Marketing Chair, Sigma Alpha Epsilon
A chapter that needed to look like a brand
SAE had events, philanthropy, and a rush season that decides how the next year goes. What it did not have was anything holding the look together. I took the Marketing Chair role in January 2025 and spent twelve months building that, then running it across print, merch, and social.
My Role
Elected to it, then figured it out
Marketing Chair is a member role, not a job. That meant every asset, every channel, and every deadline was mine. Newsletter, rush campaign, event posters, merch, and the chapter’s social. I made all of it myself, on top of a full course load.
The Brief
Three goals for the year
What I set out for goals was simple to say and harder to do.
01
Modernize
Bring the visual identity into the present without discarding what the chapter already meant.
02
Win rush
Reach incoming freshmen during the weeks that decide the chapter’s next four years.
03
Stay consistent
One voice across Instagram, print, merch, and email — not four different chapters.
Identity
One system, applied everywhere
A refreshed logo set, a type treatment that stayed the same, and layout rules that made everything after it faster to make. The crest work below shows up on merch, print, and the tournament materials.
The Chronicle
A chapter newsletter that reads like a newspaper
Instead of another email blast, I built the Colorado Chi Chronicle like a real newspaper. Custom masthead, multi-column grid, drop caps, standing sections, and a QR code that pulled alumni back to the chapter. Six issues went out that year, and the format picked up two national awards.
The series — six issues, one system
Campaigns
A different world for every event
Every event got its own look instead of a template with the date swapped out. A vintage ski poster for the Aspen mixer, a Grateful Dead cover for Woodstock, hand-drawn type for Ice Age. What stays the same is the effort, not the layout.
Merch
Things people wanted to wear
Apparel is the only design a chapter carries around campus for free. I helped promote the Boulder Tee. Collaboration was also important when working with other greek life chapters. This valentines day hoodie makes sure that everyone is happy with the product.
Philanthropy
The work that wasn’t about us
Kilometers for Cancer and the 988 crisis-line poster got the same care as anything for rush. More, honestly. The audience was the whole campus and the stakes were not social.
The Numbers
What a year of it moved
Chapter Instagram, over the twelve months I ran it.
Recognition
What it earned
The newsletter ended up traveling further than the chapter did.
01
SAE National Awards
The chapter’s creative work recognized at the national level, raising our standing beyond campus.
02
Two newsletter awards
The Colorado Chi Chronicle picked up two additional awards on the strength of the format alone.
03
Alumni engagement
Alumni re-engaged through the newsletter, and would reach out to get re-involved with our chapter.
“Looking at the instagram, I got to learn about the brothers, and it looked like a cool group of guys I wanted to be a part of.”
– Ben CoteCU Boulder, Class of 2029
Takeaways
What I learned running it.
The most useful thing I learned here had nothing to do with software. A new member told me he joined because of what he saw on the Instagram. That is the whole argument for design work, and it came from someone with no reason to say it. Everything else on this page is craft. That sentence is the result.