UNM student Brandon Aragon made history when he was elected the first president of the Southeastern Interfraternity Conference outside the southeastern region of the United States.
The Southeastern Interfraternity Conference or SEIFC is an organization of IFC councils across the United States, once only serving the Southeastern region; SEIFC now accepts members’ schools from across the country.
Every year, the SEIFC conducts its Leadership Academy at the Westin Buckhead in Atlanta, Ga. Approximately 400 fraternity men and more than 50 university IFC councils attend the Academy, whose purpose is to educate fraternal men.
Last year, Aragon, a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity at UNM, was elected to the five-member student board as vice president of Vendors. In that position he worked hard to recruit vendors and created partnerships with businesses to sponsor the conference. At this year’s conference, held in February, Aragon decided to run for president of the organization.
“I knew I had gained strong and valuable experience, I had to continue my efforts to serve the fraternal movement across the country,” Aragon said.
Aragon has held a variety of leadership positions on the UNM campus including vice president external of the UNM Interfraternity Council, multiple positions within his own fraternity and recently ended his term as an ASUNM senator.
Aragon is making an effort to grow the fraternal movement across the country by helping change the negative stereotypes people associate with Greek Life. He hopes to grow SEIFC and educational programming to other university IFCs across the country.
“It’s a tremendous honor to represent not just my fraternity, but UNM on a national level,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the year ahead.”