Sigma Phi Epsilon awarded its 2001 Balanced Man Scholarship to four male freshmen during an awards banquet featuring former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell.
Sig Ep's scholarship recognizes freshman males for their ability to balance academics and activities during their high school careers.
The banquet was held on Thursday night at the Sheraton University City.
College freshman Jon Pomeroy won first place, which included an $800 award. Toby Haselberger, also a College freshman, was awarded the $600 second prize.
Engineering freshman Adam Schlosser walked away with third prize, which carried a $400 award. Paul McDonald, a College freshman, won $200 for fourth place.
Sig Ep President Aaron Tidman said that the award is not only meant to recognize academic achievement, but also involvement in extracurricular activities, such as community service and sports.
"We believe part of being balanced is having other things in your life," the College senior said.
Applications were sent out to the incoming freshman class over the summer, and between 250 and 300 applied. The fraternity interviewed 75 of the initial applicants, and only 40 of those were granted a second interview.
Sig Ep brothers looked at grade point averages and SAT scores, but also considered extracurricular activities and any special honors the applicants received.
"Penn does a lot of the academic cutting-down for us," Tidman said. "Basically everyone who gets into Penn is smart."
Tidman said that face-to-face interviews were crucial, as personality is an important factor in determining the winners, and fraternity members were interested in getting to know the applicants on an individual level.
We "like to meet them, talk to them, see that they're personable, good guys," he said.
According to Tidman, it was also important for fraternity brothers to evaluate whether the applicants would continue to excel at Penn.
The fraternity invited 30 finalists to the banquet, giving them certificates and mugs for making it to the final round.
Pomeroy said that he was quite surprised at winning first place.
"I was shocked," he said, pointing to the higher SAT scores of the other finalists. "I had decent SATs, but they had like 1440 and 1460.
"I was really surprised that they [selected] me," he said, adding that he believes his involvement in 25 activities during high school, including six sports during senior year, impressed the Sig Ep brothers.
Schlosser said he was also thrilled to win the award.
"Just coming to school at Penn, I figured that the majority of people would have the same credentials that I do," he said.
The monetary prizes were awarded in the form of checks, allowing the applicant to determine how to use the award.
Pomeroy said that his parents want him to use the money toward tuition, and that he plans to use it to purchase textbooks.
"It's awesome," he said. "I appreciate it so much."
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