The Beta Epsilon Chi Cardinals and their brother society, the Alpha Theta Razorbacks, were awarded the first ever Brother/Sister Partnership Award at last semester’s Society Leadership Banquet. The award, created primarily to celebrate the close-knit bond between the two societies, is becoming a model for other brother/sister societies to follow.

Aly Arellano, Beta Epsilon’s president, said there’s always an energetic cheering section at all Alpha and Cardinal games. “When you hear ‘Beta [Epsilon],’ you automatically assume Alpha,” Arellano said.

Arellano has a point. Attend any of either societies’ games and there will be an energetic cheering section from Alpha or the Cardinals.

“They’re very vocal, they’re definitely not quiet about it,” Arellano said, referring to the Alpha cheering section.

But the societies do more than attend each other’s games. Last semester, then Alpha president Aaron Iles organized other ways for the two societies to become closer. Iles set up an exercise competition called “Month of Miles” with an online tracking program. Society members were encouraged to run at least one mile every day for the month of March. Miles were calculated according to society, and the top runners were recognized. “It was pretty even for a while,” Iles said. “But the Cardinals pulled out the win in the end.”

Dating outings, prayer meetings and a weekly joint society lunch are a few of the ways Beta Epsilon and Alpha spend time together. Nate Lucas, a senior business administration major and current president of Alpha, said one of the main reasons Alpha is so close to Beta Epsilon is that their relationship is built on everyday interactions and not just one big occasion.

“It’s the little, teeny, tiny things; it’s not like we have this one event,” Lucas said. He added that the desire to be actively involved with their sister society is one of the major contributors to the overall relationship. In order to do this, the officers from Beta Epsilon and Alpha meet multiple times a semester to plan upcoming events and brainstorm new ways to get involved.

One of these new ways was the first ever joint society meeting at the end of last semester. The 35 minutes were packed with competitions between officers, Minute to Win It games, devotionals and singing.

“Something that really sticks out to me is our voices blending,” Arellano said. She also said the two societies are planning to have a joint-society meeting every semester, at the busiest point in the semester, in order to encourage the members of both societies.

“At the end of the day it goes a lot deeper than societies,” Arellano said, adding that from this interaction she has made lifetime friendships. Lucas agreed with this statement, mentioning how on several occasions Cardinal alumni have asked Alpha members for help. The response he said was instantaneous.

“We want to show the school what a brother-sister relationship should be,” he said.