UW – Whitewater Member Nicholas Herzberg Grateful For Opportunity to Attend Stead
Nicholas Herzberg never thought he’d be able to attend the 2017 Stead Leadership Seminar in Nashville, Tenn. There’s no way he could have afforded it, he said.
That was until his chapter won the Karl Krapek Values Grant, which allowed Herzberg and five of his brothers at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater to participate in the conference this past summer.
“It was one of the most influential and impactful experiences of my life,” the senior marketing major said. “We’re a smaller chapter, and honestly, half of our members come from lower income households.”
“For myself, if I hadn’t received that scholarship, I don’t think I could’ve attended,” he added.
Herzberg served as Recruitment Chair for the chapter at UW – Whitewater. Now he’s a general member. But he’s involved in other student organizations on campus as well, such as DECA, a professional business and marketing organization that helps prepare students for jobs in the real world.
For Herzberg and his brothers who attended Stead, it was an opportunity to break out of their bubble and see the world a little differently.
“UW – Whitewater is kind of by itself in Wisconsin,” Herzberg said. “Obviously, as Lambda Chi’s, we’re all connected by one big ritual. But at Stead, we really learned a lot about different chapters. It really diversified our ideas about how a chapter should be run today.”
Lambda-lota Zeta struggled to send one member to the last Stead conference, he said.
“Being able to send all of those members was a great opportunity for us,” Herzberg said.
They walked away from Stead knowing a lot more about social media and public relations. The chapter now uses things like ChapterBuilder, a fraternity and sorority recruitment software, and Canva, a graphic design software, both of which they learned about during the conference.
“The Greek involvement rate at Whitewater is really low,” he said. “So we needed some new ways to really get our name out there on campus.”
Being a member of this organization means a lot to Herzberg.
“To be a Lambda Chi is to be a part of something bigger than yourself,” he said. “I had been involved in my community. I had done volunteering. But I don’t think any of that can parallel the combination of brotherhood and philanthropy because you’re not doing it alone. You get to do it with your brothers.”
He’s just grateful he gets to continue to be a part of this brotherhood for the rest of his life, said Herzberg, who hopes to work in sports marketing on the East Coast after graduation.
“Being a Lambda Chi is a great, very rewarding experience.”
