Skip to Main content

Gil Moreno: Getting Involved

May 21, 2012

For many students at Angelo State University, getting involved in campus life can be just as important as their academic studies for their overall college experience.

Gil Moreno, a junior communication major from Abernathy, is one of those students.

“Ever since I came to ASU, I have been involved,” Moreno said. “I love working with students and making ASU better.”

One way Moreno is putting his personal stamp on ASU is as president of the university’s Interfraternity Council and chair of campus involvement for the Pi Kappa Alpha (Pikes) fraternity. Both of those positions give him a strong voice in ASU’s Greek community, and he recently used that voice to successfully advocate for the Kappa Delta Rho national fraternity to open a chapter at ASU.

“In January of 2012,” Moreno said, “I got permission to call other fraternities to see if they would be interested. In March, we decided to bring in Kappa Delta Rho.”

Kappa Delta Rho is potentially the fourth social fraternity at ASU, joining the Pikes, Lambda Chi Alpha and Tau Kappa Epsilon, pending completion of requirements set by the organization’s national headquarters and the ASU Interfraternity Council. After a full year, they will be reviewed for recommendation by both the university and their national headquarters.

As for his involvement with the Pikes, Moreno plans their participation in various campus and community activities, and heads up their publicity and marketing campaigns. Their main community outreach project is San Angelo’s Walk a Mile, annual rape awareness walk. Recently, the Pikes also had their annual MS Walk to raise funds for multiple sclerosis research.

“The mother of one of our fraternity brothers has MS,” Moreno said, “so we walk and take donations on her behalf.”

“Ever since I came here, I have been involved. I love working with students and making ASU better.”

Gil Moreno

Involvement in Greek Life is also preparing Moreno for a future career. In addition to his other activities, Moreno works as an intern in the ASU Center for Student Involvement for Jennifer Johnson, coordinator of Greek life and community service.

“I would love to get a job like Jennifer’s, or like Heather Valle, who is our coordinator for student organizations,” Moreno said.

But it is not all about being Greek for Moreno. His other campus involvement includes volunteering as a SOAR (Student Orientation, Advising and Registration) leader and as a manager for the ASU Rams basketball team.

“I got into SOAR because it was a great way to land a leadership opportunity with ASU,” he said. “I wanted to educate students about how much ASU means to me, as well as tell them what ASU has to offer with over 100 student organizations. I also wanted to help out with the Rams, so I approached Coach (Fred) Rike about being a manager. Being involved on campus is something I urge every new student to do.”

Even before he was a new ASU student, Moreno knew a lot about Angelo State since two of his uncles and three of his aunts had attended previously. While going to high school in Abernathy, about 18 miles north of Lubbock, he was already planning on carrying on the family tradition. After graduating in a class of 56 students, 40 of whom he had known since kindergarten, Moreno wanted to go to a college with the same type of close-knit environment.

“I like living in a small town,” he said. “I don’t know what it is about the small-town atmosphere.”

These days, Moreno hangs out at the Pikes’ lodge, in various study areas, at the Ballpark in Arlington watching the Texas Rangers with his aunt and uncle and at the Center for Student Involvement.

“I love coming down to the CSI office every day and working with all the people,” he said. “It is a natural high and keeps me excited. There is never a dull moment.”