text and photo by Nicholas A. Ziegler, Editor-in-Chief

The Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation is committed to bettering its undergraduate members. To that end, the Foundation awarded $66,500 in scholarships for the 2009-2010 school year. Miles McGinley, an undergraduate at Northwestern, received $3,000 through the W. Emil Forman Award for Community Service. He recently spoke to The Record about the role community service plays in his life.

How did you get involved with community service?
Community service was something I started in high school. I worked with the Red Cross as a first-aid team volunteer. We worked at the University of Oregon football games, and we were the first to respond in an emergency.

So the Red Cross played an important role in your life?
Actually, senior year of high school, my family’s house burned down. The Red Cross was the first to help as part of its community-outreach program, offering us support and providing some basic needs. Through the generosity of others, I realized how much that volunteer work means to the people who receive it. I was involved with the Red Cross before the house fire, but I have trained as a wildlands firefighter for the last two summers, helping to control fires in Oregon and California, because I know how much it means to lose your home.

How did you become involved with the Fraternity?
I was athletic in high school and was the captain of our varsity football team. When I arrived at Northwestern, I joined the club rugby team. Many of the guys on the team are brothers, so I learned about the great things Sigma Alpha Epsilon is doing. I wanted to be a part of that.

And that made you join?
Yes. And through a lot of the brothers in the house, I’ve branched out with my studies. I’m a junior, getting a degree in a program called mathematical methods in the social sciences. The other members are involved with the Kellogg [School of Business] certificate program, so I found out about opportunities to study in that field. I even got a job working for a private-equity firm last summer to get a taste of financial markets, finances and banking through my Fraternity connections.

So you have other work experience?
Yes, and that experience comes back to community service, too. I worked with a Kellogg [School of Business at Northwestern] professor as a consultant to a nonprofit group called the Child Care Network of Evanston, which helps kids find learning programs and care groups at a young age. I’m also the manager of the chapter house, so I’m getting leadership experience. Being the risk manager of the chapter helped, too, because having to discipline your peers isn’t easy.

What’s been the best part about the Fraternity experience?
We have a lot of international members in our chapter. One brother is actually from Jakarta, Indonesia, and we had an opportunity to visit him in his home country. That was an incredible experience and an incredible resource for my life.