For the first time in our chapter’s 40-year history, the Zeta Pi Chapter has resurrected a long-ended line of the Brotherhood Tree.
The undergraduate chapter decided in October 2025 to resurrect Founding Brother Chuck Surinck’s line, which hasn’t been active in three decades.
This is a big moment for our chapter, which is marking a milestone four decades with ~450 initiated men in our chapter’s ranks.
Brother Surinck is one of 19 original men who are considered founding fathers, first becoming a Sigma Pi Fraternity colony in October 1985 and eventually chartering with 28 recognized members on March 15, 1986.
Of the initial founding brothers’ lines, only a few have remained alive for much of the past 20 years.
Now, Brother Surinck’s line is reborn with a young brother transferring to Oakland University and joining Zeta Pi.
That undergraduate is Brother Jordan Keil, who’s transferred from Grand Valley State University where he initiated in 2024 as part of that Theta Rho Chapter.
He lives in Waterford and is majoring in finance, with hopes of eventually becoming a financial advisor. Jordan is serving as the undergraduate chapter’s social chair in the Fall 2025 semester.
As a sophomore and new transfer to OU, Jordan was not an official part of the incoming and current Beta Xi pledge class and didn’t need to go through initiation again.
Instead, he’s gone through a truncated new member education where he’s learning specifics of our Zeta Pi Chapter history.
Because he also has an existing Little Brother from GVSU that he keeps in touch with, it didn’t seem appropriate to just place Jordan into our Brotherhood Tree and give him with a Big Brother at random.
Instead, Brother Keil is placed directly as Chuck’s little brother. A “grand-little,” you might say.
“I am very appreciative for the opportunity to resurrect my fraternal line. I’m really pleased to see men like Jordan as brothers, and I can only assume they represent the quality of the Brotherhood that Zeta Pi is. If this is true, I am extremely pleased to have this caliber of man as a member of our chapter.”
– Founding Brother Chuck Surinck
While we’ve had a few other transferring brothers join our Chapter through the years, they were not granted Big Brothers. They pretty much are “floaters” in our Brotherhood Tree, not attached to any existing line.
Given Chuck’s historical presence and influence in our chapter, the Active Chapter consulted with alumni and made this decision to resurrect the line, which had ended with Brother Andrew Rosinski in 1993.
After being a founding brother, Chuck stayed involved through the years after graduation and would go on to serve as our local Chapter Director from 1996 to 2009.
Chuck’s line is one of 4 from the 12 original lines that remain alive as of Fall 2025, along with Founding Brothers Michael Hess, Mike Martin, and John Pearson.
Both Brothers Surinck and Keil had a chance to meetup for the first time and chat at length at the Third Tuesday Brotherhood Night on Oct. 21, 2025.
“I think it’s awesome I get to have a big that is a founder of our chapter, and it gives a me a unique perspective and opportunity to what the the future of the chapter should look like,” Jordan said. “It’s also great hearing stories and the history of our chapter directly from the source!”
– Brother Jordan Keil
[Editor’s Note: wink wink, smirk… ]
In looking at the current undergraduate chapter, Brother Surinck added this.
“I am grateful for the past and more importantly grateful, optimistic and excited for the future. I look forward to enriching, establishing, strengthening, and redefining friendships and our Brotherhood in the years to come!”
