Convention
 

Yo, which chapter you from? I have a hard time believing you don't know much about Convention - either you are a newbie or your chapter is out of the loop. Either way, go to Convention with an open mind, you'll meet some great guys and have a blast. Take what you can back to your chapter, it can help you in a ton of ways.

I won't be there, have fun though - Convention is a blast.

Your right
 

I am both a newbie... and my chapter is out of the loop... Im a founding father so eveything is new news to me... cant wait for the summer

Gotcha! Well, welcome to the greatest brotherhood amongst the greeks! If you attend convention, you will have a blast. Where else can you meet up with about 1,000 other Betas, sing songs, drink our loyal ale and make fund of the Phi Delts? Convention, of course.

Enjoy the leadership opportunities, you will be a better Beta because of it!

-kai-

phi delts?!?
 

is there like some kind of rival between us and the Phi Delts

Well, not really, but yes kinda. They were founded in 1848 at Miami of Ohio, so they were the next fraternity after Beta. So, just because we are at a lot of the same schools, there can be rivals. But then again, being in the Miami Triad, a lot of the Phi Delts and Betas (and Sigma Chis) are tight together...

Historically Phi Delts = guys not good enough to be Beta. That's why they founded at Miami in the first place. Amazingly, with my chapter, most of the pledges we've balled have become Phi Delts. Their house is right across the street though, and we have a pretty good relationship, but still there is rivalry.

Even if you are "newbie" (read: pledge/founding father), you should still know what Convention is about. But, besides that, welcome to the Beta family! It's done wonders for me.

This year, obviously, it's in AZ.

Next year (2006), I think we'll be celebrating the anniversary in Canada.

On a more exciting note, the Epsilon Alpha chapter will be sending a 15+ member delegation (myself included) to AZ with the intention of earning our charter. :)

well... i mean, i know that its a bunch of people in arizona and that where they will vote on our charter in the next couple of years... but no, i really dont understand the purpose... and all the website says is 'leadership college program'...

well, Convention is a great opportunity for you and others to experience the concept that Beta is NATIONAL. It extends it's brotherhood beyond your chapter's borders. It also gives the General a chance to expose you to some leadership education. Besides all that, EA's always have fun on our roadtrips, so this should be awesome.

Oh, and yes, you're right. It gives each chapter's delegate (typically your President) to vote on legislation such as bylaws, officers, and chartering petitions.

I might be out there. Should be a good time. I'd rather not go as a rep though.

I'll be attending through the Advisor Training track... and we'll be doing the whole charter request stuff. Should be fun...

Well, I definitly will be there. Just registered and bought my plane tickets today.

thats awesome, that makes three of us on greekchat

Sorry bros., as an alumni fully geared in his career, a house, wife, blah blah blah blah, it's difficult for me to make conventions. I hope you all have a great time, I hope you get a chance to meet up, and I hope you all come back better Beta's.

-kai-

I'm sorry to hear that you won't be able to make it to Scottsdale. Maybe next year (?)!!

The EA's are getting real antsy.

Same here, less then two weeks and counting. The AH's are going on the 2nd and hang with a brother who lives in Tuscan so it should be a blast

Enjoy Tuscon, the Beta's there are top notch. I visited them in the mid-90's, great guys, nice house, big dawgs on their campus.

Have a great, and safe, trip.

-kai-

The AT's are also getting antsy. We'll finally "officially" be named a winner of the NIC's Award of Distinction during Convention.

Also, our President is planning a filibuster of the legislative sessions of convention for no other reason than he thinks that he can. That's a joke...maybe.

Hopefully, you guys get your charter votes in before he starts talking...

Two points.
1. Beta is INTERnational. Look up Theta Zeta's founding date.

2. Phi Delta Theta vs. Beta Theta Pi: The song says "boys who could not be Betas" because there was no Beta at Miami in the winter of 1848. Look up the "Snow Rebellion" and see what really happened... this history is well-known. There is even a hint that its founders knew about two earlier fraternities: examine the names again...

Alpha Delta Phi
Beta Theta Pi
Phi Delta Theta

See anything there?

Question for extra credit: what does any of this have to do with the source of Beta's dragon?

Our flight leaves in less than 23 hours! :eek: I haven't even packed yet. :(

I hope everyone has a safe trip to Scottsdale! See you there!

Say hi to some of my Brothers who are there. I know Zach, Ray, and Eric are there, so tell them Mike says hi. We're all from Eastern Washington. I hope all you guys have a blast and bring back a lot of great stuff for your chapters to use.

The history of Epsilon Alpha (East Carolina) changed at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, August 5th. It was then that we became a CHAPTER of Beta Theta Pi. Since then, it has been difficult to contain our pride and excitement. It was the culmination of 3 years worth of hard work, "unwavering determination" (for those of you at the Convention! haha), and ___kai___.

Rest assured, the brothers at East Carolina will continue to make Beta a shining example of what Beta can do for young men across the nation (and Canada).

The convention was so powerful

First, congrats to ECU. I saw you guys outside smoking your cigars. You should be very proud.

The convention was awesome. Dipper Dipalo is like my favorite person. He was just an awesome speaker.

It was so cool just to see all those people come together and create the energy they did. I loved talking to the old guys, they were interesting and enthusiastic. It was really awesome.

I was glad to see that Denison is putting itself back into the mix of things! haha With any luck, you too will be awarded a charter in the upcoming years.

D. Kirk Little bought our entire group hand-rolled cigars. He figured that either way, we'd have something to celebrate or something to cry over. Either way, we were truly excited and relieved that we were awarded a charter.

And yes, Dipper is quite possibly one of the best speakers/brothers I have ever had the honor of meeting. It is my hope that he will visit our chapter during our installation ceremony (or any point before or after).

It was pretty cool.

Some things really stood out in my mind though. The most moving moment for me was the Mystic Shrine on Sunday morning. That was pretty sad.

One thing I did notice was that....there was a distinct rift in the chapters. One almost every major issue MoP chapters voted one way and the rest voted the other way. I think that is a very real problem.

The kid from U Conn talked way too much. He loved to hear himself speak. Annoying.

Unfort., our flight left too early for us to participate in the Prayer Breakfast.

And yes, you're right. When talking to other chapters, it was easy to tell who was MoP and who was not, but that's the way things are in a state of change.

Maybe, but the only way I see many of those changes being made is by forcibly shutting down chapters and making them go MoP.

Alum and current brothers here have already made it known that if that happens here, the chapter might as well stay closed b/c there will be no support anymore from them.

I noticed that a lot of MoP kids were like 'alcohol is the devil'. That is probably the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Having alcohol doesn't turn everyone in a chapter into an alcoholic dropout that hazes the fuck out of pledges.

Although I see the possible negatives with the abuse of alcohol, those possibilities are there for everyone, whether you're MoP or not. That's one thing I don't understand about the whole argument. You can be MoP and have a good time.

We're a MoP Chapter, and we still manage to have fun w/ parties (both dry and wet).

Dito ECU


I found it interesting that Georgia Tech has received the Knox award every year and I believe (but i might be wrong) that they are NOT MoP. The MoP initiative is an awesome thing to adopt, but really, if the chapters live by the ritual then they truly are a Men of Principal.

Speaking as a MoP, we drink and have tons of fun with both alcohol and nonalcohol events and I found that everyone in my leadership college group was the same way whether MoP or not. What I REALLY found interesting was the dude at Wabash said that during their pledge period they couldnt drink at all, which I like, but they also couldnt smoke or watch television. I really dont know how I feel about that

In regards to UConn, I think chris (asuming your talking about the guy from legislation) is just really excited and an enthusiastic person. Its kind of cool and refreshing to see that spirit for Beta installed in someone.

Another big highlight of the convention was the loving cup. That was my first time and you could really feel the energy in the room

That's kind of my point.

What I got was that a lot of the MoP guys pretty much blamed all the sins of the world on alcohol.

I think maybe that might be because it seems that it is one of the big and obvious things that need to be tackled, because it is one of the first things related to Fraternities and it is related to the majority of risk management incidents. I will say though that it is not the only problem, and it is only a problem with a few... i think, even though, every chapter has to address it sometime...

You are right in that regard, but to say that one of the main directives of every chapter should be going dry is wrong.

It's all about self-control, in many situations. If a person can't handle themselves when drunk, how do they handle themselves in other situations?

Another thing I kind of noticed was that it seemed to me that MoP wants to make it easier to get into Beta. The entire 'Bid only those that you want to see become a brother'.

It's hard, or near impossible, to get an accurate description of a person you just met. It can take weeks to really find out what a person is like. Longer pledging processes and harder pledging brings out people's true colors.

Its like in the Army. You don't know what a person is made of until you see them under pressure. I personally want to see that before I accept someone in my fraternity. I don't want someone that's going to break down or crack under a little stress. That's not what Beta's are. We are leaders in every regard and someone that can't face stress and difficult situations without breaking down is not a leader.

Oh, I agree... totally dry is out of question



on the 'Bid only those that you want to see become a brother'... I think that means to be a little more picky when given out bids. You still have to vote for them to become initiated. You still can say no if the guy is not right for beta. However, this quote, where do you get it, becuase I dont see it in the Men of Principal Partnership agreement.

Ultimately, partnered chapters are no different than any other chapter of Beta Theta Pi. All it is is a commitment that is already expected... to live by the 3 goals, 7 obligations, and the code of Beta. I mean, everything expected of a MoP is in one of those three groups. So... I dont understand the problems with joining it. At the same time, it now occurs to me that we need it in order to live by those three categories.

We had a guy from nationals come down and try to get us to go MoP.

Our President asked him 'Why do we need to become MoP, when every Beta should already be living by what we stand for?'

The rep. couldn't answer that.

If you are a Beta, you should already be following those standards.

I only see a huge rift in chapters. On top of that, almost every time a chapter get's in trouble it is a requirement to go MoP in order to come back.

Edit: Do you know a chick Katie Leon? She's a Pi Phi.

I know who katie is but I dont like KNOW her. She is on the crew team I think.

I think the Men of Principal is mainly a campaign. It looks goon on paper and reads well. It say who we are without having to read the Ritual book. It has a catchy title, and it collects a butt load of money. Its purpose that I can think of is mainly to making us look better on paper.

Another area I say it benifits pledge ed. I like though that pledges study the 9 goals. It gives them a real focus on what we are about. They can learn history til they are blue in the face but studying the goals of the MoP gives them a purpose to that history and thats kind of sweet.

Hey guys, I'm not going to speak too much on this topic as I am not an undergrad anymore. My chapter is non-MoP by choice - for now. Most of our Alumni don't want them to go MoP because they feel the chapter will be put into restraints. I personally love the MoP vision and I think the numbers speak for themselves - As an Alumni, they'd have my vote to go MoP if they so chose.

That being said, it's not fair to say "MoP chapters area blah blah blah" and 'non-MoP chapters are blah blah blah", because 90% of MoP chapters either re-orged as MoP chapters, or they voted and chose to go MoP. So, the brothers in MoP chapters either were MoP from the get-go or they voted and chose to be MoP.

There is a movement in the Greek world, and Beta's MoP is leading the way. It has been for nearly a decade now. Other greeks are copying our programs. Look at Sig Ep's 'Balanced Man' project....they are doing pretty much our MoP, except they named it 'Balanced Man'.

Unfortunately chapters that do not follow the MoP beliefs (partnered or not), they will eventually fail because they are not living the Three Great Principles.

That being said, MoP or not, we're all Beta's and should be 'earning our badge and living our principles everyday'.

That's right on.

However, there is a pretty big difference between MoP chapters and those that are not. It's growing somewhat less in a few regards now, but for awhile many of the programs that Beta offered were basically only offered to MoP chapters (not in writing, but in actuality). That's changing now, but there are still a lot of other differences.

My E.C. visits my chapter once a semester, however the MoP chapters get a lot of extra attention and help in certain activities than the non MoP chapters do in my area.

Are you sure that is not because they are Colonies?

Non of the chapters in my district are colonies.