Established on August 23, 1929, the Beta Epsilon or Brotherhood of Engineers is the oldest college-based fraternity in the University of the Philippines. Founded by nine pioneering scholars, athletes and student leaders, the Fraternity has been a second home to the best and brightest from the U.P. College of Engineering.

Concrete projects like the famous Beta Way, the Beta Theatrum at the Lagoon, the Beta Gate near the Executive House, the Beta Epsilon AVR at the National Hydraulics Research Center, and most recently the E-Beta Way Internet and Computing Facility at the Engineering Library have only reaffirmed this commitment. It is with the Beta Way that the Fraternity has been awarded the Wenceslao Q. Vinzons Award for the Most Outstanding Student Organization, one of the three organizations to have ever received this honor, and the only fraternity in that short list. In addition, Beta Epsilon has its own share of annual activities, such as the Blockbooster Freshmen Inter-Block Trivia Quiz Show, the Maskipaps Christmas Variety Show and the recently launched Seven Most Promising Engineering Student Awards for sophomores.

Celebrating its 30th year is the Blockbooster. Started in 1974, it is a Freshmen Trivia Quiz Show where the questions can come from everything, and anything under the sun. Categories range from Science, to World and Filipino history, Cartoon and Entertainment Trivia, Literature and Vocabulary, and even Jologs Trivia. The implementation of the Revised General Education Program (RGEP) starting this semester added more color to the competition, as even freshmen that are on free schedule and teams with members from different blocks will be allowed to compete. During the annual Engineering Week, Beta Epsilon holds its annual Maskipaps, now on its 26th year. Short for Maskipapano, it is the second most awaited holiday activity in the University of the Philippines, the first being the annual Lantern Parade. The Christmas Variety Show/Concert/Fashion Show is a major event during Eng’g Week, just a few weeks before the Christmas break. Started way back in 1978, the event serves as a venue for the students to show off their talents and drop all their inhibitions. Various groups and organizations would perform, sing, jam, dance, act, or do anything else they could think of. As the name implies, it is an anything goes show. Today, Maskipaps is proud to have been part of the development of various professional performers such as Slapshock, Giselle Sanchez, Eraserheads, Yano, among others, and once again serves as a breeding ground for future talent.

2004 is a milestone for the Beta Epsilon, as UP’s first college based Fraternity will be celebrating its Diamond Jubilee with the theme, “Beta Epsilon, Beyond Engineering, Brotherhood and Excellence.” With the current crop of resident brods, among them an the ESC Chairperson, the Engineering Logscript Editor in Chief, the Captain and members of the Eng’g Varsity Basketball Team, and numerous DOST scholars, among others, the Fraternity carries on the ideals laid down by its founders almost 75 years ago and continues to uphold the high standards of excellence and its status as the College of Engineering’s Premier and Elite Fraternity. Hail Beta Epsilon! Brighter Be Thy Name!

Wenceslao Q. Vinzons Award for Most Outstanding Student Organization