PIKES AT COLUMBIA

The brothers who currently inhabit 536 West 114th Street are a diverse group, made up of students from all backgrounds and characteristics.

Our academic interests include a wide range of topics. We count Classics, Economics, Philosophy, Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures, Political Science, Pre-Med, Math, History, and a slew of different Engineering Majors among our ranks. We have also recently graduated brothers majoring in Sociology, Art History, and Spanish, among many other things.

Many of us are former and current athletes. Alaine Leferve is member of the CU Rugby team, and both Taylor Storms (who is also a former tri-athlete) and Dan Gordon have played in the past. Josh Banker is in the CU Brazilian Jui-Jitsu club. Eddie Beaulac, a fencer, and Charles Dwyer, a rower, were both recruited to play their respective varsity sports at Columbia as well. Much of the rest of the brotherhood played sports such as tennis, soccer, basketball, football, baseball, and track during high school, and this shows in our continued excellence in Columbia’s intramural leagues.

Pike also contains musical talent. Many weekends find jam sessions run by Bobby Atefi and Javier Ramos being played in our common room. On a more public stage, Brothers Peter Capraro and Michael Kosdan, perhaps better known as DJ Tanner and MJK, were the winners of Columbia’s Spring 2007 Battle of the Bands. We are also proud to call Jack Cantrell, a member of Kingsmen and an accomplished solo artist, a brother.

In addition to these individual activities, Pike also participates in larger Columbia events as well. Some of these activities center around philanthropy. Brothers are encouraged to give blood at blood drives held on campus, and Pike participates in Relay for Life, All-Night Dance Marathon, and Columbia Community Outreach. And as has already been mentioned, the brothers come together to play intramural sports as well.

Another judgement of Pike’s character can be seen in what brothers have done after their time is over at Columbia. Members of the Class of 2007, the most recent graduating class, have gone on to jobs working for Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, and the National Basketball Association. Other recently graduated alumni have gone on to law and medical school. More famous chapter alumni include Tom Forman (co-creator of Extreme Home Makeover), Craig Bernstein (an executive director at Morgan Stanley), Jeff Mendel (producer of the movie Murderball), and Tom Kitt (music producer of the High Fidelity Musical).

If any of this seems interesting to you, please contact Michael Kosdan, Rush Chair, at mjk2126@columbia.edu to see how you can go about better getting to know Pike, or feel free to stop by the brownstone and meet some of the brothers.