SigEp’s new partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (page 24) is the most recent example of brothers helping young men through mentoring. In the happy years that followed the second world war, SigEp became one of the first national fraternities to embark on “a program specifically designed to do something outside the selfish confines of our own organization.” (SigEp Features, Nov. 1959)

At the 1947 Conclave, SigEps passed legislation authorizing an extraordinary service learning project: sponsorship of underprivileged boys’ camps. The campers would come from underprivileged homes, and the counselors and directors would be enlisted from various undergraduate chapters.

John L. Daw, Iowa State ’48, stated, “I still like the summer camp plan mentioned at the 1947 Conclave, which would build stronger fraternity, and would give chapter officers training in social problems of cooperation.”

In the summer of 1950, this new project was launched at the University Camp located in Green Lane, Pa. The Fraternity’s sponsorship of boys’ camps throughout the United States helped some not-so-lucky lads to get a break at the right time.

As times changed, SigEp went on to other forms of philanthropy and service learning. The Camp Fund is just one example of how the Fraternity has seen service to the community as a top priority over many decades.

And last August—66 years after the 1947 Conclave—undergraduates brought mentoring and brotherhood back to the forefront of SigEp service by partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.