GRAND POLEMARCH’S MESSAGE
Collegiate Kappas: Emerging Leaders in Development
Brothers all,
D uring the past few decades, the pathway to leadership for the undergraduate mem- ber of our Noble Clan has evolved greatly. Brothers in the bond for 30-plus years can attest that our leadership development opportunities for these young brothers have matured as evidenced by the range and depth of programs now tailored to them. His- torically (since 1961), the C. Rodger Wilson Leadership Conference has been fertile ground for growing young brothers’ leadership potential in college and community settings as well as the fraternity. However, Kappa’s current portfolio of opportunities shows a lot more than how far we have come. Our portfolio also reflects how serious we’ve become about ensuring that we actively cultivate tomorrow’s campus, communi- ty and fraternity leaders. The Undergraduate Leadership Insti- tute (ULI) is a prime example. Not only does ULI demonstrate how far we’ve come since the 1961 C. Rodger Wilson milestone, it shows how dead serious we are about building leaders. Since 2004, the fraternity has held this weeklong, carefully structured and rigorous leadership program each year when there is no Grand Chapter Meeting. And, as the years progress, we are finding the participants to be some of the most intelligent and talented students in our bond. I applaud this continuing trend.
capability for leading within the frater- nity, on campuses and in their home or college communities. The foundation for their learning and development is Kappa Alpha Psi’s mission, tenets and goals. They serve as the basis for ULI’s professional and career development agenda, which accounts for most of every student’s time during that week. The settings for this agenda vary from small group discussions to interactive leadership workshops to large audience lectures. Subject matter experts facil- itate the instruction using a case study approach, which is common in graduate level curricula, particularly for business. It’s fascinating to watch how our un- dergrad ULI participants expand their knowledge and experience through the practical, real-world examples the case method brings to their learning process. Ian Grant II, former Northern Province Junior Vice Polemarch, 2010 Sigma Chapter initiate and 2012 ULI alum- nus, captured the essence and ultimate lesson of the ULI experience but also the fraternity’s rationale for focusing so heavily on growing future leaders: “I feel like I can go throughout the United States and have a connec- tion to all these brothers personally, socially and especially profession- ally since we’ve been here learning about how to professionally brand ourselves, how to put a resume to- gether and a lot of other lessons in life that are important to becoming a man and holding down the
ULI is designed to expand students’
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