Kathryn Kerge ’94 Pi Beta Phi Helps Drive Global Growth as Vice President of Ralph Lauren’s Club Monaco
At Club Monaco, Ralph Lauren’s hip clothing and accessories division, Kathryn Kerge ’94 oversees the “nuts and bolts” aspects of human resources. She handles recruiting, employee relations, and performance management, as well as helping determine organizational strategy for Ralph Lauren’s international expansion. Read the full story….
Kerge, the daughter of James Kerge ’63 Kappa Sigma, held senior human resources positions across a diverse group of industries for a decade before founding Kerge Consulting
MISSION
The mission of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women is to promote friendship, develop women of intellect and integrity, cultivate leadership potential and enrich lives through community service.
VISION
The vision of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women is to be recognized as a premier organization for women by providing lifelong enrichment to its members and contributing to the betterment of society.
CORE VALUES
- Integrity
- Lifelong Commitment
- Honor and Respect
- Personal and Intellectual Growth
- Philanthropic Service to Others
- Sincere Friendship
Lafayette College Pi Beta Phi Chapter ~ Pennsylvania Eta
Date organized: 17 May 1978
Date of national affiliation: March 1980
Pi Beta Phi is partnered with First Book: ”In June 2007, Pi Beta Phi announced its corporate partnership with First Book, an international nonprofit organization founded in 1992 with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. Together, through innovative programs such as First Book Speed Read and the Alumnae Outreach Program, First Book and Pi Beta Phi are committed to bringing new books to children from low-income families in communities across the United States and Canada. In fact, within the first year of the partnership, Pi Phi and First Book donated 350,000 brand-new books.”
Settlement School and Arrowmont
Pi Beta Phi opened the Pi Beta Phi Settlement School in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in 1912 to provide education, economic opportunity, and health care to the rural area. Over the years, as the community took over childhood education, Settlement School began to adapt by offering arts and crafts classes in an effort to preserve and promote the region’s crafts tradition. An extension of the Pi Beta Phi Settlement School called the Craft Work Shop was begun in 1945 in cooperation with the University of Tennessee. Now an independent nonprofit organization known as the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, it is one of the oldest arts and crafts centers in the South and is a world-renowned facility providing college and graduate level courses. Arrowmont remains a major philanthropic project of Pi Beta Phi.
Pi Beta Phi Elementary School
Another legacy of Pi Beta Phi’s tradition of educational philanthropy is Pi Beta Phi Elementary School of Gatlinburg. After the county began to take over administration of the school in the 1940s, the fraternity deeded to the county the land on which the new elementary school was built. The school is now part of the Sevier County public school system.
Fraternity Day of Service
Pi Beta Phi’s annual Fraternity Day of Service is designed to “unite our entire membership–alumnae groups, collegiate chapters and individual members–in our efforts to advance literacy.” The first event was held on March 2, 2006, when Pi Phi actives and alumnae participated in the National Education Association’s Read Across America Day. As part of the celebration, Pi Beta Phi teamed up with Southwest Airlines to “Share the Spirit” by handing out new Dr. Seuss books to children flying on March 2. Other activities held that day included tutoring children and hosting reading parties.