Department: Features
Five Confessions from the Field: Leadership School
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To see hundreds of other photos from the 74th Leadership School,
visit the Fraternity’s collection on Flickr.
To a brother who hasn’t attended Leadership School, attempting to describe the experience often falls short — like one generation explaining the 1963 Kennedy assassination, or even the events of 9/11, to future generations. The camaraderie, the brotherhood, the sheer experience of being on a cruise ship with nearly 600 men with whom you share a sacred bond. These are the things that make Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s experience different from things only read in a book or heard in a classroom.
It’s obvious that those who attend the John O. Moseley Leadership School are there to learn — from their assigned faculty member, from each other, from themselves. The curriculum provides a structure for this type of offbeat learning, and flexibility is a virtue in such a situation. “No matter what happens, the undergrads make it the best experience of their life,” Eminent Supreme Archon Marty Wiglesworth says. “They feed off each other, and they learn from each other. And we shepherd them along.”
The “we” Wiglesworth referred to is a large group. It includes the faculty, the staff, the leaders, the ambassadors — and, more generally, the Fraternity at large. The mechanics are simple: Undergraduates attend the school while other undergraduates and select alumni spend time teaching, helping and molding those active members. In reality, though, the process is rarely simple. How does the Fraternity ensure it’s giving the attendees the right programming? How can you prioritize the idea of “learning” over the idea of “leadership,” or vice versa? How do you keep track of nearly 600 college-aged men in the midst of 1,600 other people on a cruise ship?
Those questions don’t have easy answers. To find out about the issue, however, we spoke to five brothers, each representing a different group: Ignacio Belmonte, a colony member who is just learning about the role Sigma Alpha Epsilon could play in his chapter’s life. Steve Knapp, who was attending for the third time as an undergraduate before he continues his leadership training in the Army. Patrick Fredricks, who was selected as an ambassador, an active member of promise who assisted the faculty and staff with their roles. Joe Laux, a three-time faculty member who enjoys giving back to the Fraternity and telling stories for the newer members to emulate. And ESA Marty Wiglesworth, a man who has seen years of Leadership Schools come and go, who has been with the Fraternity for decades and who now leads it as its national president.
Each man had a unique story to tell, but all those stories were woven from the same threads. They shared the camaraderie of getting on a boat in the Port of San Diego for a four-day cruise, and for many of them, it’s about the connections. “The best part is meeting other brothers from other parts of the country,” Knapp says. “We may have different issues in our chapters, but they’re all the same on some level.”
