On November 1 of my freshman year, I had just transitioned to college and joined SigEp only weeks before. I didn’t think Founders Day was that big of a deal. I didn’t really know what to expect from the occasion and didn’t think I would get anything out of it, so I decided not to partake.

Things have definitely changed.

Since then, I’ve grown a lot. I have gained a much better understanding of what it truly means to be a SigEp and have found true brotherly love in this Fraternity. When Founders Day came around this year, I made sure not to miss out.

The chapter knows that brotherly love applies to our communities, as well as our brotherhood. Acknowledging the scope of this principle, one of the ways Kentucky Beta commemorated Founders Day was through an act of service to our community.

One of the philanthropies our chapter is very fond of is Adopt-A-Highway. We typically clean our designated highway once or twice a semester, and we felt Founders Day would be a perfect time for it. So, we dedicated part of the day to cleanup because we know our Founders would want us to have a strong, positive presence in our community.

Once the cleaning was done, we made a visit to a part of SigEp history that’s very close to Louisville’s campus — the gravesite of Founder Carter Ashton Jenkens.

Many don’t know this, but Brother Jenkens lived in Louisville after a successful career as a pastor.

To honor him and the other Founders, Billy Simmons, Louisville ’14, gave a talk on the Fraternity’s history and Jenkens’ life, reminding us of the rich tradition and meaning behind SigEp’s values.

During the ceremony (and my favorite part of the day), three SigEps from other chapters stumbled upon our ceremony and joined us. It really showed me the power that this Fraternity has in uniting its members in brotherly love.

To end the ceremony, brothers placed red roses on Jenken’s grave.

I am forever thankful to our Founders for creating SigEp, a different Fraternity.