Peter Stephens
Peter Stephens, WASHINGTON (ST. LOUIS) 1971, was initiated into Sigma Chi on Sep. 30, 1967. As an undergraduate, he served his chapter as its Recruitment Chairman and then as Pro Consul for three terms. He was active in student government and during the height of anti-war riots on campus was named one of the university's first student trustees. After a career in the hotel industry spanning twenty years which took him to Australia, Hong Kong and New York with Hilton International and to Chicago and Zurich with Swissotel, a joint venture of Swissair and Nestle, he became a consultant to top luxury hotels such as Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental and Ritz-Carlton in identifying senior and executive level management talent, and resettled in central Florida in 1991. In 2012, he founded Arkadia Strategic, a company based in Hong Kong which advises governments on tourism development issues. He serves as its president and CEO. Stephens became involved with the Orlando, Florida, alumni chapter of Sigma Chi at the time of the 2003 Grand Chapter held in Orlando. He nearly doubled the size of the chapter as its membership chairman and went on to serve two terms as vice president and later one as president. Beginning in 2003, Stephens co-chaired the ”Orlando Scramble for Kids” charity golf tournament and has helped to raise $160,000 for the Children's Miracle Network, which was the Fraternity's recommended philanthropy at that time. In 2009, Stephens was elected Grand Praetor of the Central Florida province. Stephens currently serves as chairman of the Fraternity's committee on governmental affairs, which is lobbying members of Congress for passage of the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act (CHIA). The proposed legislation would allow the tax deductibility of contributions to fraternities and sororities for the construction of residences on college campuses, which the current IRS code does not permit. Stephens previously served as chairman of the Fraternity's awards committee. He is now one of the representative from the Praetorial College to the Executive Committee. He has facilitated numerous province conferences, has served on the Pro Consul faculty at Balfour LTW starting in 2010, and has served as a panelist on three membership reviews. Stephens has been a Life Loyal Sigma Chi since 1971 and was inducted into the Order of Constantine in 2012.