[ComradesTrue]

"Too cool for school"... that was definitely me early on in college. At my high school people with good grades were ridiculed, and I very naively took that lame perception with me to college. Things that helped change my perspective were seeing older members of my chapter who were excelling academically, yet I very much perceived in a positive light. In addition... we had some young graduates come to chapter meeting that drilled it into our pea-brains that the degree/piece of paper itself was not the ticket to a job or grad school... that knowledge was. These people were young enough that we didn't think they were lame and preachy, but old enough to have not gotten the job/grad school they wanted because 2.8s are a dime a dozen. Or.. maybe they did study hard, had a 3.8 and got a great job. The contrast in the different stories began to sink in with many of us. Our chapter went from 8th in grades to 3rd to 1st over three semesters... and we still had fun. It can be done!

How involved are your alums? Would they consider donating a little cash for your scholarship fund ("scholarship" as in the office, not "scholarship" as in cash towards tuition)? I know that alums are always hit up for money, but if you honestly specify it will only be used for scholarship, then I think you should get a reasonable response. You could combine any donations from them with some of the chapter funds and create a scholarship budget.

I also undertand the "giving grown men incentives" hesitation... but if framed well, it could help change the perception of academic acheivement. Because- that is your problem... your brothers don't lack the intelligence to make good grades... they just don't *want* to. So fix that.

Throughout the semester you could offer "Bucks" (give a creative name based on your organization) for every A on a test, paper, project, etc. At the end of the semester, auction of items like dinners at local restaurants, DVDs, clothing stores, sport tickets, etc. Have a few big tickets items, like an iPod. Make the auction itself an entertaining event- this is KEY to the success. You would solicit donations from local companies, as well as use your scholarship fund to obtain the items. If grades are *really* problematic, you could even start with 1 Buck for every B and 2 for every A or something like that.

Another way to use the scholarship fund is to pay for tutors... though the "too cool" group may not be inclined much to utilize that.

The other suggestions posted are great ones too.

Good luck to you... and again... it can be done!