Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity hosted the 12th annual Balanced Man Scholarship Presentation on Aug. 28, awarding $2,500 in scholarships to incoming freshmen.

Winners of these awards exhibited exceptional traits exemplary of scholars, leaders, athletes and gentlemen, based on their submitted résumés and personal interviews, as well as recommendations by public figures of the UTM campus based on merit.

Three awards were presented to freshmen males. The fraternity awarded the Balanced Man Scholarship, a $2,000 scholarship, to Lucas Wilmore of Franklin.

Additionally, a $250 Excellence in Leadership Scholarship was awarded to Matthew Perry and an additional $250 Excellence in Athletics Scholarships was awarded to Markie Guy.

“I really want to thank SigEp for setting a good example for guys like me to follow,” Wilmore said.

Parents, in addition to UTM faculty and staff, attended the event, held in Watkins Auditorium. Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Jerald Ogg and Greek Life Coordinator Louis Ragsdale also attended, underscoring SigEp’s prominent leadership role on campus and in the larger Greek community.

“Any way to balance life more effectively is a worthy endeavor,” said Ogg. “It is hard for people to understand how important balance is at this age, and any program that promotes germinating balance is worthwhile.”

The Balanced Man Scholarship is offered to all entering freshmen males enrolled at UTM.

“This scholarship is one of many ways that the Greeks on this campus give back to the community in an effort to foster and promote higher ideals in others as well as themselves,” Ragsdale said.

The Balanced Man Scholarship is a public service outcrop of Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Balanced Man Development Program, which sets the fraternity off as “different” from other national fraternal organizations. The program, which took the place of the traditional pledging fraternity model, stresses responsibility in academics and athletics and offers unique leadership training opportunities to its members.