Elon fraternity holds inaugural ‘Leadership Lock-in’ for members to reflect upon their founding principles

On Feb. 24, 2019, the NC Mu chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon gathered for a Leadership Lock-in to strengthen the bonds between brothers within the fraternity. Each member shut his phone off, received a journal to write in and was placed within a small discussion group. The groups participated in a ritual reflection and rotated through a series of three workshops based upon the fraternity’s cardinal principles – virtue, diligence, and brotherly love.

The workshop on virtue encouraged members to define how they strive for excellence, what habits contribute to their standard of excellence, and how each member could fulfill their own individual purpose. The diligence portion of the leadership curriculum focused on making the time to think through decisions and emotions that brothers face by journaling. The brotherly love workshop centered on the lifelong oath that members made towards one another and how it would live on past university walls.

For the organization’s new members, this was the first weekend after being initiated into Sigma Phi Epsilon. First-year student and new member Henry Burditt ’22 said that attending the seminars “allowed me to reflect on previous experiences that have shaped me into who I am today and who I will be tomorrow.”

Each of the six small discussion groups had an undergraduate brother serve as a discussion leader made up of two sophomores, two juniors, and two seniors. Senior Scott Barabander ’19 served as one of the discussion leaders. When asked what was most beneficial about the event, Scott said that “The discussion facilitation role provided me the opportunity to listen to different perspectives from my own and unite our brothers around our cardinal principles."

N.C. Mu alumni Joe Ward ’15 and Oak House Proprietor and SigEp brother Phil Smith helped facilitate two of the workshops. In addition, the N.C. Mu Alumni Volunteer Corporation supported the event.

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