To get some hands on experience in a topic many brothers are interested in, SigEp took a trip to the Weyerbacher Brewery in Easton, PA. Weyerbacher is a microbrewery specializing in Belgian-Style Ales, but also produces a wide array of other brews.

The group of SigEp’s learned a great deal about the brewing, distributing, and tasting process. Upon arrival, we all gathered around the tasting bar to begin the process of trying all of Weyerbacher’s current selections. Through sipping and analyzing 12 different beers, we learned a great deal about the characteristics that make beers unique from the different brewing and aging processes to the ingredients that compose the brew.

After our sampling was finished, we got to partake in a tour of the brewing facility. Our guide walked us through the entire brewing process from ingredient selection to bottling and capping. Some of the more interesting things we learned are that nearly all grains used in beer brewing are imported from around the world because the American grain market is devoted almost entirely to bread production. We also learned the differences among draughts, bottled, and bottle-fermented beers and some of the chemistry behind these processes.

All in all, this tour was a fun, informative trip and personally opened my eyes to many new types of beers that I never would have considered trying before.

- Written by brother Tyler Tobin

The Pennsylvania Epsilon chapter recently hosted their Balanced Man Scholarship dinner on Sunday, November 13, 2011. This scholarship embodies the Balanced Man Ideals: Gentlemen, Athlete, Leader, and Scholar.  This year over 60 freshman applicants applied for the award.

Beginning in October, the applications were reviewed, and 25 interviews were given to potential candidates. During this process those who interviewed the candidates looked for those who truly exemplified the Balanced Man Ideals.  After the interviews were finished, 18 of the applicants were invited up to the chapter house for an informal dinner with the brotherhood. This provided an opportunity to get to know the applicants on a personal level (whereas the interview was on a professional level). The following week the Balanced Man Scholarship Dinner was hosted in the Iacocca Dining room on the fourth floor of the University Center. This was an opportunity to reveal those who won the scholarship in front of other candidates and their families.

This year, the third place scholarship was given to Tyler Lewski. He demonstrated excellent leadership, and is in the I.D.E.A.S program (combined Engineering & Arts) and is studying to become a profiler. The second place scholarship was given to Theodore Bogdanski. He stood out from the rest due to his extensive résumé that included an Eagle Scout project that contributed over 800 hours of community service! The first place scholarship was awarded to Patrick McGuire. This candidate truly embodied what a SigEp is, and encompassed all of the Balanced Man qualities. Overall this was a great success, and another way in which Sigma Phi Epsilon continues to preach excellence throughout the campus.

- Written by brother Brandon Salzman

Pennsylvania Epsilon was awarded the Buchanan Cup, the highest honor a SigEp chapter can receive from the our national fraternity, at SigEp National Conclave on Thursday, August 11, 2011.  This is the second Conclave in a row our chapter has been awarded this honor.  This year, seven brothers were on hand at SigEp's national Conclave in Phoenix, AZ last night to receive the award.

Conclave is an opportunity for the undergraduate chapter to learn and share with other chapters nationwide.  It is a learning experience that has served our chapter well over the years.  Brothers come back from Conclave with new and innovative ideas in regards to member development, recruitment, house management, etc.  This is a major reason we try to send as many undergrads to Conclave as possible.

We would also like to thank all of our alumni who contributed during this year's Conclave Challenge.  This year we raised nearly $8,000.  Your donations went directly to defer the cost of sending our brothers to Conclave.  The undergraduates would not have been able to attend Conclave without your help.

Thank you again for your continued support.

You can see the complete list of Buchanan Cup winners and read more about Conclave HERE

Two new sections have been added to the website covering Penn Epsilon's newest fundraising effort.

The goal of this program, called the Conclave Challenge, is to raise at least $12,000 to help cover the cost of registration, airfare and hotels for as many of the Juniors and Seniors who would be attending the SigEp national conclave in Phoenix, AZ later this summer.  These undergraduates are the very brothers who worked hard to make SigEp at Lehigh the success that it is today.  In a shrinking Greek system, these undergrads are the ones who have ensured we all have a place to return to when we come back to campus.

The Conclave Challenge will culminate with a charity golf tournament on June 5, 2011 at the Wedgewood Golf Course in Coopersburg, PA.  Please take a moment to look at the "Golf Tournament" and "Conclave Challenge" links.

As an alumni who has seen the dedication and commitment the brothers in the chapter have had in building SigEp into a leader on campus, I encourage you all, my fellow alumni, to support the chapter.  Please considering donating to this worthy effort and I hope to see you all at the Golf Tournament on June 5, 2011.

On February 11^th, 2011, the Pennsylvania Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon sent seven brothers to learn about the Executive Board positions. For president, Brother Taylor Brandes learned the importance of executive leadership and bringing direction to a house of seventy-two brothers. Brother Michael Yanosik went for Vice President of Recruitment and his main objective was to acquire rush strategies and bring true gentlemen to become brothers of the house. Brother Frank Ogura went for Vice President of Programming and learned the intricacies of risk management, strategies to run effective social events, and techniques to help increase brotherhood involvement in intramurals and community service events. For Vice President of Member Development, Brother John Brodish was introduced to the purpose and meaning behind the balanced man system and why it is important to Sigma Phi Epsilon. He left with a deeper understanding and quoted, “After the Carlson Leadership Academy, I better understood why the balanced man system works and its purpose for the brotherhood.” Brother Jamie Hart went for Chaplain and was able to participate in an actual Epsilon ritual and learn about the importance of rituals and the way they are run. For Vice President of Communications, Brother Alex Jimenez gained insightful approaches to contacting alumni and effectively communicating with the brotherhood. Brother Andrew Overgaard went for Vice President of Finance and received all the how-to information on keeping finances in correct form and strategies on how to implement the house funds.

The Carlson Leadership Academy commenced with Pennsylvania Epsilon’s alumni, Hance Sitkus winning the Alumni of the Year award.  He continues to be a driving force on the Alumni board as VP Finance and has been a great asset to the house and the brotherhood.  We thank him very much for his time and congratulate him on his award.

-Written by Brother Francis K. Ogura CD

In addition to the regular alumni weekend, the undergraduates will also be holding (drumroll please) the first annual alumni-undergrad golf tournament.  The tournament will be held on June 5th at Wedgewood Golf Course.  Food and drink will of course be provided as well as a prize for the winning individual/team.  More details to come!

The regular alumni weekend will be held the weekend of April 30th, which of course entails the softball tournament and barbeque picnic (bring your family and friends!) as well as the senior sendoff and hoop of steel ceremony.  Hope to see you all there!

- Written by brother Evan Sebo

The past four weeks have been exciting, fun-filled, and incredibly successful for Sigma Phi Epsilon’s future. Earlier this week we had 23 excellent rushes accept the bids that we extended to them. As we move forward, we are all excited to see how they handle the sigma challenge. We are prepared to show them all what it means to be a Sig Ep.

Rush began on January 17; our first day of classes. Mitch Goldich, a former VP Recruitment at our chapter and current Communications Manger for SigEp, as well as Rob Sowell, our regional director, came to our chapter to hold a module on rush. They got the ball rolling by making us set a goal of 24 new members and stressing the importance of brotherhood involvement. All eyes were on Steve Erbrick, VP Recruitment, and his cabinet to inspire the brothers to put their best foot forward and work for a great new class.

Open houses were Thursday of that week, and we saw some familiar faces from the fall, as well as plenty of new ones who we talked to and invited to future events. The next day we had 34 brothers in attendance at the BMS dinner as well as the majority of the applicants. This was a long process of advertising, interviewing, and it was aptly celebrated at the beginning of our rush process. Billy Mattarazo and Andrew Overgaard took on the majority of this responsibility and selected great candidates. The winner was Delen Wong who was a rush, but after debate we decided to not extend an invitation to join our house. However, BMS was a success as we networked with a group of freshman who may have not come into contact with Sig Ep otherwise. We did give bids to a few candidates who were there that night.

Two Sundays consisted of watching football. We set up a projector and hosted well over 50 people at both games. Plenty of rushes came up as well as friends, and Roland made great wings and subs.

Earlier in the week we had a lot of different dinners. We had two seafood dinners where a sorority and the rushes would all come to the house and feast. Other nights we had senior dinners where we went to a Brazillian Steakhouse, or Steve would place a small group of brothers and rushes together, and they would all go out and get dinner. These smaller more intimate events gave the brothers a chance to really get to know the rushes, and I was surprised at the great turnout we had week after week.

Another eating event I want to highlight was during the the first week of rush. We went to Roosevelt’s 21^st and in teams of 3-5 did the “FDR Challenge.” This consisted of eating three 8oz. burgers, and a heaping pile of chili cheese fries. A few brave souls such as Jon Rosen and Ian Moskowitz braved it alone, but did not get very far. The teams all raced to see who could finish their plate first and it came down to a tie which was settled in an overtime round. It was filling, but memorable.

As the weeks progressed the events became bigger and better. We went to a Philadelphia Sixers game, Blue Mountain to go tubing, had a poker night at the house, went to Atlantic City to see an MMA fight called the “Ring of Combat,” we went to the Lehigh Valley Grand Prix go-carting, and had a blast at our “Grab-a-date Roller Rink Date Party,” which we all dressed up in 80’s attire and went rollerblading. I think another highlight was during the MMA fight; Somehow Steve and Harrison Katz managed to talk the MC into allowing them to go into the cage and give a shout out to SigEp. We really wanted to see them fight, but it’s probably a good thing they didn’t.

Steve Erbrick and Harrison Katz in the ring!

I really enjoyed our recruitment dinner towards the end of rush. We invited 32 rushes to come up to our house which was very nicely decorated with plaques and awards, nice tablecloth, rented silverware and plates. We all had quite a fancy steak and lobster dinner prepared by Roland. It was a great time to talk to rushes we were seriously considering. Steve, President Adam Snee, and David Thompson, an alumnus, came back to give a nice speech about Sig Ep and how important this decision would be in their lives. This was a turning point for me in rush where I think the rushes were able to take a step back and evaluate the gravity of their situation. They started to realize just how life-changing joining SigEp could become.

The last week closed out with an open house for parents on Saturday. On Sunday, February 13^th, we spent several hours debating, discussing, and ultimately deciding to hand out 28 bids to potential new members. They all made their decisions and 23 signed. Looking over the list I can safely say that we took Mitch’s “Quantity of Quality” literature to heart. These were 23 exceptional guys who Steve made the following comment about (and I couldn’t agree more with): “I wish I was staying another four years because these guys look to be our best class yet.” Looking at this quote more closely I think it embodies an underlying ideal of rush that I’m glad we upheld: Recruit better men than yourselves. I’m so excited about the new class and know that I am graduating leaving this house in trustworthy hands. I have the utmost confidence in them and would expect nothing less than greatness.

The new members are listed below:

1. Grant Atherholt, Freshman
2. Aaron Baek, Freshman
3. Daniel Bayer, Sophomore (ROTC)
4. Caleb Buchanan, Freshman
5. Jeffrey Buzen, Freshman
6. Jack Connolly, Freshman (Eagle Scout)
7. Neal Cousino, Freshman
8. Tyler Davenport, Freshman (ROTC)
9. Kevin Delfosse, Freshman
10. Adam Janes, Freshman
11.  Kevin Gun Hee Jeon, Freshman
12. Alexander Kyritsis, Freshman
13. Jeff Levy, Freshman
14. Mark Mahoney, Freshman
15. Ian McConville, Freshman
16. David Melnyczuk, Freshman
17. Ian Miller, Freshman
18. Andrew Moodie, Freshman
19. Matt Nikbin, Freshman
20. Renan Reinoso, Freshman
21. Brandon Salzman, Freshman
22. Aaron Siev, Freshman
23. Ian Stanford, Freshman

I’d like to thank Steve Erbrick for his unyielding commitment, working around the clock and behind the scenes to make this year a great success. Additionally, the rush cabinet did an outstanding job, and we even had two motivated sophomores join the rush cabinet a week into rush to help secure a great class. They are listed below:

1. Stephen Erbrick, VP Recruitment
2. Andrew Bassler, Rush Chair
3. Zachary Carter, Rush Chair
4. Stevie Hollopeter, Rush Chair
5. Billy Matarazzo, Rush Chair
6. Andrew Overgaard, Rush Chair
7. Matthew Scannella, Rush Chair
8. Michael Yanosik, Rush Chair

It’s great to be a Sig Ep!

- Written by brother Zach Carter

This year the Pennsylvania Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon at Lehigh University participated in and won Greek Week. Greek Week is a celebration of Greek life that pits fraternities and sororities against each other in various competitions. Events included kickball, dodgeball, trivia contest, scavenger hunt and tug of war. Normally it is every house for themselves but this year the format was changed so that houses were grouped into teams to emphasize unity. Sigma Phi Epsilon was teamed with Delta Tau Delta and Alpha Gamma Delta on the “Red Team.” The SigEp squad was led by their bold, fearless, and incredibly handsome Greek Week Chair Jake Vecht. Although much of the credit was given to Jake he was quoted as saying, “I know I did most of the heavy lifting and greatly influenced our victorious outcome, but I really couldn’t have done it without my bros.” SigEp looks forward to continuing its tradition of Greek Week greatness during next year’s Greek Week.

Written by Brother Jake Vecht

On September 27^th, Lehigh University held its annual Greek Awards Gala. During the banquet, several fraternities and sororities were recognized for their hard work throughout the 2009-2010 academic year. The brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon are happy to have been nominated for 7 of the 9 awards given out that night and are extremely honored to have won in the following categories:

• - Highest GPA Award
• - Greek Life Leadership Award
• - Scholarship Programming Award
• - Stewardship Chapter of the Year Award

To top it off, Sigma Phi Epsilon is the proud new owner of the Quay Cup! This award, presented each year to the most extraordinary fraternity chapter on Lehigh’s campus, would not be possible without such a passionate and dedicated group of men. It certainly is great to be a SigEp!

Written by brother president Adam Snee

Our chapter has worked with the Lehigh Valley Wildlands Conservancy for several years, and on September 25^th, thirteen brothers volunteered their time to help the staff in their efforts. Arriving at 9am, we were tasked with the demolition and disposal of many rundown animal enclosures, which were spread across more than a quarter of an acre. After several hours of swinging sledgehammers and removing nails, the work was complete. We’d like to thank the Wildlands Conservancy for their hospitality; we look forward to working with this organization in the future.

The LVWC has been the principal environmental organization in the Lehigh Valley area since 1973. It strives to protect and restore the land, water, and ecological resources in the Valley. Based in Emmaus Pennsylvania, they also provide educational and advocacy programs, and have multiple animal enclosures.

Written by brother Andrew Bassler

Last semester, Pennsylvania Epsilon added 12 new members to its brotherhood. These new members, brought into the brotherhood by the hard work of the rush cabinet headed by Adam Snee, quickly became involved in the house through Sigma challenge. The new brothers, now Phis, hold various house positions, including elected positions such as steward and standards board. They also comprise the majority of the recruitment and social cabinets. The new members were recruited from the freshman (9) and sophomore (3) classes. The newest members of the Lehigh University chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon are: 

• Andrew Bassler (Mechanical Engineering--Pittstown,N.J.)
• Taylor Brandes (Architecture--So. Burlington, Vt.)
• Jamie Hart (Mechanical Engineering--Northborough, Mass.)
• Steven Hollopeter (Business--Greenwich, Conn.)
• Alex Jimenez (Civil Engineering--Norwalk, Conn)
• Harrison Katz (Business--Greenwich, Conn.)
• Frank Ogura (Business--Kenilworth, N.J.)
• Andrew Overgaard (Business-- Glendale, Calif.)
• Matteo Piedra (Business--Gladstone, N.J.)
• Matt Scannella (Business--Montville, N.J.)
• Jake Vecht (Electrical Engineering--Chandler, Ariz.)
• Mike Yanosik (Mechanical Engineering--Garden City, N.Y.)

Written by brother Taylor Brandes

The men of SigEp have done it again, achieving a Gold Chapter rating for the 2009-2010 school year in the areas of scholarship, leadership, citizenship, partnership, and stewardship. In the words of the reviewing committee, “Sigma Phi Epsilon continues to set the bar in all aspects of Fraternity and Sorority life at Lehigh.” In particular, this year's presentation highlighted the attainment of the Buchanan Cup, an award presented bi-annually to approximately 5% of all SigEp chapters. Another hot topic was the revamped Residential Learning Community program, which brought numerous speakers up to the chapter house to present on topics like Persecution in Pakistan. The brothers also got the chance to show off their house improvements and a host of programming created just for the brotherhood, including a Survivor-style game that pitted teams of brothers against each other in a month of competitive events. The events recorded throughout the year emphasize SigEp’s strong and unwavering commitment to the ideals of Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love. There is truly no better time to be a Sigma Phi Epsilon brother at Lehigh University. As said at the end of every chapter meeting, it is great to be a SigEp.

Written by brother Paul Rossnagel

Seven brothers of the Pennsylvania Epsilon chapter attended the Carlson Leadership Academy in Hartford, Connecticut February 5-7. Acting as representatives for the executive board, they attended meetings with District Governor Joe Langella and discussed methods of improvement with other SigEp chapters in the region.  In addition, the Epsilon Rite of Passage was held for a brother from the host chapter, CT Epsilon (Quinnipiac University). PA Epsilon representatives learned many helpful skills that they may use to improve the chapter. Representatives attended modules specifically designed for each executive board position, allowing brothers from many different chapters to share unique perspectives and ideas for collective progress.  At the Awards Dinner, PA Epsilon was presented with three awards for their accomplishments: the AVC Operational Excellence Award, the Manpower Award, and the Scholarship Award.  Our brothers gained insightful knowledge that they may bring back to the chapter to facilitate further improvements so that we may continue our success in the future. When all was said and done, our representatives returned back to Bethlehem proudly with three awards. Thank you to all of our alumni, volunteers and undergraduate brothers who made this success possible!  Congratulations PA Epsilon!

Pennsylvania Epsilon chapter was awarded its 4th Buchanan Outstanding Chapter Award (commonly called the Buchanan Cup) in its 102 year history, and the second in 6 years.  The award ceremony took place at the national conclave in Orlando, FL in August 2009. In addition to being awarded the Buchanan Cup, the members of the Pennsylvania Epsilon Chapter were honored to be recognized with “Delegation3” ribbons to decorate their Conclave ID badges.  The Delegation3 ribbons are awarded to chapters who have “cubed” their total undergraduate representation.  Twelve undergraduate brothers were in attendance (up from just 2 undergraduates at the previous Conclave) with seven alumni brothers attending in support of the chapter. 

In addition, the Penn Epsilon chapter is proud to announce its representatives included one regional director, and recent graduate, in Mitch Goldich. This was the best showing that PA Epsilon has ever had at Conclave.  

The undergraduates would like to offer their heartfelt thanks to those alumni who contributed so generously toward their conclave registration fees.  Your contributions are the reason so many brothers were on hand to witness Penn Epsilon being awarded the highest honor Sigma Phi Epsilon bestows on any chapter.

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