Thirteen years after the Fraternity introduced the Leadership College, the Presidents Leadership Conference (PLC) was born out of the careful planning of Robert A. Biggs, GHQ staff, and the General Council in 2000. After seeing the fruits of the Leadership College that successfully brought leaders from chapters together to learn and network with each other, they determined there was a similar application that targeted the CEO of each chapter, the chapter presidents.
In January 2000, ninety-nine chapter presidents and twenty faculty gathered in St. Louis, Missouri, for the Fraternity’s first PLC. An article from the Summer 2000 issue of The Scroll starts with these charges for a chapter president to:
- Unite the chapter with a common goal.
- Take full responsibility for the actions of your chapter.
- Learn to listen and respond to the concerns of your brothers.
- Assume the role of the leader of your chapter.
Your direction will make an enormous impact on the quality of life for your chapter brothers.
This inaugural PLC was themed The Courage to Lead. See the full article here.
Since its inception, PLC, now endowed and named the McKenzie Family Presidents Leadership Conference, has specifically targeted chapter leaders and often added secondary programming based on chapter operations’ current needs or trends. This conference has helped over 5,000 chapter leaders gain the skills needed to run their chapters. Volunteer summits have coincided with it, focused on house corporation volunteers or chapter advisory board members. Often, recruitment or Phikeia education workshops have been added to invite recruitment and Phikeia education officers whose roles are also very instrumental in the success of each chapter.
See the following photos from the 2022 McKenzie PLC which was the first in person gathering since the last PLC held in 2020. During the conference, chapter presidents are divided into smaller participant groups to allow meaningful small group dynamics and discussions. Often these men become friends and remain in communication through their undergraduate experience.
