Sigma Phi Epsilon - San Diego State University

S i g m a P h i E P S i l o n F r a t E r n i t y C a l i F o r n i a D E l t a C h a P t E r 1237 l a u r a l a n E E S C o n D i D o, Ca 92025 a D D r E S S S E r v i C E r E q u E S t E D Cal Delta News V iews & California Delta Chapter www.sigepcaldelta.com Sigma Phi Epsilon www.sigep.org Facebook www.facebook.com/sigepcaldelta JOIN CAL DELTA AT CONCLAVE August 2-6, 2017 Orlando, Florida K evin Longeuay '08 believes his Cal Delta membership was the "best experience I could have had." As a SigEp, he gained a true sense of pride in the chapter and his brothers during a rebuilding era and learned skills that would ensure future career success. Going through recruitment in 2005, Kevin connected with the SigEp members, who did not fit the typical party image. They were focused on building members into leaders, and that was appealing to Kevin—although he admits that he initially had the common mindset of engineering students: that engineers don't need leadership skills. Through SigEp, he was encouraged to join campus organizations and eventually held the chapter positions of vice president of programming in 2007 and president in 2008, realizing that by learning how to lead he could do a better job than others in his field and in other aspects of life. Kevin attributes the chapter's improvement during his undergraduate years to this concentration on leadership. Membership increased from about 40 members to more than 150, the chapter GPA increased, and they even won their first sports banner. "We raised the standards and began winning awards, including the Dean's Trophy. I was very proud when we won our first Buchanan Cup in 2007." "We had this fire within us to fully embrace the SigEp mantra of being different. It was a very special time for us." And for today's undergraduates, Kevin hopes that members have as amazing of an experience as he did. "One of our sayings was 'It is what you make it, so make it great.'" While there were certainly many achievements to be celebrated, when any issues arose, Kevin says, the alumni advisors were always supportive. He recalls Bob Gibbs '63, Skip Dahlkamp '64, Bob Trovaten '67, Dale Walters '69, and specifically Ron Smith '69 having a positive impact on the chapter. "Ron was like a father figure to us. He didn't pass judgment until hearing our side and gave sound (and sometimes stern) advice. Whatever his advice was, we always knew that his ultimate goal was to make the fraternity and its members better." Graduating with an aerospace engineering degree, Kevin now works at General Atomics as a flight test engineer. He has worked on the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and now on the MQ-9 Reaper, an unmanned aircraft. Transferring the skills he garnered at Cal Delta has made Kevin stand out from the rest. He is very comfortable conducting flight briefings and debriefings in front of large audiences and can capably lead a group of technical individuals, which is very important and highly sought out in engineering. Kevin keeps in touch with many of his brothers: Kyle Albini '08 was his best man at his wedding, a group of guys get together a few times a year, and he makes it to alumni events when he can. He says, "It's wedding season now. My wife and I have about 10 to attend this year, so I'll get to see a lot of brothers this year." Kevin and his wife, Alyssa, live in San Diego. Kevin surfs and does a little home brewing in his spare time. He can be reached at longeuaykr@ gmail.com. Kevin Longeuay '08 Learned to Lead as a SigEp Skills Help Him Stand Out from the Rest Find Us Online

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