Joshua Fonseca of Naples, Florida, and other Lambda Chi Alpha alumni made a gift to establish the award. This scholarship was established to acknowledge the University’s commitment to rich and meaningful experiences for international students, and is named after Lambda Chi Alpha to celebrate Fonseca’s transformative experience as a member of the fraternity and the organization’s commitment to diversity. 

The renewable scholarship will be awarded to an undergraduate international student enrolled at Southeast with a minimum 3.0 GPA. First preference will go to a student who demonstrates exceptional campus and/or community involvement. The scholarship selection committee will include representatives from the Southeast University Office of International Education and Services, the Southeast Missouri University Foundation and the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at Southeast Missouri State University.

Fonseca was born in in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and raised in Mumbai, India. His parents, Ben and Maria, sent him to Southeast in 1999 to study computer science. He joined Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity in 2000 and was elected as the Alumni Relations Officer. He also served on the fraternity’s executive committee and ritual team. During his time with the fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha earned its first Grand High Alpha Award, the highest honor from the international fraternity headquarters.

While at Southeast, Fonseca also served as president and vice president of the Indian Subcontinent Student Association and was active in Catholic Campus Ministry’s Newman Center. Additionally, he was a student employee for Recreation Services, working at the Student Recreation Center, and the University’s Information Technology, working in the IT Help Desk and computer labs across campus. He graduated from Southeast in 2003. 

Fonseca was selected by alumni and undergraduates to serve as the chapter advisor from 2007-2014. He is the longest serving advisor in the first three decades of the chapter’s operations, and his tenure has been one of the most successful times in the chapter’s history.

After graduating Southeast, Fonseca was hired as an applications developer by Element74, a Cape Girardeau web-applications development company. In 2014, he accepted a position as the director of software development for a healthcare IT startup in Naples, Florida. He currently works for a New Jersey based Healthcare company.

 Fonseca has supported many Southeast organizations and programing, including the performing arts, veterans, the International Village, the Office of Admissions and Lambda Chi Alpha scholarships. In 2019, he was elected to the Southeast Missouri University Foundation’s Board of Directors.

About Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity 
Headquartered in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel, Ind., Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity is one of the largest men’s general fraternities in North America with more than 295,000 initiated members and has held chapters at more than 300 universities. In the early 1970s, it was the first fraternity to eliminate pledging and remains a leader in the fight against hazing, alcohol abuse, sexual assault and other challenges facing today’s college student. The chapter at Southeast Missouri State University was colonized in 1989 and chartered in 1991.  The mission of Lambda Chi Alpha is to inspire and equip men to lead an ethical life of growth, service, and leadership. Lambda Chi Alpha envisions a world where the ideal man pursues a life of respect and inclusion for all. A world where we support and encourage one another. And a world where every brother models and embraces our values: loyalty, duty, respect, service and stewardship, honor, integrity, and personal courage. To learn more about Lambda Chi, please visit www.lambdachi.org.