THE CHAPTER WAS HONORED FOR ITS SUPPORT OF A BROTHER WITH CANCER
The brothers of Drake received this Conclave’s Honor of Philias, given every two years for incredible acts of kindness and brotherly love.
The Greek word Philias translates to SigEp’s third cardinal principle, Brotherly Love, and the chapter has earned this recognition for its support of Shiv Morjaria, Drake ’14, throughout his battle with cancer.
Morjaria was already dealing with the major adjustments necessary to travel 8,500 miles away from his native Kenya to attend school, when he received the devastating diagnosis of lymphoma cancer. Though his parents feared he was facing these challenges alone, and though he had joined SigEp only a month prior, his brothers were by his side every step of the way.
Brothers drove him to and from chemotherapy treatments, shaved their heads in solidarity, and even offered to pay for his mother’s plane ticket to Des Moines, Iowa. His mother ended up covering her trip costs, so the Fraternity allocated its funds, instead, to his chemotherapy treatments.
“The pinnacle of the support I received came when 35 brothers shaved their heads with me to raise money for cancer research,” Morjaria said. “I sometimes think it was fate that led me to SigEp as their philanthropy benefits the lymphoma and leukemia society of Iowa: my exact disease! Too much of a coincidence.”
Even while battling cancer, Morjaria earned a 4.0 GPA as an actuarial sciences major, in a semester with 18 credit hours while he was working two jobs.
Morjaria’s father wrote in a letter to the chapter:
“Just when things looked bleakest, we started getting bits and pieces of stories of support Shiv was receiving, not only from his immediate friends of Kenyan origin, but from his other fellow students, some of them who had known him for less than two months as he began his battle with his illness. The support grew everyday as more and more of his fellow students rallied around him. …
“His friends, fellow students and the Fraternity were doing more than we could have ourselves and the level of concern was more at the University than it would have been here in Kenya where he has lived all his life. All this time we thought that people living in developed countries were too engrossed in their own lives to actually have the time and energy to care, especially for a new student from a third-world country like ours. How wrong we were. My wife and I no longer feel apprehensive about Shiv and his battle with his ailment. We know he is in the best hands, both medically and emotionally. Take a bow gentlemen, because your deeds have earned you the right to do so.”
In 1989, Past Grand President, Recipient of the Order of the Golden Heart, and Lifetime Trustee of the Educational Foundation Jack Wheeler, North Texas ’61, and his wife, Kate, created the Honor of the Philias award.
Recipients may apply for a grant from the Honor of Philias Endowment provided by Brother Wheeler from our Educational Foundation, with the stipulation that it be used to continue the work being recognized. In addition to the grant funding, recipients receive a replica of the Honor of Philias award on permanent display at Zollinger House.
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