Alpha Sigma Phi

Introduction

Alpha Sigma Phi is a social fraternity that has been an official fraternity at McDaniel since May of 2003, making it McDaniel's youngest Greek organization. The original chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi was founded at Yale in 1845. The McDaniel College chapter is the Epsilon Xi chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi.

Meetings

The organization meets every Sunday night. At these meeting, many different events are discussed and planned. These range from community service to social events.

Current Membership

There are currently 35 members, the largest of any fraternity on campus. Alpha Sigma Phi consists of a very diverse group of men including both athletes and students involved in the theater.

Leadership Positions

Positions are held for a one year term starting at the start of the spring semester and ending at the end of the fall semester. The most important positions are as follows: President- Christopher Kron, Vice President- George Dane Weber, Marshall- Chris Maisel, Sergeant at Arms- Christopher Reed, and Secretary- Kyle Lebers. Many other brothers have positions within the group, such as the Scholarship and Alumni Chairs, but the 5 listed are the most important.

Community Service

The fraternity does at least 5 community service events per semester. The most notable events consist of reading to children, soup kitchens, and adopt-a-highway. The group's favorite event is volunteering at the Bureau of Aging, where the brothers volunteer at a senior citizen's annual dance called the Harvest Ball. Here, the brothers help set up and clean up, as well as dancing with the women.

Philanthropy

Alpha Sigma Phi's charity organization, which it holds several events to raise money for is Canine Companions for Independence. This organization trains dogs that will eventually become guide dogs for the visually impaired. The most successful event was a hot dog eating contest run by the brothers.

Becoming a Member

New members come into the fraternity by coming to an open smoker, and the perspectives that most interest the fraternity are invited back to the closed smoker. After this, invitations (often called "bids") are extended to the most desirable of the potential members. After this, an 8-week pledge process begins. This process involves no hazing, and those pledging are required to wear a pledging pin and abstain from alcohol use during this time.

Accomplishments

Alpha Sigma Phi has won the Brandt Cup, the award given to the best overall Greek organization on campus, the last 3 years in a row. The fraternity has also won Greek Games the last 2 years in a row.