Sigma Nu's leadership education initiatives, like the LEAD Institutes and Recruitment Institutes, provide important training opportunities that our members cannot find anywhere else on campus.

Recruitment Institutes equip our undergraduate members with the motivation, organization and skills they need to effectively recruit men who are committed to Sigma Nu's founding principles of Love, Honor and Truth. LEAD Institutes are designed to provide the information and skills needed to effectively run the LEAD Program, which develops ethical leaders for society, brothers who will make an impact on their chapter, campus and community.

Fourteen LEAD Institutes and 15 Recruitment Institutes were held this spring on campuses across the country. Each of the Saturday programs provides chapter leaders and alumni volunteers the opportunity for direct communication with staff and volunteers of the National Fraternity and interaction with leaders and alumni from other nearby chapters.

Recruitment Institutes have been held every spring since 2002. More than 650 members have participated in the one-day training. Since fall 2003, chapters with attendance every year at the Recruitment Institute have seen a growth of 12% in their membership compared to non-attending chapters that have grown only 2.9%.
Recruitment Chairman Brandon Dartez (Baylor) attended one of this year's Recruitment Institutes. He says he learned that, "The effort to recruit more men should be put forth all year, so that you know every man recruited is an honest and well-rounded individual and that he will be able to carry out the ideals of love, truth and honor."

Commander Andy Baston (Florida) also shared, "The Recruitment Institute taught my chapter how and why Values Based Recruitment should be used. Our chapter now has direction for our recruitment efforts, as opposed to wandering through rush week with the hope that the right guys step through our doors. The Recruitment Institute taught valuable lessons that will eventually pay great dividends in our chapter's membership as we strive to be one of the best fraternities on campus."

According to Commander Adrian Wright (Lynchburg), "The LEAD Institute proved to be informative beyond demonstrating how to improve chapter development; it also taught us how to establish a code of ethics for every leadership-related behavior. We focused on team-building, working in groups, problem-solving and securing an effective stance as a leader. The LEAD Institute clearly benefited our chapter by increasing our proficiency in skills we already possess and teaching us new skills we needed to learn."

The National Fraternity invests in the lives of our young leaders through face-to-face training in both programs. The Institutes also aid in determining areas for future growth and progress in the Fraternity as a whole.