At Northwestern State University, Sigma Nu is a fraternity founded on the values of love, honor and truth. The fraternity works hard to provide its members with valuable life skills while simultaneously maintaining its philanthropy to benefit the community. Sigma Nu offers a leadership, education and development program that creates learning opportunities for its members, teaching everything from successful interview skills for seniors to time management training for freshmen.
Sigma Nu’s biggest event of the year, the Sigma Nu Haunted House, is a chance for the fraternity to raise money for St. Jude while providing the Natchitoches community with some festive fun. Lucas Homan, a junior criminal justice major, loves being able to support a good cause while having a great time. “We decorate the fraternity house and the brothers dress up to scare visitors as people come through. It is one of the best events of the year,” Homan said.
The fraternity brothers boast about Sigma Nu’s unique way of recruiting members and making new pledges feel at home. “My older brother was a member of Sigma Nu at NSU and every time I came here, the brothers in Sigma Nu would treat me like I was one of them. Coming into college, my mind was already made up thanks to the brothers of Sigma Nu and their actions of kindness,” Homan said.
Cody Ruiz, a senior communication major and Sigma Nu’s president, had no plans of joining a fraternity until he met the members of Sigma Nu at NSU’s Freshman Connection. “For Sigma Nu, it wasn’t about joining a fraternity. It was talking about what my favorite movie was, where I was from and the best places to hang out in Natchitoches,” Ruiz said. “It was a group of guys that cared about me instead of just wanting to recruit me to their organization.”
Sigma Nu has helped many of its members get more involved on campus, teaching them to embrace the principle of leadership at NSU. “I wasn’t very involved when I came to NSU,” Homan said. “I wanted to just stick my head in the ground and hide but Sigma Nu lit a fire in me that never went out. Now, I’ve been in two positions on the Interfraternity Council, four positions in Sigma Nu and countless leadership organizations.”
Alexander Boudreau is a junior nursing major who has grown to love participating on campus due to the encouragement of Sigma Nu. “The person that Sigma Nu has shaped me into is amazing. I came to school with a very shallow mindset, I didn’t like talking to people and I was very quiet,” Boudreau said. “Now I’m here, doing a yearbook interview, something I never thought I’d do! I’m the head of philanthropy for our organization, which I never thought I’d be involved in, and I love it.”
One of Sigma Nu’s greatest qualities is the support that its members offer one another when campus life gets overwhelming. “Sigma Nu gives you a way to take time away from everything else that is going on and be a part of something bigger than yourself,” Boudreau said. “Everyone has things in their lives, but they can come together in Sigma Nu and let go of those worries.”
Sigma Nu is proud to be a safe place when its brothers are experiencing tough times. “I came to college with four friends from high school and all have dropped out or transferred. Through it all, I never felt alone because I had Sigma Nu there. I may have lost four brothers, but I gained 32 new ones,” Ruiz said.
Through it all, Sigma Nu is determined to shed light on the benefits of joining a fraternity and being a part of such a close brotherhood. “We’re trying to get away from the negative stigma that surrounds fraternities and focus on lifelong friendships and brotherhood,” Boudreau said. “We love everybody and want to be as inclusive as we can, lifting one another up and being there for each other when we need help the most.”
