Current State of the Chapter
President Update
2015 has been a year of great transitions and much success for Sigma Phi Epsilon PA Beta Beta. While winning Drexel University’s Greek Week and raising over $50,000 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation top the list of organizational milestones, we have taken great strides to ensure the long term stability of our chapter and the personal success of the men among our ranks. While transition and change are rarely easy, I am confident the restructuring of our membership through a recommitment to our core values will continue to provide the premiere fraternity experience on campus.
This Fall Term saw us bring in 13 new members who are already making an impact in our chapter, many of them are already in chapter leadership positions. We have implemented a new structure for our continuous development process that we call the Sigma Cycle. This revised process allows us to recruit continuously throughout the year and better develop each new member as they come into our chapter.
In addition to our operational progress, we have continue to stand out in what is the most important reason for being at Drexel University, our education. This most recent term we maintained a 3.48 GPA, well above the All Campus Average of 3.21. Our new members led the way, with 8 of 13 achieving a 3.60 term average, getting them onto the Drexel University Dean’s List. Our chapter has maintained the top GPA among fraternities since 2013, and our members have put us on track to do so for years to come.
Equally as important as academics are the relationships we build while here at Drexel. This year our members were able to build personal relationships with many amazing faculty and administrators here through our Residential Learning Community. Every year we invite several of the professors and administrators that our members are most interested in, into our home. This year we hosted Drexel University President John Fry, Senior Associate Vice President of Drexel University Rita LaRue, our Chapter’s Faculty Fellow Dr. Stanley Ridgley, in addition to many others. This time spent with our guests outside of an academic setting gives SigEp’s the opportunity to connect to these guests on a personal level an opportunity most other students will never have.
Since the virtue and diligence of our brothers cannot be questioned, I’d like to highlight how our members are striving to live out our our third cardinal principle, Brotherly Love. This past week brought great sorrow to the SigEp world as one of our greatest men, Former Grand President Phil Cox, from the Indiana Beta Chapter, lost his battle with cancer. President Cox had been battling multiple cancers for a few years. He fought to get to the 2015 SigEp Conclave this August in Nashville. While he was not able to speak to the crowd, his wife told the thousands gathered how SigEp has helped him fight as long as he has. Even in the state he was in, when myself and 2 other Drexel SigEps went to speak with him he instantly remembered the dozen or so cards we had sent him in the Fall telling him he was in our mind and our prayers here at Drexel. In his roughest of times, Sigma Phi Epsilon and the Pennsylvania Beta Beta sought to return some of the Brotherly Love shown by Brother Cox and hopefully helped him fight to see another day.
I have been in this chapter for 3 years and I can honestly say I have never been prouder of what we have accomplished over this past year. I am anxious to see what great successes the 2016 year will bring.