One of UCLA’s most prominent fraternities has been caught wildly exaggerating its charity fundraising efforts – claiming to have raised $100,000 in a single year when the real figure was barely a fraction of that figure.
The Sigma Nu chapter claimed it was on top of the fundraising rankings among Greek life chapters at the school’s Los Angeles campus for 2025-26, according to the Daily Bruin.
Sigma Nu’s claimed $100,000 haul dwarfed the $37,556 reported by Delta Gamma, a sorority that ranked second, according to the student newspaper.
But in reality, they’d actually vastly overstated the haul – with an amended report showing they’d only actually raised $950, or less than 1% of the original claim.
The shocking discrepancy emerged after fraternity alumni leaders admitted the chapter had submitted inflated figures for three consecutive years.
The fraternity has since acknowledged the inaccurate figures, blaming a years-long accounting mix-up rather than deliberate deception.
“We regret the error and appreciate the chance to set the record straight,” Brian Zirbel, vice president for advancement of the Sigma Nu Epsilon Pi Alumni Board, told the Daily Bruin.
The chapter’s inflated fundraising claims stretched back years.
UCLA’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life had previously recorded nearly $20,000 in 2022-23, more than $250,000 in 2023-24 and $175,000 in 2024-25.
Zirbel said undergraduate officers had mistakenly included money raised by the separate Sigma Nu Alumni Scholarship Fund in the chapter’s fundraising totals.
“The same error carried over each year as reporting responsibility passed between undergraduate officers,” he said.
Lindsey Goldstein, director of UCLA’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said the university was notified of the discrepancies and received corrected figures on October 16.
“When discrepancies are brought to our attention, we work with the chapters to clarify the information and make appropriate corrections to the report,” Goldstein told the Daily Bruin.
Zirbel said the $950 actually raised in 2025-26 went to Angel City Pit Bulls, a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing dogs.
The California Post contacted Sigma Nu and UCLA for further comment.
