Home  Blog Kansas Beta (Washburn) Celebrates Centennial; Completes $2 Million Capital Campaign |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Kansas Beta (Washburn) Celebrates Centennial; Completes $2 Million Capital Campaign |
 The Topeka Alumni Club marked the Kansas Beta Chapter’s Centennial at its Founders Day Dinner at the Topeka Country Club on April 23rd. More than 75 Phis turned out for the event which included a presentation highlighting the chapter’s accomplishments during its first one hundred years 18 Gold Stars and 3 Kansas City trophies. Alumni of the chapter have gone on to significant professional accomplishments including three who rose to become generals, 18 who have served in either the Kansas House of Representatives or Senate and 54 who became doctors. The celebration included the pinning of the Silver, Golden, and Diamond Legionnaire pins.
Paying an unscheduled visit to the dinner was Washburn University President Jerry Farley. After more than three years of planning and a year of fundraising, Dr. Farley announced that the Chapter had reached its nearly $2 million fundraising goal. Renovations of the nearly 75 year old chapter house will begin almost immediately with a goal of having the house ready by August 2011. Under an agreement with the University and the Washburn Endowment Association, Washburn will renovate the chapter house and operate it going forward. The Chapter will be guaranteed the exclusive use of the facility through a 60 year lease which can be extended in 20 year increments. More than one hundred alumni contributed to the campaign which was catalyzed by a generous lead gift from Ronald K. Richey ’49.
The Kansas Beta Chapter house is one of the oldest buildings on Washburn’s campus. The house was constructed of native limestone in 1927 and was one of the few buildings to survive the 1966 tornado that devastated much of Washburn’s campus. The renovation plan calls for a complete upgrade of life and safety systems plus major technology and interior improvements while maintaining its historical exterior. Kansas Beta is the last fraternity at Washburn to have a house on campus and this is seen as a major boost to the University’s effort to attract more traditional students to the school.
Also during the Founders Day celebration, James Clarke ’97 awarded the McAtee Scholarship to Briton Alexander ‘12. Alexander is a nursing major with a 3.6 GPA who plans to join the Navy after graduation. He is currently the chapter’s intramurals chairman and recently spent spring break volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Arkansas. The McAtee Scholarship was established by the chapter’s young alumni in 2008 through the Phi Delta Theta Foundation to honor the memory Charles D. McAtee ’50.
The dinner concluded with the presentation of the Topeka Alumni Club’s Phi of the Year Award naming Dr. Pat Birkbeck ’93 as this year’s recipient. As an undergraduate he was a member of the basketball team, vice president of the chapter and president of student government. In addition to his cardiology practice, Birkbeck is a member of the board of directors of the Dennison State Bank and is active in a number of Topeka-area charities.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
