Delta Sigma Pi is the nation’s largest business fraternity.

But there was not a chapter at Saint John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict when Christian Loeb arrived at SJU as a first-year student out of Cloquet (Minnesota) High School in the fall of 2018.

He and a few friends soon set about changing that.

“We decided we wanted to start a chapter here,” Loeb said. “It’s co-ed, so it would include both Johnnies and Bennies, and it’s a really prestigious and nationally-recognized organization. We also saw it as a way to bridge the gap between business majors and some of the business clubs on campus.

“We started on a trial basis and we were officially certified in September of 2020. We’re now up to a total of 80 members, though 20 of us have graduated.”

That’s impressive progress and it did not go unnoticed by the national organization, which in March selected Loeb as this year’s winner of its Collegian of the Year Award – the highest honor that can be bestowed on one of Delta Sigma Pi’s collegiate members.

The award recognizes an individual “for their contributions, achievements, participation, and personal character.” The winner is selected from nominees put forward by the fraternity’s 305 chartered collegiate chapters. The person selected serves a two-year term on the group’s board of directors representing all collegiate members.

“It’s a really big honor,” said Loeb, who graduated from SJU earlier this month with a degree in economics. “There are over 15,000 collegiate members so it’s very humbling to be chosen. It’s a big deal to put on your resume that you were a voting member of the board of directors of a multimillion-dollar corporation.”

Loeb’s parents Brett ’90 and Catherine ’92 attended SJU and CSB, and he said it felt natural to follow in their footsteps.

“I looked at schools like the University of Wisconsin in Madison and Duke, but I always knew I’d end up here,” he said. “This is where I wanted to be.”

In addition to starting the CSB/SJU chapter of Delta Sigma Pi, Loeb was also part of the Entrepreneur Scholars program. Now that he has graduated, he will soon move to Columbus, Ohio to start a new job as a shareholder analyst with JPMorgan Chase.

“I’m sort of hitting the reset button on my life,” said Loeb, who finished with a GPA of 3.75. “I wanted to get out of the state for a bit and grow as a person. I’m ready to start some new adventures.”

But he will always be proud of the legacy he leaves behind at CSB/SJU.

“It was a lot of work to get the chapter started, but it was really rewarding as well,” he said. “I was able to get to know so many people, both here on campus and across the country.”