Kappa Sigma receives national recognition at annual Conclave

Charlie Simon

Staff writer

During the second weekend of Block 6, members of the Kappa Sigma fraternity here at Colorado College traveled to attend their District Conclave and received numerous awards, both on the individual level and as a fraternity.

 

In addition to being recognized as the most improved chapter in Colorado and as the chapter with the most service hours, Jay Batavia, Ryan Looney, and Trevor Magee all were recognized for outstanding individual achievements.

 

“This year, we stood out and we got the most awards,”says Vice President Nick Titus.

 

The District Conclave that Beta Omega – CC’s chapter of Kappa Sigma – attended is composed of chapters of spread out all across Colorado.

 

This recognition marks a turnaround in Kappa Sigma’s presence on campus.

 

,“Only in the last two years have we really increased in numbers really drastically,” said Titus. “So we don’t normally don’t win that much stuff, really ever, because we just had such a small chapter compared to Boulder or Denver’s Kappa Sigma.”

 

In the past four years, Kappa Sigma has grown from a membership of only seven members to boasting 33 members on campus today, making them today one the largest fraternities on campus, in addition to also being one of the most diverse.

 

“It’s cool to have that presence on campus, and there’s also a large active involvement for most brothers in other areas of campus,”says Recruitment and PR Chair Sam Tezak.

 

Trevor Magee, who was initiated earlier this year into the fraternity, won best initiate, beating out other initiates from across the rest of Colorado for the prestigious award. Ryan Looney was recognized as the most outstanding treasurer, and Jay Batavia won an award as the best grand scribe.

 

In addition to the modicum of awards that Kappa Sigma received at their conclave, they were also recognized for being the first chapter in the entire history of the fraternity to have its entire membership achieve two levels of proficiency – essentially memorizing large portions of Kappa Sigma’s ritual book.

 

Members of Kappa Sigma also see these awards as steps in the right direction to correct misconceptions that many have about their image.

 

“We feel pretty misunderstood by administration,”says Titus.

 

“Sometimes the school in general – I mean not entirely – but there’s a lot of flak that we get from time to time, probably more than other groups,” said Sam Tezak.

 

Members of the fraternity feel that these awards can go a long way to improving the image that Kappa Sigma has on campus, both amongst administration and the rest of the student body.

 

“We set a bar now for what is expected of us, not just from our own chapter, but from also our district grandmaster,”said Titus. “We’re really in the process of trying to change our image, and that’s what grand conclave kind of achieved – it’s a good step.”