Steven Sloan ‘77: “My SAE friendships made my college days as good as they were, and my brothers have remained in my life to this day in significant ways”

Steven Sloan ‘77 “I think alumni involvement and donations to the Chapter provide a good example to the actives of the friendships to be nurtured, the success to be enjoyed in part through lifetime involvement and the generosity of paying it forward to future generations,” he said.

Greek life in the 70s was turbulent. There was a regression in pledging after the upheaval on college campuses in the 60s. “Our membership was small, only about 25 brothers, but we all lived in the house together. There was a lot of studying, dining and partying together,” he shared.

Most of the members at the time were in Wharton. “After academics,” he shared, “our core competency was beer drinking.”

One of Steven’s favorite hangouts was Pat’s Cheese Steaks in South Philly. “One night on the way back from Pat’s Cheesesteaks at 3 am, we picked up a couple of girls hitch-hiking.  Obviously lost, we asked them where they wanted to go, and they said Blacksburg, VA, and we took them there from Philadelphia!  Memorable weekend, to say the least.,” he shared.

Many brothers have had an impact on Steven’s life. Stephen Ambrose, Mitch Marantz, Bob Deering, Mike Allman, Jim Farmer and John Gardner were his closest brothers. “And then there is George Warmack. He is still my best friend to this day. He has had my back throughout college and into my adult life,” he said. “The man has saved my life more than once in many ways.  Steve Ambrose continues to be another important life long friend.  He now also lives in Vero Beach so Martha Ann and I are able to spend lots of good times with Vickie and him as well as their family.”

The Interfraternity Council-sponsored beer-drinking contests were an event to be experienced. (How times have changed!) “I was on the team the year we won.  We had 4-man teams and four beers in front of each.  It was like a relay: one brother would down a beer, another would pick up and drink the next one until each brother had finished 4 beers.  Fastest team won.  Bob Deering was our best drinker; he could pour a beer down his throat in one swallow; it was amazing,” he remembered.

Steven has had a very successful career in finance, serving in various positions around the country and assisting young companies to climb to hundreds of millions in revenue and assets. He just retired from Everest Group International, where he was the Managing Director, Head of M&A. He led a team doing buy-side and sell-side engagements for lower middle market founder/owner companies and Private Equity groups looking for the same.  He was involved in over 70 transactions during this period. 

He shared this about his life since retirement: “Now my wife Martha Ann and I (married 37 plus years) live parts of each year at our residences in Vero Beach, FL; Santa Fe, NM and Paris, France, and travel extensively to see family and friends and seek new adventures.  We are child- and dog-free, ready to go at a second’s notice.  Our health is good, and we are making tracks while we can.  I remain involved in Penn Theta SAE affairs as a House Corporation board member and Alumni Affairs Chairman.  Our charitable pursuits mostly involve early childhood education programs and secondary school and college scholarships.”

Steven even had the opportunity to refer a member to Penn Theta. Sean Kenney, pictured above with Steven comparing diplomas, graduated from Penn in 2019.  “Sean grew up on the same street in Vero Beach where we were living and we met Sean when he was 8 years old.  As a high school junior, I took Sean to Philadelphia to tour Penn and meet the SAE actives at the House.  Sean attended Penn and became a SAE brother so now he is my brother for life!”

As he reflected on his time at SAE, he said he encourages active members to be involved. “We can look back on how important and what life-impacts our being Brothers was to us and let the actives know to take full advantage of it,” he said.