I didn’t think I would ever be making a LinkedIn post about my fraternity. To me, it has been something that I know is largely misrepresented, and something which I thought would simply sit as an idle involvement on my resume; I was terrified of having my affiliation being conflated with another fraternity’s deplorable behavior.

For some context, I just returned from the 58th annual Sigma Phi Epsilon Grand Chapter Conclave in San Antonio Texas, an event which attracted more than 1,000 alumni and undergraduate brothers of the national fraternity. As the current president of our New Jersey Alpha Learning Community Chapter, I went as the delegate for legislation. I learned two major things at this event, the first being that this fraternity is unbelievably different from others. Yes our fraternity is dry nationally which alone could make us stand out, but what struck me was the decorum and diversity that thrived at conclave. New Jersey Alpha (NJA) is a fantastically diverse chapter, made up of brothers with different backgrounds, sexualities, and perspectives. What I hadn’t expected at this conclave was for our  national fraternity to be as progressive as NJA is. There were gatherings of the Chicago Society embracing LGBTQ+ brothers, alumni, and volunteers, and the NUTS! Society (I laughed at the name the first time I read it. So can you), dedicated to supporting financially disadvantaged undergraduates attending SigEp’s leadership continuums (Conclave amongst them), two things which I couldn’t imagine most fraternities embracing, let alone celebrating. Being there to see all of my brothers from NJA being embraced for their experiences was something that made me feel like making my experience in SigEp something more than a bullet on my resume. The second thing I learned at Conclave is that even amongst so many other outstanding chapters, NJA still sits right near the top of them all, a sentiment echoed by SigEp Nationals when we were awarded our eighth consecutive Buchanan Outstanding Chapter Award, signifying 16 years of continuous improvement. But I could have told you without the shiny trophy (which you can see us gathered around like moths in the thumbnail picture) that NJA was outstanding. I ran for president in only my second semester of affiliation because I felt supported by my brothers in so many ways uncharacteristic of a common fraternity. 

Out of countless things, I’ll point to the hours of support that individuals spent teaching me differential equations and refusing compensation, the brothers who spent time talking to me about their sexualities and the culture that come with them so that I could become knowledgeable about their experiences, and the men who I cried alongside more than once. These are all things that told me that what I have in Hoboken is different than anywhere else.

I once told an interviewer that I was in “the nerd fraternity” to try to emphasize the fact that we were academically focused and had a dry house. If I had the opportunity to describe NJA again, I would tell them that we are the proudest fraternity on our campus. We are a group of 80+ men comfortable and focused enough to not drink in our house, be open with one another, and study like we want to go to Mars (something that I think more than a few of my brothers may actually want to do). 

So Conclave was amazing and so was the shiny trophy, but the perspective I gained from getting 1000+ men together in one place was worth more than anything else. I hope that all of the potential recruiters, professors, or incoming college students don’t snuff out fraternities under the blanket of preconceived notions, because once in a while in a school (large or small), you may find a fraternity that is truly different.