Last week I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Grand Chapter Conclave of Sigma Phi Epsilon in the beautiful city of Houston, Texas.
Every two years, SigEps from every chapter in the nation come together to vote on legislation, amend the current national bylaws, and determine the future direction of the fraternity. In addition, national honors are announced at Conclave such as the Buchanan Outstanding Chapter Award. My chapter, Louisiana Beta at Louisiana State University, was fortunate enough to win another Buchanan Cup this year. This distinction is awarded to the chapters which excel in every area of operations and further the Grand Chapter’s strategic plan.
As part of my Conclave experience, I was a member of the “Excellence in Chapter Operations” track. As the name implies, this educational pathway focuses on how to best deal with common challenges likely to arise in a chapter and how to run an organization in a better, more efficient manner.
The seminar series covered several interesting topics including: how to adjust to substance-free facilities, how to establish a SigEp learning community within your chapter, how to make a standards board more efficient, and how to market your chapter to potential new members.
Beyond these seminars, the real impact Conclave had on me was allowing me to meet with so many other SigEps from across the nation and their respective alumni and chapter advisors. Talking with these people and discussing the great ideas that they had in their chapter, as well as how they went about implementing them, really gave me a broader perspective. In particular, I was impressed by the way in which other SigEp chapters deal with day-to-day chapter operations and how they approach brotherhood as a whole.
One particular example stands out in my mind. A group of undergraduates from another chapter mentioned a partnership of theirs called the “Alumni Mentorship Program.” This program matches new members with Alumni as soon as they enter the chapter, and they meet for dinner every month to discuss how college is going and how they want to approach the job market after college.
This mentorship program struck me as very unique, and it is a venture that I would like to start at LA Beta. Giving alumni an active stake in the chapter by pairing them with an undergraduate interested in their career field would be beneficial for both the mentor and the mentee.
Ultimately, my Conclave experience showed me that we were doing a lot of things right, but there were also many ways for us to continue to grow. I have no doubt that I will be able to implement what I learned at Conclave in LA Beta and be able to make it a place that works to build better members for years to come. I am abundantly grateful for the opportunity to attend.
If you are interested in donating to support our chapter and help give brothers in the future have the means to attend Grand Chapter Conclave in 2021, click here!