Scholarship Spotlight

The Sigma Alpha Mu Foundation is proud to announce newly created scholarships that will be awarded for the first time in Spring 2025. The scholarships will join over 150 others as part of the Lawrence D. Schaffer Endowed Scholarship Program. For more information, visit www.sam-fdn.org.

Jordan Kaplan Scholarship

The Jordan Kaplan Scholarship was created by Jordan’s (Beta Gamma/Arizona ’99) family in his memory and to honor his lifelong fraternal friendships. The $1,000 scholarship will benefit a worthy member of the Beta Gamma chapter who represents Jordan’s deep concern for animals, enthusiasm for marketing and investments, and spirit of entrepreneurism through their academics and community service. Jordan’s mother and brother have been instrumental in creating this scholarship, the first exclusively for the Beta Gamma chapter.

Mu Gamma Engineering Scholarship

The Mu Gamma Engineering Scholarship has been endowed by Sanford Levine (Mu Gamma/CWRU ’73) in honor of the Mu Gamma chapter and will be awarded to a deserving engineering student for the first time in 2025. While the Mu Gamma chapter is currently dormant, the alumni are still active, and two legacies of Mu Gamma alumni received scholarships in 2024 – Sam Cogan (Sigma Chi, '22), grandson of Robert Snider (Mu Gamma ’58), and Jack Scherson (Delta Omega, '21), son of Arturo Scherson (Mu Gamma, ’87). The Mu Gamma Engineering $1,000 Scholarship will be available to any worthy engineering major from any active ΣAM chapter.

Morton C. Pollack Memorial Scholarship

Created by Darren Margolis (Gamma Iota,’92) in memory of his uncle, the Morton C. Pollack (Sigma Chi, ’49) Memorial Scholarship is for an undergraduate or graduate student who is a member of a synagogue and has demonstrated involvement in Israel and/or Jewish programs or services. In times like these, Fra Margolis feels that it is more important than ever to celebrate ΣAM’s Jewish heritage and support those who make a difference for the Jewish community.

Robert L. Burg Scholarships

In 2024-25 the Robert L. Burg Scholarships will be awarded to deserving students from the Tau Chapter at Alabama. Fra Burg and his cousin joined Tau before leaving for military service. After serving 3 ½ years in the Army Air Corps, Fra Burg returned to the U.S. and continued his education at Washington University. The Burg Scholarship fund will provide scholarships for both chapters, although Phi is currently dormant. In Spring 2025, $14,000 will be awarded in scholarships from this fund for deserving Tau students.

Todd Marks PRIDE Scholarship

Previously funded but set to be awarded for the first time in 2025 is the Todd Marks PRIDE Scholarship. Created by Todd Marks (Gamma Iota, ’90), this scholarship is for an undergraduate member who is “out” and demonstrates advocacy to both the Fraternity and LGBTQ causes. This award is just one example of how our scholarship program celebrates a diverse student community.

Guller Young Scholars

The Sigma Alpha Mu Foundation continues to lead the way with our Guller Young Scholars program for new initiates who earn a 3.75 or higher. The program was the vision of Sidney Guller (Phi, ’43), who believed that fraternity and academic achievement are the keys to success on campus and beyond. Last year we had our largest group ever with 168 Guller Young Scholars, representing 32 Chapters!

1,939 fratres have earned the distinction of being Guller Young Scholars and we hope to cross the 2000 threshold in 2025. Sigma Alpha Mu is proud to be the only Greek organization that offers this program to all of its members.