Beta Epsilon conducts first Distinguished Alumni Webinar Series

The Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series (DALS) is one out of the multitude of events that the UP Beta Epsilon Fraternity hosts annually in celebration of its anniversary month. It is a series of lectures catered to the students of the College of Engineering that features alumni Betans, Sweethearts, and Betanettes sharing their advice, lessons and experiences about various topics and industries. However, due to the restrictions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the resident brothers needed to adapt and rework DALS into an event fit for the online setting of the fraternity’s 91st Anniversary.

Held on the 15th and 22nd days of August in 2020, the first-ever Distinguished Alumni Webinar Series (DAWS) was hosted by the fraternity as a series of lectures with the focus on younger alumni speakers and more modern topics to engage with Engineering students more effectively in this day and age. This event was held via the Zoom platform with over 70 registrants and also streamed live on Facebook gaining around 1500 views. Session 1 of DAWS featured brothers Paolo Malong BE’12, who shared about the Engineering Practice in Manufacturing, and Larry Espiritu BE’14, whose topic was on Innovation and Business: How to Align Innovative Ideas and Convert them into Businesses. A week later, Session 2 featured brothers Ryan Abis BE’14, who spoke about Engineering in Policy Analysis, and Pepe Berba BE’14, who discussed Cybersecurity 101: The Mechanics of a Phishing Attack. Feedback on the success of the event was positive overall with merit given by both alumni brothers and by the College of Engineering students on the refreshing set of topics and relatable speakers.

Overall, the resident brothers of the 91st Term were successful in creating an event that directly engaged the Engineering students while celebrating the fraternity’s anniversary month during the pandemic. DAWS proved to be a good example of Beta Epsilon’s ability to adapt to changing times and shows that the fraternity will continue to ground its events and activities towards service to the community.