Louisiana State Sigs Step Up For CHOICES Program
The undergraduate chapter at Louisiana State University is making a donation to a cause in the name of a fallen brother.
The Sigs from Baton Rouge lost Keller Zibilich, 2015, when he committed suicide on April 21, 2012. Although devastated, the chapter responded with a selfless act to honor Zibilich by donating $25,000 to the Sigma Chi Foundation to benefit Sigma Chi’s CHOICES alcohol and drug awareness program, with the hope that the program will soon focus on suicide prevention in the future.
“If the [CHOICES] program can make a difference and help save people’s lives — even if it is just one life — that’s all we can ask for,” says former Consul Nick Poché.
The idea for the donation — which will be named the Keller Zibilich Memorial Scholarship — came from Southern Province Grand Praetor Tony Thompson, MISSISSIPPI STATE 1992, and was supported by former chapter advisor and Order of Constantine Sig Rickey Heroman, 1976. The chapter then proposed the donation to the Zibilich family, who loved the idea. “They were excited that it's a great way to provide education [on suicide]. I guess it’s a way for other chapters and people to learn from a tragedy,” Poché says.
The chapter hosted a CHOICES presentation in April 2012, just before Zibilich’s death, but now the chapter would like to see suicide prevention curriculum added to the program. So the Louisiana State Sigs donated an initial gift of $3,000 in September and will donate the proceeds of their future Derby Days philanthropic events to the Foundation to benefit CHOICES until they reach the $25,000 total.
When Poché attended Grand Council in Cleveland in summer 2012, he witnessed the names of undergraduates who passed away during a Chapter Eternal ceremony. He knew some were because of suicide. That hit him hard. “I couldn't believe it. I think suicide is a more common event than people realize,” Poché says. “If we can make a difference at all [with our donation], that would be great.”
The chapter’s spring election for Derby Days chairman — won by Matthew Palmer, 2014 — had a little bit more meaning, now that all funds raised from the event will go to honor Zibilich through donations to the Foundation to benefit CHOICES. “[Zibilich’s death] really hit home,” Poché said. “When the money we are raising is being donated [to a program that deals with a tragedy] that affected one of our brothers, it provides extra motivation for success.”
Anyone interested in making a donation to the Louisiana State Sigs and Sigma Chi’s CHOICES program, please contact Poché via email at jnpoche@yahoo.com.
Any chapter interested in giving a philanthropic donation to the Foundation can please contact Melinda McIntire, associate director of development for undergraduate engagement, at melinda.mcintire@sigmachi.org or (847) 869-3655, ext. 264.
