Every year, the men of Sigma Phi Epsilon Kentucky Beta elect a new Executive Council to direct the chapter towards overall success and the building of balanced men. With the help of their alumni mentors, this year the new leadership collaborated to create their own mission statement for their vision for the chapter in the next year: “Through our cardinal principles of Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love, we, as a chapter, aim to engage every member through the promotion of all individuality and an improved campus presence at UofL. Through this continuous engagement of our members, we can work to ensure they properly invest 100% of their time spent in their undergraduate years, propelling themselves to greatness in their University and life beyond.”

Our newly elected Executive Committee is (pictured below):

• • • President: John Wolfe 
    • Chaplain: Marcus Maier
    • VP of Programming: Tommy Steppe
    • VP of Member Development: Stephen Metzger
    • VP of Services: Jake Devine
  • • VP of Communications: Ian Pitt
    • VP of Recruitment: Austin Smith
    • VP of Finance: Erphan Arbabshirani
    • VP of SLC: David O’Coffey

SigEp offers a variety of institutes and developmental programs throughout the year to aid in achieving a balanced mind, body, and soul. Perhaps the most prestigious is the Tragos Quest to Greece. Each year 16 undergraduate brothers from chapters across the U.S. are selected through a rigorous application process. Once selected, they are then sponsored to travel to Greece, experience the culture, and learn about the origins of the fraternity and the balanced man over a ten day span. This year, five of our very own brothers, the most from any chapter across the nation, were selected as finalists. Juniors John Wolfe, Stephen Metzger, and Jake Devine as well as sophomores Ian Pitt and David O’Coffey have been selected as Tragos finalists and are eagerly waiting to hear of their acceptance into the program at the Carlson Leadership Academy.

Another development program of SigEp is the Carlson Leadership Academy. This year 15 brothers from Kentucky Beta will be attending the conference in Atlanta, Georgia. They will have the opportunity to learn from successful alumni about rising leadership and ways to improve both their personal lives and the lives of their brothers. Sophomore David Perriello and freshmen Manu Nair and Will Benson were selected as Hickman Scholars and will have their trip covered by the fraternity. 

One aspect of SigEp that follows our motto, “this fraternity will be different” is our member development program: the Balanced Man Program. This replacement for pledgeship maintains constant throughout a brother’s time in the chapter and has four challenges: Sigma, Phi, Epsilon, and Brother Mentor. Recently, we had 13 brothers pass their Epsilon reviews to advance to Brother Mentor status. In this challenge, brothers are tasked with giving back to the chapter and building the future before they transition to alumni. These brothers include Alex Danhauer, Austin Smith, Andrew Epplen, Cameron O’Nan, Cameron Way, Cole Stewart, Greg Frist, Jake Bension, Jake Devine, Marcus Maier, Trent Porter, Mitchell Stoltz, and Ethan Sammons.

A pillar of SigEp is a sound mind. In the fall semester, almost half of the Kentucky Beta chapter achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or higher and made the Dean’s List. Their names are listed below (an * represents a 4.0)

• • John Gilkinson*
  • Jonah Hermes*
  • Jason Ho*
  • Dalton Kelly*
  • Nate Overkamp*
  • David Perriello*
  • Ian Pitt*
  • Jack Walsh*
  • Jake Kehoe*
  • Will Snyder*
  • Coire Ayres
  • Jake Bension
  • Nate Brown
  • Reed Campana
  • Jim Clarke
  • Alex Doucette
  • Andrew Epplen
  • Greg Frist
  • Sam Hall
  • Chris Kemper
  • Cole Kendall
  • Austin Kern
  • Marcus Maier
  • Cameron Onan
  • Nick Pizzano
  • Francisco Rios
  • Dylan Snook
  • Tommy Steppe
  • Ben Stoll
  • Paul Thelen
  • Matt Watkins
  • Alex Weber
  • Weston Young
  • Drew Bailey
  • Collin Krewson
  • Ethan Mills
  • Manu Nair
  • John Smetana
  • Devan Wasson

Overall, the men of the Kentucky Beta chapter are excited for what this next semester holds. We have welcomed 13 new brothers: Bradley Waller, Casey Foley, Devin Jenkins, Evan Swofford, Harrison Farrar, Hunter Jessie, Johnny Nguyen, Jordan Reed, Josh Johnson, Landon Harris, Luke Ott, and Thomas Lotspeich (pictured on the right) have all taken on the becoming of a balanced man. We are excited for this semester and our continuous journey to a sound body, sound mind, and sound spirit. Forever proud to be a SigEp.