Values in Action

Love. Honor. Truth. Nothing Less. 

Our values of Love, Honor, and Truth laid down by our founders are simple and direct. There is not much room for them to be interpreted beyond what our Founders intended. In fact, their intentions are easily found in the preamble of our Creed.  

To Believe in the Life of Love: this clearly means that we need to love our Brothers, and we are our Brother’s keeper. To do this we need to respect each other as members and candidates of our great Fraternity. 

To Walk in the Way of Honor: this clearly means that we must be honorable in all that we undertake. As stated by Thomas Jefferson, “Nobody can acquire honor by doing what is wrong.” 

To Serve in the Light of Truth: this clearly means that we need to accept the fundamental truths in our lives and seek to follow them. To do this we need to understand our personal values and fraternal heritage needs to be cherished and protected. 

As we move through National Hazing Prevention Week, we need to remember that it would be very difficult to interpret our principles as nothing more than a cliché’ or a punchline if we do not do what is necessary to protect and spread the message of their true meaning. Hopefully, you will find the following helpful in defining your chapter as a true chapter of The Legion of Honor. 

Love – There is no way we can say we have brotherly love when the practice of hazing is present in our chapters. There is no argument or explanation that could justify that treating someone as an inferior being is an expression of brotherly love. Therefore, you should treat every person that you have chosen and invited into your chapter as you would any member of your family. 

Honor – If we as a fraternity desire to be seen as honorable, then we must be willing to understand that anything we do that would bring scrutiny upon us if it was done in the middle of our campus is probably not honorable. There is no way that hazing in public would be tolerated because in nearly every state and on every college campus it is an illegal practice. Breaking the law is by its very nature a dishonor to yourself and your Fraternity. 

Truth – If we examine the definition of Truth as enumerated in the Preamble to the Creed of Sigma Nu (formerly the Long Creed), then we will see many examples of what it means to be true. True to ourselves involves knowing right from wrong and living by that knowledge. True to our institutions of education means being a student that the institution can be proud of. Being true to our Fraternity means that in all aspects of our fraternal career that we are militant to defeat anything that does not paint our brotherhood in a positive light. 

In closing, Sigma Nu was founded on solid principles and the belief that hazing in all forms is wrong. If we follow the principles of Love, Honor, and Truth, then hazing cannot exist. If hazing exists, then our principles of Love, Honor, and Truth are absent. 

Love. Honor. Truth. Nothing Less. And you don’t need anything else. 

Chris Graham (Lamar/Stephen F. Austin/Houston)
Division Commander