In an era when many are seeking alternatives to Greek life, Dartmouth's Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity is trying to do things a little differently than other houses.
Dartmouth's Sig Ep was the first chapter of the national fraternity to adopt the "Balanced Man Project," which eliminates standard pledge periods in favor of a four-staged program.
Brother Development Chair Gen Singh '97 said "the national was realizing that the people coming out of fraternities were not equipped to deal with the job market and the world."
"The National wanted to help change that by helping to build leaders," he said.
The Balanced Man Project
Sig Ep President Russ Stidolph '97 said there are four stages to complete as a brother at Sig Ep.
These stages are the "Sigma Challenge," the "Phi Challenge" and the "Epsilon Challenge" before becoming a "Brother Mentor."
"The Sigma, Phi and Epsilon periods help with goal setting and goal accomplishment," Singh said. "The idea is that if you follow through in these programs, you will be a more balanced leader."
"These stages are self-paced but if you are complacent and not fulfilling requirements, you put yourself on 'risk'," Stidolph said. "You have to continue progressing through the stages while at the house."
"The 'Sigma' stage takes one term," Stidolph said. "The 'Phi' stage takes anywhere from two to four terms. Once done with that, you are in an 'Epsilon' where you can advance to the brother mentor stage."
The adoption of the Balanced Man Project initially caused friction between members of Sig Ep, Stidolph said.
"When the Balanced Man Project was instituted, there was a period in which you had non-balanced man members and balanced man members," he said. "There existed some conflict at that point. It was 'old school' versus 'new school.'"
Stidoph said the conflict went away as members learned more about the project.
"People tend to be stubborn about the ways in which they do things," he said. "Once there is an understanding of the 'new school' there was acceptance."
This was accompanied by an increased focus on the development of the brotherhood, Stidolph said.
"There was a focus on community service, academics, intramurals and all the social aspects we focus on as seen by our successful parties," Sig Ep Chaplain Keith Jacobsen '97 said.
The Balanced Man Project separates Sig Ep from the other fraternities, Stidolph said.
"A normal member of a fraternity joins and becomes a pledge," he said. "He remains a pledge for one or two terms on this campus. After that, he becomes a brother and has accomplished what he has had to accomplish."
Things are different at Sig Ep, Standards of conduct
In addition to the Balanced Man Project, Sig Ep has revised its standards to ensure that members stay on the straight and narrow.
"We have standards on everything from academics, attendance, drugs and alcohol and behavior to brothers," Jacobsen said. "We have something for everything."
"There has been a lot of talk on campus, in papers and at recent conferences about there being no accountability in the fraternity system and there not being standards for fraternity members to live up to," Jacobsen said. "Yes, there is accountability and responsibility. And if [a brother] is not accountable [he] will have to rectify the situation in some way."
Jacobsen said the changes at Sig Ep were instituted, in part, to raise membership.
"We have grown because of strong leadership," he said. "We have taken the Balanced Man Project and looked at its goal and looked at the College's goal. They seem to meet in terms of community services, leadership and membership."
"We have grown considerably over the last few years," Jacobsen said. "We had a small [1996] class but we recruited a large number of '97s and '98s."
Membership has been steadily rising for Sig Ep, Stidolph said. Last year there were 13 senior members, 17 junior members and 20 sophomores.
"Once people learn about Sig Ep, they find that if they enjoy being here, they will eventually join and become a member," he said. "It is about getting people to learn about the house and get over to the house."
Sig Ep's national office has helped Dartmouth's chapter change for the better, Jacobsen said.
"We have gotten a lot of direction," he said. "We have had national speakers come and talk to us about everything from community service to leadership."
One especially important source of direction is the Carlson Leadership Academy, which is owned by the national fraternity, Jacobsen said.
"We send about 10 guys every winter," he said. "This is basically for our officers and 'prospective' officers. Their expenses are paid through an academic excellence fund that was set up through the alumni."
"The national comes and helps us with everything," Jacobsen added. "The reason we were able to expand our community service, our mentoring programs and everything we do is because the national has been through this before and have passed their difficulties and success onto us."
Parties
Even amidst a greater focus on rules, regulations and personal-improvement, Sig Ep still manages to throw some popular parties.
Jacobsen said the parties were far worse just a few years ago.
Stidolph "turned the social scene around with theme parties such as the Cat in the Hat party," Jacobsen said. "We have brothers who are artists. We were taking themes and making themes. We added lights, fog, strobe lights ... everything. We made an effort to make our parties more than just drinking in the basement."
"We wanted our parties to be fun for people who like to dance, people who don't like to drink and people who like to drink," Jacobsen said. "We are not going to draw a lot of people if we just cater to the drinking crowd."
Drinking is not a priority at Sig Ep, Jacobsen said.
"I think that is another reason we are doing so well," he added.
Sig Ep has also tried to improve the kind of programming they offer, Stidolph said.
"We focus on the development of the brothers and the brotherhood," he said. "Programming is one effective way to do that."
"We do programming on alcohol and drug related problems, eating disorders and many others," he said. "Part of our programming is philanthropy. Sig Ep is devoted to helping the community."
The College awarded Sig Ep the 15 Webster Avenue award, which is given to the Greek house that has done the most for the community.
"It was given three times in the last three years and Sig Ep has won it twice," Stidolph said. Sig Ep won a third award along with Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority this year.
Along with Theta, Sig Ep is involved in building a jungle gym at an elementary school in West Fairlee, Vt.
"We help out there at least twice a week," Stidolph said. "Everybody in the house does it. We have already logged 75-100 community service hours."
Stidolph said Sig Ep's efforts to be different have made for a proud membership.
"There is a strong feeling of loyalty and pride especially for the '96s and '97s who were here when the membership was not as strong as it is now," he said. "We are extremely proud for what we have achieved."
Leadership
Jacobsen and Stidolph say strong leaders were instrumental in Sig Ep's turnaround.
Former president John Bennett '96 and the other officers "did a great job of turning our house around and pointing it in the right direction," Stidolph said.
"Bennett motivated everyone to do more than was ever done in this house," Jacobsen said. "He took the Balance Man Project and made it work."
"Under his direction we got our new standards made, we improved the house and improved our community service," he said. "He and the '96 class turned it around."
"He put all his energy into the house and was involved in every activity in the house," he said. "He personally inspired the house to turn around."
But Jacobsen said the change was hardly the work of a single person.
"There is a big sense of unity in our house, because we were smaller at the end of last year," he said. "We really bonded together and really got our act together. Everyone was working together in every way."
