What do you get when you bring 70 vice presidents of communications (VPCs) from SigEp chapters around the country together for social media-based recruitment? High results in reaching potential members.

Raise Your Bar+ is an initiative where I’ve been teaching VPCs how to connect with more potential new members by meeting students where they’re at: online. Young men spend many hours on their phones. And now, we’re bringing SigEp directly to those phones by sharing engaging content that shows what it’s like to be a SigEp brother. Chapters follow that up with social media posts related to recruitment, the Balanced Man Scholarship and brotherhood.

With Raise Your Bar+, VPCs are creating an online brand that showcases their chapter’s experience to potential new members and motivates them to submit a membership interest form. The initiative has been successful because undergraduate leaders are tapping into the power of social media — and each other — on their quest to become the biggest and best chapter on their campus.

In the first four months of 2025 alone, we captured 600 recruitment leads through the Raise Your Bar+ initiative! VPCs are now empowered as a driving force behind the growth of our chapters after too long being seen as just a secretary position on the executive board. We’ve built a community of VPCs who support each other in our group chat and share ideas about social media content that will resonate well with potential members.

I have not been able to do it alone. I’ve been working with some amazing Raise Your Bar+ captains who have helped mentor and support the VPCs. Nathaniel Hoeye, Boise State ’24, a recent graduate from our Idaho Beta chapter, is one. He shared, “My favorite part of being a Raise Your Bar+ captain has been seeing the increase in turnout from the pilot to where the program is today. The overall increase in numbers [of potential new members] has been really amazing to see. It is very rewarding to see the work that Guillermo and the other captains have done to turn this into a success story.”

Braden Holt, Tennessee Tech ’26, is a Raise Your Bar+ VPC who has seen strong results. This spring, his chapter has received online interest forms from 13 new members, compared to one last spring. “I believe it is important for chapters to use social media to recruit for the chapter year-round, as this is a key way to find people. Everyone is using some sort of technology all the time. We can take advantage of this and spread the word about our Fraternity and use the tools we have access to market ourselves effectively!”

Holt shared his favorite part of Raise Your Bar+: “the network and group of guys that I was surrounded by.” He added, “If I ever had any questions, I knew I didn’t have to be afraid to reach out and find an answer. Every brother is also a resource for each other. We can
take inspiration from and help guide each other.”