Every two years at Grand Chapter Conclave, we recognize our highest-performing chapters with the Buchanan Outstanding Chapter Award. Named in honor of Past Grand President, Edwin Buchanan, Ohio State 1911, the Buchanan Cup represents superior and sustained achievement in our Fraternity. The Buchanan Cup, or “Buc Cup”, recognizes the best-of-the-best Sigma Phi Epsilon chapters. Chapters are measured in relation to the accomplishments of their peers on campuses across the country. Only the chapters that excel in every area of operations and further the Grand Chapter’s strategic plan qualify for this high honor.

An engraved silver bowl is presented to Buchanan Cup winners at the Grand Chapter Conclave. Chapters winning five consecutive Buchanan Outstanding Chapter Awards receive an engraved gold bowl, symbolizing a decade of excellence.

The 2027 Buchanan Cup will recognize excellence from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2026. The Buc Cup application will open on mySigEp in early 2027 and must be completed and submitted by March 1, 2027, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Late submissions will not be considered. 

Buc Cup Eligibility

As determined by the National Board of Directors in the fall of 2019, chapters are required to be an accredited SigEp Learning Community to be eligible to earn a Buc Cup. Please see the chart below for your chapter’s SLC application deadline:

To review your chapter’s SigEp Learning Community accreditation status, visit your chapter dashboard on mySigEp. Chapters must earn accreditation or re-accreditation from the SigEp Learning Community committee by the Buc Cup deadline of March 1, 2027. 

Chapter who have not earned SigEp Learning Community accreditation can still submit the Buc Cup application. These chapters will receive feedback from the review committee on strengths and areas of improvement in their chapter operations, but will not be eligible for the award.

Application 

The 2027 Buc Cup application has been streamlined to reduce redundancies between the SLC accreditation process and the Buc Cup selection process. Since all chapters must be an SLC to be eligible for a Buc Cup, efforts have been made to remove questions from the Buc Cup application that were already answered by chapters when receiving their SLC accreditation. The application will, again, be hosted within mySigEp and will allow you to:

• Easily collaborate with your executive board to complete the application.
• Save your answers as you go ensuring you don’t lose your progress
• Provide context or color commentary about relevant pre-populated metrics, according to your chapter’s data already stored in mySigEp
• Review responses with chapter volunteers before submitting your application
• Request letters of recommendation that can be uploaded directly by key volunteers and stakeholders

Chapters should use these resources to begin preparing for their Buc Cup application now!

For chapters planning to apply for the 2027 Buchanan Cup, please reference the evaluation rubric to see what is considered ‘excellence’ in each area of operations. A version of this rubric will be used by the volunteers who will be reviewing all applications. Additionally, for chapters that want to plan ahead, you can reference this resource to see the questions that will be on the 2027 Buchanan Cup application. In addition to these questions,  the following supplemental documents will also need to be submitted, in mySigEp, along with the application:

• Chapter bylaws
• Membership agreement
• Photo of chapter’s Ritual equipment set up to perform a Rite of Passage 
• Chapter’s budgets, showing budget vs. actual, for the last two years (must be uploaded to the Finance Dashboard on mySigEp. If already uploaded, there is no need to re-submit.)
• Chapter’s latest federal tax filing - form 990 (must be uploaded to the Finance Dashboard on mySigEp. If already uploaded, there is no need to re-submit.)
• A recent monthly financial report for the chapter (template here)
• An annual finance review of the chapter’s finances (template here)
• Chapter’s calendar of events. The chapter should include events of all types (BMP, SLC, social, philanthropy, etc)
• Grade reports for each term during the review period (2025 spring and fall, 2026 spring and fall must be uploaded to the Academic Dashboard in mySigEp. If already uploaded, there is no need to resubmit.)
• Campus benchmarking data comparing the chapter’s size to the sizes of other fraternities on campus (information must be uploaded to the Campus Information Dashboard in mySigEp for the 2024-2025, 2025-2026, and 2026-2027 academic years. If already uploaded, there is no need to resubmit.)
• Five photos of chapter events with brothers to be displayed during the awards ceremony. Images must be high-resolution and above 1MB.
• If a housed chapter:
  • Lease 
  • House Manager role and responsibilities 
  • Facility budget and AR report
  • Capital improvements plan (if applicable)
  • Tax opinion letter outlining the amount of educational space within the facility (contact SigEp National Housing / SigEp Foundation for assistance, if needed)

Data from mySigEp dashboards will also be evaluated along with the chapter’s written application responses. A step that the chapter can take right now is to validate that the information in mySigEp is accurate. The following dashboards are utilized in the process:

• Academics
• Balanced Man Scholarship
• Campus Information
• Finance
• Manpower
• Program Attendance
• Recruitment

If the information on these dashboards is not accurate, take the time now to start making updates. 

Letters of recommendation should be submitted with your application. These letters should help support answers supplied by the chapter and clearly show why the chapter should be considered as one of SigEp’s best. You should submit four letters of recommendation coming from these individuals:

• Fraternity and sorority life advisor or similar university official
• Faculty fellow
• Two engaged volunteers, ideally Chapter Counselor, AVC President and/or Balanced Man Steward

Please note, you will only be able to submit four total letters of recommendation. 

Start having conversations with people you would like a recommendation from now, so they can be prepared. 

Questions 

If you have any questions about the Buchanan Cup, please reach out to Managing Director of Educational Programs & Events Stacy Nicodemus.

Wondering if your chapter has previously won a Buc Cup? You can search here!