Introducing Bryan Fuller Class of 1994, After graduating from UMass in 1994, Bryan served his country by joining the military where he worked in Bosnia as part of the IFOR (Implementation Force). After serving for five years, he was honorably discharged and was later accepted into Boston Universitys MBA Graduate Degree program. Upon completion of the MBA program, Bryan was hired by Deloitte and Touche as an auditor. After several years, he went on to work for Brain Capital as an internal auditor. Today, Bryan works in Wellesley for Sun Life Financial as an internal auditor. According to Bryan, SigEp has been hugely influential in my life as many of my friends from college are still close. I have been back to the house on a number of occasions, sometimes with several years in between, but am always welcomed. Recently, Bryan has joined a Veteran Crew team and hopes to be competing by the end of summer in the Head of the Charles. Bryan currently resides in Back Bay, Boston.

Posted by Tyler Manoukian
Thursday July 28th, 2011

In the fall of 2008, Josh Endler, class of 1996, decided to forego an extremely successful career in consulting and launch his own boutique executive search firm. OnPoint HR Solutions specializes in placing premier talent across the human resources space. As a former Deloitte Human Capital consultant, Josh has been able to successfully tap into his extensive network of human capital talent to consistently deliver the quality results his customers demand. After putting in countless long days in his home office above the garage, Josh has seen his business flourish. OnPoint now has its own office space in New York City on Madison Avenue, and has recently on-boarded two full time recruiters. The firm boasts an extensive client list, which includes a number of Fortune 500 companies business has never been better. Endler credits the success of his firm in part to the networking and communication skills, as well as the diligence, that were instilled in him early on as a member of the fraternity. In order to ensure that these skills are passed on to the next generation of SigEp leaders, he made a commitment to hire a summer intern from Mass. Alpha, and spent the summer serving as a personal mentor and career coach to chapter Vice President of Finance Sean McDavitt. McDavitt became a valuable contributor at OnPoint, and Josh encourages other Mass. Alpha alums with the means to do so to seriously consider adding an undergraduate intern for the summer. Additionally, Josh has made a commitment to ensuring the fraternitys academic success and has issued a challenge to the undergraduates, offering to pay the dues of any member who can successfully maintain a 4.0 GPA . Last fall, two members of the chapter, Mike Bosquet and Dillon Curtis, successfully completed the challenge

Posted by Tyler Manoukian
Thursday July 28th, 2011

"You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here? Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down." - "Once in a Lifetime," the Talking Heads That song came out 4 years before I was born. Here I am, 29 years later, still asking myself many of the same questions that I was asking myself back in college at 57 Olympia Drive. When I first came to UMass in fall 2000, I was going to be a lawyer but I ended up studying political science and economics. But I knew I wanted to join a fraternity and so I organized a field trip down to Frat Row. It was me and my entire Commonwealth College honors floor. In fall 2003, Matt Pelnar and Chris Eckel invited me up to a house for free wings, that house was SigEp. I missed that day and came up to the next event, but I learned a powerful business lesson that day the power of a referral. The three of us joined SigEp as juniors and found brotherhood and development. Something I wasnt looking for when I wanted to join a fraternity freshman year. After college, I found the wireless industry through a combination of chance and necessity. Mobile Solution was looking for a recruiter and though I had not studied human resources or business management, I learned a lot about people and managing groups from my time in leadership roles both inside and outside of the fraternity. As an undergrad I was President and founder of the skydiving club, chair of the administrative affairs committee, President of the Pi Sigma Alpha honors society, rush chair and President of SigEp. When I saw signs that this company wouldnt make it much longer, I found a similar opportunity at Intouch Wireless, a strong national competitor with a leadership team that reminded me a lot of SigEp with their focus and commitment to a shared goal. I joined the company in 2006 and started as a field recruiter (similar to my first job). After, I moved into a corporate position as Director of Recruitment, building the program from the ground up. Since then, Ive been Director of Recruitment & Training, Director of Front End Operations, Director of Marketing and now Director of Strategic Initiatives. Success in life isnt about what you learn but rather how you learn and how you apply what youve learned to the world around you. When in doubt, take a moment to take stock of what you have. Think about what has worked and not worked in your past. While it only looked like a paperclip, a rubber band and a piece of chewing gum, MacGyver was able to turn it into something why cant you? Levi Obrien lives on Cornwall in Hudson, NY with his 3 year-old son, Ethan and 5 year-old daughter, Lily.

Posted by Tyler Manoukian
Thursday July 28th, 2011

If you ask Dan Sandell what he has been doing since graduating UMass back in 2000, he would say that he has been practicing law right off of Fearing Street, less than five minutes to the center of the Amherst campus. Dan Sandy Sandell has been practicing law in the UMass area for the last six and a half years. Starting in 2004, after graduating from the Western New England College of Law, Sandy has been running his own law firm specializing in Criminal Law. Lawyers are like doctors, he said. Each one specializes in a different area; you wouldnt have an eye doctor performing foot surgery. In Sandys area of expertise, he has represented over 1500 people and about 30 percent of those cases have been in defense of UMass undergraduates. Sandy enjoys operating his own practice, but owning his own business has its downside, for example, there is nobody to blame if something goes wrong. However, Sandy likes being on his own and would rather run his own business knowing that he can reach out to other lawyers for answers to questions he doesnt know. Sandy said the best part of his job is being his own boss, but seeing people held in jail for three or four months awaiting trial after winning their case is something he will never let go. Sandy has come a long way from his undergraduate days in Sigma Phi Epsilon, Mass. Alpha. His thoughts on the Balanced Man Program he thought to be particularly helpful. The [program] basically teaches you to manage time correctly you can do school work and volunteer for other organizations, but still have a healthy social life. Keeping everything balanced prepared him for law school. Ten years out of his undergraduate days and Dan Sandell has remained mindful of what SigEp can do for undergraduates. He has not forgotten its life lessons and values because as he said, SigEp provides a foundation you can build a house on. Sandy Talks Law By Tyler Manoukian

Posted by Dan Baker
Monday May 2nd, 2011

Mitch Crane is a former judge and a small town lawyer who deals with the typical legal problems of average citizens. The frequently esteemed Golden Heart Recipient can be seen speaking all over the college circuit aiding Greeks and athletes in better understanding risk management, substance abuse, date rape, liability and negligence. This past fall he visited the Massachusetts Alpha Chapter at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Judge Mitch spoke to Mass. Alpha in hopes of educating new members as well as older brothers. He stressed the importance of following our cardinal principles by urging brothers to respect and to uphold them at all times even when it is the most difficult. Further, Judge Mitch emphasized the importance of a foundation. Without a foundation, you cant achieve very much, he said. Accountability is part of that foundation and not holding yourself accountable threatens what one tries to accomplish. Judge Mitch recounted two awful incidents that could have been easily avoided had the principles been maintained. The first involved a brother who was born deaf. He received cochlear implants, which allowed him to hear. The young man was shy and like everyone else, sought friendship and camaraderie. Because of his desire to fit in, he allowed himself to be seduced by the fraternity. The hazing distorted and corrupted the young mans life, and once he internalized it, led to his tragic suicide. The other story involves a situation that is not uncommon on college rape. A sorority pledge agreed to attend a mixer at a fraternity along with her fellow sisters she was under 21 and there was no guest list. Although the people in attendance were carded, the lack of protection proved to be inadequate. The girl came out of the ladies' room, it was dark and before she knew it, was forcibly taken into someones room and raped. This girl was damaged for life; the event was a breach of trust and lack of responsibility by brothers and sisters of the Greek organizations. The chapters could have prevented these tragedies by abiding by their own principles and the ritual to which they bound themselves to stand up against hazing and the horrors that come with it. Instead of assuming that nothing would happen, the chapters should have come up with preventative measures that would have protected the individuals. In situations like this, chapters can lose its charter. Monsters in the Basement works to help universities protect against underground organizations no longer recognized on a particular campus. When a chapter loses a charter, they are no longer considered part of the national organization and in the most common circumstances, that chapter cannot return to the campus until the final member of the previous charter has graduated. The loss of a chapter is a direct result of a violation of the core principles, faith and oath of obligation every Greek member takes upon acceptance to such a prestigious organization. You cant know where youre going if you dont know where youve been, Mitch said. As a Sigma Phi Epsilon alumnus, who has served over the years as chapter counselor, alumni board treasurer and president with twelve years of experience as a District Governor he understands where his future will take him. He is also a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation Board of Governors. His excellence in his career and as a risk management speaker, among other things have rewarded him with the Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Frank J. Ruck Interfraternity Leadership Award and the Order of the Golden Heart, the highest honor given to alumni in recognition of great personal sacrifice and exceptional service to the fraternity. Sigma Phi Epsilon has changed Judge Mitchs career a number of times. He never expected to be doing anything like this. That is, speaking all over the college circuit and educating Greek organizations about the risks of living the ideal college life. Mitch is a humanistic type of person; he has helped so many individuals both in their careers and in their personal lives. It has made me a better judge, he said. It has helped me differentiate between people who needed to be punished and thoughtless people who made mistakes. Judge Mitch Speaks On The Oath of Obligation By Tyler Manoukian

Posted by Dan Baker
Monday May 2nd, 2011