Finding a place on campus that truly feels like a “home away from home” can be challenging. Northwestern State University of Louisiana provides students with the opportunity to join a variety of different organizations. NSU also offers students honor societies to further their college experience along with helping them build connections for the future.
Kappa Pi of Gamma Mu is an international honor society that provides art students more opportunities to grow as an artist.
Kappa Pi began as a study club in 1911 at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. It later evolved into a fraternity before becoming an honor society in 2015. It now has over 360 chapters including chapters established in Mexico and the Philippines.
NSU’s Kappa Pi chapter, Gamma Mu, wants to provide students within the Dear School of Creative and Performing Arts a place to grow and bond.
Kappa Pi was first established at NSU in 1959. Although it has gone through different periods of inactivity, it was restarted in November 2023 by a group of art students.
“We were basically starting from scratch since the previous members of Kappa Pi didn’t have much to leave behind,” Devonna Taylor, a sophomore fine and graphic arts major, said. Taylor is the standing vice president of Kappa Pi.
The official committee for the year will be picked on Nov. 11, 2024. The committee is voted on once a year and serves to help choose the officers of the organization.
Currently, Kappa Pi participates and hosts various events on campus in the art department for students and current members to participate in.
“We host the annual All Night Draw, an event held the Thursday before midterms and finals where the art department is open all night long. Students can come work on their art, hang out with friends and build bonds with new people in a fun environment,” Taylor said. “We also host the Kappa Pi Halloween party for students. We provide food, drinks, snacks and entertainment.”
Kappa Pi also organizes fundraisers while attending different events around campus like family day. This semester, they began hosting workshops for students to gain new skills, learn and have fun. Anyone is welcome to attend the workshops; non-members pay a fee to participate.
To be an active member of Kappa Pi, students must have a major or minor in fine and graphic arts, have completed at least 12 semester hours in visual art courses and maintain a minimum 2.7 GPA in their art program and an overall academic GPA of 1.7.
Interested students must also receive up to at least three nominations from three different art faculty. However, if they are not nominated, they are still eligible for Kappa Pi membership through a portfolio review. The portfolio review serves as a way to show the student’s personality and artistic ability through their work.
This semester, Kappa Pi will be reviewing portfolios on Oct. 23 from 10 a.m. to noon.
If a student is accepted for membership, the next step would be to pay the $45 fee for new members or $25 for returning members.
“It is another creative outlet for us — another opportunity for us to put on our resume,” Nelson Tomez, a junior fine and graphic arts major and the standing president of Kappa Pi, said.
Benefits of joining NSU’s chapter of Kappa Pi include national scholarship opportunities, access to exclusive workshops, graduation cords and pins and the opportunity to be recognized in Kappa Pi’s official international publication, The Sketchbook.
“Students will also learn to develop teamwork skills and gain leadership experience and have access to professional exposure through Kappa Pi’s International Job Board,” Taylor said.
Students will have the opportunity to create and build work for their resume, all while bonding with others who share the same passion for art.
“The goal is to give them a space to grow; it is the people who are driven, people who love art and are passionate about art to give them that space,” Peter Gorham, a fifth-year senior with a major in fine and graphic arts, said. “I love the art department. We do a lot of stuff as it is, but, with Kappa Pi, there are a lot of added bonuses that you can’t get if you are just an art student.”
Members of Kappa Pi have found their place in this organization. Taking advantage of opportunities, such as those offered by Kappa Pi, can make a difference in one’s college experience along with their future career.
