My name is Ben MacKinnon, and I’ve had the privilege of serving as Chapter President of Sigma Phi Epsilon for the past year. As 2022 comes to a close, I would like to highlight some of the many successes that Massachusetts Alpha has had over the past year. Entering my term as president, one of my primary goals was to further develop the chapter’s philanthropy efforts. Serving as the chapter’s Philanthropy Chair previously, I could see our potential and knew we were capable of doing more.

     The spring semester was highlighted by our “Dunks Against Domestic Violence” event with sorority Alpha Chi Omega, where brothers and sisters volunteered to go under a dunk tank and sold coffee and donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts. That event raised more than $1200 for a local women’s shelter in just five hours on campus. Additionally, our chapter raised over $5000 for UMass Dance Marathon, a student run philanthropy benefitting Baystate Children’s Hospital. This fall, we continued our efforts with a “Field Day” event with sorority Chi Omega, raising $500 for Make-a-Wish in just two hours, and the “Casino Royale Gala”, again with Alpha Chi Omega, a formal event that raised just over $1800. Throughout both of these semesters we have also sent 4-5 brothers to volunteer at the Amherst Survival Center every Friday, and the local senior center a few times each semester as well. We have developed a chapter-wide passion for philanthropy this past year, and I could not be more proud of that.

    Being a smaller, unhoused chapter on campus has made recruiting difficult in the past. However, thanks to the efforts of VPR Ryan Kirkey, Mass Alpha has continued to grow at a tremendous pace. At the end of the year Mass Alpha stands at 50 brothers, which is an unbelievable feat given the size of our chapter just a few short semesters ago. Though the chapter is growing rapidly, we have not shied away from our core values when recruiting. It’s great to have seen the 20 man
chapter I met with over zoom would quickly become 50 brothers strong. We look forward to continuing this growth and becoming a greater presence on campus. Damn Proud!

HFF,

Ben MacKinnon