Answering Father Mills
 

I don't remember the exact quote, but Father Mills once asked a question about whether or not the men made Sinfonia better or if Sinfonia made the men better. I ask you all that question.

For me, I can definitely say that Sinfonia made me a better man.

I didn't rush. I had no intentions of rushing any Fraternity my first semester. I had 18 credits, classes from 7am to 5pm and a somewhat full time job. (I was a rigger and sound engineer at the Orlando Arena and Citrus Bowl. I could work 60 hours one week and not work again the next, depending on the time of year.)

One day after Marching Band practice, I was handed an invite to the first Pledge/Probationary kick off party/social by the Chapter President. I felt Honored and accepted it.

The things I learned as a Pledge/Probationary Brother and as a Sinfonian have sunk in and been the root of a lot of what I have become. I was initiated under the Purposes and used them to guide me through my life and career after college. Today, I gladly accept the Object.

I moved back to California to be closer to my family and started teaching band and choir at a high school. After I couldn't afford to live as a teacher anymore and had to change careers, I continued to teach for free to anyone that had a desire to learn. I strived to "instill in all people music's important roll in the enrichment of the human spirit."

It's been 15 years since I made one of the most important choices of my life. 15 years of being Honored to be called a Sinfonian. 15 years and I'm still teaching for free, still encouraging and actively promoting music wherever and whenever I can. Hell, I just contacted the Chapter President of UNLV's SAI Chapter and volunteered my services since we don't have our own here yet (Key word is yet).

To answer Father Mills. Yes, Sinfonia has made me a better man. Sinfonia has brought me to do things I may have never had the desire to do. I ask you all the same question? Did Sinfonia make you a better man?

All together Brothers...

OAS! AAS! LLS!!!!!!!!!

Rob Miller
Mu Eta
Fall '93

Hey Brother Rob,

I don't know that you'll get too many responses, as there rarely are more than a few of us (at most) around here. But I'll say thanks for giving me the chance to think about this again.

The quote you are thinking of comes from Father Mills in the 1912 Edition of The FMA Annual, entitled "What Are the Possibilities of Sinfonia: Optimism Runs High in Phi Mu Alpha." Here is the excerpt:

Our business is the making of men; and the all-important question for us "Are Sinfonians any better for being Sinfonians? Do they leave our portals physically, mentally, morally stronger, cleaner, purer -- in fact more worthy men than when they enter?" If not, then the Sinfonia Fraternity has no excuse for existing and for making such large drafts on our time, our energy and our means.

I can only answer by saying that I hope it has (or that I hope others would say that it has). Like you, I pledged by the Purposes and gladly (even excitedly) accepted the restoration of the Object. There are words, phrases and images that you and I would both recognize that, decades after I first heard or saw them, still ring in my ears or burn in my eyes, enliven my imagination and guide choices in my life. I ask myself regularly whether I live up to the obligations I have undertaken as a Sinfonian. I hope that, as a result, I am a better man.

Father Mills concluded the 1912 article with words that really have become a guide for me and, I know, for many other Sinfonians:

This it is to be a man of the highest type. To be and not seem; to do and not simply to talk; to have the right ideal, the true motive and patiently to transform conduct in accordance with it. So let it be for SINFONIA.

Answering Father Mills
 

Fraternal Greetings,

I too was initiated under the purposes but openly accepted the object. All boils down to symantics in my opinion. The things that we learned while we were probationary and active brothers definately have a place in my life as well as career. I am a better leader, manager and person in my place in the Business/Finance world. I keep a Fraternity Beer Stein that has our Crest in my office at work as a reminder.

Fraternally,

Boodleboy322

Likewise, my shingle hangs in my office as a reminder.

But I think I'd like the "additional" reminders I'd have with the beer stein. :D