Finding success in all areas of his high school — government, athletics, academics and social life — Rob Sabin left his home state of Georgia for Tuscaloosa in the fall of 2006 with full expectations of making an immediate impact on campus.
Unfortunately for Sabin, immediate impacts are not that simple to achieve. “It was frustrating,” Sabin said, recalling his difficulty in becoming known as a freshman. “Because you can’t move up in the system as fast as you want to. It’s discouraging because all you’re trying to do is make a positive impact.”
Having patiently and diligently made his rise through the ranks of the Alabama greek system for three years, Sabin is now making his impact. He currently serves as Vice President of his fraternity, Kappa Sigma and was elected the Executive Vice President of the Inter-Fraternal Council. Last year, he was named IFC’s Executive Board Member of the Year. He is a member of one of the University’s oldest and most prestigious male honoraries, the Jasons, and on top of this, Sabin has organized two initiatives that make his impact on campus even stronger.
Knowing the difficulty of transitioning into a fraternity and university simultaneously, Sabin implemented a tutoring program for pledges through the Center for Teaching and Learning last fall. After a year of development, the program is ready to go for the fall 2009 semester, allowing fraternities to arrange tutoring sessions on almost all subjects for their new members during their study halls or other free time.
“We have math tutors, we have English tutors, we have econ tutors — anything that the freshmen might be taking, we can find help for them” Sabin said.
He hopes the program will provide relief to the fraternities who often find that their largest setbacks in their chapter’s grade point average come from their new members. Sabin wasn’t satisfied with stopping there. He also organized Greek Fest, a campus-wide greek philanthropy concert. Greek Fest allows the opportunity to unify all the greek organizations at the Capstone. All sororities and fraternities purchased tickets for their members, and 2000 additional tickets were available to the general student population.
Although Greek Fest’s goal is charity, Sabin said he refuses to coordinate an event that will not also be enjoyable for his fellow greeks.
“Our aim,” he said before the festival, “is to achieve the biggest philanthropic donation possible while still entertaining those in attendance with big-name bands.”
Az-Izz, Keller Williams, Robert Earl Keen and moe were booked to ensure the evening would be both beneficial to the philanthropies of the Billfish Foundation and Magic Moments while still being fun and memorable for those who attend. This dedication is what distinguishes the greek system at the Capstone. It helps erase boundaries between the houses and attracts greeks to a common cause. And as Sabin said, the only way to become important is to make everyone else the most important priority.
Helpful blog, bookmarked the website with hopes to read more!