On February 14th, SigEp at UNI packed 22 of its members in five different cars to drive to Chicago, IL to attend the 2020 Carlson Leadership Academy. The Carlson Leadership Academy is a SigEp only leadership conference that equips SigEp brothers with tools and skills to exceed their goals and lead their respective chapters to success. This year, Carlson offered 11 different education tracks, including tracks dedicated to training each executive board position and rising leaders of our chapter. 
On Friday night, our brothers arrived in Chicago, dressed up in their suit and ties, and kicked off the conference. We started off the weekend with a session titled “What are you worth? Defining and selling your value proposition” where we learned how to articulate the SigEp experience to others, and how it’s so much more unique than any other college organization out there.
The next day, we spent the day in different breakout groups learning more about chapter operations. New brothers attended the Rising Leader Track where they learned what SigEp is and how you can use it to maximize your college years. Other members attended tracks focused on specific chapter operations such as Communications, Programming, Recruitment, and Finance.
These sessions educated our brothers on strategic planning and goal-setting for effective chapter leadership. Our brothers can now use these skills to lead our chapter toward success and be translated to college work and prospective careers.
At the Chicago Carlson, SigEp was also piloting a “Senior Track” for older chapter members to go through during the weekend. Five of our brothers took part in this pilot program that challenged them to think about their “why statements” as they move into life after college. SigEp acknowledges that the 20’s are very transformational years for a college graduate as they transition into their early professional careers; SigEp created the senior track to help seniors navigate this change. The members in attendance left this track inspired, and with a stronger understanding of how to sell themselves and their “whys” in the professional world.
SigEp Headquarters presented our chapter with multiple awards over the weekend, honoring both individual members along with the Iowa Theta chapter. In the morning, we were awarded an Excelsior Award for Membership Development for our continued growth in our chapter’s Balanced Man Program curriculum. The Excelsior Award is presented to chapters that show significant improvement in a specific area of chapter operations.
At night, brother Caleb Gipple and Renaissance Brother Dr. Alan Heisterkamp both received a prestigious SigEp honor. Caleb Gipple was selected for the Tragos Quest to Greece, an exclusive trip where brothers explore Greek culture and the origins of SigEp’s values and the Balanced Man ideal. Caleb is one of a select few to be selected out of hundreds of applicants from across the nation to be named a Tragos Quest to Greece Scholar.
SigEp also named Dr. Alan Heisterkamp as the 2020 University Partner of the Year. This award recognizes one campus partner at each Carlson Leadership Academy. The recipient plays an outstanding role in the chapter’s development and the fraternal movement on campus. Alan Heisterkamp is our chapter advisor and a Renaissance brother of SigEp UNI. He is the Director of Violence Prevention who oversees the curriculum of bystander education and strategies. Alan has played an integral role in assisting our efforts to increase sexual assault awareness and prevention on UNI’s campus through our annual Sexual Assault Awareness Week. We are proud of Dr. Heisterkamp and Caleb Gipple’s achievements, and lucky to call them brothers.
At the end of the weekend, we left Carlson Leadership Academy with more passion for SigEp, stronger brotherly bonds, and eager to take on the next year! To help fund future leadership conferences like Carlson, visit our donation page here.
