On May 10, 2022, Steadman Boston (Winthrop ‘17) received a phone call from Joe Halcomb (Kentucky ‘74), the chairman of the scholarship committee, congratulating him on being the first SAE to be awarded the Overall Excellence Award. This scholarship is one of the highest foundation scholarships that can be received.
During Steadman’s undergraduate years, he was the founding Eminent Archon of the SAE chapter at Winthrop University, located in South Carolina. Once they were chartered in 2016, he then became chapter advisor. He now has been with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon staff for two years. He currently serves as the Director of Accountability.
To expand his involvement, he joined the South Carolina Province Council for five years, serving as the vice president. Boston also founded the River Foundation with the help of two other SAE brothers, Jamodd Jenkins (Winthrop ‘19), and Ryan Arioli (Winthrop ‘17). “This nonprofit education foundation gives students and teachers in need grants/scholarships,” Steadman said.
The Overall Excellence Award extends $5,000 to a brother who has demonstrated overall excellence in living the values of the Fraternity: Friendship, Scholarship, Leadership, and Service. A GPA of 3.0 (out of 4.0) or higher is required.
In order to be considered, the Scholarship Committee, composed of various alumni, reads and evaluates all completed applications and then makes scholarship selections as a group based on their review. A score card is used in evaluating and ranking the applicants for the various awards.
Anyone is eligible to apply for this award if members will be enrolled in a college/university the following academic year. Since Boston is currently working towards getting his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at Northcentral University, this gave him the opportunity to apply. Steadman scored the highest among all of the applicants on the consolidated scores by the 11-member committee, including several province archons.
“Receiving this award is very special to me because it is the first time the foundation has given it. Personally, it confirms that I am living the values of our ritual and making a difference,” said Steadman.
If the Overall Excellence Award interests you and you meet all criteria, applications will open in November and close in March. You can find more information about all of the scholarships SAE provides through this link: https://www.sae.net/foundation/scholarships/
