In addition, a cash incentive of Php 10,000 each was awarded to two University scholars and Php 8,000 each to the three College scholars. Three years ago, the tournament has helped fund the building of the UP College of Engineering Centennial Dorm with a generous Php 500,000.00 donation. October 2, 2014 also saw the Pledge of Commitment Ceremony for the Fraternity’s Legacy Project: the Epsilon Chi Health and Fitness Center at the Molave Residence Hall.

Since October 2, 1964- when 32 young visionaries from the UP College of Engineering came together, burning with idealism and nationalism- the Fraternity has reached for excellence and molded leaders, in pursuit of their vision to be builders of nations, initially called the Engineering Circle, the Epsilon Chi Fraternity was officially recognized in 1969. In 1973, the Fraternity expanded to the UP Los Baños campus, with the formation of fraternity chapter and a sister sorority. Foremost among the Fraternity’s programs and projects on the campus is to facilitate freshmen engineering students’ integration into the UP way of life, develop campus leaders, promote academic excellence, and socio-political-cultural advancement. Today, the Fraternity prices itself on having alumni who have excelled in their chosen fields of endeavor.

Fifty years is testament to the Epsilon Chi Fraternity’s commitment to the brotherhood, and its ability not only to honour the past, but also to harness and use that to overcome and rise above the many challenges of today- to shape and engineer the future. One of the Fraternity’s key projects in Epsilon Chi Fraternity’s Scholarship Program, which gives financial support to the poor but academically gifted students of the UP College of Engineering. To date, 15 of the Fraternity’s scholars have graduated (one as cum laude) and are now licensed Engineers. This year, as part of the celebration of its 50^th founding year, the Fraternity organized the very successful Epsilon Chi Fraternity 50^th Anniversary Invitational Golf Tournament at the Eagle Ridge Golf & Country club, Cavite. Close to 150 golfers and alumni from the different fraternities in UP played in this very prestigious event for the benefit of the Epsilon Chi Fraternity’s Scholarship Program. Last year’s golf tournament was instrumental in supporting the full scholarships of five deserving UP students. In addition, a cash incentive of Php 10,000 each was awarded to two University scholars and Php 8,000 each to the three College scholars. Three years ago, the tournament has helped fund the building of the UP College of Engineering Centennial Dorm with a generous Php 500,000.00 donation. October 2, 2014 also saw the Pledge of Commitment Ceremony for the Fraternity’s Legacy Project: the Epsilon Chi Health and Fitness Center at the Molave Residence Hall. This project also kicked off BalikDorm, the modernization program of the UP Diliman dorms. This sport facility will have concessionary spaces and will be rented out to generate the much-needed funds for the repair and maintenance of the different dorms in Diliman. This project will help the students, not only physically but also financially for many years to come. Targeted for completion by 2 October 2015, we hope that our legacy project will be a model to encourage other UP fraternities and the many UP alumni organizations from all over the world to start similar projects and donations.

 This project also kicked off BalikDorm, the modernization program of the UP Diliman dorms. This sport facility will have concessionary spaces and will be rented out to generate the much-needed funds for the repair and maintenance of the different dorms in Diliman. This project will help the students, not only physically but also financially for many years to come. Targeted for completion by 2 October 2015, we hope that our legacy project will be a model to encourage other UP fraternities and the many UP alumni organizations from all over the world to start similar projects and donations.

The OBRA Awards

The Outstanding Brother Radian Achievement (OBRA) Awards was conceptualized and proposed by Brother Radian Alfredo “Alvits” S. Vitangcol in 2004 in preparation for the 40th Founding Anniversary of the UP Epsilon Chi Fraternity. It was approved by then Radian Governor David W. Lim, designating Brother Radian Marcelino “Mars” C. Mendoza as the initial Awards Committee Chair. It was first bestowed to deserving Radians during 40th Anniversary Ball of the fraternity held on October 4, 2004 at the
Makati Shagri-la Hotel.

The original awards were termed “Outstanding Brother Radian Awards”, or OBRA for short. Each award was sub-categorized pertaining to an excellent achievement in a certain field by a fraternity brother. For example, one award was the “Outstanding
Brother Radian Award (OBRA) – Outstanding Achievement Award for Academic and Professional Excellence.” However, considering that all the awards were for “achievements”, the awards for subsequent years evolved to “Outstanding Brother Radian Achievement (OBRA) Awards.”

Why OBRA? The acronym was coined by Brother Radian Alvits Vitangcol with the fraternity’s Creed in mind. OBRA is a Tagalog term for creation, short of a masterpiece (obra maestra). The Creed states, “I believe in a Goal, and My Goal is Creation..”.

Thus, a Radian’s ultimate goal of creation is his own “obra,” an exemplification of his achievement. The glass plaque itself was not a random, accidental design by a trophy manufacturer. It was purposely crafted by Brother Radian Alvits Vitangcol with the
engineering education as a backdrop. The front piece, a clear transparent rectangular glass, represents the first tool used by engineering students. A triangle is a drafting tool for drawing accurate parallel lines, vertical lines, and other angled lines, in conjunct with another right-angled triangle. For aesthetics, a scalene triangle was chosen for the plaque.

The back piece, a frosted translucent glass, signifies a scroll or a parchment paper. This type of paper is used for architectural drawings and engineering plates. Both pieces form the beginning and the end of engineering studies and the start of the professional
creations by the Radians. These two glass pieces stand and rest on two oblong glass bases – with the mirror on top and the solid black glass on the bottom. The solid black piece denotes a strong foundation while the mirror reflects the Radians “new self… described by the will to excel in all fields of human endeavor.”

The chairmanship of the OBRA Awards Committee, after 2004, was held by Brother Radian Alvits Vitangcol until it was turned over to Brother Radian Doie J. Dineros in 2024.

The OBRA Awards lives on towards the fraternity’s 60 years of outstanding legacy