The 2022 Leadership School

Chris Chamberlain: 6 brothers of the Pennsylvania Alpha Zeta Chapter attended the 84th National Leadership School in Evanston, Illinois. This was one of the largest representations of PA AZ to ever attend, and it was an honor to go as the Eminent Deputy Archon of the newly re-chartered chapter. To be in the presence of hundreds of brothers from across the realm, standing together as fully initiated brothers was an amazing experience and I felt that the 6 members of PA-AZ had earned their right to be there after nearly 2 years of recolonization and receiving our unanimously approved charter.  PA-AZ has always and must continue to always represent the highest ideals of the true gentleman. Being in SAE is a privilege; being in PA-AZ is an even higher one. The brothers from Penn State sat front and center with multiple members of the supreme council, who we had the honor of being initiated into the brotherhood by on May 14th, 2022, at most of the meals. Very few, if any, chapters can say the same. The experience of meeting brothers representing different chapters from across the country showed me just how much it means to be in PA-AZ. WE ARE!  Going to the Levere Memorial Temple and finding our book filled with historical components of PA-AZ inspired the brothers that went to uphold and promote the legacy that our chapter carries and pass it on to future generations of the brotherhood. Especially finding an article from “The Rancher” in ‘81 written by then Eminent Archon Thomas Chaffee titled “Going For A Third Mosley” inspired the brothers there to commit to achieving the highest award for the chapter and bringing that sense of commitment back to the rest of the chapter. In conclusion, sending 6 members from our chapter to the Leadership School strengthened our entire chapter in many ways and will set a precedent for the presence that PA-AZ will make at any national event. ΦΑ

Jackson Edwards: My Leadership School experience was one to remember. I went in with extremely high expectations and was in no way, shape or form, disappointed. I was generously granted the opportunity to meet with high-level executives around the country from not only ΣΑΕ but also from major companies nationwide. I also got to network with countless active and alumni brothers from around the realm and learn invaluable techniques and experiences from them. I additionally got to experience the Levere Temple in its fullest form. Seeing the history there and getting to experience the rituals that come with bring a brother of Sigma Alpha Epsilon was a dream come true. I’m beyond thankful for my experience while attending Leadership School and I would definitely attend again in the near future. 

Lucas Koczent: Leadership School was an experience that I will never forget, there are seldom times in life where you are able to meet, interact and share ideas with brothers from different walks of life and from all across the realm, being in a common place where everyone’s ideas are open and inviting does not happen in many facets currently in Greek life. When my flight landed late I was rapidly searching for the shuttle to the airport, fortunately I found several brothers from the university of Minnesota also experiencing the same issue so we so we decided to grab an Uber to the hotel together, throughout the course of the week I would become very close to these gentlemen. Every brother from the realm that I met at Leadership School had the same mindset, everyone was there to learn, to better their chapter, brotherhood and university. Visiting our national headquarters was also something that I will never forget, being able to see some alumni that we work very close with in our chapter archives was cool, along with all of the Levere Memorial temple in general. Leadership School is an opportunity that I will always vouch for and recommend because of the experiences, the brothers who I become friends with and the wealth of knowledge available at our disposal.

Jesse Kolb: Leadership School was a great opportunity that surpassed all of my expectations. I thought that I was close with the brothers that went, but spending 4 days at Leadership Schooll made the lifelong friendships that happen in our chapter that much better. Even with my family situation at the time, I almost could not attend. I made sure to attend because I knew that it would an opportunity that I would not have again. It was one of the best trips I took in the summer, and I would recommend it to anyone. 

Michael Smerek: Leadership School has been one of the most fun and valuable experiences as a brother of SAE and a college student. I was able to re unite with brothers from across the realm I had met at exec academy and hangout with many other brothers I had just met. We were all able to talk about our experiences with our chapter and learn from each other to improve all of our chapters. One of the most memorable was getting to talk with the University of Maryland president again and learn more from him after all of his tips he gave us during his chartering investigation earlier in the year. However, the by far best part was Tuesday of Leadership School. We started off the day going too to the grave of levere and held a ceremony there to honor him. After this we spent a while at the levere memorial temple, exploring it and checking out our chapter history books. As a group of brothers we walked around took pictures, saw meaning artifacts representing our chapters and all shared the history of each one. The week was set up to have general sessions for all brothers and small group discussions where the groups remained consistent throughout the week. These discussions allowed us to go into detail if specifics many of us would not talk about in a normal conversation, however it gave us a deep insight to our chapters, their processes, their failures, their systems, and their brotherhood giving me plenty information to bring back to the chapter in the fall semester. In the end, Leadership School gave 6 of our brothers, 3 current leaders, and 3 future leaders, an abundant amount of knowledge and memories to bring back to the chapter and cherish for a lifetime.

Joe Messner: My statement: Leadership School was more valuable than I could have ever imagined. Not only is SAE the true home of brotherhood but Leadership School provided the most fantastic foundation to be able to call myself a true gentlemen. Meeting all of the brothers from our different chapters gave me the most valuable insight I could have ever asked for about the history of SAE and every brother I met was the epitope of a fraternity man. Together we explored the most sacred locations of the most historic fraternity in the world and it was truly humbling. To see the dedication of our brothers putting so much time and effort into ensuring the continued success and preservation of SAE was phenomenal. Our national temple is truly magical and a testament to our collective commitment to brotherhood. Particularly the PA-AZ scrapbook in the library showed me the penn state chapters long history and I managed to catch a lot of wonderful details particularly about our chapter newspapers and past presidents and their goals seeing some great pictures of our alumni advisors. I could simply not imagine a greater chapter in the world. On top of that the education we received from the national council was amazing to see a mock initiation and many other ceremonies in their truest form gave me much more respect for our fraternity and it’s traditions. Our executive board is committed to being true to our original mission and rituals and there was no better place to become an expert that Leadership School. Along the way I made some great connections to I now have our CEO and supreme eminent archons numbers in my phones and have created a life long relationship with them and many of the brothers from our fellow chapters. You cannot truly understand Leadership School until you are there and it will be the most valuable fraternity experience of your life by far. To any brothers who consider it please go it will change you for a lifetime and you will have a different perspective and respect for our order.