BLAKE ALEXANDER
Hometown: Champaign, Illinois (Home of the Fighting Illini)
Major: Honors Accounting
Year in school: Sophomore
Her Campus DePaul: In your own words, what is Derby Days?
Blake Alexander: Derby Days is a week long Philanthropy event which pairs Sigma Chi brothers with each sorority on campus. The objective being a competition between the sororities to win daily events, earning them points. The winner of the Derby Days week will receive ⅓ of the money raised for a charity of their choice, while the other ⅔ will go to Sigma Chi’s national Philanthropy, Huntsman Cancer Research. Our goal is to create a fun week for the sororities, while raising money for a good cause.
HCDP: Which event are you most excited for and why?BA: I am the most excited for the dance off on Tuesday. I love to see the creativity and good laughs each sorority puts into their routine. We love to see the Brothers do things outside of their daily comfort zones, for example last year AXiD had one of our brothers wear a dress for a 90’s themed dance routine where he was the center of attention to Shania Twain’s “I feel like a woman”.
HCDP: How can people not involved in sororities and fraternities get involved with Derby DaysBA: People Not involved in FSL are able to attend every event and even help raise money by doing our dine to donate. Unfortunately, since this is only our second year we haven’t been able to figure out a way to get Non-FSL teams involved, but at this point it is our intention to have a system set up in the near future for such teams.
HCDP: How did you get involved with Sigma Chi?BA: I pledged Sigma Chi Fall Quarter of Freshman year. I was a founding father, and part of Alpha Class. As one of the first 19 men in our fraternity, I took on the role of treasurer. I was responsible for all of our finances, Budgets, and since we were new, creating our banking system and filing as a Non-for-profit with the government. Then in Spring of last year I was nominated as Derby Chair, and took over in the production of hopefully another successful Derby Days. When I finished as treasurer Winter Quarter, I was then voted into/promoted to President of Sigma Chi. This position has been one of the most rewarding and educational experiences while at college, and has kept me extremely busy. I at times can be overwhelmed with all there is to do between Derby Days and President, but thankfully I have 48 brothers who are always willing to help in any way and are always just as excited as I to make our Chapter of Sigma Chi one of the best in the nation.
HCDP: What is your favorite part of being involved in a fraternity at DePaul?BA: I contribute a lot of my success in recent life to being in a fraternity. I specifically love Sigma Chi, but in all honesty any fraternity is a great experience because it allows you to work on communication skills, bond and make friends, and most importantly find a group of people who make you feel like you belong at DePaul. I was fortunate enough to have gotten an internship with an accounting firm downtown on my first interview, and I contribute a lot of that to the fraternity. I was able to talk about leadership roles in the fraternity, experiences I have grown from because of the fraternity, and also I think that I came off as very congenial, a trait I would have to say is a result of being able to talk in front of large groups because of the Fraternity. I love how close the greek life is here at DePaul, and would like to say that having a group of people I feel I belong to on campus has made my experience here at DePaul a meaningful one. I feel that the Key to a happy and productive college experience is just to be involved.
HCDP: Tell me your favorite Sigma Chi memory. BA: My favorite Sigma Chi experience is hands down the night of our Chartering. I was leading the committee that planned the night at the Drake Hotel, and I can’t even describe how pleased I was with how the evening turned out. Everyone looked stunning in their Tuxes, and dresses. The food was absolutely on point, and being able to see my name on the charter for Sigma Chi at DePaul, something that will remain on campus for a very long time, made all the work worth it. That night will go down as one I’ll remember for the rest of my life because of the good times, good friends, and good food.
HCDP: What’s a typical day in the life of the Sigma Chi president?BA: LONG. I basically wake up to at least 3 new emails a day, from either the school, brothers, or Sigma Chi’s around the nation trying to get in contact with me for various reasons. We are blessed to have such a large concentration of Sigs in the Chicago area who all want to help with everything we do. I spend my days trying to balance School work with meetings, placing orders, communicating with brothers, giving updates to our national HQ, writing emails, being a brother, and being a young adult.
HCDP: Where can we find you on campus? (e.g. favorite study spot, favorite place to eat, etc.)BA: You can find me at my apartment. Fortunately, I live across the street from DePaul, super convenient, so I spend most of my days enjoying such a great apartment. When I do get out, you may find me at the JTR, or my favorite is to just walk around Chicago and explore this great city, one of the main reasons I came to DePaul. I love Pequod’s Pizza, or there is a little Deli on Clark where I get my favorite, Rubens and Sweet Tea. State is good too. I am always trying new places though and love to explore for hidden gems downtown. I don’t sit around often, life moves too quickly to waste it doing nothing fun or productive.
(Long Walks on the beach are fun too)