Sigma Chi alumni hit $1 million milestone for endowed scholarships

Caden Shows, a junior agricultural business major at Fresno State, is a full-time student who works four days a week at a restaurant and serves as president of the local chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity. 

Many of his fraternity brothers are the same — full-time working students with leadership roles and academic activities. Shows joined Sigma Chi three years ago after learning about it from a friend. 

“I love how everyone was laughing together and having fun. Everyone seemed close,” said Shows, who is from Fresno. “I’m learning real-life aspects (in the fraternity) … I took leadership positions, and it taught me a lot about how to do things in the real world, such as how to communicate things to a big group of people.” 

Joining a fraternity can be difficult because of the extra fees on top of paying for school and a place to live if needed, Shows said. But the Sigma Chi alumni are making it easier for students to join and live in the fraternity house through its named and endowed scholarships.

“The scholarship is extremely beneficial,” Shows said. “We want to show the guys that if you put in the work, you can receive the benefits of being part of the fraternity. If you live in the house, get a 2.8 GPA or above, you can get the scholarship.”

Shows is one of nine students who received a scholarship this year from endowments held by the Fresno State Alumni Association. In total, the fraternity has fundraised $1 million to support 10 Sigma Chi alumni endowments. The alumni association has awarded a total of $28,000 on behalf of Sigma Chi.

Next year, these endowments will award another $28,000, said Fresno State and Sigma Chi alumnus Mike Patton. The group recently hit a $1 million milestone in donations and earnings at Fresno State, adding to $700,000 held by the Sigma Chi National Foundation, as it makes its way toward a goal of $3 million which will provide $120,000 in scholarships annually to support brothers and pledges in perpetuity.

“Our dedicated alumni know the importance of academic achievement at Fresno State. They also know the pressures on students because of the cost of education and housing,” said Patton, who joined Sigma Chi in 1963 as an engineering major. “Many of our students are first-generation and rely on one or more jobs to cover housing and school expenses. By supporting the Sigma Chi alumni endowments with the Fresno State Alumni Association, we provide quality student housing and encourage academic success.”

Sigma Chi alumni first started raising money for scholarships in 1993 when tuition started rising and more students of modest income from the Valley started to enroll at the university, Patton said. 

The Fresno State chapter was founded in 1921 and is known as the largest fraternity on campus. It has initiated 1,920 Fresno State students since then and currently has about 55 brothers. The students participate in a variety of community service events throughout the year such as collecting donations along Christmas Tree Lane during the holidays and volunteering at the Poverello House. Its annual Derby Days in the spring raises money for Valley Children’s Healthcare. Last year, the fraternity raised $13,000. 

“We believe that our academic scholarships and housing experience will help develop quality future leaders for our community and country,” Patton said.