Here at the Xi chapter of Kappa Sigma, academics is one of our top ambitions, where we striving every semester to reach the pinnacle of our educational achievement.   This past spring semester we had 15 brothers achieve a perfect 4.0 and receive the Chancellor’s Award from the University of Arkansas.  This past summer Xi chapter received the outstanding academic program award at the 2008 Kappa Sigma leadership conference.  One of our proudest achievements this past academic year is our accomplishment of receiving the Award of Excellence from Order of Omega for the 2^nd year in a row. The Award of Excellence is extremely difficult to receive as there is a long list of criteria to meet, and our “Fabulous Xi” chapter was able to easily excel in the academic and involvement portion giving us another outlet to show our success in these areas.

Our academic accomplishments would not be possible without the support of our numerous alumni and friends across the United States. A product of this support is the Xi educational Foundation Tutoring Fund. Since the fund’s creation over 26 years ago, over $300,000 has been spent on tutors with no cost to our members. These funds continue to contribute to Xi academic success.

The brothers of Xi are not only encouraged to excel in academics, but also to establish a leadership presence at the University. Brother Andrew LeNarz was recently elected by the student body as the Associated Student Government Vice-President. This is a very prestigious position and we look forward to seeing Andrew’s success in his new role. Along with this success in Associated Student Government we also had 9 brothers elected as Senators for the Legislative branch of ASG. This is an astounding number considering there are only 50 seats for a school of 18,000 students and Kappa Sigma represents 18% of the Senate!

Even though Xi chapter’s leadership is seen through the student government, there are also many other areas on campus that our leadership skills are shown. Brother Drew Angel currently serves as Vice President of White Ribbon.  Brother Ryan Belcher and Jon Chang serve as the President and Treasurer of Alpha Epsilon Delta (Pre-Medical Society) respectively; brother Cody Kees serves as the Chairman of the Distinguish Lectures Committee. Brother Colton Churchill is the Secretary for IFC. Senior Will Roth serves as President of the Booster Club. The Brothers of Xi had 9 initiates into the Order of Omega which is a Greek honor society for their leadership and academic achievement, which was more than any other chapter on campus. Freshman Logan Gilmore serves as the Vice President of Public Relations for New Greek Council. While Brothers James Roblee and Brandon Stead serve as Vice President and Secretary of the Pre-Dental society.  Evident in the sheer number of brothers that currently serve as leaders of organizations, Xi chapter continues to be heavily involved on the University campus.

Currently we have over 18% of our members serving as officers in university organizations. This outstanding campus involvement was recognized at this past years Kappa Sigma Leadership Conference where Xi received the Campus Involvement Excellence Award. The brothers of Xi realize that college is more than just receiving a diploma; it is about excelling in every aspect of your collegiate career.

We believe at Xi that excellence in academics and leadership is developed during your first days at the University of Arkansas. That’s why at Xi incoming pledges are encouraged to excel in academics as well as to take advantage of our leadership program. Every pledge class at Xi goes through our leadership development program. The program is designed after the book 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, written by John C. Maxwell. This book teaches characteristics on how to lead the people around you and inspires our freshman to fulfill their leadership potential. The leadership development class allows the men of Xi to become men that others will want to follow in college and in the future. 

As you can see this past academic year has been very successful for the brothers of Xi Chapter. These brothers have established a leadership and scholastic presence on the University campus that some may equal, but none excel.

AΣKΔB

James Roblee