Volunteer Awards
Connie Owen Order of the Rose
This award recognizes the spouse of a Pi Kappa Phi member who has exemplified sustained involvement that advances the mission of the Fraternity and is not given annually but rather at the discretion of the National Council.
2024 Recipient
Phyllis Pugliesi
Phyllis has been an active supporter of Pi Kappa Phi since 1996, when she attended her first Supreme Chapter in San Francisco, California. As the newcomer at her first Supreme Chapter, she was affectionately referred to by the late Connie Owen as “that Jersey girl,” despite being raised in Ohio and a current Connecticut resident. Since joining their ranks, this recipient has led the spouses of the Nu Phi Society in friendship and laughter, as well as other initiatives, like compiling a list of spouse contact information, having the idea to provide roses to all spouses during the singing of “The Rose of Pi Kappa Phi” and working with Elizabeth Sigmon and others to create brooches for the Nu Phi spouses, a welcome form of recognition to mirror their husbands’ Nu Phi medallions. She has been an avid supporter of The Ability Experience and has tirelessly supported her husband’s continued involvement in all Fraternity activities, whether local or national, even helping to set up his local chapter’s new house when it opened in 2013.
For the past 41 years, she has been a devoted Pi Kappa Phi spouse and has embraced her husband’s lifelong commitment to Pi Kappa Phi. She has played a crucial role in fostering a strong community of Nu Phi spouses and has become an essential member of the Pi Kappa Phi family.