Making its grand debut in the chapter room this month is the plaque commemorating Gerald “Jerry” Coffee (EP 468) and those that win the scholarship in his name. Awarded last November at Sigma Nu Honors, an annual dinner event where scholarship award recipients are announced and recognized, Captain Coffee was on hand as the Peter Slaats (EP 2027) received the inaugural award.
For photos and a recap of that historic event, click here.
Showing the type of initiative that led the Alumni Scholarship Selection Committee to select Slaats as the 2018 Gerald L. Coffee Scholarship recipient, the former Eminent Commander commissioned a plaque to memorialize future winners of this important scholarship.
The Gerald L. Coffee Scholarship plaque can now be found in the Chapter Room, next to the door leading into the Hole hallway.
The merit-based award is named in honor of Brother Coffee, who has led an extraordinary life of service and whose bravery during 7 years of imprisonment during the Vietnam War earned him a “Silver Star” medal. His persistence and creativity in facilitation of “tap-code” communication among P.O.W.s was monumental in creating a formal resistance posture to the enemy and his ability to maintain hope, faith, courage and honor in the face of such extreme conditions has inspired thousands worldwide through his speaking presentations and his acclaimed book “Beyond Survival”.
Here is a brief video from the 2018 Sigma Nu Honors:
The scholarship is the highest honor and distinction awarded to a student by the Epsilon Pi Alumni of Sigma Nu Fraternity through the Sigma Nu AlumniScholarship Fund and provides a $10,000 payment to the University as a credit against tuition. To earn the honor Slaats underwent a rigorous application process to identify the upperclassman Brother who best exemplifies the highest ideals of Leadership and the Sigma Nu Creed as lived fully in the life of Captain Coffee.
This powerful scholarship program is funded and maintained solely by UCLASigma Nu alumni donations. For alumni interested in expanding the impact of our Sigma Nu Honors program please DONATE and CONTACT US if you’d like to participate in the 2019 selection process.