We Didn’t Listen Then

In the early 1980s, fraternity rush was dominated by alcohol. SigEp shifted to emphasize recruiting quality men of high standards. Why focus on individual interaction when large, unruly parties were so easily getting results? Some boldly predicted abandoning tradition rush, our Fraternity would fail and die, unable to attract members. Sigma Phi Epsilon became the largest fraternity in the world and today the standard on virtually every campus is "recruitment," no longer "rush."

Then SigEp began to question "pledging." Embracing the Balanced Man Program, we moved to continual, four-year development throughout the college experience. Skeptics predicted dire results and demise. Our position as the leader only strengthened. Even more impressive, a recently published study of what really matters in college resoundingly supports the Balanced Man Program, "because the individual effort and involvement are critical determinates of college impact. Institutions should focus on the ways they can shape their academic, interpersonal and co-curricular offerings to encourage student engagement."

Continuing to be Different

Entering our second century, SigEp began to aggressively stamp out the pejorative frat boy as anti-intellectual by boldly setting the goal of a national member GPA of a 3.0. Would collecting the GPA of all 14,000 undergraduates in 250-plus chapters produce result that would simply reinforce the negative perception? Four short years later, the only argument is that we may have set the bar too low.

Does surpassing 3.0 GPA, maintaining our position as the largest fraternity and effectively implementing a culture of Sound Mind and Sound Body assure future success? We certainly could remain the leader in Greek-letter organizations, but unless we position our organization as the value-added partner of higher education, we may become irrelevant.

Does focusing on Residential Learning Communities, Ruck Scholars and Tragos Quest to Greece distract from our ability to grown our membership? While one other national fraternity recruited more new members than we did this year, benchmarking new challenges cannot be measured by old peer comparisons. The fact is that Sigma Phi Epsilon retains more members than any fraternity. Simply put, it no longer matters how many accept our bids for membership, we must count those willing to fulfill a lifetime responsibility of brotherhood.

Our new reality of answering the call to partner with higher education to impact undergraduate engagement leads me to envision a future with a higher GPA, many more undergraduates in our chapters and increased volunteer involvement.

I believe that when we reveal the potential of a young man to himself through academic and life success, our demands to him, his family and alma mater will not waiver. Is a fraternity with 20,000 undergraduate members all well inside the Wheelhouse (3.15 GPA) too bold a challenge to accomplish? Not if we base our success on our undergraduates, alumni and volunteers who have led us to the next summit in the past.

Fraternally,

Dr. James F. Robeson
Grand President

In Memoriam

Brother Robeson passed away September 13, 2005, after a long battle with cancer. He was a Past Grand President and Order of the Golden Heart Recipient, Sigma Phi Epsilon’s highest honor and award.  

Jim was the author or co-author of four books and more than 80 monographs, research reports, and articles in journals and the trade press. In 1987, he was selected as Marketing Educator of the Year by Sales and Marketing Executives International.

He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Huffy Corporation, Design Forum, Moto Photo, Dayton Reliable Tool Company, and Gummer Wholesale.  He was a long time board member and past grand treasurer for Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity.

Brother Robeson is survived by his wife Teddi, and two sons, Chris and Brad.  Our deepest prayers and condolences go out to them.