The brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon Pennsylvania Beta Beta assembled on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, for their Balanced Man Scholarship (BMS) luncheon. The scholarship committee turned a Victorian-style ballroom into a perfect venue for the Fraternity’s scholarship presentation, adorned in violet and red. The room was filled with brothers, university officials, finalists and supportive parents.
Sai Talla, Drexel ’19, and Ryan O’Hea, ’18, announced each of the finalists’ names and a summary of their achievements. Each finalist was awarded a certificate, a SigEp water bottle and a SigEp portfolio. Balanced Man Scholarship Chairman Ali Harb, ’19, announced the two runners-up and first place winner of the scholarship. These top three finalists were presented a total of $1,000 in scholarships.
Immediately following the ceremony, the finalists, their parents and campus officials were invited back to the chapter house for some light refreshments and a tour. Both parents and campus officials were thoroughly impressed with the luncheon and commented that it was the most professional and well-executed event they had seen undergraduate students conduct.
Todd Sullivan, Drexel University’s director of fraternity and sorority life, commented after the luncheon: “The men of Sigma Phi Epsilon are focused on leadership development at Drexel. It is heartening to see how their commitment extends beyond their own members. Through a well-organized Balanced Man Scholarship program, they highlighted excellence among their peers and reached out to the larger university community. Holding their BMS banquet during family weekend allowed them to celebrate the success of these young men with their parents and family members, which was truly special.”
How the BMS has changed our chapter
Drexel has conducted an annual BMS luncheon since our chartering 16 years ago. We have found the BMS to be an effective tool to recognize fellow students for their achievements, and it attracts the kind of high-quality men we want in our chapter.
The Balanced Man Scholarship has had a significant impact on our recruitment efforts for the past several years. This year, approximately one out of every three members who joined in the fall were found through BMS efforts. Furthermore, we are expecting several more applicants to become new members in the spring semester! We hope to make this number even higher in the future.
Chapter President Ryan Bannon, ’18, said, “Without the BMS, I don’t think we would be anywhere close to where we are today. We get some of our best guys from the scholarship, and it serves as a major part of our yearly recruitment efforts.”
How we pulled off a great BMS
Pennsylvania Beta Beta’s 2017 BMS campaign relied heavily on the preparation that the scholarship committee completed in the summer and early fall. We used resources from SigEp Headquarters and an archive from past scholarship campaigns to improve this year’s ceremony. We constructed a strong application and interview questions, properly trained interviewers, and brainstormed new and inventive ways to market our application.
We utilized a variety of marketing strategies to reach incoming freshmen, including posts on Facebook groups, flyers and email blasts (broadcast to members of the honors college and other freshmen males), to find potential applicants. Through these efforts, we reached a record number of students and had nearly 150 applicants. Our top 30 applicants were extended interviews, 10 were selected as finalists and the top three were awarded scholarships.
Interviews were conducted over the course of two weeks in the summer and the first week of the fall term. Training for interviewers occurred in early summer, and each brother on the committee was assigned 3-4 interviews. For most applicants, this was their first introduction to the chapter, and, likewise, the chapter’s first opportunity to make a strong and lasting impression! The committee used a standardized scoring system to fairly rank applicants. Additionally, each interview had two interviewers and a recorder to provide consistency and multiple voices for scoring.
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