Incorporated 2003
The Mission Statement of the Beta Phi Educational Foundation, Inc. shall be to support and contribute to excellence in educational and leadership skills and achievement for the Beta Phi Chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity.
The overwhelming percentage of Fraternity members who are Fortune 500 CEOs, political leaders, military leaders, etc. indicate the success that the fraternity system can have in the development and success of undergraduate and graduate students in our nation’s university system.
The stated goal of the Board of Directors of the Beta Phi Educational Foundation, Inc. as stated by the Mission Statement of the Beta Phi Chapter shall be to develop the “whole man” during their collegiate course of study. This experience shall be multi-faceted including education in fraternity traditions and ideals and social skills development, but at it core; the purpose of the chapter must be to develop educational and leadership skills which can have a marked impact on the future professional success of the individual Brother.
Traditionally, the Chapter Facility has served primarily as a meeting, social, food services and housing facility. Educational and leadership development purposes have not been the primary mission of the facility. Our goal is that this facility through its design, capabilities and implementation can serve to create the template for the entire Greek system for these types of facilities. Hence, the Beta Phi Educational Foundation shall be formed and serve to provide financial funding and operational support for the Beta Phi Student and Alumni Scholastic and Leadership Center. This facility to be constructed in the coming years will be completely dedicated to these endeavors, and as such, a completely tax deductible vehicle due to its structure and makeup. With the multitude of housing and food services available to the student in the modern university environment, the emphasis needs to shift to a facility whose design and attributes can serve to be a center for development of the desired skill set.
We propose a facility where the availability of modern, technology available study rooms including conference rooms and group study rooms can serve to create an environment where the student desires to come to this facility due to the state of the art facilities and capabilities along with the advancement of brotherhood through interaction. We will stress and promote seminars on study skills and provide for individual tutoring for those brothers who will provide that request through the Alumni Scholastic Advisor and Chapter Scholastic Committee.
Academic performance exceeding the all men’s’ averages will be the norm through controlled academic tracking on individual and group basis. We will promote and reward academic performance. Those brothers whose academic performance shall place them at superior levels, advance into scholastic honoraries, and receive college awards will be rewarded with monetary assistance through scholarship rewards. In an environment of increasing costs to parents and students, in order to attract the best and most motivated students, we will provide these incentives. Individual scholarships will be created and awarded by the Foundation and individual alumni will have the opportunity to create and endow specific award types and degree field type scholarships, i.e., the Smith Senior Men’s Business College Scholarship. Outstanding scholastic achievement will be rewarded and under-performing scholastic performance will be addressed through tutoring and mentoring. We will strive to create a system of assistance and rewards, which will advance the scholastic achievement of the Chapter and its members as a whole.
We will advocate and reward outstanding performance by individual UA Faculty members through financial awards and recognition. Our desire to advocate superior scholastic performance cannot just be delegated to our undergraduate and graduate student brothers. It must extend to an interaction and support of outstanding faculty whose efforts have served to advance the scholastic achievement of the Chapter and the University population. This too, shall include the opportunity for alumni brothers to create and fund specific faculty achievement awards.
Educational seminars will be created and funded by the Foundation. Skill sets not normally made available to the undergraduate will be addressed at the chapter level to foster maturation and addressing current problems of the university environment such as responsible alcohol management, the dangers of date rape, etiquette, etc. will be made available to our members.
Our goal is to advance and foster the opportunities to participate in student leadership and group leadership activities at the chapter, student organization, club, honorary, student government, etc. level for our members. Participation in these activities will be advocated and we will provide financial scholarship rewards, as we will do for academic performance. The experience and character development available by participation in these groups will not only serve to benefit our brothers, but create connected and dedicated alumni brothers to support us in the future. Success breeds success.
Development of the “whole man” is an admirable but elusive and challenging goal. Each brother has different “talents, temperaments, and convictions”. Our talents must be brought to bear to benefit each future undergraduate and graduate student brother from the strength of the Beta Phi Chapter and the Sigma Chi Fraternity: Our Alumni Brothers. Sigma Chi initiation starts the path of a “life-long” commitment to supporting and advancing the interests of our chapter and our fraternity. It is only through creating an environment at the Chapter level where there is ongoing undergraduate and alumni interaction on an ongoing and continual basis through advisor and committee involvement along with mentoring programs that we will attain our goals.
The Fraternity should be committed to develop and nurture the best qualities of our undergraduate members. Their college experience should be both intellectually challenging and socially rewarding and create memories that will last a lifetime. The relevance and importance of our ideals and ritual will create a platform for graduating members to start a path of lifetime commitment and participation in our programs.
