.Embodying a Spirit of Service to Purdue
Service to others is one of the core lifelong values Fraternity, Sorority and Cooperative Life at Purdue (FSCL) instills in Boilermakers. During their time as students, members of the FSCL community participate in events and programs that provide philanthropic support to the university, Greater Lafayette community and beyond. FSCL members often embody these ideals in their extracurricular endeavors.
Two such members of the FSCL community at Purdue are Kevin Boes and Noah Scott, each of whom served as the student trustee on the Purdue University Board of Trustees, and continue to provide service to the university community. Boes currently serves as the student trustee while pursuing a doctorate in mechanical engineering, while Scott served as the student trustee from 2019-21. Both Boes and Scott embody the Boilermaker spirit through their dedication to servant leadership.
Seeking such a role wasn’t new for Boes, who came to Purdue with a background in athletics and a desire to find productive ways to spend his time outside the classroom. His entry to leadership in FSCL came after a conversation with Brandon Cutler, associate dean and director of Fraternity, Sorority and Cooperative Life, inspired him to get involved. He went on to serve as president of the Interfraternity Council and the Chi Chapter of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. These experiences taught him the principles of leadership and how to make a meaningful impact on the community.
“From a personal and professional development standpoint, I think the fraternity experience got me to understand myself at a different level, which is important as I step into different leadership roles,” Boes says. “It gave me the self-awareness and the emotional intelligence needed to contribute at a high level.”
Scott, on the other hand, didn’t expect to become involved in FSCL prior to attending Purdue. Scott hails from a small town and says he came to college with a negative perception of fraternities due in part to stereotypes seen in media, but his perception changed thanks to the quality of the people in fraternities he formed friendships with. These connections led him to join Sigma Tau Gamma.
It wasn’t until his junior year, however, that Scott grew into a leadership role. A student employment position in the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities (OSRR) gave him some exposure to working on reports with FSCL organizations such as the IFC. At the recommendation of professional staff in OSRR, he successfully applied for and obtained a role as the vice president of administration with the IFC. In this role, Scott conducted the judicial process for the IFC – a critical role when considering the organization’s status as a self-governing body. He excelled in the role and was recognized with the Interfraternity Council’s John Wooden Award in 2020. Due to these experiences, Scott is now more willing to take on leadership roles that fit his skill set.
“Being the VP of administration for IFC showed me that I could raise my hand for something I was particularly adapted for or good at,” Scott says. “If someone else is chosen, that’s fine. I don’t want to be the person who holds a position for the sake of holding the position. I want to be there because I’m the best for the job and I have a responsibility to do that, particularly when no one else will.”
Serving as the student trustee provided more opportunities for Scott and Boes to serve the campus community. The student trustee serves a two-year appointment as the student representative on the 10-member Board of Trustees. An interview and application process administered by the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Life produces finalists for the position, who are interviewed and appointed by the Governor of Indiana.
The role carries a responsibility for the student to represent the voice of the student body and provide input on key university decisions. Student trustees spend hours reviewing information to provide input at board meetings, attend open and closed meeting sessions and participate in committees. Through this work, the student trustee gains insight into nearly every aspect of the university’s mission – which Boes says has been a fulfilling part of his experience.
“As expected, I’ve grown a lot closer with the university,” Boes says. “It’s second to family. I was looking for community in graduate school. I wanted to continue building the community I had in undergrad and this has certainly given me that. The interactions with the trustees have been exciting and I’ve learned a lot from the way they conduct themselves in the board room.”
The latter part of Scott’s service as student trustee coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented an unprecedented challenge to those tasked with the operation of the university. The decision to reopen the university for a residential campus experience, the myriad of details associated with it and the preservation of employment positions presented a monumental challenge. While Scott credits the campus community for pulling together to execute a successful reopening, he says being part of the decision-making process for such a consequential endeavor will stick with him forever.
“The decision to return students to campus that fall wasn’t taken lightly because to do so would require weighing the livelihoods and, at the end of the day, loves of everyone associated with Purdue,” Scott says. “I didn’t come into the position expecting to have the latter part of that be a factor, but no one in a position of leadership during the pandemic did – and there was no avoiding it. Being a part of the decision and effort to reopen campus remains one of the proudest moments of my life.”
Today, Scott continues to serve Purdue as a director of development for the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business. His goal is to connect alumni with the university through philanthropic giving, service or ongoing communication to improve and sustain all the university has to offer. He sees his role as an extension of the best parts of his work as a student trustee.
“To me, the essence of the trustee position was the people and connecting, being a translator between groups and helping remarkable things happen that are beyond something I could do myself,” Scott says. “When this job came up, that was it.”
Scott’s interest in guitars inspired another opportunity for him to give back to the university. He became connected with Mark French, founder of the lab and professor of mechanical engineering technology in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute, and hatched the idea to build a unique guitar that could be auctioned to raise funds for the lab. Scott discovered that a colleague had pieces of Mackey Arena’s floor in storage from the 2016 renovations, which became the material for the guitar. Constructed by Gryphon Mawhorter, then a teaching assistant in the lab, the guitar fetched nearly $11,000 in auction after Scott played the national anthem on it during the men’s basketball game between Purdue and Indiana University.
Despite the attention the national anthem drew to the guitar auction, Scott remains humble about his role in the endeavor and credits French and Mawhorter for their work.
“I just happened to be the guy who volunteered not to mess up the anthem in front of all those people,” Scott says. “All of this goes back to Mark [French]. He doesn’t get enough credit for the incredible work he’s done. I told him all the success was because of him and I’d never seen him look like that before. He’s a very humble guy and that was the rewarding part.”
Boes, on the other hand, has his second year of service on the board to continue to impact the university and is looking forward to being part of Purdue’s next giant leap – the opening of Purdue in Indianapolis. He also continues to conduct research on supersonic flows for faster and more sustainable aircraft transportation in Purdue’s Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories. He will begin a three-year graduate fellowship starting in the fall of 2024. On top of his trustee duties and studies, he is training intensely with the goal of completing a marathon and Ironman triathlon while completing his graduate studies.
While it can be difficult to reflect on experiences while actively engaging in such pursuits, Boes says the connections he has made and the common threads he’s seen among them are something he will continue to appreciate and look for.
“I think getting to meet so many different Boilermakers and see the commonalities of everyone here is something I will continue to see,” Boes says. “There’s that Midwestern, hard-working attitude and humility. I’ve seen it over and over and it’s something I really admire about the people here. Those traits will stand the test of time and I think that’s what makes Purdue unique.”
As he reflects, it’s clear to Boes the role that his participation in FSCL has had a major impact on his experience.
“I can certainly say the fraternity community and some interactions I had as a young freshman put me on a consequential path in FSCL – and now Purdue as a whole,” Boes says.
Boes’ and Scott’s continued impact on Purdue is a reflection of the spirit of service that exists among those in the FSCL community.