With a Wichita State emblem on the front, Katie Wiggins, a sophomore in biology, eagerly rips open an envelope.

The letter inside requesting $85 ruins the appeal for her.

“I just finished paying for books, and I just finished doing all the financial aid to make sure my tuition was paid for,” she said. “I’m just kind of tapped out of money and impatient with being charged more.”

The invitation, sent out by the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) or Sigma Alpha Pi, attempts to recruit qualified students to join the organization.

According to the NSLS website, the organization is a nationwide leadership honor society aimed at helping members discover and achieve their goals. Its main objective is to link students to important resources on campus and nationwide.

NSLS has 500 chapters consisting of more than 500,000 members. At Wichita State, there are nearly 1,000 members with 200 members joining this fall.

The Wichita State NSLS chapter is hosting “Password 4 Pizza” from noon to 1 p.m. Monday on the Rhatigan Student Center north patio. Members of NSLS received a password to get a slice of pizza in an email sent out by the organization earlier this week. For non-members to receive a slice, they must listen to Kieu Nguyen, president of NSLS, talk about what the organization has to offer.

“We want our members to know that we do care and that this organization does exist,” Nguyen said. “So we are kind of putting ourselves out there.” 

NSLS sends out an invitation to all students that have completed 30 credit hours and have at least a 3.0 GPA. In the NSLS invitation, students are asked to pay a one-time $85 fee to activate their membership. The fee goes toward benefits, partner discounts and a lifetime membership.

Nguyen said the fee isn’t the only requirement to be inducted as a member. Students must attend an orientation, a leadership-training seminar, three motivational speaker broadcasts and three Success Networking Team (SNT) meetings.

Once the requirements are met, the student earns lifetime membership and no further participation is required.

“This year, we’re planning events for them to attend so they feel like they’re in a group,” Nguyen said. “I want them to stay and be active and participate. I don’t want them to just stop because they got their requirements done.”

Nguyen said there are many benefits offered to members of NSLS including scholarships, access to an online job bank, résumé enhancements, leadership opportunities, discounts on books, computers and insurance, and a letter of recommendation from the founder of NSLS.

Wiggins said if she were invited again, she’d be more likely to join.

“I’d be interested,” she said. “I’d ask them to ask me to join again if that’s possible. I didn’t know what it was and didn’t have the resources to look into it at the time.”

For more information about NSLS contact [email protected].