Foundation Spring 2023

View the Article

The Foundation pages include:

Message from the CEO

Perlstein Joins the Foundation

New Chapter Educational Funds

Jacob Kaplan Safe Campus Award

Scholarship Spotlights

Honor & Memorial Gifts

Message from the CEO

Written by SAM Foundation CEO Aaron Girson (Western Michigan, ’92)

Since rejoining the ΣAM staff in January, I have had the opportunity to visit with many alumni, sharing updates on our Fraternity. Alumni will often ask, “Does ΣAM matter, and are we making a difference?”

The answer is unequivocally YES! Today’s college men need fraternities more than ever before! We all know the value of SAM firsthand, but recent research has proven how fraternity membership provides life-changing support, community, connection, and strong leadership development for today’s undergraduate men. Fraternity men are:

Three times more likely to obtain an internship while in college. 

Almost two times as likely to have a job waiting for them when they graduate.

Five times as likely to be satisfied with their lives after graduating.

ΣAM and the fraternal movement are an accelerator for success in college and beyond: We create lifelong connections for our members, and we create a strong sense of belonging. These key factors help our members’ overall quality of life.  

It is an exciting time to be back on the ΣAM staff, to be part of the dedicated team members working to provide the best possible experience to our members, and I pledge to give my best efforts to ensure that the support needed by today’s student fratres is provided and that alumni have the opportunity to give back to initiatives that are meaningful to them.

PSP Marc Perlstein Joins Foundation Board of Directors

The Sigma Alpha Mu Foundation is pleased to announce that Marc Perlstein (North Texas, ’71) has joined the board of directors. Marc resides in the Dallas, Texas, area with his wife Debbie, and is a Senior Consultant with Current Consulting Group. Marc is a long-time volunteer leader in ΣAM; he served as Supreme Prior from 2011 to 2013 and is currently Vice Chairman of the Sigma Alpha Mu Endowment Fund.

New Chapter Educational Funds

Funds Established for Theta, Mu Chi, and Gamma Kappa

Chapter Educational Funds (CEFs) are restricted funds in the Sigma Alpha Mu Foundation that provides alumni with an option to make tax-deductible gifts to benefit a specific chapter. Chapters with CEF are able to access these funds for qualified educational needs, such as scholarships, improvements to educational space in a chapter house, funding attendance at educational/leadership programs, and support of philanthropic activities. As of press time, 17 chapters have CEFs:

If you are interested in learning more about the Foundation’s Chapter Educational Funds or making a gift to establish a fund for your chapter, please contact Aaron Girson, Foundation CEO (aarong@sam-fdn.org or 317-969-7771). We aim for every chapter to have a CEF so that chapter-specific educational needs are met.

Jacob Kaplan Safe Campus Award

The Foundation is excited to announce a new award for our collegiate chapters, the Jacob Kaplan Safe Campus Award!

These annual awards are being created by Jacqueline Jacobs Caster to honor her grandfather, Founder Jacob Kaplan. Fra Kaplan was a family law attorney, a fierce defender of legal rights with a focus on keeping women safe from harm.  

Jacqueline, an attorney herself, created these awards in response to the increasing national press surrounding fraternities and sexual assaults on college campuses. It is her fervent wish to see Sammy at the forefront of reversing this trend through programs, partnerships, and education and to establish itself as the national leader of this effort. 

There are two awards available each year- one for $2500 and one for $1500.  These are available through an easy, online application process.  The criteria for the award are:

Identify the audience that the chapter will help

Explain how their program will be executed 

How the chapter will partner with campus professionals/community professionals/subject matter experts to execute the program

When the program will take place

Cost for program

How the chapter will measure the success of the idea or program

How the chapter will continue to advocate for a safer campus experience for students

This is an excellent way for Sammy to be the fraternal leader on our campuses, helping make it safe for everyone.  Additionally, this is an excellent recruitment tool for new members, showing that we take sexual assault prevention seriously.  

Questions about the program requirements or application process can be directed to the Foundation via Nancy Dietmeyer, Director of Programs and Administration, at nancyd@sam-fdn.org.

Scholarship Spotlight

IDEA Scholarship

The IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) Scholarship was established in 2022 with gifts from ΣAM alumni to recognize the efforts of undergraduate members who work to promote and strengthen the tenets of IDEA values in their chapters and communities.  

The 2022 recipient, Rahul Sharma (Epsilon Epsilon, ’21, SUNY Geneseo), his chapter’s DEI Chair, planned and executed several events for chapter members to experience other cultures, including cultural potluck dinners, a cricket match, and group dinners at various culturally diverse restaurants. Rahul was also a founding member of his biology major’s DEI Committee and served as a member of the university’s Alliance for Cultural Enrichment. To make a gift to the IDEA Scholarship Fund, go to sam-fdn.org/donate.

Harvey Weisblat Aviation Scholarship

The Harvey Weisblat Aviation Scholarship, endowed by Fra Weisblat (Texas, ’64), recognizes students planning and working toward a career in aviation and is open to Sammy undergraduates and graduate students, as well as children of ΣAM alumni. 

Harv, a retired airline and Air Force Reserve pilot established the scholarship to honor his cousin and fellow aviator, Fred Maxon (1923–2011), a native of Cleveland, Ohio. After a semester at Ohio State University, Fred joined the Army Air Corps in 1942, where he soon attained his pilot wings flying BT-113 and C-46 aircraft. As a lieutenant and member of the esteemed “Hump Pilots,” Fred flew supply missions from India to China over the 18,000′ high Himalayas Mountains, enduring high winds and freezing temperatures over the 500-mile route in planes without sophisticated radar. Fred received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service and, after returning to Cleveland, married and raised a family with his lifelong love, Norma.  

For more information on the Harvey Weisblat Aviation Scholarship criteria, go to 

sam-fdn.org/scholarships or contact Nancy Dietmeyer at nancyd@sam-fdn.org. 

Helen Sieczkowski Scholarship – New for 2023

This scholarship is open to Nu Chapter members, as well as daughters and granddaughters of Sigma Alpha Mu members in college or planning to attend college/graduate school. 

Helen Sieczkowski, the grandmother to Fra Michael Kawochka (Nu), passed away in 2019 at the age of 101.  Due to financial circumstances, Helen never had the chance to go to high school. Instead, she went straight into the workforce as a teenager. She married and started a family soon after.  

All her life, Helen exuded quiet perseverance. The Helen Sieczkowski Memorial Scholarship is meant to inspire women, especially those enduring financial hardship, to persevere and earn their degrees.

Honor & Memorial Gifts

November ’22 – April ’23

Contributions to the Sigma Alpha Mu Foundation can be made in memory of fratres, family, and friends, and to honor living members. These gifts help to further the Foundation’s educational initiatives to benefit our student fratres. For more information or to make a gift, please go to sam-fdn.org/donate. For questions or corrections, contact Nancy Dietmeyer at nancyd@sam-fdn.org. 

IN HONOR OF

IN MEMORY OF

• Octagonian Spring 2024
• Matthew Ray Named Communications Manager
• Sigma Alpha Mu Rallies in Support of Israel
• Programs to Combat Antisemitism
• Sigma Alpha Mu Stands With Israel