Brother Matt Fox

Dear Alumni Brothers,

You give time and money back to the Chapter and we thank you for this. It has allowed us to open the door to another leadership opportunity for an undergraduate member. And that's only the beginning of the story:

While attending a 'SigEp 1901' event in Boston (held monthly on the 3rd Thursday for all SigEp Alumni, hint, hint), I heard of other Chapters providing scholarships for several undergrads to attend Conclave because of its importance in building future leaders within the Chapter. So with a tight timeline in late May the AVC took action and created a NYX Conclave Scholarship. Brothers entering their Sophomore year were allowed to apply by means of any form of media which communicated in regards to both SigEp and the Balanced Man: what SigEp represents to them and their vision for their future as a Brother of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity.

I had the great privilege to attended the 54th Sigma Phi Epsilon Conclave in Nashville, TN (August 12-15, 2015) with the NYX Conclave Scholarship winner (Lucas Carter) and two Undergraduate Chapter delegates (Mike Naber, President and James Toolen, VP Programming) and I can confirm that the new scholarship as well as the Conclave experience in general was a resounding success. The added dimension of a NYX neophyte's view provided better discussions each day and contributed to a NYX vision which, in my humble opinion, can make our Chapter the best on campus.

The insight years ago by Brother Jason Keleher was instrumental in balancing the Chapter's early view of greatness often quoting something similar to "You cannot just build a castle in the sky, you must first build a stable foundation for which it resides and build upwards from there." (forgive me Jason if I f'd that up...send in an editorial change request)

During the course of the event, the three Brothers came up with a substantial vision for the Undergraduate Chapter which includes substantially increasing the minimum Chapter GPA over the coming semesters and bumping the minimum 2nd Semester Freshmen GPA requirements as both are trailing behind ALL of the other Chapters' we met at Conclave. Once the our Undergraduate brothers agree to their plan/vision, I support it's sharing on the SigEp NYX website for all to see and encourage Brothers to be actively involved in supporting it.

There are plenty more stories to be told, and once again Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry didn't disappoint. As part of fundraising for the newly founded Phillip A. Cox Volunteer Institute, I witnessed an auction where one brother paid $25,000 for a bottle of wine worth $1,200...and he donated it himself...while the final evening's Conclave banner auctioned for $200,000 with proceeds to the Volunteer Institute.

We're looking forward to hearing from more Alumni before the next CHI Times issue. The next Conclave is in Orlando, and I'm going...will I see you there?

HFF,

Brother Fox, '03

I can be reached at foxmkelly@gmail.com

Sigma Phi Epsilon NYX