Since rechartering in 2005, SigEp’s North Carolina Mu chapter has steadily built a solid presence on the campus of Elon University, bringing home three Buchanan Cups in the 2010s and the university’s Student Organization of the Year award in 2016. Of Elon’s nearly 6,500 students, more than 90 are currently SigEp brothers.

Despite its impressive manpower and consistently maintaining a GPA in the 3.3 range, the chapter hit a plateau and had waning motivation to accomplish more. North Carolina Mu was missing out on a key element that underpins the SigEp experience: connecting with and learning from volunteers. The chapter had operated for several years with little volunteer engagement, which meant it was essentially functioning without the benefit of alumni mentorship.

According to Henry Cauley, Elon ’10 (alumni and volunteer corporation president) and Scott Swedberg, ’11 (chapter counselor), the AVC had historically not done enough to support and mentor undergraduate brothers. Cauley shared, “We didn’t have many engaged volunteers. We lost momentum and eventually stopped meeting.”

Swedberg recalls being at a brother’s wedding and talking with a small group of North Carolina Mu alumni about how the chapter was no longer living up to its potential to earn SigEp’s Buchanan Cup and top fraternity awards from the university. That conversation became the impetus for increased alumni involvement and a new approach to steering the AVC.

District Governor Phil Smith, UNC-Wilmington ’94, reached out to Cauley and re-engaged other volunteers. With Cauley’s guidance, the group built a strategy that included strong and consistent leadership, increased communication and buy-in from the undergraduates.

Cauley and Swedberg have been working to recruit additional volunteers to serve on both the AVC and the mentor committee. Regular meetings with undergraduate leaders have helped volunteers better understand their needs. What they’ve heard is that the undergrads want mentors — motivated alumni and volunteers who are willing to get to know them and help them make the transition to life beyond college. With the addition of eight new volunteers, the North Carolina Mu AVC has become results-driven and is starting to see success in growth, retention and engagement from the undergraduates.

Since engaging these new volunteers, there’s been a shift in undergraduate leaders’ approach to chapter operations. They no longer see doing things “the way we’ve always done” as a path forward because the volunteers are constantly pushing them to improve and grow. This new outlook has resulted in an expanded roster of learning community events and increased interaction with staff from the Offices of Student Involvement and Student Life.

Brothers are now focused on earning another Buchanan Cup and advancing the paradigm that North Carolina Mu isn’t just an average chapter, it’s an excellent chapter with brothers who continually strive to raise their bar.

Brian Tenclinger serves as SigEp’s director of volunteer engagement. To learn more about how you can get involved as a volunteer with a SigEp chapter, go to sigep.org/volunteers.