Sigma Phi Epsilon - Auburn University

Generally A PUBLICATION FOR ALUMNI OF ALABAMA ALPHA t SIGMA PHI EPSILON t SPRING 2016 SPEaking Inside: Meet the 2016 Executive Board t 2 In Memory of Dakota Parker '19 t 3 Alumni Update t 4 W hen I first heard the news that Doc passed away on June 29, 2015, I couldn't believe it. Unable to comprehend and really process the reality of the fact, finding the words to express how Doc truly changed the lives of everyone around him and the way he impacted his community was difficult only because the actions Doc showed meant so much more to us than words. To anyone who knew him, Doc was someone we could all call a role model. The life he lived was one of a true SigEp man. Doc wholeheartedly embodied virtue, diligence, and brotherly love the way SigEp's founders had intended. Doc was a man that meant so much to so many people, the University, and Alabama Alpha. Through getting to know Doc over the course of my time at Auburn, I learned what it really meant to be a part of Alabama Alpha, and for that I am truly grateful. I spent significantly more time with Doc in his last year, which included countless hours of yardwork and dozens of meals and stories shared. Never have I met someone so resilient and strong. Even after having his prostate surgery and other illness developing, he got up every day at the crack of dawn and went to work. It wasn't that he had to; it was that he wanted to, for his family, friends, and Alabama Alpha. Doc lived and breathed SigEp for as long as anyone can remember. From pledging in 1958 to watching his father influence the fraternity like he did, he eventually took over the legacy of Doc that his father had left behind. In recent years, all of the brothers have visited Doc's father's gravestone and heard what it meant to Doc to actually be a SigEp. He got us all to believe in SigEp and what those letters symbolized, even if we doubted ourselves at the time. He was the guy that would bring anyone up that was down in the dumps. A people person, everyone knew Doc. Watching him walk down the concourse and not only say hi to everyone he knew, but take the time to ask them about how they were doing was very special. During the summer, I went to a Dunkin' Donuts with him for a coffee and he got into a conversation with a man and woman from Louisiana that we had just met. I could swear by the way he was talking to them, he had known them his whole life, but that's just the way Doc was. He saw only the good in people. No matter how bad his situation may have seemed, he never let it faze him and always stayed positive. He truly was one of the most incredible people I have ever met. But everything seems to happen for a reason, and now we will get the privilege to see the true potential of Alabama Alpha to come together like never before. Life has its ups and downs, but the power of coming together can and will overcome. Doc showed us, as Carter Ashton Jenkins once said, "Less you be men we cannot be brothers." His presence gave us something special and for that I will always cherish. I'll leave you on that note. Cheers to Doc and all that he stood for. HFF, Seamus Hill '16 2015 Chapter President soh0003@auburn.edu (312) 520-3226 Remembering the Life of John "Doc" Cottier '62 A L U M N U S I M P A C T E D T H E L I V E S O F M A N Y Longtime advisor John "Doc" Cottier '62 passed away last June. UNDERGRADUATES SET GOAL TO RAISE $11,000 Members Make an Impact within the Community and Campus T hroughout the spring, our executive board has worked to push our chapter to become more involved in the community, on campus, and in other organizations. In the spring, we were a sponsor in the Kappa Delta 5K, have placed Alabama Alphas with little league teams as coaches, donated bicycles to the local firehouse, and our members are involved in many different organizations as you can see on page 2. (Continued on page 2) Corbin Tips '16, Nate Majer '16, Eddie Brown '18, Parker Kelly '19, and William Bottcher '18 enjoyed formal in Charleston, S.C.

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