Sigma Phi Epsilon - University of Missouri

" " "This Fraternity will be different; it will be based on the love of God and the principle of peace through Brotherhood… its purpose shall be to intensify and perpetuate friendship and promote happiness among its members, to encourage literature and education, and to create such sentiments, mold such opinions, and perform such deeds as shall conduce to the building of a noble and pure manhood." SigEp a publication for alumni of missouri alpha t sigma phi epsilon summer 2016 Tiger Heart Inside: Scholarships t 2 Chapter Excellence Awards t 2 Balanced Man Program t 3 Alumnus Spotlight t 4 this fraternity Will be Different m ore than a century ago, in an effort to receive recognition from a small college in Virginia, a committee composed of Carter Ashton Jenkens, Benjamin Donald Gaw, and William Lazell Phillips made the promise that "this fraternity will be different." Of all the well-crafted rhetoric from the myriad of sound leaders that this fraternity has been fortunate enough to call brothers, I'd argue that no five words have ever attributed to as much of the fraternity's success and unique identity as this standard. Our founders knew then, that to exist and survive as a recognized organization, they would have to isolate themselves from the fraternal norm. More than a century later, in an era when Greek systems and organizations are consistently in the line of fire, the foresight of our founders is confirmed and the standard they set is proven timeless. The recently closed semester could be appropriately described as a trying one; one in which the members of Mo Alpha realized that we weren't living up to the standard that so many other chapters have found success in. To the beginning report of low scholarship, we added poor treatment of the chapter house, subsequent run-ins with our insurance company, a couple of trips to the Office of Student Conduct, and a handful of hang-ups in the proliferation of the Balanced Man Program. This combination opened the door to several bringing-to-light conversations, the most hard-hitting being at the Carlson Leadership Academy with several of the fraternity's higher-ups, from which was confirmation of what all of our stakeholders and chapter leaders already knew—Sigma Phi Epsilon at the University of Missouri needed to change. The simple verdict was that we had a house divided and, eventually, the result would be a national-led membership review, followed by the placement of an Alumni Advisory Council. Of our 164 members from the start of the spring, Mo Alpha was left with 64 brothers fully committed to embracing the newly blank canvas and painting a better fraternity experience. Immediately, our chapter GPA shifted from a 2.974 (24th out of all Mizzou fraternities and just below the all-male average) to a 3.20 (which would rank sixth of all Mizzou fraternities and be substantially higher than the all-university average of 3.12). What's more is a newly developed, chapter-wide commitment to new recruitment initiatives—a commitment unlike any other I've seen since joining the fraternity. Though it was a rough semester, our guys showed resilience, plunging into getting us back on track. Their efforts speak to the amount of care our members have for this chapter, giving us a greater sense of confidence in our ability to get Mo Alpha where it needs to be. As we enter into a semester of rebuilding, our goal is to fulfill the promise made by our founders. Not only do we feel that we owe this to the legacy of a once-flourishing chapter at the University of Missouri and all the brothers who came before us, but we owe it to ourselves as SigEps who take immense pride in our fraternity. So, as a chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon and a branch stemming from the roots and principles to which this fraternity credits its foundation, Missouri Alpha commits that it will be different—different from other fraternities at the University of Missouri, and different from what this chapter has been in recent years. Fraternally, payton sanders '18 Chapter President

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