Student Organization Spotlight: Kappa Theta Pi

December 6, 2022

Kappa Theta Pi (KTP) is a professional co-ed technology focused fraternity within the School of Computing and Information (SCI). With a focus on professional development, brotherhood bonding, and service, KTP meets bi-weekly on Wednesday nights in David Lawrence Hall.

As a professional Greek organization, KTP members are interviewed and recruited at the beginning of each semester. Once a member, students gain access to a broad range of events created to provide professional opportunities and expand social networking with peers. For professional development, KTP regularly offers LinkedIn workshops, resume workshops, and speaker events focused on topics like interview skills featuring professionals from a variety of companies, including Microsoft.

KTP hosts an annual alumni panel, where recent graduates of the organization speak on their professional and personal journeys, with time allotted for current members to ask questions and gain insight into the industry while strengthening brotherhood bonds. 

Social events allow KTP brothers to form connections with their peers. The organization’s annual formal and collaborative events with other SCI student organizations provide a space for students to meet new people, socialize, and bond.

For the 2022-23 academic year, KTP is led by president Sydni Roller, a senior computer science and nonfiction English writing major. Roller joined KTP as a member in the spring of 2020, and chose to pursue a leadership position to continue the welcoming and supportive environment that she benefited from as a member.

“The board members were really welcoming to all the new members, and that made a huge difference to me,” Roller said. “I wanted to try and continue to foster that atmosphere where the board members took time and made the  effort to talk to all the other members, and to make everyone feel like they are really part of the brotherhood.”

Since becoming president, Roller has been growing and developing the organization to better the experience for members.

“Increasing and maintaining membership has been a goal for us,” Roller said. As the  COVID-19 pandemic caused membership to decrease, KTP is prioritizing recruitment through collaboration with other SCI student organizations as well as professional Greek organizations at Pitt. Starting the year with a membership of approximately 10 students, KTP tripled in size with a rush class of 30 new brothers during the Fall of 2022.

Looking to grow in size, Roller noted the importance of recruitment events at the beginning of the year: “All I could say to people was that we only have 10 members, but we’d love for you to be a part of this growing community. It was a little stressful to hope that they believed in the potential of the group of people to make the club something worth joining for them.”

A few months later, KTP has successfully hosted numerous events, built a membership of approximately 40 brothers, and is looking forward to another successful recruitment cycle in the spring.

Roller and other representatives of KTP will be at the Spring Activities Fair, where they will be sharing information about the organization.

“Anyone interested in joining should stop by. We’d love to give you more information and tell you about the rush events we have planned for the upcoming semester,” Roller said. Updates about rush events will also be announced on the KTP Instagram at @pittkappathetapi.

For more information, visit KTP's website.