SIGMA CHI - THE PREEMINENT FRATERNITY
by Michael Church, Executive Director, Sigma Chi
February 17, 2022
February 17, 2022
Brothers of Sigma Chi - Gamma Psi Chapter,
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Sigma Chi is the premier men’s fraternal organization on the planet – bar none. We owe that success to an incredible history and heritage which has been continuously built upon since 1855 when seven young men identified an injustice in the world and set out to correct it by living a life of purpose framed through the universal and timeless principles of Friendship, Justice and Learning.
Since that infamous day on June 28, 1855, Sigma Chi has initiated 358,934 members (as of this writing) across more than 300 chapters and through 167 years. Our total living membership is 267,834 men – with just over 14,000 of those men currently occupying our 235 collegiate chapters.
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Michael Church, Executive Director
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Let’s put that in perspective for a moment. Though it may be blasphemous to mention it here, the largest seating capacity in any stadium in the United States is the Big House at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor which lists a seating capacity over 107,000. Sigma Chi could fill that stadium 2.5 times with our living membership and 3.5 times with our all-time membership – and there still wouldn’t be enough seats!
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Sigma Chi’s current enrollment across our active chapters would place our organization among the top 400 largest institutions of higher learning in the country – larger than Yale University and many of the campuses where our chapters call home. There are more than 125 active and organized alumni groups spread across nearly every state in the U.S., several of the provinces in Canada, and even one in London, England. Our members can be found in countless countries across the globe. To put it succinctly, Sigma Chi is the largest men’s fraternal organization on the planet.
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Despite all of our incredible successes – and they truly are incredible – I am often asked: will fraternities be around and relevant in the future? The answer, unequivocally, is yes. In his 1835 book “Democracy in America,” Alexis de Tocqueville offered his observations about the intrinsic desire of Americans to associate themselves with like-minded others. Summarized, he noted that Americans are naturally drawn to the concept of associations as it is deeply rooted in the fabric of our country. We always have been and we always will be.
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Fraternities are but associations of men with common interests, rooted in brotherhood, providing avenues of personal growth through the teachings of principles and values. Sigma Chi is older than many of the sovereign countries of the world, pre-dates the American Civil War, pre-dates the invention of modern-day electricity, and is older than most of the world’s largest and most successful corporations. We have faced questions of our sustainability and credibility many times in our past. This question is not new to Sigma Chi, nor is the answer.
People today tend to “feel” that the scrutiny on fraternities is worse than it ever has been. This is partly true – albeit for different reasons. Historically, fraternities have always been viewed with a mixed perspective: those who do not understand tend to loathe us while those who spend the effort to understand fraternities tend to be supportive.
People today tend to “feel” that the scrutiny on fraternities is worse than it ever has been. This is partly true – albeit for different reasons. Historically, fraternities have always been viewed with a mixed perspective: those who do not understand tend to loathe us while those who spend the effort to understand fraternities tend to be supportive.
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Today, nearly 99% of American society has access to the internet and, with it, access to any free social media platform they so choose. The only thing different about the criticisms fraternities face today is the ability for the masses to pontificate about the value of fraternities and, this, in turn simply magnifies the feelings about fraternities. When you mix this cocktail with the media’s general approach to choosing which stories to report - “if it bleeds, it leads” – and you have a perfect mix of creating what “feels” like overwhelming negative sentiment.
The major challenges facing fraternities – and Sigma Chi is not immune to this – manifest as substance abuse and hazing; the most dangerous of which occurs when the two intertwine. At the core, though, the root of the challenges are that today’s college students are less likely to be familiar with, and therefore understand the importance of, principles and values. Today’s students exhibit more markers of delayed maturation and ability to make decisions independently. In an environment that relies on men of character to self-govern, you can see how the challenges become increasingly more complex. |
Fraternities – and especially Sigma Chi – are going nowhere…except up. In fact, (with the first year of the pandemic excluded), fraternities (and Sigma Chi) have enjoyed all-time record-setting trends in terms of membership intake in the last 10 years. The best judge of our success will always be ourselves – provided we are willing to be critical of our efforts and performance.
Sigma Chi has navigated the better part of two centuries of existence by evolving to meet the needs of the members of the organization. We have evolved from seven men meeting in one room in a small town in Oxford, OH to a world-leading fraternal organization with a global footprint. You can mark the changes at certain watershed moments of our past. One of those occurred in 2017 when a string of very serious and tragic events occurred in fraternities across North America. This led, once again, to the severe questioning of the value of fraternities. |
Sigma Chi took a decidedly introspective and critical look at how we operate as a fraternity and what we aspired to be. Although we were confident that our offerings were second-to-none, we decided then that we needed a recognized third-party to evaluate how we support the members of our organization so that we could re-establish credibility where it had begun to erode. Officially, Sigma Chi has entered the era of the Transformational Leader and I encourage all of you to read about that on our website by clicking here and watch our YouTube video by clicking on the image below.
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Put succinctly, Sigma Chi will soon be the first fraternal organization to offer a true co-educational learning experience for young men when our learning service provider, the Sigma Chi Leadership Institute, receives its accreditation by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Now, it’s not Sigma Chi telling the world how excellent we are – it’s a third-party who routinely evaluates similar organizations that will be singing our praises.
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Let’s take a look at the future by starting in the past. Sigma Chi enjoyed a nearly 75-year run at Michigan State before the closure of the Gamma Psi chapter. It was a run filled with success. Unfortunately, the chapter members drifted from Sigma Chi’s ideals and fell far short of our expectations, manifesting as very serious and concerning health and safety violations, ultimately resulting in the suspension of the charter.
Although many alumni and the international fraternity tried to support the chapter, our efforts weren’t enough. When we close a chapter it’s simultaneously no one and everyone’s fault. The international fraternity likely had warning signs that we missed which could have prevented the chapter from closing, while the alumni of the chapter drifted from keeping their attention on it. Blaming anyone is not worth the time or the energy. As a former Grand Consul is fond of saying: “You can’t make a better past, but you can make a better future.”
With the work to reconstitute Sigma Chi at Michigan State starting in earnest, teamwork will be critical to the short and long-term success of the Gamma Psi Chapter of Sigma Chi – and you can help.
Young men today need mentors. Our chapter will need advisors. The house will need financial support. Our alumni who step up to be volunteers will need support. No matter how much or how little time or resources you have – you can help. When we recharter the Gamma Psi Chapter at Michigan State, it will be all of our responsibility to keep it there. It won’t be enough to look to the elected or appointed leaders. Each and every one of us has to take an ownership role in ensuring the success of the next iteration of the Gamma Psi Chapter of Sigma Chi. We can do this together and I am confident that when we do the resulting outcome will be one of which we can all be immensely proud.
IHSV,
Michael J. Church
Sigma Chi Executive Director
Although many alumni and the international fraternity tried to support the chapter, our efforts weren’t enough. When we close a chapter it’s simultaneously no one and everyone’s fault. The international fraternity likely had warning signs that we missed which could have prevented the chapter from closing, while the alumni of the chapter drifted from keeping their attention on it. Blaming anyone is not worth the time or the energy. As a former Grand Consul is fond of saying: “You can’t make a better past, but you can make a better future.”
With the work to reconstitute Sigma Chi at Michigan State starting in earnest, teamwork will be critical to the short and long-term success of the Gamma Psi Chapter of Sigma Chi – and you can help.
Young men today need mentors. Our chapter will need advisors. The house will need financial support. Our alumni who step up to be volunteers will need support. No matter how much or how little time or resources you have – you can help. When we recharter the Gamma Psi Chapter at Michigan State, it will be all of our responsibility to keep it there. It won’t be enough to look to the elected or appointed leaders. Each and every one of us has to take an ownership role in ensuring the success of the next iteration of the Gamma Psi Chapter of Sigma Chi. We can do this together and I am confident that when we do the resulting outcome will be one of which we can all be immensely proud.
IHSV,
Michael J. Church
Sigma Chi Executive Director
