The future men of Lambda Chi Alpha are selected from very specific principles that our fraternity holds dear, otherwise known as the “Seven Core Values of Lambda Chi Alpha” (Which are also listed below). New members in the Lambda Chi Alpha are recruited and then immediately welcomed as potential brothers in the bond through the Fraternity’s Associate Member Ceremony.
After experiencing the Associate Member Ceremony, new associate members are exposed to the Call to Brotherhood — Lambda Chi Alpha’s associate member education program and training curriculum. Over the course of the eight weeks, they learn about Lambda Chi Alpha, its history, how we are organized, how we function as a group, how we govern ourselves, how we develop leaders for our chapter, our campus, and our country, and, most importantly, how we develop brotherhood. The Call to Brotherhood is designed to provide associate members with a foundation of conceptual understandings and practical skills facilitating developmental growth as men and contributing brothers of Lambda Chi Alpha.
An important component of the Call to Brotherhood education curriculum is experience-based learning. Each week, the entire Zeta participates in a brotherhood event, or experience, themed around that week’s core value. Using Lambda Chi Alpha’s educational model, brothers and associates are given the opportunity to reflect andmake meaning of that experience, before sharing their thoughts and insights with one another. This model allows brothers to see “real world” applications of Lambda Chi Alpha’s core values and provides a forum for brothers and associates to learn from one another through specific events and discussions.
During associate member orientation, new members learn the Seven Core Values forming the foundation of Lambda Chi Alpha’s approach to brotherhood. These Seven Core Values — Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Service and Stewardship, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage — once learned and internalized equip each Lambda Chi Alpha brother with an clear moral compass always orienting him, no matter the environment or consequences, toward making ethical decisions. Over the ensuing weeks, the Seven Core Values are examined, one each week, and defined as to how the week’s specific core value relates to real situations in Lambda Chi Alpha. Again, our purpose is to prepare the new member, to build a solid foundation for further growth so, once initiated, he is inspired to become a True Brother.
Our approach to member and leader development is profoundly influenced by the U.S. Army’s leader development shorthand of BE-KNOW-DO. The BE component is who you are as a person, as a leader, and as a brother, in short, your character. The KNOW component represents your skills, technical and interpersonal, that describe your Competence as a leader. The DO component is action, the real test of a leader’s effectiveness. Decisions, and the actions that follow, are the result of the combination of character and competence. No less business luminaries than John P. Kotter, of the Harvard Business School, and Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, have identified the U.S. Army’s approach to leader development as the most effective in the world. We would certainly be foolish to ignore recommendations like that.
Seven Core Values of Lambda Chi Alpha
Loyalty
Establishes the correct order of our obligations and commitments. Unswerving allegiance to the organization and its laws, ideals, and defining principles prevents us from misplacing our loyalties.
Duty
Delineates the sum total of all laws, rules, and customs that make up our organizational, civic, and moral obligations. Our values originate with duty because we expect individuals, as a minimum, to fulfill their obligations. We often expect individuals to exceed their duty, especially in ethical matters.
Respect
Denotes the regard and recognition of the absolute dignity that every human possesses. Specifically, respect indicates compassion for and consideration of others, including sensitivity to and regard for the feelings and needs of others.
Service & Stewardship
Service before self signifies the proper ordering of priorities. The welfare of the organization comes before the individual’s. While the focus is on service to Lambda Chi Alpha and broader communities, the idea also incorporates the concept of stewardship, of holding something of value in trust for others.
Honor
Describes the complex of all values that make up the public code of the individual. Significantly, honor provides the motive for action and demands adherence to a public moral code, not protection of reputation.
Integrity
Encompasses the sum total of a person’s set of values — his private moral code. A breach of any of these values will damage the individual’s integrity. Integrity, closely related to the word integer, refers to a notion of completeness or wholeness.
Personal Courage
Depicts the premier virtue that enables us to persevere despite fear, danger, or adversity. Personal courage includes the notion of taking responsibility for decisions and actions. Additionally, it involves the ability to perform critical self-assessment, to confront new ideas and to change.