolls and very active within local community
- Elizabeth Wilson, established first U.S.O. club during World War II
Grand Council Members from Kentucky Alpha