Outer Circle
New members in Lambda Chi Alpha are recruited and then immediately welcomed as potential brothers in the bond through the Fraternity’s exoteric Associate Member Ceremony. To maintain consistency and encourage values-based recruitment, the Fraternity has created the Cole Recruitment Institute — a full day’s training experience provided to chapters at international Lambda Chi Alpha events.
After experiencing the Associate Member Ceremony, new members are exposed to the Call to Brotherhood — Lambda Chi Alpha’s Associate Member education program and training curriculum. Over the course of the eight weeks, they learn about Lambda Chi Alpha, its history, how we are organized, how we function as a group, how we govern ourselves, how we develop leaders for our chapter, our campus, and our country, and, most importantly, how we develop brotherhood. The Call to Brotherhood is designed to provide new members with a foundation of conceptual understandings and practical skills facilitating developmental growth as men and contributing brothers of Lambda Chi Alpha.
During associate member orientation, new members learn the Seven Core Values forming the foundation of Lambda Chi Alpha’s approach to brotherhood. These Seven Core Values— Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Service and Stewardship, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage — once learned and internalized equip each Lambda Chi Alpha brother with a clear moral compass always orienting him, no matter the environment or consequences, toward making ethical decisions. Over the ensuing weeks, the Seven Core Values are examined, one each week, and defined as to how the week’s specific core value relates to real situations in Lambda Chi Alpha. Again, our purpose is to prepare the new member, to build a solid foundation for further growth so, once initiated, he is inspired to become a True Brother.
The last step before Initiation is the associate member’s exposure to our Exoteric Mysteries — the True Brother’s approach to pre-initiation. Understanding the pre-initiation is a crucial component of the undergraduate experience, Lambda Chi Alpha now offers 20 approved pre-initiation events and activities. Each activity is broken down in specific detail, so initiated brothers understand the intended outcome of the event beforehand — how to appropriately conduct the event, and then, once the event is over, how to debrief the associate members, to ensure they make meaning of the experience and the intended takeaways and learnings.