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Founded in 1939, the Sigma Chi Foundation is a charitable and educational tax-exempt organization, separate and independent from the Sigma Chi Fraternity, whose express purpose is to fund the development and operations of Sigma Chi leadership initiatives and provide additional scholarship and grant support to our members.
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The Sigma Chi Foundation directly funds the Sigma Chi Leadership Institute (SCLI) and the development and delivery of its programs including new accredited leadership certificate courses following the acceptance of SCLI’s accreditation candidacy by Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS).
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Foundation-funded efforts also include delivery programs such as Krach Transformational Leaders Workshop, Horizons Huntsman Leadership Summit and Sigma Chi Online efforts such as the Preparation for Brotherhood new-member education module and Ritual For Life.
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The Sigma Chi Foundation also provides a robust scholarship and grant program that awards more than $500,000 annually in donor-driven and chapter-funded awards to our members.
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Our grants also include Fraternity staffed personnel to facilitate leadership activities and aid the operations of our undergraduate chapters across North America on an annual basis.
The Sigma Chi Foundation provides more support to our members than any other Greek-letter organization (Fraternity or Sorority). And despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, we remain at the forefront providing value to our members across North America.
According to Pennington & Company’s 2020 Greek-Letter Foundation Report, the Sigma Chi Foundation:
revenue, program services (grants and academic scholarships) and expenses.
scholarship support than any Greek-letter organization.
See below for an in-depth look at our efforts.
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From the early days of Krach Transformational Leaders Workshop (formerly Leadership Training Workshop) through the development and 1999 debut of Horizons Huntsman Leadership Summit, the Sigma Chi Foundation directly supported the need for leadership growth within Sigma Chi members.
Over the past two decades, however, the Sigma Chi Foundation has ramped up its support of educational opportunities provided to Sigma Chi members, providing more than $30 million — tops in the Greek-letter world — in direct support to the Fraternity’s development of educational offerings culminating in the 2019 launch of the Sigma Chi Leadership Institute (SCLI).
In 2021, thanks to the many years of support from Foundation donors and the volunteer efforts of many Sigma Chi alumni and staff members, SCLI was accepted as a candidate for accreditation by the Middle States Association Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS), which is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
SCLI leadership curriculum provides touch points on the issues impacting college students today, as well as the growth of values-based leadership and soft skills sought after by employers. These offerings, new and existing, have been unveiled under a new continuum umbrella offering certificates, credentials and micro-credentials that display a member’s character, values and ideals to future employers or chapter members — a differentiator only Sigma Chi provides on campuses North America.
Undergraduate members who participate Sigma Chi programs such as Krach TLW, Horizons, Ritual for Life, Values-Based Decision Making and Officer Training Academy will now receive validation for their efforts that can be placed on their resumes to future employers.
While the accreditation process is firmly underway, the need for support is as significant as ever before. By sponsoring certificate elements or leadership educational modules, donors help ensure SCLI’s accreditation success and providing opportunities to our members unafforded by any other organization in the Greek-letter world.Â
Each year, the generous donations of alumni supporters make it possible for the Sigma Chi Foundation to grant numerous academic scholarships and awards to our deserving undergraduate and graduate brothers. Providing scholarships and academic awards furthers the Foundation’s goal to promote academic excellence.
We proudly award brothers who show outstanding leadership, academic motivation and commitment to their chapters and campuses.
For the 2020 to 2021 fiscal year, the Sigma Chi Foundation provided $350,000 in academic awards to 236 undergraduate, graduate and military students and one undergraduate sweetheart. This total also includes the International Balfour Award, International Sweetheart, Cooper and Legion of Honor recipients honored by the Fraternity.
While many of the academic awards are courtesy of the Donor-Scholar initiative, more than 80 of the awards were received by brothers whose chapter qualified for the Thomas Cowan Bell Chapter Challenge.Â
The Bell Chapter Challenge provides an opportunity for brothers to directly impact their home chapter with enhanced benefits from the Foundation including guaranteed reserved slots at the Krach Transformational Leaders Workshop and Horizons Huntsman Leadership Summit, as well as seven sponsored registrations for the new Sigma Chi Officer Training Academy.
According to data from the annual J. Dwight Peterson Significant Chapter Award metrics, chapters who earn Bell status, on average, attain a higher cumulative GPA, record more volunteer hours, are more involved on campus and provide more support to philanthropic efforts.
Thanks to the work of the Sigma Chi Foundation Board of Governors in collaboration with General Fraternity leadership, each of Sigma Chi’s undergraduate chapters were able to receive direct on-site support from a headquarters staff member via an annual grant which began in 2017.
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The 10 regional chapter support coordinators provide guidance to the Fraternity’s undergraduate chapters in their region by assisting them and their volunteer advisors in fulfilling the goals set forth in their strategic plans. Serving as an ambassador for Sigma Chi, they work closely with the Fraternity’s Grand Praetors, or regional governors, and chapter advisors to assist the undergraduate leadership with various aspects of their chapter’s operations and facilitates relationships between the chapters and university partners.Â
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The regional chapter support grant is one of many the Sigma Chi Foundation provides to the General Fraternity to help impact our undergraduate members. In coordination with the Sigma Chi Leadership Institute and the General Fraternity, Foundation grants provide training efforts for alumni volunteers, leaders and program facilitators.
Whether it’s providing mentorship opportunities among undergraduate or graduate Sigs, or recognizing their career achievements with one of the Fraternity’s highest honors, the Sigma Chi Foundation’s engagement efforts afford alumni members an opportunity to reconnect with the Fraternity through a variety of ways.
The Significant Sig Award
One of Sigma Chi’s highest honors, The Significant Sig Award, awarded by the General Fraternity thanks to a grant from the Sigma Chi Foundation, recognizes those alumni members whose exemplary achievements in their fields of endeavor have brought great honor and prestige to the name of Sigma Chi.
Although all Sigma Chi brothers aspire to achieve greatness in their individual lives and professions, The Significant Sig Selection Committee recommends those brothers whose efforts and achievements have positioned themselves at the highest levels of their peer group professionally. Â
From authors and athletes to entertainers and entrepreneurs, more than 2,000 alumni have received the award since its inception in 1935. What began as a simple token of recognition has become one of the most distinguished awards in the Greek-letter world.
Distinguished Visitors Program
The Foundation’s Distinguished Visitors program has provided alumni with an opportunity to reconnect to their Sigma Chi roots and impact undergraduate brothers since its inception in the 1980s.
This year, following postponement of in-person events due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Sig alumni will attend Huntsman Horizons Leadership Summit in Snowbird, Utah or the Krach Transformational Leaders Workshop in Bowling Green, Ohio and mentor undergraduates through their shared values, wisdom and perspective leadership.
Regional Alumni Receptions
Prior to the pandemic, the Sigma Chi Foundation Board of Governors and staff made a targeted effort to connect with reengage alumni in United States metropolitan areas to Sigma Chi with special reception events.
Hosted by Foundation board members and donors, these events provide an opportunity to deliver updates from the General Fraternity and to discuss Sigma Chi’s forward direction. These receptions will return with social distancing guidelines and protocol in select markets during 2021.
For more information on these events or to receive a reminder when the Sigma Chi Foundation visits your area, e-mail the Foundation at foundation@sigmachi.org.
