Story by Bridgette McAuliffe, Staff writer
Photo courtesy of Paxton Crider
The Epsilon Lambda chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha brought home many awards, including the prestigious Robert Adger Smythe Award, from their biennial International Convention, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the fraternity.
The Smythe Award recognizes the top 10 percent of Pike chapters across the globe, being one of 22 out of 220 total chapters to be awarded the honor. The chapter was also awarded the Raymond L. Orians Excellence Award, which chapters must be awarded to qualify for the Smythe Award, recognizing the top 20 percent of chapters.
Murray State’s Pike chapter sent six delegates to Richmond, Virginia to interact and network with members and alumni from across the nation. Brothers were given the opportunity to attend educational and legislative sessions where Pike President Keenan Lautner, junior from Elberfeld, Indiana, served as the chapter’s voting delegate.
“To win the award, it’s a combination of philanthropy, community service, athletics, GPA, brotherhood, chapter management, accountability and a lot of other stuff,” Lautner said.
Lautner said the award has been a long time coming.
“It’s not like we just came in and did it this year, it’s definitely taken a few years,” Lautner said. “Last year we won the Orians Award but not the Smythe, but this year we all came together and won the Orians and the Smythe for the first time in 38 years and it’s really just an honor.”
“It really was a team effort,” External Vice President Paxton Crider said. “We’ve been shooting for this since before Keenan and I came in. Since the 80s we’ve definitely had our ups and our downs, so it was a really good feeling to lock it down this year and it’s a good incentive to do their part.”
Crider said that the chapters complete a year-end summary to apply for the award.
“It’s basically where you show off,” Lautner said. “We got to include a picture with ASA at Toys for Tots; we managed to raise a lot of money that went toward our total philanthropy, which I think was around $81,000.”
Most of that sum was raised at the annual Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) walk in Murray. They also raise money for philanthropy at the Murray-Calloway County hospital marathon.
Lautner said that with all of the bad publicity Greek life is getting, this award is really something to celebrate.
“We are doing good things, but you only see the bad stories on TV. You don’t see the stuff like this,” Lautner said.
Crider and Lautner knew that Greek life was for them right away. They both knew the benefits of brotherhood would allow them to strive to become better leaders and men.
“I knew I wanted to get involved as soon as I got on campus, and there were a lot of fraternities that were doing good things,” Crider said. “But the biggest thing was I looked at it as an investment, not just for college, but for a lifetime. Where is this going to take me? I knew that their brotherhood was second-to-none, I knew that the guys fought for each other and cared for each other.”
Lautner, being a legacy, already felt drawn to the brotherhood.
“The whole point of fraternity is to be a stepping stone to get those connections and the chapter at Murray has alumni doing great things,” Lautner said. “Like Bob Jackson, the interim president, is a Pike alumni, so I saw those guys and wanted to follow in their footsteps.”
Members of the Epsilon Lambda chapter are continually seeking to make a difference in both the campus and the community by not only hosting events, but also participating in other organizations’ philanthropy events. Lautner said the chapter tries to “keep it local” by donating their time and fundraising dollars to local organizations.