alpha eta - spring 2008
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The Reflector SPRING 2008 EDITION
VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1 ALPHA ETA CHAPTER
SAMFORD UNIVERSITY
Formal 2008
-7:00p.m. Saturday, May 3rd at the Summit Club in
Birmingham, AL
-$30/couple
-RSVP so we know how many to expect
brfreder@samford.edu
Chapter Update It has been an exciting year for the Alpha Eta Chapter at Samford University. We
recently initiated an outstanding new pledge class who show great signs of
furthering our fraternity and chapter in the future. We have survived the stresses
and terrors of Step Sing. Our show this year was excellent, and we received the
award for Best Costume (as you can see in the picture). Our theme was “Pi Kapp in
Denial” which was a play on words for “The Nile” as our costumes took a rather
Egyptian appearance. A few upcoming events we are looking forward to our annual
Brotherhood Retreat and Formal. Speaking of Formal, I am excited to say that any
Alumni who want to attend Formal are welcome and invited to come and join us. We
would be very excited to see as many alumni as possible in attendance. Please see
the left column for details.
New Members
As I mentioned previously, we have an awesome new group of “Shiny Badges” or
new brothers. Like always, they are a great group of young guys who will bring
great things to Alpha Eta. They come from all over and share many different
interests, but they each share a common loyalty and pride for Pi Kappa Phi. Here are
our new initiates:
Rolllins Brock Jake Cantrell Brian Daniel Austin Davis Ryan Fee Matt
Fennell Hunter Fleenor Bo Jones Rick Lee Jay Lindsey Zach Long
Andrew Luig Jake McPherson Geoff Moore Townsend Owens Cameron
Phillips Will Phillips Nick Piazza Scott Richardson Kennan Sanders
Jeremy Schmeissing Matt Sutter Jack Wilgus Preston Williams Adam
Witcher Erik Wright
Brother Spotlight
I would like to first thank all of you who sent in recommendations for brothers to
spotlight in this issue. I must say that there are many of you who are very involved
in your communities and I commend you all for representing Pi Kappa Phi in that
manner. However, this issue’s Brother Spotlight is on Steven Gum, ’97.
Steven graduated in 1997 and had a great four years as a Pi Kapp at Samford. He
was Rush chairman his sophomore year, and then Archon. He married Christy (an
Alpha Deltal Pi at Samford), and moved to Knoxville, TN. He sold commercial
property/casualty insurance for five years, before feeling called by God to work with
kids full time. He left the business world to become a teacher/coach at a Christian
School in Knoxville. During his six years teaching and coaching, Steven and Christy
had two girls of their own. In the Fall of 2006 they felt God calling them to take
another step.
Steven, Christy and their two daughters moved to Springville, AL. They are now
house parents at The Big Oak Girls Ranch which is “a Christian home for children
needing a chance”. The ranch has 7-9 homes where a Christian couple raises up to 8
girls. Steven and Christy currently have their two biological girls plus three girls
ages 8-16, and they hope to get more girls in the coming months. In addition to
raising the girls, the house dads take care of the ranch two days each week.
According to Steven, “The kids that come to the ranch are not bad kids, but instead
children that come from bad situations”. Many of the children have suffered neglect
or abuse, while others just didn’t have anybody to raise them. For Steven and
Christy, it is a family ministry. In the words of Steven, “Not only do Christy and I
get to love these girls, but our biological girls love their new big sisters”. The Ranch
is a great place to live, with horses, a lake, and a beautiful gym. The children from
the Ranch attend a private Christian school in Gadsden, AL, and are involved in
sports and extracurricular activities. Steven would like to end with a charge to the
Brothers of Alpha Eta:
“Brothers of the Alpha Eta Chapter, God may lead you to work in industry, or He
may lead you to ministry. Regardless, don’t waste your life serving yourself and
living “The American Dream”. Instead, die to yourself and allow God to direct your
path and serve Him through whatever you do. Only then will you experience the
fullness of the life He has for you.”
Where are they now?
Jay Aiken AH 496 – Jay has two sons, 18 and 17. His eldest is serving in the
Army. He is active in his home church, Smokerise Baptist in Stone Mountain, GA,
where he conducts the hand bell choir.
Bruce Brady ’94 – Two years ago he left a great 12 year career in real estate in
Atlanta, GA, to help plant a church in Dothan, AL. He now lives in Nashville, TN and
just started a second church called Cumberland Church (a partnership church of
Northpoint Community Church in Atlanta). He is happily married with four great
kids.
Craig Shadinger ’99 – Craig and his wife Libby have a new baby boy named Austin
Glen Shadinger. They currently reside in Nashville, TN.
Aaron Pelz AH 980 – Aaron currently lives in Atlanta and is in sales at Design
Cinema and Automation, which does home theaters and home automation systems
for luxury homes in the $1million+ range. He has worked with people like PGA golfer
Stewart Cink, Erik Snow of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and NASCAR President Mike
Helton.
Blake Elliott ’96 – Blake and his wife Leigh Anne have two daughters ages 3 ½ and
10 months. They live in Memphis, TN where he is a Commercial Relationship
Manager for Regions Bank. Blake has been very involved in the Phoenix Club which
is an organization of young professional men whose sole philanthropy is the Boys &
Girls Clubs of Memphis. He has been on the board in various capacities for the last 7
years and is the president of the club this year.
Mike Clifton ’69 – Mike is a retired Air Force Lt. Colonel. He now teaches high
school ROTC. His wife, Genelle, is a wonderful full time mom for their two teen
daughters. They live in Jacksonville, FL.
Ben Schmidt ’07 – Ben is a financial analyst for CNL Income Company who
acquires lifestyle real estate properties like golf courses, ski resorts, theme parks,
etc. Ben is in the golf course sector and is responsible for making sure that the 48
golf courses they own are making money. He is engaged to Sarah Newman (also a
’07 Samford grad), and they will be married on July 12th, 2008
Jason Duke AH 1105 – Jason lives in Ft. Myers, FL, where he works as a Financial
Advisor with Morgan Stanley. He is actively involved with the Republican Party of
Lee County and the Red Cross, of which he is on the board of directors for both
organizations.
Dwayne Todd AH 807 – Dwayne is the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs
at CCAD. He is continuing his work on his dissertation for his Ph.D. in Higher
Education Administration from The Ohio State University. He serves on the
Governing Board for ACPA, which is the largest comprehensive student affairs
professional association. Dwayne just began as Chapter Advisor to the Alpha Nu
Associate Chapter at The Ohio State University.
Jim Daley ’69 – Jim works in Europe where he has a company called Masefield.
Masefield is involved in energy trading. He and his wife, Becky (also a Samford
grad), have two children ages 31 and 29.
Clayton Hollis AH 538 – Clayton has been married to Beverly for 20 years, and
they have two kids; Clay, 19, and Jill, 17. He is currently Vice President, Public
Affairs for Publix Super Markets, Inc. Clayton is Vice Chairman of the Board of
Florida Southern College in Lakeland, FL. He also serves on a local Hospice board,
our Congressman’s Finance Committee and his Young Patriot’s Foundation.
John Crist AH 1184 – John lives in Colorado Springs, CO, and works in marketing
and sales for the Glazier Clinics. In his own words “he continues to be a mentor and
father figure to the likes of Matt Thomas and Andrew Boyd”.
Hugh Brindley ’67 – He and his wife, Carole, have two daughters and seven
grandchildren. He and Carole live in Trussville, AL, where Hugh is in the private
practice of Oral and Maxillofacial surgery.
Richard Smith ’82 – Richard is the managing partner for Christian & Small, LLP, a
law firm in Birmingham, AL.
Mark Cottingham AH 683 – Mark and his wife, Rebekah, live in the East
Cobb/North Atlanta area of Georgia. He has been an Associate Pastor for Worship &
Arts at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, GA. They have three kids, Sarah
(19) freshmen at Samford, Andrew (16) and Benjamin (10). Mark recently
completed his 5th studio solo recording project entitled “Reflections”.
Todd Fleenor AH 1171 – Todd worked last year in medical research at Vanderbilt
University Medical Center with Cardiac Surgery and just recently had a paper
published in Circulation Research.
Current Historian: Oliver Jones
Phone: (404)431-
4149
Email: okjones@samford.edu
New EC Members:
John Ward Weiss – Archon
Michael Suess – Vice Archon
Hamlin Caldwell – Warden
Alex Stoner - Secretary
Bee Frederick – Treasurer
Oliver Jones – Historian
Zach Seanor - Chaplain
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