Convention Foreword
The 2026 Convention will be held at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, New York. The program will begin on Thursday, July 23rd and will conclude Saturday evening. The schedule of events is published on sam.org/convention. Alumni registration will open in the coming days. Undergraduate registration is open in MySAM and will close on June 1st.
The Convention Business Meeting will take place at 1:30 PM ET on Saturday, July 25th.
REPORT OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE
The following is a report of the Nominations Committee for the elections to be held during the 2026 Convention on Saturday, July 25th.
Our Process: An announcement was made seeking recommendations for alumni interested in nomination. Two incumbent Consuls and three additional alumni submitted their applications for the three alumni Consul roles. Three applications were submitted for the role of Young Alumnus Consul.
Upon receipt of the written applications, the committee facilitated interviews with all applicants on Zoom; in each we recorded the interview so that those members of the committee not present during the live interview would be able to review the applicants’ replies. Prior to the interviews being conducted, the committee drafted questions for use during the interviews. Committeemen all agreed to watch all recordings of the interviews they did not personally participate in, prior to completing the evaluation rubric and casting a vote.
Our Actions: We thank all of the applicants for investing their time, energy, and passion for Sigma Alpha Mu, as was abundantly evident through this process, and look forward to their continued efforts to advance the mission of Sigma Alpha Mu. The Nominations Committee nominates the following individuals for service on the Octagon:
These nominations were submitted to the Octagon and published in the Convention Foreword on sam.org on April 24th and The Octagonian issue in May.
The applications for the nominated alumni are linked here.
Members of the Committee:
The 2026 Nominating Committee is comprised of the following individuals as specified in the Blue Book: two members of the Octagon designated by the Supreme Prior – Consul David Sackler and Consul Doug Montgomery; the three immediate past Supreme Priors, consisting of David Kleppel, Jerry Conrey and Dan Grossberg; Undergraduate Advisory Committee Members Jayden Lachhman (Delta Pi, ‘22) and Gib Paulisich (Beta Gamma, ‘25); and two alumni-at-large, David Streusand of Texas A&M, class of ’05 and Anton Steyer, of West Florida, class of ’99.
SUBMITTED LEGISLATION
The following item was tabled from Convention 2025.
Division F., Article V., Section 1 :
The financial records of the Fraternity, the Endowment Fund, and all entities controlled by the Fraternity, shall be audited, annually, by a firm of independent Certified Public Accountants, duly licensed and registered in the United States of America, no principal of which shall be a member of the Fraternity.
Proposed by:
Ronald S. Katch, Rho ‘51
Redline Version
Strike-through (removed)
Bold (added)
The books financial records of the Octagon Fraternity, the Endowment Fund, and all Trusts and Foundations entities controlled by the Fraternity, shall be reviewed audited, annually, by a firm of independent Certified Public Accountants, duly licensed and registered in the United States of America, no principal of which shall be a member of the Fraternity.
FRATERNITY AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Chapter and undergraduate awards will be presented on Thursday, July 23rd during the Lawrence D. Schaffer Leadership Recognition Dinner.
The 2026 Purple Tie Banquet on Saturday, July 25th will include the following recognition:
Achievement Award – 2026 Man of the Year
Ron Baron (Sigma Phi/Bucknell, ‘62)
William P. Schwartz Distinguished Service Award
Dennis Paese (Beta/Cornell, ‘70)
Certificate of Merit
Robert Fagenson (Eta/Syracuse, ‘67)
Bob Weiss (Sigma Alpha/Oklahoma, ‘75)
Presentation of the Founders Cup
Installation of the Octagon for 2026-2027
