Balanced Man Scholarship

November 16, 2010

Five years ago the Balanced Man Scholarship made its debut to the University of California at Santa Barbara, reaching the remarkable undergraduates of this beautiful campus. On Sunday November 14, The Sigma Phi Epsilon California Gamma chapter hosted the fifth consecutive Balanced Man Banquet Award ceremony at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort in downtown Santa Barbara, dispersing $5,250 in scholarship funds.

With an abundance of incredibly qualified finalists in attendance, President Jacob Eurich and Vice President of Recruitment Max Young found it difficult to distinguish the six select few winners. However, the Balanced Man Scholarship was commenced for the purpose of acknowledging the finest and most admirable men that walk to the halls of a university, which must be reserved for an elite faction. Those men with the lofty ideals and healthy lifestyles are the ones this ceremony embraces; gentlemen who demonstrate athleticism, a high regard for scholastics and a strong sense of self discipline.

The banquet was a success due mainly to SigEp’s former Grand Chapter President, Bill Tragos, who sunk his inspiring words of wisdom into the young minds of applicants and members alike. With audacity, the three musically inclined SigEp actives, Jonathan Burke, Chris Garcia and Mikel Pers followed Tragos’ speech with a tremendous performance of their rendition of Hallelujah and Old Crow Medicine Show’s Wagon Wheel. Finally, the awards were given to the most deserving men including three SigEp actives, one incoming SigEp and two unaffiliated undergraduate students. The $750 SigEp Sophomore Brother Award was given to Drey Liautaud, the Vice President of Risk Management for the Inter-Fraternity Council. Drey returned to UCSB after spending the summer in Chicago where he received managerial training as an intern for the sandwich franchise Jimmy Johns. The $750 Junior Brother award went to Ryan Andrade, the Vice President of Finance for the Cal Gamma chapter. Ryan is currently studying abroad in Spain with a program that allows him to pursue his interest in Business Economics; therefore his mother was present to accept the award for him. Our final $750 Senior Brother Award was presented to Kevin Stolzenbach, the Cal Gamma chapter’s Chaplain. Kevin is studying Aquatic Biology at the university and had the privilege of spending his entire summer last year in Australia tagging sharks, dissecting specimens and deploying drum lines in the world beneath. Just one day before the ceremony, he ran the SigEp sponsored Santa Barbara Half Marathon in an exceptional 1:29:48.

The concluding winners were Hermis Alvarenga, Hardeep Singh and Chingiz Bigalimov, three freshmen undergraduates with Hermis currently pledging SigEp. Hermis Alvarenga received a $750 Balanced Man Scholarship for his standing in the top 3 percent of his graduating class at La Mirada High School where he maintained a 4.1 GPA and was named a Scholar Athlete. While attending La Mirada High School, Hermis donated over 250 hours of his time as a coach and officiate for a youth basketball league.

The acceptor of the last $750 scholarship, Hardeep Singh, was named Goleta Teen of the Year and received the President’s Award for Education Excellence recognize by the President and U.S. Secretary of Education. Hardeep graduated with a 3.93 cumulative GPA from Dos Pueblos High School, which resides no more than two and a half miles from UCSB’s campus.

The winner of the Grand Prize $1,500 Balanced Man Scholarship Award was Chingiz Bigalimov. Originally from Kazakhstan, Chingiz journeyed west to Canada at the age of 9 and eventually to Costa Mesa, California, where he lead as captain of his water polo and swim team, setting an Swimming Orange Coast League Record in 2009. With his accomplishments despite a challenging road of adversity, The Sigma Phi Epsilon California Gamma Chapter recognizes Chingiz as a well deserved victor of the Grand Prize Balanced Man Scholarship Award.