Commitment to leadership recently bonded members of the Greek and non-Greek communities together, as Beta Theta Pi awarded their annual “Men of Principle” Scholarship that is given to an unaffiliated student.
This is the second year in a row that Beta Theta Pi has awarded the scholarship.
According to Beta Theta Pi Recruitment Chair and Arts & Sciences Junior Michael Hall, the scholarship is a fairly recent one, initiated by the fraternity headquarters based upon their “Men of Principle” value. Intellectual growth is important to the fraternity, and as Hall explained, the scholarship recipient is someone who demonstrates this principle.
“We just want to see a high value on learning, and that doesn’t necessarily mean just GPA; we want to see what kind of activities they are involved in,” Hall said.
Beta Theta Pi received about 50 applicants for the $500 scholarship, which was open to any male, non-Greek Creighton student. Around 30 applicants were then called back for an interview with Hall.
The questions centered around the applicant’s leadership experience at Creighton, their role models,and what they hope their lasting legacy is at Creighton. After all the interviews were finished, Beta Theta Pi chose Arts & Sciences Senior Jorge Rojas-Ruiz as the recipient of their scholarship.
Hall said that Rojas-Ruiz’s strong leadership at Creighton is what stood out to him.
Rojas-Ruiz, an economics and international relations double major, currently serves as the diversity coordinator for the Creighton Students Union and has been involved with service trips to Bolivia. Last semester, he also founded the group Democracy Matters on campus.
Democracy Matters aims to educate students about the role that money plays in politics.
“The long-term goal of the organization nationwide has been to petition Congress and state leaders to limit lobbying,” Rojas-Ruiz said.
He also said that he plans to allocate some of the scholarship money he received from Beta Theta Pi into Democracy Matters, to help the group grow.
After graduation, Rojas-Ruiz is looking to find a job in the non-profit field, or head to law school. He recently interviewed with the Clinton Global Initiative Branch of the Clinton Foundation, headquartered in New York City.
“The position involves trying to promote sustainable development in under-developed countries, which is want I really want to do,” Rojas-Ruiz said.
Beta Theta Pi plans to award another Men of Principle Scholarship next fall. The application process will be about the same as this year, but Hall hopes to spread the news about the scholarship to more of the campus by providing more recognition of the applicants.
“Hopefully we can actually have an event where we present the award, where all the applicants are present,” Hall said. “That would be the main goal.”