NH Alpha Wins Scholarship and Chapter House Awards
Hanover, NH, 2/16/2013 – Dartmouth College’s Sigma Phi Epsilon Chapter (NH Alpha) won District awards for scholarship and its new chapter house at the Carlson Leadership Academy in Stamford, CT, a regional training event run by the National Fraternity each February.
SigEp won the Grand Chapter Scholarship Award for District 1 presented to chapters ranking first in academic standings among fraternities on campus for an entire academic year. The chapter’s GPA must be above the all-campus average and must be 3.15 or higher for one semester during the academic year. New Hampshire Alpha achieved a GPA of 3.56 that was 0.12 higher than the all-campus average for the 2011-2012 academic year.
NH Alpha also took home the “Chapter House of the Year” award recognizing the one chapter per region that best maintains and cares for its chapter living environment. Completed in the spring of 2011, the NH Alpha Chapter House is the largest Greek house at Dartmouth with 26 beds, and supports the award-winning Balanced Man Program which is the hallmark of the SigEp fraternity. As part of the fundraising and development process for the house, the NH Alumni & Volunteer Corporation (AVC) created a Facility Management Plan which coordinates the efforts of undergraduates, the AVC, and a professional property manager to ensure that the facility is thoroughly cleaned and inspected twice a week, and that maintenance and repair items are addressed quickly.
Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Carlson Leadership Academy (CLA) provides interactive officer training to over 2,600 undergraduates and volunteers annually. The NH Alpha chapter sent twelve representatives, its largest contingent in ten years. Five members of the AVC Board of Trustees joined seven undergraduates to learn more about specific officer positions, to develop strategic plans and chapter goals, and to develop teamwork skills. Attending the Alumni tracks for the weekend event were AVC President Herb Philpott ’85, AVC VP of Finance Sam Reckford ’83, AVC Secretary Dodd Griffith ’86, and AVC At-Large member Chris Vale ’95. AVC Advisor and Director of Greek Life at Dartmouth College Wes Schaub also attended CLA as a faculty member at the invitation of the AVC and National fraternity. Undergraduates Nick Reznicek ’14, Freddie Fletcher ’14, Dylan Sewell ’15, Joe Loftus ’15, Eli Derrow ’15, Nick Gannon ’15, and Roma Mookerjee ’15 made the trip from Hanover by bus provided by the AVC.
“CLA is a great opportunity to compare notes and learn best-practices in chapter and AVC operations,” noted Philpott. “I always come away with renewed enthusiasm for our fraternity and the Balanced Man Program.” “The most effective parts of CLA came when we broke into groups to discuss task-specific jobs (President, Finance, Recruitment, etc.),” observed sophomore Joe Loftus attending his first National event since joining SigEp last fall. “We also had some very worthwhile discussions amongst ourselves about our Chapter goal setting.”
The next big Sigma Phi Epsilon event is the bi-annual Grand Chapter Conclave in Dallas, TX, July 31 – August 4. It’s the largest gathering of fraternity brothers in the world with over 1,400 brothers and guests enjoying the beautiful Gaylord Texan Resort while they make SigEp policy, celebrate the best Chapters in the country, and recognized the accomplishments and contributions of prominent SigEp alumni. Visit theConclave website, for more information and to register for the event.
