When we took our oath of membership during our initiation ritual, we made a life-long commitment to Sigma Tau Gamma. Naturally, the most intense years of membership are the undergraduate years. We thought of ourselves as "actives." It was an unfortunate term. In fact, the term "active" or "active member" never appears in the Constitution, Laws or Ritual of Sigma Tau Gamma. Rather, we were undergraduate or collegiate members. Now, if you have left school (graduated or otherwise) you are an alumni member.

We understand that the level of involvement changes when one becomes an alumni member. Still, there remains a very vital and important roll for alumni in Sigma Tau Gamma.

Those of us in our post graduate years call ourselves an alumnus in the singular (alum is incorrect) and alumni in the plural. We gather in two kinds of organizations within Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity.

Alumni Association: Most of us will find our primary connection with Sigma Tau Gamma through an alumni association. An alumni association is a subdivision of our college chapter. Thus, we have a Greek letter named chapter (Alpha Chapter for example) comprised of two subdivisions, the collegiate (or active) chapter and the alumni association. Both function under the same charter.

Alumni Chapter: Some of us may find ourselves associated with an alumni chapter. An alumni chapter has a separate and distinct charter with Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity, Inc. It is comprise of alumni members of the Fraternity from a variety of college chapters who all happen to live in the same geographic area.

Dual Membership: Alumni members may do something that undergraduate members may not. They may hold dual chapter membership. That is, they may belong to both an alumni association and an alumni chapter. For example, an alumnus of Iota Chapter (at Kent State University) who lives in the greater Cleveland, Ohio area may belong to both the Iota Chapter Alumni Association and the Cleveland Alumni Chapter.

Representation: Both alumni associations and alumni chapters may be represented with a voting delegate at a Grand Chapter (the supreme governing body) of the Fraternity. The only restriction is that no one member may cast more than one ballot. So each organization will want its own individual delegate.

Service: Brothers of Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity understand the importance of service. There are many avenues of service for alumni brothers.

• Advisors: Without question, the most important avenue of Sigma Tau Gamma service for an alumnus is as a chapter advisor. Just as a coach is more critical to the success of a team than the organizational chief (school principal or president or franchise owner) advisors are more critical to the success of Sigma Tau Gamma than presidents (locally or nationally) or executives. Sigma Tau Gamma is successful one chapter at a time. Advisors are the anchor of that success.
• Officers: In order to function properly, every alumni association and alumni chapter needs organizational structure. Our alumni serving in officer position provide that structure.
• National Officers: Sigma Tau Gamma is governed by and functions with the support of VOLUNTEER officers. Our tiny professional staff cannot by any measure provide the required organizational support needed by a national organization. Our Fraternity Board of Directors and Foundation Trustees are comprised of alumni like you who volunteer their time, talent and treasure to serve their Fraternity. We would be lost without them. All alumni are eligible to serve in these roles.
• Regional Officers: The national Fraternity is organized, for the purpose of serving chapters, into five regions. Each region is subdivided into two districts. Each region is headed by a Regional Vice President and each district by a District Director. They are servant leaders. Their primary responsibility is to serve chapter advisors, who are in turn, coaching chapter officers.
• Program Officers: At both the national and region levels there are also program officers serving in special leadership roles. Among these are Regional Alumni Directors (to assist with the organization and maintenance of alumni associations and alumni chapters), Regional Expansion Directors (to assist with the organization of new chapters and the reorganization of dormant chapters), Regional Instructional Program Directors (to assist with the creation and delivery of instructional programming, and Regional Redevelopment Directors (to assist with the redevelopment of troubled chapters).

With so many avenues of service, there is always an opening for a loyal alumnus willing to serve Sigma Tau Gamma. In most cases, these avenues of service require no more than three or four weekends per year and a willingness to communicate by telephone and email three or four evenings per month. The exception is that of chapter advisor, the highest and most demanding calling is Sigma Tau Gamma. Chapter advisors need to interact personally with chapter officers and members on at least a monthly basis.

If you are considering any avenue of Sigma Tau Gamma service, please contact any Board member, regional or district offer or me, Bill Bernier, Executive Vice President at wpbernier@sigmataugamma.org or by telephone at (660) 747-2222.