Continuing a tradition of excellence and leadership, several Southeast Missouri State University fraternities have received national recognition this summer during their national conferences.
Pi Kappa Alpha was recognized with the Alumni Advisory Board of the Year honor; Sigma Chi was awarded the Peterson Cup; Lambda Chi Alpha earned the Grand High Alpha Award; and Sigma Nu earned awards for both Pursuit of Excellence in Values-Based Leadership and Pursuit of Excellence for Operational Excellence.
Pi Kappa Alpha
The Epsilon Iota chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha at Southeast was recognized with the Alumni Advisory Board of the Yearaward. This honor is presented to the nations top Pi Kappa Alpha alumni board.
Our alumni advisory board is a great source of guidance. The connections, great ideas, and experience they offer allow us to ask questions and succeed, said Sean McDowell, chapter president and Southeast senior.
Chapter advisory boards that meet regularly, communicate well and attend chapter meetings are eligible to apply for the Alumni Advisory Board of the Year award.
Members of the advisory board volunteer their time to our fraternity when they have families and jobs. They go the extra mile to get to know who we are and our other undergraduate members, he said.
In addition, Jim Gleason, a 1986 Southeast alumnus of Sikeston, Missouri, was recognized as a Power Player in the national Pi Kappa Alpha organization andfeatured in a full-page spread in the PIKE magazine this month
They stepped up and gave me, the executive board and the rest of the undergraduate students the tools to move forward and improve the chapters history. The advisory board does everything that is expected and more, McDowell added.
Sigma Chi
The Epsilon Phi chapter of Sigma Chi at Southeast has been honored with the highest honor that the fraternity bestows upon an undergraduate chapter, the Peterson Significant Chapter Award. For the third consecutive year, the foundation recognized the chapters excellence in all operations, including academics, philanthropy, recruitment and ritual performance.
The members of our chapter help contribute to our success by being involved. The guys are around when it’s time to work. We hold each other accountable and do our part, said Andrew Marler, chapter vice president and a Southeast junior.
The Peterson Award was named for the 38th Grand Consul J. Dwight Peterson, Indiana 1919, and is presented each year to an excellent chapter.
Winning a Peterson is a reminder to the chapter that we are to live up to the values that Sigma Chi was founded on, and to continue to leave a legacy that will be a credit to Sigma Chi, Marler said.
Lambda Chi Alpha
The Delta Phi Zeta chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha at Southeast has earned the Grand High Alpha Award. This award recognizes chapters that have maintained a superior level of operations for at least three consecutive years.
That makes this award so special to win because not only is it the current chapter that has been working for it, but also so many alumni that have already graduated that have contributed to it, said Ryan Wiggers, chapter president and a Southeast junior.
This is considered Lambda Chi Alphas highest honor. Chapters may not apply for the award; rather, their headquarters select the chapter tut wishes to recognize with the Grand High Alpha designation based on three years of interactions with the chapter.
From our scholastic, to our community service and philanthropy, to our education system our new members go through, to just our recruitment, we try and do everything we can to the best of our ability and make ourselves better people because of it, he said.
Sigma Nu
The Mu Kappa chapter of Sigma Nu at Southeastwas one of only a few Sigma Nu chapters around the nation to earn awards for both thePursuit of Excellence in Values-Based LeadershipandPursuit of Excellence for Operational Excellence.
It is truly an honor for our men to be recognized for their hard work, said Justin Jacobs, chapter president and a Southeast junior. Our members have to go above and beyond the call of duty to reach such excellence for this award.
The Pursuit of Excellence Program (PEP) is Sigma Nu Fraternitys chapters year-round assessment, standards planning, evaluation and improvement program.
The program assesses chapter operations across three standards, separated into 10 subcategories for measurement: Values-Based Leadership, Personal Development and Membership Value, and Operational Excellence.
We have 98 percent of our 89 member organization involved in at least one other organization, and many of these members are officers within these organizations, Jacobs said. On top of involvement, we also participate in community service where members complete at least eight hours each and philanthropy events where every member has an average raised amount of around $25.