Tech’s Kappa Sigma Chapter wins prestigious national award
The Kappa Sigma Chapter at Tennessee Tech University has been awarded a Kappa Sigma
Founders’ Award of Chapter Excellence as one of the fraternity’s top chapters in North
America. This is award is given to the top 10 percent of all Kappa Sigma chapters
in the nation and the Tech chapter was number eight.
The Founders Award of Chapter Excellence is the benchmark award in the Kappa Sigma Fraternity, recognizing outstanding chapter management, achievement, and program development in all areas of operation. Only 29 chapters of the 291 chapters and colonies received the FACE award within Kappa Sigma in 2022.
“Winning this award shows the character of our brothers and the hard work we strive to do every semester,” Nolan Burgess, president of Kappa Sigma’s Kappa-Mu Chapter at Tech, said.
The Kappa-Mu Chapter at Tech and its 75 members is the largest chapter on the Tech campus and engaged in more than 3,000 hours of community service during its 2021-2022 award winning academic year.
“We have won it around 10 times since we were founded in 1969 here at Tech. We also had three brothers get the highest level of our ritual which is a hard achievement,” Burgess said. “Our Assistant Alumni Advisor Bob Evans won Outstanding First Year Volunteer Award.”
The chapter raised more than $20,000 for charitable causes including more than $2,500 for the Kappa Sigma Military Heroes Campaign, which is committed to supporting ongoing care for our military veterans and their families.
“Our philanthropy we raise money for every fall is called South Seas and we give our money raised to the Military Heroes campaign. This campaign holds a lot of different non-profits within itself, but the big one is The Wounded Warrior Project,” Burgess said.
It raised more than $5,000 for its chapter scholarship fund within the Kappa Sigma Endowment Fund, which provides scholarships to chapter members based upon academic achievement, campus involvement, and leadership within the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.
“We also raise money for different sororities’ philanthropies on campus, and the homecoming can-food drive,” Burgess said. “One of the charities we have donated to was TTU Miracle on campus that goes to Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
“Overall, the outlook for us for this next year is to strive to be better than we were last year,” Burgess said. “Our goal is to be in the top five, win FACE, and an award only given to the top five called Founders Circle.”
That goal isn't the only goal they wish to achieve, according to Burgess. They would like to break their money raised for their Philanthropy South Seas this semester.
“We hope to continue down a path that makes us better people at the end of our college journey. These awards also wouldn't have been achievable without our last officers who helped set us up to win these awards as well,” Burgess said. “I'm very proud of this chapter and looking forward to the future.”
“Kappa Sigma is North America’s largest college social fraternity. We pledge more men and have more undergraduate members than any other fraternity, and we give more time in community service and more money to charitable causes than any other fraternity. Winning a Founders’ Award of Chapter Excellence means that our chapter at Tennessee Technological University is not just one of the best chapters in Kappa Sigma, but is one of the best fraternity chapters on any college campus in North America,” said Worthy Grand Master Adam J. Merillat, president of Kappa Sigma’s international board of directors.
Kappa Sigma is the largest college social fraternity in the world with more than 200,000 living members, including over 17,000 undergraduates and nearly 300 Chapters and Colonies located throughout the United States and Canada. Founded in 1869 at the University of Virginia, Kappa Sigma International Headquarters is based in Charlottesville, Virginia.