Role Playing

Ask not of your role within the organization; ask of the organization's role within you.

That's the combined wisdom of several brothers--to first love Sigma Chi, then find your place within it as a response.

By taking active positions within the business portion of the Fraternity, do we create this love, or do we demonstrate it? And for that matter, do we encounter these schools of thought within the ritualistic portions?

I would say yes--and would also argue that this wisdom applies to more than Sigma Chi. In every form of decision-making, we must weigh several factors: our own desires, the desires of those affected, the leadership above us, the values and norms that govern our actions. I don't think passion can be created out of this complex system of checks and balances; rather, I think passion is created by our realization of this system's complexity--and our desiring to wrangle with it.

What does Sigma Chi mean to us? When we try answer this question, we wrestle with some weighty and fundamental issues. Perhaps we will never find an answer--but maybe that's the answer. Our uncertainty becomes certain; our path becomes our destination.

And that's not to say there is no hope--there is! But I think that Sigma Chi requires more than our externally-motivated world can give us: entertainment alone is not a sufficient incentive to commit ourselves to a life of service. Instead, that motivation must also come from within.

Because as the Norman Shield tells us in the Creed, our roles as true friends makes us true servants to our college, the Sigma Chi fraternity, and our own chapters.