Volunteers from the New Jersey Zeta Alumni and Volunteer Corporation were stunned when the group was announced as the recipient of the Honor of Philias at SigEp’s 2021 Grand Chapter Conclave in Denver. The alumni were acknowledged for their devotion to Brother Tony Whalen, Rider ’97, and his family after Whalen and his wife, Laura, contracted the coronavirus.

The award recognizes a brother or group of brothers who’ve expressed the Fraternity’s cardinal principle of brotherly love in a special way.

Brothers supported the family by delivering meals to their home and raising more than $160,000 to help cover medical bills and other expenses. Brothers who worked with Whalen in the pharmaceutical industry also reached out to contacts in search of medications that might help him recover.

Despite the best efforts of medical providers and the many brothers who loved and admired him, Whalen passed away on March 25, 2020 — one of the first SigEp brothers known to die due to the pandemic. Steven Sutow, ’00, first met Whalen when he recruited Sutow to join the Fraternity. He said, “It was an honor to be presented this award and use the monetary stipend to support a charity near and dear to the Whalen family, the Pride Center of New Jersey. The presentation was an amazing tribute to not just Tony, but also an amazing group of our extended family who showed our letters are more than just a college affiliation.”

He added, “I feel enormous pride in our fellow SigEps who rallied to help the Whalens, and this honor really means a lot to us as a group. At the same time, I know we would rather just have Tony in our lives.”