Author name: jmcpsiu

Congratulations to the 28 brothers from 13 chapters who received scholarships for the 2026-27 Academic Year from The Psi Upsilon Foundation, including seven graduate awards!

The scholarship recipients were announced April 22 during an online award announcement and celebration hosted by Psi Upsilon Foundation Chair and President Alex Senchak, Eta ’06 (Lehigh), with special guest Steven A. Susi, Beta Alpha ’93 (Miami University), who introduced keynote speaker D. Kyle Hogarth, MD, Beta Alpha ’94 (Miami University). Brother Hogarth congratulated the recipients and offered comments on how Psi Upsilon has positively affected his life.

“No matter what you’re studying, that’s not the point. It’s both the age and the time, and the undifferentiated place that your brain is, and where it’s headed,” said Brother Hogarth. “So, we’re just proud to be able to make that journey easier. I think that’s one of the key things about your fraternity and about this organization in general, is that we’re here with you to make this journey easier for you.”

You can read the full transcript of Brother Susi’s funny and eloquent introduction and Dr. Hogarth’s inspiring words below.

Thank you to all the generous donors to the Psi Upsilon Annual Fund and everyone who has helped make these named scholarships possible. Since 1959, the Psi Upsilon Foundation has awarded over $1.2 million in scholarships to our members because of the generosity of our donors! As we are approaching the end of our fiscal year, please make a gift to support the scholarships and programs of Psi Upsilon today. If you already have, check here to see if your company will double your impact with a matching gift.

Graduate Scholarships

Undergraduate Scholarships

Psi Upsilon was pleased to give out 28 scholarships this year!

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Psi Upsilon Foundation Scholarship Announcement Keynote 

Alex Senchak

Steve, I would like to introduce you as a wonderful member and engaged brother of the Beta Alpha chapter to introduce our keynote address.

Steve Susi 

Thank you, Brother Senchak.

Good evening, everyone and welcome to the Psi Upsilon Foundation Scholarships and Awards Ceremony.

My name is Steve Susi, Beta Alpha ‘93 (Miami University), and it is with great pleasure I address you for tonight’s ceremony. And for a little bit more about me, I may or may not be wearing pants.

So, I’ve been asked to introduce our keynote speaker tonight, and I want to start by saying,

on paper, Kyle Hogarth makes the rest of us. look nothing short of lazy and disheveled.

Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago, Director of bronchoscopy.

Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Past president of the Society for Advanced Bronchoscopy. Oh, let me rephrase that, founder, actually, because apparently being in the Society wasn’t enough, so he had to start one. And I know all that and I’m really proud of all of that and you should know that, Kyle, but when I hear “Kyle Hogarth”, my brain doesn’t go to medical journals, no. It goes to electrical engineering.

You see, Kyle and I were brothers at Miami. I was social chair, which meant I got one of the two front balcony rooms. prized real estate…until Kyle lived in the room through the wall behind mine. With animals. And I don’t mean a golden retriever,

I mean he ran what can only be described as an unlicensed reptile sanctuary out of his room.

Snakes. Lizards. Hot rocks. Heat lamps.

And because the snakes needed to eat.

Mice. Live mice.

The man bred whole colonies of mice.

In a fraternity house that was barely up to code and made of equal parts copper wire and kindling. Now, all those terrariums in this makeshift zoo pulled a tremendous amount of electricity. So I’d wake up in the morning, flip on my coffee maker, and…power goes out.

And I’d shake my fist to the heavens and yell, “Goddamn Zoos!”

Then I’d go downstairs, reset the fuse, walk back to my room,turn on my stereo, and…POP!

“Goddamn Zoos!”

Even today, if my power flickers, I blame Horgarth and start yelling about zoos.

A note on that room, which he shared with Brother Tim Soltis, Kyle was always smartly dressed and deliberately presented, while Soltis usually resembled a man who just woke up under a bridge wearing one of his 7,000 alternative band tour shirts. Together, they formed the oddest of couples. Sultus, if you’re out there, we do love you.

Now, this isn’t funny about the “Goddamn Zoos”, but it’s just so Kyle.

One time I was walking into my room after class, and through his open door,

I could see he was on his hands and knees, tending furtively to something on the ground.

I learned quickly it was a lizard.

It had turned yellow after suffering some sort of cardiac event.

Kyle desperately attempted to save it by rubbing and gently pressing its abdomen and begging it to breathe.

When he was unsuccessful,

he was visibly devastated and in tears.

The spirit of that lizard watches over 111 East Spring Street,

Oxford, Ohio, where it’s pushing daisies in the backyard to this day.

Now, every Sunday night, we’d close chapter by passing the candle.

When you got it, you could say whatever was on your mind.

Most of us, myself very much included, just tried to get a laugh,or air grievances,or talk about the next social event. But every single week, Kyle shared something thoughtful. Something real and personal,something that made you think, this guy’s operating on a different level than the rest of us. And he was. He always was.

He’s a professor of medicine, he’s published in every journal that matters. He was the first doctor in the Midwest to use the Monarch, a robotic bronchoscopy navigation system with 3D imaging technology built into a robotic scope that allows them to reach deeper into the lung than ever before to detect or biopsy nodules and masses.

He saved untold human lives and extended their time on this earth with their loved ones.

He was the team doctor for the Chicago Blackhawks the last time they won the Stanley Cup.

I mean, he’s done all that, and Bro’s been on a championship parade float before.

I’m just saying. And 33 years ago this month, my senior year, he bought me a pair of concert tickets to the Ocean Blue Mighty Lemon Drops John Wesley Harding Show in Cincinnati, for which I skipped chapter. And he did that “just because”.
I will never forget that gesture,and shall remain eternally grateful for Kyle’s selflessness and generosity.He is a gem of a man.

I’m beyond proud to call him my brother, and he’s our keynote speaker. It is with great pleasure, honor, and humility I present Dr. Kyle Hogarth, Beta Alpha ‘94 (Miami), to you and our celebration of scholarships and awards.

Thank you.

Dr. Kyle Hogarth
Well, Steve, that, that didn’t disappoint as expected.

You know, I think Steve’s being a little too humble, without a doubt, the best speaker within the Beta Alpha in regards to being able to provide humor, as you all just saw. You know, I hope I can live up to these expectations now.

This is incredible.

You know, I give a lot of lectures, obviously, under the confines of my job, but in this particular case, I want to follow an advice that my lovely father-in-law gave me, and I know my wife Krista is on the Zoom here as well. He told me that there’s 3 important things to remember when you’re giving a speech of any kind, and those are the 3 rules of S.

Be sincere, be short, and then be seated.

So I’m not going to be here for very long, and I’m going to get some important messages across, but, you know, the theme of course is Psi U for Life, so I’m going to start with just the briefest of fun stories.

I randomly got a FaceTime call from brother David Wright, Beta Alpha c, the other day,

a couple weeks ago because he was out with a couple of the other brothers from the Beta Alpha on a trip.  They were debating who was responsible for me becoming a member, or you can argue who brought me in, but who took me out for dinner that first night.

And of course, the answer was David. I think others were refuting that. The whole point is,

you’re always in this for life, including the random phone calls to argue and answer a bet.

So,to go from there, let’s get down to business. First and foremost, I want to begin by congratulating the recipients of this year’s scholarships and awards.

Your applications were inherently inspiring to the whole members of the committee.

I mean, I think you saw that, I was on that committee as well.

All of us, I think the whole point of this, we remember being at this phase of our lives, in that early stages of either both as an undergraduate or thinking of graduate school.

And, you know, the opportunities that each of you are about to undertake,

it excites everyone, because we remember being in that position.
No matter what you’re studying, that’s not the point.

It’s both the age and the time, and the undifferentiated place that your brain is, and where it’s headed.

So, we’re just proud to be able to make that journey easier.

I think that’s one of the key things about your fraternity and about this organization in general,

is that we’re here with you to make this journey easier for you.

Obviously the monetary help for your education, that’s clear, and it’s an obvious benefit to the scholarship, but I want you to truly understand the origin and the meaning of your fraternity’s involvement in your education, because it obviously goes beyond money.

The most beautiful thing about pursuing a degree is the knowledge that you get. It remains with you forever. You can’t get that ever taken away, no matter where your career takes you, no matter where you go.

And it’s gonna always open doors, even if that’s honestly only a conversation about some random facts, but it’s things that you’ve learned, things that you know.

it’s obviously going to be a cornerstone to help you in your personal and professional development and, you know, your careers in general.

But it’s that acquisition of knowledge that doesn’t even have to have a purpose.

So, you know, one of the things I work at is the University of Chicago, and our unofficial slogan there is that someone will say, “That’s great in practice, but how does it work in theory?”

And obviously, though that’s, you know, a ridiculously silly statement, it really kind of highlights the spirit of what you want to always undertake when you’re pursuing any form of more education is that the cornerstone of education being important is just the sake of having that knowledge.

And that’s it.

It doesn’t have to have a purpose.

It doesn’t have to lead to a specific invention or something else.

It can just be knowledge for the sake of knowledge, hence why it’s important to know how it works in theory.

And so, you might ask, why would a fraternity itself invest in members in this way? 

That type of question becomes immediately obvious to all of us who’ve undergone too many years of education.(Speaking for myself. way too many years of education!)

But that’s what’s gotten me lucky enough to be where I am today, and it’s the support of people around me, and it’s the support of friends and spouses but also your fraternity.

And your fraternity believes in education.

It’s a cornerstone of Psi Upsilon, and it believes in you.

The committee that reviewed all these applications, this is a competitive award,

and it believes in the vision that you outlined for yourselves and your own growth,

right?

You didn’t just get this because you happened to fill out a form.

You had to work for it.

You had to convince us what your vision is; where you want to go and why this is so important.

And again, that’s what gets all of us excited as you read these applications.

You see, you know, a little bit of yourself in that, as you watch what each person’s writing, excuse me, as you read what each person’s writing.

And so, the bonds that have held you into this organization, they are obviously lifelong.

It’s not just going to end when you’re an undergrad.

It’s not going to end one or two years after you graduated within your graduate school.

And obviously, as a fraternity, in what world would we not want to support our brothers in any way possible?

So, you know,it’s a natural extension of Psi Upsilon that this scholarship and these awards exist,

that this is a component of this. And I’m obviously honored to give this keynote address, or I could actually say, you know, teasingly to Jay Riemenschneider, It looks like Psi U’s hit an all-new low, but I appreciate it… I’m honored, and I honestly want to thank Psi U for this opportunity, and I do need to specifically thank Alex and Jay for allowing me to be involved with PsiU at this level, not just as a speaker, but in the ways that I’ve been able to be re-engaged with the scholarship program. it’s been wonderful, and I know it’s been wonderful for my wife, we’ve been able to go out for dinner with people and kind of touch base and not just to walk down memory lane just re-engage what everything about what the Fraternity meant.

You know, the thing that made me want to be a PsiU to begin with…the vision of a fraternity for life. I suppose, you know, that’s the whole component, a fraternity for life.

it was something that was said to me as an undergraduate, but to be honest, I don’t know if I ever truly felt what that meant, other than, I guess someday in the future I’ll see people or, you know, do alumni things or whatever. 

Maybe at the time, I was just way too focused on what was immediately in front of me,

you know, next weekend’s party that Steve was arranging, but you never really thought about it from a big picture, and part of that, of course, I think is age, and part of that is the business of where you are when you’re an undergrad and an early grad, but…

You know, I’ve been eternally proud of what it’s meant to be a Psi Upsilon,

and I’m very proud of what it meant to be a Beta Alpha, and what it continues to mean to be a Beta Alpha.

This fraternity is different, and that’s what attracted me to it from the very beginning.

I’m proud of the ways that this fraternity has always been different, and set standards of what it means to be a PsiU, what it means to be in this organization.

This now centuries-old connection that we all share is something very unique,

and it should be cherished, and it should be nurtured, and that’s why I’m so glad to be a part of it.

So, as your life continues to move forward, as the award recipients who are in the pursuit of your education, in the pursuit of your life in general, just please continue to remain an active part of your brotherhood.

Psi Upsilon will always need your heart, and your time, and your love.

It’s not about money.

Sure, you know, your college will take your money, so will your undergrad, everybody’s going to want your money, but you know what PsiU always needs, more than your money, it really does need your heart and your time and your love.

There’s so much you can do to be a part of this organization at all times.

This is the key component of what being a PsiU has always meant.

As said before, PsiU is for life, and so I’m so glad that I got to, you know, spend some time here with you all, and thank you for this opportunity.

So, thanks so much.

Good night.

Alex Senchak

Thank you,

Kyle. This would be where everybody claps if we were not on Zoom.

So, please, don’t let the silence, scare you, but wonderful.

Thank you for that.

So, we have nothing left to do.

We will give you your evening back, or your afternoon if you’re on the West Coast.

But, what an awesome opportunity to get together yet again, as a brotherhood around intellectual excellence and the pursuit of academic work that you all are on.

Kyle, Steve, Jay, Jonathan, Bethann, Tom Fox, I just want to thank everybody on the call; all of the volunteers that make this possible. Especially thank you to the donors who every year come through and make this 200-plus year experiment possible.

So, thank you all, and enjoy the rest of your evening!

Dr. Kyle Hogarth
Jokingly Alex…you said we have extra time? I can quickly pull up a few PowerPoints,

give a few lectures on… 

Alex Senchak

Laughing Let’s go into breakout rooms for that, and anybody can choose to join you.

Good night everybody.

Dr. Kyle Hogarth

Good night, everybody!

Thank you.