Chairman's Letter
Bro. Steve Galvan (Epsilon, 2006)
Greetings Brothers of the Most Honorable,
I want to start off by personally thanking each and every single Brother who has stepped up and volunteered to be a part of the solution contributing to the Forward Facing Campus Committee, Finance
Committee, and Purple Healing Committee, just to name a few. For those wanting to get involved more, we are always looking for Brothers to help the good work along.
Thank you to all the entity Presidents who were able to make the second Presidents call in regards to LI. A committee has been established made up of board members, and education foundation trustees to compile thoughts and ideas on a curriculum that best suits the undergraduate experience. We are extremely grateful for the grant provided towards LI by the Education Foundation.
The Board also has been engaged in conversations with the Education Foundation on fundraising plans and strategies that can provide larger “impacts” to what our respective teams can offer the Brotherhood. More information will follow, so please stay tuned!
Lastly, as Brothers of this organization, I ask that we all find our purpose and re-engage in some capacity along the EF’s motto of the 3T’s: Time, Talent and Treasure.
Fraternally,
Bro. Steve Galvan
'86 Club' Alumni Spotlight
Bro. Edwin Karaya
Bro Mauricio: “Tell us about yourself.”
Bro Edwin: “I was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto
Rico and I moved to Iowa to attend Iowa State University where I was able to attain a Bachelor's in Computer Engineering and a Masters degree in Human Computer Interaction. I became an Honorable Brother of Sigma Lambda Beta at the Omicron Chapter at Iowa State University on May 1st, 2010.”
Bro Mauricio: “What does the ‘86 Club’ mean to you and why did you decide to become a part of it?
Bro Edwin: “The ‘86 Club’ provides a lifetime membership to Brothers who are a part of it, but it is also a way to elevate Brothers who have gotten to a level of success in their careers where they are able to contribute a minimal amount of ‘Treasure’ to the organization. I was actually one of the Brothers who jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the ‘86 Club’ because to me it seemed like a small price to pay in order to continue helping the organization at large, and at the time I wasn’t too involved as an alumni and this seemed like a great place to start.”
Bro Mauricio: “What keeps you motivated to continue to be an active alumni in the Fraternity?”
Bro Edwin: “Honestly, for me it goes back to being an undergraduate and the way that the Brothers were there for me when I needed them the most. When I was an undergrad, I didn’t do as well as I wished in my classes because I was dealing with some mental health issues and my Chapter Brothers at Omicron were the ones who made sure I stayed on track with school and with my classes. Also, all of my first internships and jobs that I got were in some way, shape, or form because of the Brotherhood. So I feel like I owe a lot to the Fraternity because it helped me
get my career started”
Bro Mauricio: “Why do you think Alumni should be part of the “86 Club’”?
Bro Edwin: “I would tell alumni that haven’t been able to give back to the Fraternity as an Alumni with ‘Time’, that they should contribute some ‘Treasure’ to help the Fraternity move forward so that other students get to experience what you experienced as an undergrad. In return of being an ‘86 club’ member you get invited to convention, to special ‘86 Club’ only events, and overall you will always be recognized nationally as a Brother who has contributed for a lifetime. And even though you might be scared of the price tag to join the ‘86 Club’; you don’t have to pay it all at once as there’s ways to pay it in payments.”
For more information about the '86 club' visit: www.sigmalambdabeta.com/86-club
SLBEF Recap:
Three Things You Need To Know
The Sigma Lambda Beta Education Foundation’s Board of Trustees and committee members are tirelessly working towards meeting our mission to raise, steward, and provide funds solely for the benefit of Sigma Lambda Beta’s brotherhood. Following is a summary of three of the items we are currently focused on. Additional details on these and other items can be found at slbfoundation.sigmalambdabeta.com.
Opportunity for Wisdom Scholarship
Deadline to Apply: April 4, 2023
Since 2002 the Sigma Lambda Beta Education Foundation has offered scholarships to the Brothers of Sigma Lambda Beta to help offset the cost of their college education. This year we will once again be providing 4 brothers a $1,000 scholarship. Recipients are selected based on how well they meet the pillars of Sigma Lambda Beta.
Helping stabilize SLB
The Foundation’s Board of Trustees has worked diligently to develop options that will help to stabilize Sigma Lambda Beta. As a result, the Foundation will be providing financial resources to help rebuild SLB’s reserves, as well as time and talent by assisting on a number of SLB’s committees.
Executing the 3Ts Challenge
On April 1st we announced our partnership with SLB to execute a 2-month challenge that will go until May 31st , where we are challenging brothers to give of their time, talent, and treasure in ways that will help our brothers, the fraternity, and the foundation. To participate in this challenge you can:
Contribute directly to offset the cost of 2023’s Leadership Institute or to fund future SLB programming. As an added bonus, the SLBEF will match ALL contributions to this campaign up to $10,000.
Fill out a form to volunteer for a number of committees and give of your time and talent.
Give of your time by taking a couple of minutes to create or update an SLB and SLBEF profile.
The 3Ts Challenge is also a competition, where points are earned by taking one or more of the actions listed above. The top 3 regions will receive prizes. Please show your love and support for your brothers, chapter, and for Sigma Lambda Beta by being a part of the 3Ts Challenge!
Don't miss out on SLBEF news! @slbef
Make sure your Stallion Network profiles are up to date to get news from the SLBEF!
Alumni Caucus (Intro to our New Chair)
Bro. Davendra "Yuvraja" Benji; aka DJ
Brother DJ (Davendra “Yuvraja” Beni) is our new Alumni Caucus Chair. He was initiated into the Beta Delta Chapter at Rutgers University- Newark at 3:05am on December 5, 2009. Calling the Newark Powerhouse home (the combination of Beta Delta and Iota Gamma), Brother Yuvraja has extensive experience in all aspects of fraternity operations, both internally and externally.
He wants to focus on reinvigorating our alumni presence and leverage all the good work that is being done and has been done. Creating a national mentorship program, making data driven decisions using real information, establishing transparency, an alumni national committee structure, and creating an unified alumni voice are some of the key initiatives he believes will help our good cause along. Brother Yuvraja firmly believes that there’s a better way to do things and knows that the least important word will never allow us to succeed. His vision of the alumni caucus and strategy towards our national alumni network is captured by a quote by Jeffrey Holland, “Although I may not be my brother’s keeper, I am my brother’s brother, and ‘because I have been given much, I too must give.’”
He believes that our brotherhood lasts for a lifetime. We all have made a commitment to uphold our fraternity’s ideals and principles; to live the Creed daily. He does understand that the day-to-day expectations of life can be tasking for many of us. Grappling with the various roles we have in our lives, expanded families, and a post Pandemic world, leaves little room for time that could be allocated to our brotherhood.
However, a key part of our fraternity's foundation and a crucial step to assist us as we work on creating and transitioning into a better space within our organization and brotherhood, is leveraging, fostering, and re-establishing our alumni presence. This is a key driver as to why he applied for the Chair of the Alumni Caucus. He feels that we need our brotherhood to become a village again. A village that helps and nurtures its own. He makes a call to all alumni- let’s not succumb to the killing of our organization.
Please feel free to contact Bro DJ via email (dbeni@sigmalambabeta.com) or on his personal cell phone (973-342-6371).
Intro to New EBOD
Bro. Nathan Barrera-Bunch
Brother Nathan “Sin Límites” Barrera-Bunch has stepped into a role on the Executive Board of Directors. He crossed in the Fall of 2007 at The University of Texas at Austin as Brother #167. There he earned dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Sociology, and Mexican American Studies. In 2011 he moved to the Southeast Region, and received a Master of Science degree in Higher Education & Studies Affairs
from Florida State University in 2013.
Previously, Nathan served as the Chair of the Rituals & Education Committee from 2012 - 2017, where he oversaw the creation of The Enlightenment manual. He has also served in Programming roles with the Southeast (2012) and Northeast (2015) Regional Board of Directors, as well as a Coordinator (2015), Facilitator (2013) and Intern (2011) for the Leadership Institute.
Professionally Nathan has worked in the field of higher education, non-profit, federal government work, and currently government consulting. The bulk of his work has focused on social justice education, and creating positive, sustainable, change for marginalized communities. This overlaps with his goals for Sigma Lambda Beta. He believes that with a united force of the global brotherhood, and a commitment to our principles, The Fraternity can live out its creed to the fullest.
"The 4th is for Brotherhood"
Brothers, “The 4th is for Brotherhood” is an initiative that the EBOD is putting forward to the nation in an attempt to have all Brothers get together at least once a month. The intention is to combat the effects that the lockdowns caused on our mental health, and on our social lives and effectively changed our lives in
2020.
We are hoping that by saving the 4th of each month for Brotherhood, that alumni and undergraduates can come together and share a meal, a drink, or just some laughs together.
This April 4th, we want “The 4th is for Brotherhood” to be the biggest of the year. We will be having Board Members, Regional Directors, SLBEF board members, and Brothers across the nation host events across the country. If you are interested in hosting an event in your city for Brothers to get together on April 4th, please reach out to Brother Mauricio as soon as possible via email at mauricio.sigmalambdabeta@gmail.com.
Alumni Dues Update
Over the years our Alumni Dues structure has undergone evolutions and revolutions; from non-existent to existent and around again. The most recent series of evolutions began in 2017 when the EBOD introduced the 86 Club as a way for members to once again, directly contribute to the operations of the Fraternity. In 2020, the House of Delegates passed language reinstating “At-Large Alumni Dues". This past July, the House of Delegates passed language creating an “Alternative Dues Payment” structure as well. The current EBOD recently modified the Alumni Network and Alumni Association’s fee structures to reflect these evolutions and go from a flat annual fee to a feebased on a pro-rated, per-person roster. Both a detailed explainer and a FAQ have been created to break down how these recent evolutions have created the 5 different ways in which an Alumni brother can be recognized as active nationally. These two documents can be found in the Stallion Network by accessing Files>Shared By National Headquarters>Alumni Resources. This most recent policy change is designed to capture and leverage the size of our national alumni base, while creating paths for engagement that will hopefully spur the creation of additional alumni entities.
By charging a pro-rated, per-person roster, alumni who currently live in cities with a lower concentration of brothers can now organize and maintain an Alumni Network at a lower cost than under the previous policy. Alumni Networks smaller than 10 men, and those between the size of 15-20 will now pay a lower fee to the Fraternity than in previous years. Similarly, if a group of brothers rallied around their contributions to an Entity Specific Fund within the Education Foundation. They can organize into a formal Alumni Association where they directly control the use of those funds donated to the Education Foundation. And since their donations to the Education Foundation cover their “Alternative Dues Payment”, the Alumni Association would pay only the one time establishment fee instead of an annual payment to the Fraternity.
Please take the time to read the documents on the Stallion Network to understand the different ways you can be recognized as an Active Alumni. An additional FAQ has been sent to AN and AA chairs to provide insight into the roster and invoice process for these two types of entities. If it has been a while since you were active and you would like to re-engage, please respond to this message with your current city of residence and we will get you plugged in with other Alumni in your area.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE STAFF Linsey Hogue | Director of Operations Darius McDowel | Director of Member Services EXECUTIVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Steve Galvan | Chairman Jose Pangelinan | Board Member Nathan Bunch | Board Member Christopher Cooley | Board Member Mauricio Amaral-Vázquez | Board Member Jason Smolka | Board Member Brian Castro | Board Member CONTACT THE EO EMAIL: contact@sigmalambdabeta.com FOLLOW US IN THIS ISSUE: Chairman's Letter '86 Club' Alumni Spotlight SLB Education Foundation Alumni Caucus Introducing the New Board Member The 4th is for Brotherhood Alumni Dues Update | The Alumni News is an official publication of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc. In this newsletter, you will find articles from Fraternity Leadership and our partners, giving you updates, opportunities, and important information from the past two months. Thank you to our contributors for their hard work & insights. With this issue of the Alumni News, we focus on Fraternity updates, farewells from current Executive Board of Directors Members, and more! To submit questions or comments concerning Alumni News, or if you have a story (and photographs!) you'd like us to highlight, please contact Brother Mauricio Amaral-Vázquez. The Alumni News is made possible by our sponsors, Principal Financial Group and White Picket Realty. Click on the logos throughout this issue to learn more about these amazing companies! |