Charlie Schumer, a proud member of Delta Kappa Epsilon at the University of Pennsylvania, is charting a remarkable path from student leadership to Stanford Law School. At just 23 years old, Charlie is preparing to enter Stanford as a 1L in the Class of 2028, driven by a passion for public interest law and education policy. But behind that success is a story shaped by his fraternity experience and deep involvement in student government.
Originally from Minneapolis, Charlie served as Executive Vice President of the Class of 2024 and Student Activities Chair in Penn’s Undergraduate Assembly. His leadership helped pioneer a new campus tradition for sophomores, reform student engagement with the Board of Trustees, and overhaul club funding policies to better reflect student needs. His efforts were recognized with the prestigious “Student Award of Merit,” an honor awarded to only six graduating students.
While Charlie was elected to student government before joining Greek life, it was his decision to join Delta Kappa Epsilon that expanded his leadership perspective. “Upon joining the Greek community, I met many more campus leaders that helped me to be a better student leader,” he reflects. “This community helped expose me to a broader range of ways to improve the campus experience.”
Charlie served as his chapter’s Rush Chair, a role that refined his communication, recruitment, and community-building skills. More importantly, he says, fraternity life taught him the value of reliability and collective effort. “We helped push each other to overcome obstacles together that we couldn’t get through on our own,” Charlie said. “My experience helped me understand the proverb: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’”
That spirit of accountability didn’t just impact his leadership—it transformed his lifestyle. Charlie notes, “before joining Greek life, I was about 80 pounds overweight, but with motivation and health education from my brothers, I was able to slim down to a healthy weight and develop a habit of exercise and health consciousness that will extend through my whole life“. With encouragement from his brothers, he adopted healthier habits and developed a lasting commitment to fitness and wellbeing. “The most impactful personal result from joining a fraternity was learning how to live a healthy life,” he says.
Now, as he heads to Stanford Law, Charlie is aiming to clerk for a judge before dedicating his legal career to fighting youth illiteracy and advancing education policy. His journey is a testament to how fraternity brotherhood and student government can work hand-in-hand to prepare young leaders for lives of purpose and impact.
