Happy Fraternity Friday! This week’s profile is Sam Astle, Alpha Delta’s current Vice President of Membership. Sam is a senior here at the University of Maine and is working towards completing his Marketing degree.
Originally born in San Diego, California, he eventually moved to Houlton, Maine at the age of four which is a small town with a population of about 5,813 people. Sam describes his hometown as “the gateway to the middle of nowhere,” highlighting that for perspective, common activities consist of drives to their local Walmart or McDonald’s. Nonetheless, Sam thoroughly enjoyed his childhood and is still fond of where he grew up for a majority of it. Outside of his academics and his fraternity, if you’re looking to find Sam, you’ll most likely find him hiking, skiing, hunting, or reading in his free time.
Sam started his secondary education at the University of Southern Maine, where Greek life wasn’t as prevalent on campus. It was actually his parents who were fascinated with the idea of Sam gaining lifelong brothers through membership in a fraternity. Subsequently, when he transferred to the University of Maine in his sophomore year, he decided to explore the idea of joining a Fraternity in order to humor his parents. He rushed multiple ones here on campus, including Alpha Delta, but the timing wasn’t right. Even though Sam decided Greek life wasn’t for him at that particular moment in his life, he still found himself surrounded by brothers of Alpha Delta in his academic and personal careers. Being one of the smaller Fraternities on campus, Sam didn’t think that this would be the case, but to his surprise, even his roommate was an Alpha Delta. After much thought, Sam decided to accept a bid from Alpha Delta his Junior year in the Fall of 2018.
Alpha Delta has given Sam a place to both assume responsibility and gain leadership. During his first semester as an initiated brother, Sam was elected as their Vice President of Membership which is a position that entails holding the responsibilities of recruiting and educating the new pledges. As a new brother, this is considered to be a very challenging and high responsibility position to take on because it’s difficult to educate and lead new members having only seen one side of the recruitment experience. However, it was with the help of the President at the time and the Chapter Advisor that enabled him to learn the ropes of his position so that he could perform well in his new role. For him, not only was he able to challenge himself but the most rewarding part of his job was being able to see the pledges grow throughout their new member experience as he saw nervous pledges grow into emerging leaders – making all the stress worth it.
Sam has also developed a new sense of responsibility due to the amount of community service he performs through the philanthropic efforts of Alpha Delta. Just this last semester, with ten active brothers, Alpha Delta was able to knock out 450 hours of community service between all of them. Brothers of Alpha Delta are to thank for a variety of our favorite aspects of being at the University of Maine, such as Bananas the Bear and the Late Night Local that they run with their sister sorority, Gamma Sigma Sigma and in addition, they even work the fog horn at the University of Maine’s hockey games. We have all gotten the chance to see our beloved Bananas the Bear, and I know he always brings a smile to my face, the University of Maine wouldn’t be the same without him and we have Alpha Delta to thank for that. The Late Night Local is also extremely important to the university, offering rides to those who would have been left walking in the cold; sometimes driving around until two in the morning to ensure that all members in our community who need transportation in the winter months have access to it, no matter the time of night.
Alpha Delta’s philanthropy is deeply rooted in alignment with its three core values: leadership, brotherhood, and service. Leadership isn’t about taking control, it is about leading from the front and this attribution is important to Sam because if he can help his brothers by guiding them, he feels as though he should take any chance as it is his duty. Sam uniquely described brotherhood as “from the outside in, you don’t understand it. From the inside out, you can’t explain it,” Of course, he has had his tifts with brothers but at the end of the day, they’re family, no matter what comes between them. Lastly, service is taking time out of his day to help the people in his community and this might be Bananas walking around Alfond Arena making children smile or driving the local to keep people from having to walk in the cold. Regardless, Sam has always had a strong desire to have a positive impact on the world and when asked which value means the most to him, he compares my ultimatum to “forcing [him] to pick a favorite child.” After much deliberation among the three, it is ultimately service that comes out on top as the winner because Sam feels if “[he] can make the world a better place with [his] time,” why shouldn’t he make every effort to do so?
With Sam’s time at the University of Maine coming to an end, he wishes to leave a legacy of hard work, ethic, and sacrifice in his chapter. He hopes to leave his whole program for the next Vice President of Membership and notes that it is a constantly evolving position that wasn’t in the best spot when it was handed to him. Therefore, he would like to leave a solid foundation for his successor so that it can only move forward and progress further than it already has in his more than capable and dedicated hands. He would like to credit Alpha Delta for helping him grow into the leader he is today and for equipping him with a multitude of skills and experiences that will serve him well as he gets ready to enter his post-undergraduate life.
Her Campus would like to personally thank both Sam and the chapter of Alpha Delta for the behind the scenes work they do for our community. Through this interview, I was able to revel in the true essence of hard work and commitment to service that is instilled into the men of Alpha Delta.