The fraternity men of Sigma Phi Epsilon celebrated this year’s homecoming week in style, opening and dedicating their brand-new house on East Broadway and by having six members shave their heads in the name of cancer research.
The first of the many festivities took place on Friday afternoon when SigEp’s new house, which had been completed the semester before, was formally opened to the campus community and dedicated. The ceremony included speeches from Monmouth SigEp alumni William Murschel ’75 and Don McKinley ’50, a founding member of the Illinois Gamma chapter.
Monmouth College President Patricia Draves also spoke at the ceremony, in addition to former and current SigEp Grand Chapter Presidents Brad Nahrstadt ’89 and Dave Calderon.
“Today is about a building, but it is also about something much larger. It is about people, relationships, shared values, and a commitment that has endured for 77 years on the Monmouth College campus.” said President Draves.
“Across higher education, fraternities and sororities are sometimes questioned and have some negative press. When people think of Greek life, they often focus on the challenges rather than the opportunities, but at Monmouth, fraternities are living their values and contributing positively to campus life. They provide something students need now more than ever: community, connection, mentorship, and a sense of belonging.”
To Monmouth SigEp alumnus and former Grand Chapter President Brad Nahrstadt, this was a moment that very literally hit close to home.
“It is my chapter. It is my home chapter”, said Nahrstadt. “And it is really inspiring and exciting to be a part of opening a new facility that is going to allow us to continue to provide a life-changing experience for the gentlemen who join this chapter, who belong to the chapter now, and who will belong to the chapter long after I am gone.”
The festivities continued into the next day, where after the Fighting Scot football team’s win, current brothers, alumni, and other campus community members flocked to the SigEp house to watch six current SigEps shave their heads in the name of cancer research.
In the weeks leading up to homecoming, SigEp partnered with St. Baldrick’s, a non-profit dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer research everywhere.
“We have never done St. Baldrick’s before.”, said Anthony Guppy, SigEp’s philanthropy chair.
“I was only expecting three people, and I would even do it, but then we got six people, and so I thought this would be an excellent opportunity not only for us to raise all this money for [cancer research], but it also gives us good PR.”
Six SigEp brothers took the challenge: Guppy, Rowan Love, Evan Eisfelder, Rayden Peterson, Jonathan Borgman, and chapter President Kent Huth, who got the honor of having his head shaved by SigEp Grand Chapter President Dave Calderon.
Monmouth College chaplain John Huxtable ’04 also volunteered to shave his head. He was also the fundraiser’s top donor with $922 chipped in.
Because the six volunteers raised a total of over $3500, all of them went under the razor on Saturday afternoon. When all was said and done, the final total for the fundraiser was $3,689.
