From Vantage, Fall 2015

The Sigma Alpha Gamma Chapter, an agricultural sorority at Michigan State University (MSU), created an endowed 4-H postsecondary scholarship for 4-H’ers who choose to attend MSU.

Sigma Alpha’s duck race is its major fundraiser each year. Sorority members sell rubber ducks and then release the ducks down the Red Cedar River. Pictured above are Sigma Alpha members at “The Rock” on the Michigan State campus.

A new 4-H postsecondary scholarship was created this summer by the Sigma Alpha Gamma Chapter at Michigan State University.

Sigma Alpha is a professional agricultural sorority that promotes scholarship, leadership, service and fellowship. The sorority established the Sigma Alpha Endowment at the Michigan 4-H Foundation to  provide postsecondary scholarships for 4-H members who choose to attend Michigan State University. Sigma Alpha provided an initial gift to establish the fund this summer and will continue to grow the endowment over the next five years.

Rosalyn Brummette, the president of Sigma Alpha and a 4-H member of 15 years, elaborated on what led Sigma Alpha to create an endowment with the 4-H foundation.

“We wanted to create a scholarship for incoming female students with a personal or professional interest in agriculture. After looking at our options, the Michigan 4-H Foundation posed the best long-term decision. Also, having had many of our members participate in the organization, we felt a special connection to creating a scholarship with the 4-H foundation,” she said.

Sigma Alpha hosts fund-raising events throughout the year whose proceeds have gone to Heifer International and the East Lansing Haven House, among others. Their main event is their annual duck race in the spring.

“Our sorority’s annual duck race is a philanthropy event that plays on the Gamma chapter’s mascot, the rubber ducky. Our members sell ducks for a couple dollars, and the buyers have the chance of winning prizes. We then send the rubber ducks down the Red Cedar River, with the first few finishers winning a prize,” she said.

The Gamma chapter not only raises money to support their sponsored philanthropy but also hosts events to educate the community on the charities they support.

“The four pillars of Sigma Alpha are scholarship, leadership, fellowship and service. Our sisters strive to exemplify each pillar through the works of the sorority,” Brummette said. Sigma Alpha represents the service pillar by Rosaln said.roparticipating in philanthropy events, which allows members to positively contribute to the community. m

The Gamma chapter also participates in a national service project, Ag in the Classroom, a grass-roots program coordinated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Its goal is to help students gain a greater awareness of the role of agriculture. Additionally, each fall the Gamma chapter trick-or-treats for canned goods and donates the collections to a local food shelter.

“Our members are hardworking females who hope to inspire other young women in 4-H to pursue a career in agriculture or continually promote the industry in the community around them,” she said.

Sigma Alpha was founded in 1978 at The Ohio State University by five women who wanted an alternative to the social Greek system. Since that time, Sigma Alpha has become a national organization consisting of more than 80 chapters made up of undergraduate and alumni members. Today, more than 7,000 members have been initiated into Sigma Alpha.