Almost 20 years ago, SigEp’s Committee on Self-Esteem sought to build a monumental paradigm shift within the fraternity world, redefining norms and instilling higher standards of performance for all members.

The committee launched what was then known as the Balanced Man Project to combat issues that plagued the entire Greek community. These issues included alcohol and drug abuse, little involvement of older members, poor campus and community involvement, and a limited focus on leadership, goal-setting, mentoring and respect for self and others.

At the time, the program encompassed far more than a chapter’s member development model. Today, the most well-known result of this initiative is that more than 200 chapters nationwide operate under the Balanced Man Program (BMP) development model, which has raised the bar for what a fraternity experience can look like—recruiting high-quality members year-round, retaining them and committing them to the lifetime responsibility of brotherhood, offering them personal and career development, and preparing the next generation of SigEps to go out and enact change in the world.

Making the switch
Recently, our chapters at Coastal Carolina and Southern Mississippi saw themselves mired in similar circumstances that plagued many of our chapters in the early 1990s. Members were joining for the wrong reasons, upperclassmen weren’t involved in the chapter and grades were suffering. Even though the BMP goes against the common perception of fraternity life on their campuses, each chapter dared to be different and adopted the program because it’s a proven way to improve chapter performance. The presidents of each chapter have already seen these benefits unfold.

Coastal Carolina was struggling with manpower and retention, and decided that operating the Balanced Man Program was a proactive way to improve both. Southern Mississippi had its charter revoked last year, until a successful appeal at last spring’s National Board of Directors meeting. The chapter leaders decided that switching to the Balanced Man Program would provide them a template to help them overcome the many obstacles in front of them.

Recruiting and retaining with the BMP
Southern Mississippi Chapter President John Barr, ’12, said that his chapter has done well using the Balanced Man Program in recruitment because members practiced explaining it at a chapter retreat. “It actually makes recruitment easier because we have this program that’s very explicit in what exactly it is. Breaking down the four development stages almost like freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years made it easier to understand and explain to potential new members. It really intrigued people because we were offering something different from all the other chapters.”

Coastal Carolina Chapter President Bryce Speigel, ’12, said that having a Sigma Challenge instead of a pledge process also makes it easier to recruit year-round. “We used to just do formal recruitment in the beginning of the semester, but we’ve been having recruitment nights, like info sessions or going out for pizza. It’s easier with the Sigma Challenge.”

Each president also said the Balanced Man Program helped them retain and engage their members once they had joined.

Barr said that watching the chapter’s new members going through the Sigma Challenge has been an eye-opener. “You can see the benefits of the program in action right now,” he said. “We have 100 percent retention. Within the first two weeks [after formal recruitment], they asked at an IFC meeting and just about every chapter had lost a member except for us. We’ve done well with retaining, and we’re keeping our promises that we made during recruitment.”

Upperclassmen involvement
Speigel said that a group of seniors who had stayed active in the chapter were key advocates for the decision to change because they wanted to make a lasting impact on the chapter before graduating. “We wanted to up our standards,” he explained. So the chapter simply held a vote and decided it was time for a change. All eight of those seniors are now working to complete the Epsilon Challenge, which enables them to mentor the younger members in the chapter, set a good example for those members, and have a compelling reason to remain involved in the Fraternity during their senior year.

He said that focusing on continuous development has forced the chapter to work harder to plan programming that will be beneficial to older members in the chapter. “We had a resume workshop last week, and that went very well. We have a dress for success seminar coming up too. If we didn’t have the BMP, we wouldn’t have set either of these up.”

While all SigEp chapters can and should offer similar programming tailored toward their older members—whether they operate under the Balanced Man Program or not—the BMP helps offer guidelines to ensure upperclassmen will be prepared for the world after college, and advancing on to the Brother Mentor Rite of Passage is a powerful incentive for them to remain committed.

Continually looking to improve
Both chapters have seen short-term success with their new programs, but recognize it will take sustained effort to offer the premier student experience on campus. Still, these early wins create plenty of reasons to be excited about the future.

“There’s been a whole lot of improvement, and a good attitude and a good environment since we made the change,” Barr said. “I just see it getting better from here on out.”

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