Sigma Chi's Greek Village home begins

The groundbreaking for the new Sigma Chi $1.4 million Greek housing at Southeast Missouri State University was held on Thursday, Sept. 1.

Many alumni of Sigma Chi along with university President Carlos Vargas, Director of Residence Life Dr. Bruce Skinner and undergraduates of the chapter came together for this event.

"A lot of people have been talking about this the last two years and the day has finally come," Jeff Parker, alumnus of Sigma Chi, said.

Six golden shovels were used to dig in the dirt where the house will be built.

"More and more students are interested in Greek Life on campus," Skinner said. "I absolutely attribute that part to the relationship we have with Sigma Chi and the desire to do something you see behind me."

Construction for Sigma Chi's house is expected to be completed by March 2017. Members of the fraternity will not be able to move in until the following August.

"This has been a dream of the chapter and alumni for a very long time," Mason Mitchell, chapter vice president, said.

The groundbreaking began with the chapter adviser, Nate Wills, thanking everyone for their contribution in making the day possible. He then introduced Mitchell to speak for the undergraduates. Mitchell gave a brief speech on what has been going on in the chapter in the past couple years. The men of Sigma Chi have been successful on having two Peterson awards in the last five years. A Peterson award is the highest honor that the fraternity can receive. The award recognizes excellent performance by chapters in all major areas of operation and programming.

They also have been the winners and runners up of past Greek Weeks. In the past two years they have raised more than $6,000 annually for their philanthropy, The Huntsman Cancer Institution.

"We plan on increasing the money we raise for our philanthropy, because with this new house we plan to become a bigger chapter," Mitchell said.

Alumnus Jeff Parker was the next to speak with alumnus John Grime following. Grime gave a historic background of the chapter's history at Southeast.

A little more than two years ago the chapters of Sigma Nu, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Chi at Southeast decided to make a 30-year partnership with the university to build new Greek housing. The university could not have done this without the support of the university's alumni association. They are there to help build scholarships, help fund the house and make sure they're built with the proper foundation.

Vargas spoke and discussed how he never had the opportunity to experience Greek Life while he attended college.

"I can see I have missed a lot by not having the opportunity to be part of an organization like this," Vargas said.

He went on to talk about how important it is to promote pride on Southeast's campus, and said Greek Life is a primary way of creating that sense of pride in the university.

"We need you guys, and what you do here can take you any place you want if you just do the work," Vargas said.

To finish the ceremony, the featured speaker, Charlie Stamp, spoke. He discussed how proud he is to be a Sigma Chi and read a letter he wrote to himself in 1968 during initiation.

"We are constantly at work here trying to prove our character and maturity. Not just anybody becomes a Sigma Chi," Stamp said.