NIC Blog
Quest for the Future of Greek Life
Tags: Futures Quest, Educational Program, Ritual, Fraternity, Pledge, New Member
Interested in a student participants view of the NIC’s educational program, Futures Quest? Read on…
Written by: Micah Selves
One afternoon this last work term, I received an email about a scholarship available for the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) leadership camp taking place at the beginning or end of our winter break. As I read over the camp's agenda, I thought to myself, "This would probably be a pretty good résumé builder. I've done similar camps; I know what they're like. This stuff is old hat. And why not go? If I get the scholarship, this camp is free!"
I wrote my essay for the scholarship, submitted it and waited for a response. Apparently, I received the last scholarship, placing me in the latter session. I kept in correspondence, made my travel plans and coasted through the rest of work term. I made it through the break without a hitch, looking forward to the camp as a change of pace.
It snowed heavily on the drive down. I was about an hour late at 11:30, due to the road conditions, but still managed to be the fourth participant at the camp site. The others didn't arrive until 3 or 4 pm. While we waited, I got to know the mentors (other Greeks that had been through a similar camp, coming back to teach what they had learned) and administers (the president and vice president of the NIC, as I found out later). I played catch phrase, carpet ball, and euchre with AT?s, ?Xs, ?AEs, B??s, ?XAs, ???s, X?s and so on. The thought of inter-fraternal rivalries didn't even cross my mind.
When the others arrived, we stepped out into the cold wind and stood in a line, side by side, in silence. Someone said a statement. If it was true for you, you would step forward, turn around, stand for a second, and step back. Through this activity, we realized we had our own differences, but that those differences didn't make us any less of a person. At this point, the camp was just like the others I had been to.
The next exercise changed my view of the camp completely. We sat in groups of nine or so, and discussed the meaning of values and morals. Then, we each chose six values that we thought were most important to us. Then, through an epic analogy, we were forced to choose between our values. In the end, I was left with three values: Religion, Family, and Enjoyment. Not to be cliché, but at that moment, my eyes were opened. The three values that remained defined me as a person, and I base all my decisions in life off of them. As each of us sat there, pondering our own values, our mentor made an important comparison:
"Each of your Greek organizations was founded on a particular set of values. As you are defined by these three values, so is your organization defined by its values. You are your fraternity. Your values are your fraternity's values. Your fraternity's values are your values. If you aren't living by those values, hand in your badge."
This basic principle returned many times throughout the camp, but in variations. I discovered that each fraternity, though its values may be slightly different, have basically the same goal. Our organizations have similar problems. We should work together, as Greeks, to solve those problems. If one organization fails, we all fail. The letters we wear on our chest should mean the same to other people as they do to us. Everyone should be able to see our Ritual through our daily lives. In order to do so, we must learn our Ritual, live by example, teach it to our new members, and then expect it from every member of your organization.
At the end of camp, we made a promise to ourselves. One of mine was to bring back what I learned at this camp and teach it to my brothers. Brothers of Delta Tau Delta. Brothers of Pi Kappa Alpha. Brothers of Theta Xi. Brothers of Sigma Nu. Sisters of Alpha Phi. Sisters of Alpha Sigma Alpha.
The last thing that the president of the NIC said to us before we left Futures Quest Leadership Camp was this: "I believe in Fraternity. I believe in Sorority. I believe in Greeks. Do you?"
