I’d like to examine what students actually get out of leadership conferences. First, you think of the obvious things that you learn: how to be a leader, how to better your chapter, how to be philanthropic, how to brand your name, how to involve your members, how to keep members safe, etc.
I find it interesting what students learn about their chapter and themselves at these conferences, that isn’t necessarily obvious. After experiencing my own leadership conference, I learned how to better my chapter, but I also learned some things that I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t attended conference.
Here at Purdue, students of our Greek system walk around as if they are the only members of their chapter who exist. We seem to forget about our brothers and sisters from other chapters. Walking around at the conference in Chicago, this past weekend, made me realize all of the millions of other Alpha Phi’s.
Delta Tau Delta member, David Acton, experienced his leadership conference in Merrillville, Indiana. He realized from his experience that, not only are there thousands of other Delts in the country, but these chapters aren’t always the same. “It was interesting to see the differences in school sizes and chapter sizes, and how we can still relate the way we operate and function on the same values.” He thinks the experience he had was good for smaller chapters to connect with bigger chapters like Purdue’s. Acton found that although each chapter was different, each still celebrated the same values and tradition of Delta Tau Delta.
It’s also important to be reminded of how long your letters have been around and the impact they’ve made on society as well as on so many individuals. There are millions of other initiates, no matter what school, who have already done their time as an active member and have already experienced what you are experiencing, right now.
Pi Phi president, Hannah Sauce said she felt a strong appreciation for being apart of an organization that has such great values and traditions. “The most rewarding thing, I think for me, was just getting to meet other presidents and alums. I loved hearing everyone’s strengths and weaknesses and getting to share different ideas to help each other.” Sauce explained how she learned so much about herself, her chapter and Pi Phi as a whole and she’s more than happy that she went.
The Purdue Sigma Chi’s spent their leadership conference at IUPUI, this past weekend, and Will Shifrin, a sophomore who attended the conference, thought it was beneficial for his position even though it was a long weekend. “It was extremely constructive and opened my eyes to new ways about looking for jobs and simply leading others,” he said.
In conclusion, it could never be detrimental to get your chapter to go to a leadership conference. You learn all the training and get all of the advice from experts. You connect with brothers or sisters from other chapters all over the country. We need to stop and think about how Greek life is bigger than just West Lafayette.
