Kansas Newsletter - Spring 2026

TRIANGLE CHAPTER KANSAS ALUMNI

JAYHAWKER SPRING 2026

UPCOMING EVENTS

KANSAS CHAPTER

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Outdoor Entertainment Creation

SEPTEMBER 12, 2026 Missouri vs KU Football Game OCTOBER 23-25, 2026 University of Kansas 2026 Homecoming Family Weekend OCTOBER 24, 2026 Home Game Against Baylor FALL 2026 Special Announcement TBD for our Centennial Celebration Outdoor entertainment area

The outdoor entertainment area took six months to complete and was finished just in time for our Stop Day celebration. It was a fun and challenging project for our chapter. The most value we got out of creating this would be the learning experience and hard work that was put into it. Everyone pitched in from schematic design, coordinating with the city, collaborating with Alumni to source funding, budgeting, and finally, construction. Members physically worked together to do everything from hand digging 9 holes 40” deep to get below the frost line, to hand making trim pieces with a plane. It was a great experience that everyone involved will remember.

It will be great to use for tail gates, and I recommend coming by to check it out sometime!

– John Janisch kan21, House Director

Alumni Spotlight Culin Thompson kan13 I joined Triangle the Spring semester of my freshman year, after being recruited by my close friends in the Architecture school.

I hadn’t been drawn to a Fraternity before coming to KU, but after getting to know the Fraternity and the men who were a part of it, I saw the opportunity for the lifelong friendships and professional development that only Triangle could facilitate.

During my time as an Active Member, I served as Vice President, Member Educator, Social Media Chair, and Active Advisor on the National Council. Triangle provided me with the safe space to build my leadership style, develop professional and personal connections, explore facets of professional development, and develop a social circle to build friendships, bonds, and soft skills all within a low-risk and high-reward environment.

These leadership opportunities allowed me to leverage multiple internships, first at DLR Group’s Chicago office as an Architectural Intern and then at BRR 1

SPRING 2026

Architecture as an Architectural Intern during my 5th year in the Master of Architecture program at KU. After finishing the Architecture program in 2017, I started working full time in the Overland Park office for BRR on their developing hospitality team while finishing my Master of Urban Planning degree and graduating in 2018. One key piece of advice that I’ve heard during my time at Triangle and during my professional internships was to always say “yes” to any opportunity, and to leverage it to its fullest. When BRR presented me with the opportunity to relocate to Seattle in 2018 and to help open a new office for the firm there, I was enthusiastic. There I took on my first client, grew a team and office, and become plugged in to the University of Washington Chapter of Triangle as an advisor.

The six years my wife, Holly, and I spent in Seattle were incredible.

I was able to build upon the foundation Triangle provided to me of professional and soft skills to help lead and grow the BRR Seattle office from 2 to 12 team

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members, lead my own hospitality team of 5 people, and spend my 20’s and early 30’s in a bustling city enjoying the cuisine, skiing, hiking, and lifestyle the Pacific Northwest has to offer. Helping to see the University of Washington Chapter earn their Charter was another joyous moment of my time there learning to build my own personal approach to mentorship.

In 2024, however, my wife and I had the opportunity to move closer to family in hopes of raising a family of our own. We relocated to Atlanta, GA where I joined the BRR Atlanta office to grow a new hospitality team focused on the Southeast. Starting over with building a team from scratch involved learning from the successes and struggles of building a team in Seattle, and understanding how to navigate the existing office of 16. In the 2 years that I’ve been in Atlanta, we’ve grown the office to a staff of 22 and built a hospitality team of 6 that supports some of the

largest hospitality clients the company works with. A deep focus and effort on knowing your team members and how to best support them, being genuinely engaged and interested in your client’s goals and pursuits, and continually pushing yourself to grow, develop, and improve has resulted in continual opportunities for myself and my team. My wife and I also welcomed our son in July of 2025, and have enjoyed trips to Disney, hiking, and travel with him and our extended family.

Without the opportunities and experiences Triangle offered during my time as an Active member, I truly don’t believe that I would be in the place I am now. I said “yes” to joining Triangle, “yes” to becoming involved to help lead the Kansas Chapter during my time there, and “yes” to multiple opportunities BRR has presented in my professional growth and development. Take the time to put yourself out there for the next opportunity, whether it’s getting involved in re-building your friendships from past years or positioning yourself for the next jump in the future!

TP-Link Omada Sponsorship Project In March 2024, our fraternity received a generous sponsorship from TP-Link, providing us with a full Omada networking system to significantly upgrade the Chapter House network infrastructure.

We are extremely grateful to TP-Link for their support, which made this project possible and continues to benefit current and future brothers. The sponsorship included an OC200 Omada Controller, ER7206 Omada Router, TL-SG3452P PoE Switch, eight EAP653 indoor access points, and one EAP650 outdoor access point.

Over the course of a few months, the installation work was

Omada networking system

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SPRING 2026

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completed in-house. This included removing the old network cabling, pulling over 2,000 feet of new Cat 6 cable, cutting in new wall plates, and terminating Ethernet connections throughout the house. New cabling was installed to support all eight indoor access point locations, along with two Ethernet runs to each of the 22 rooms in the house.

locations, along with two Ethernet runs to each of the 22 rooms in the house. The upgraded network provided stronger, more reliable WiFi coverage throughout the Chapter House, improved wired connectivity for brothers, and gave us a more professional and manageable network system using TP-Link’s Omada platform. Local network services were also supported by a Raspberry Pi running Pi-hole and DNS.

Overall, this project represented a major improvement to the technology infrastructure of the house and helped modernize the network for everyday use, study, communication, and future growth.

– Jacob Horton kan20

Graduating Seniors

Quintin McCoach kan23

Ted Athon kan23

Matthew Garrett kan23

New Members

Braden Conley kan26

Luke Brueggemann kan26

SUPPORT KANSAS’ LEGACY

BY CONTRIBUTING TO OUR CHAPTER ENDOWMENT FUND

The Fall 2025- Spring 2026 Triangle Chapter Endowment Fund was utilized to further improve the internet infrastructure a focus on perfect Wi-Fi connectivity. In addition, the house service was upgraded to Fiber Internet with matching high-speed upload and download bandwidths. This facilitates the use of the latest digital media, content creation, access to school resources, and experimentation with AI. The fund also stretched to cover all the monthly service costs. Thank you to all those who have contributed to this fund.

Consider making a donation to the Kansas Chapter Endowment Fund to help sustain this and other substantial impacts for active members.

Scan the QR code or use this link: https://tinyurl.com/KUCEF

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STAY CONNECTED LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

KANSAS CHAPTER

facebook.com/kutriangle

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM Instagram: @kutriangle

UPDATE US WITH YOUR INFO Update your contact information via Triangle Portal, at chapterspot.triangle.org

SUPPORT US WITH A GIFT Make a gift to the Kansas Chapter Endowment Fund!

Scan the QR code or use this link: https://tinyurl.com/ KUCEF

KU Studio 804, Master of Architecture Design Build Studio 804 was a very unique experience that completely altered my perception of the built environment and how it works.

Prior to 804, I would not have considered myself a very handy person, but 804 challenged me to step out of my boundaries and use my hands and not just my mind to figure out problems. In Studio 804, each student has specific tasks that they master so that they can lead the class in the area of the project. My primary roles I took on from the beginning of the class were insulation and LEED certification.

Insulating the primary residence and detached garage from foundation to attic to create an energy efficient home that met LEED Platinum standards

was not an easy task, but I was lucky to have a great class working beside me. The strenuous process of following the USGBC’s strict guidelines to gain points paid off when the house achieved LEED Platinum status, the highest level of certification that a green building could achieve through the US Green Building Council’s program. Besides these two roles I was immersed in so many other facets of this project from the concrete pour to the finishing touches. I can firmly say that I gained so much knowledge from this experience that shapes how I think in my career today as an architectural designer.

– Kevin Bainter kan21

Wood working

Welding