INDIANOLA, Iowa — Simpson College Iowa Sigma chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity had a repeat performance of summer success at their national conference by earning the Outstanding Chapter in the Province award for the third straight year.

In addition to winning the John O. Moseley Zeal award, naming them the best SAE chapter, they’ve proven themselves to be outstanding in individual aspects as well.

At the 2017 national ritual institute, the chapter earned the Noble Leslie DeVotie Ritual Award.

Senior Blake Brown, SAE vice president, said they’ve sent a lot of people to the ritual institute in recent history. Members also took part in Iowa Beta’s recolonizing at the University of Iowa and initiated them into their colony status.

Nate Sams, the current president of SAE, said they hold all the ceremonies included in the ritual book, including graduation ceremony and exchanging of officers. He said they like to go above and beyond the basic requirements of ritual within their fraternity.

“We are a group of guys who come together and our ritual is our set of principles and ideals and our ritual helps us to follow those ideals, hold each other accountable and make sure we are the best we can be,” Brown said.

Competing for national chapter awards motivates SAE to stay humble and improve the chapter.

Pierce Carey, the newly elected president of the Iowa Sigma chapter, said he knows other chapters will not stay complacent and it motivates the new executive committee to constantly better the chapter.

“I was really happy that we have a young executive team with a lot of new ideas to hopefully promote our chapter and the well-being of it,” Carey said.

The awards have contributed to a culture of success and achievement that will help in recruitment, as noted by sophomore Daniel Goldsmith.

“As a sophomore, these awards are setting a precedent for our younger members and motivates us to keep moving in this direction,” Goldsmith said.

Awards may not be a determining factor in potential new member decisions to join a house, but it shows the values of the house and is a substantial representation of those qualities, Sams said.

In the future, SAE will work to have better alumni relations, increased community service hours and philanthropic dollars raised.

Consistency has been an overwhelming attribute of this chapter, as they have won Outstanding Chapter GPA in their province since 2008. In the past two years, they have consecutively won the Gordon A. Timpany Award for Member Education and Outstanding Scholarship Programming.

Academics are key to this chapter, even beyond the rest of their goals.

“It’s really important to us as men and striving to be true gentlemen,” Brown said.

SAE competes with larger schools with larger membership, but SAE has proven membership size doesn’t matter.

“Winning Zeal at the national level and then outstanding chapter at the province level shows that just because we are a small fraternity of just under 60 guys, doesn’t mean that we can’t do outstanding things,” Carey said. “When we go up against chapters at big state schools, it shows that Simpson is small and can have a very effective and efficient chapter on campus.”