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We all want the best for Beta, and I think everyone in this discussion feels that way.
But at the same time, it is dangerous to be too idealistic on every point.
Coramoor is an esteemed member of the Armed Services who has defended our country. I am self-made in my own right without relying on any family support. We both have been actively involved in helping our chapters, and we both have some life experience under our belts- and the latter is priceless. I have not been out of school for 10 years yet and already I am amazed to look back and see what life experience and business experience mean. That wisdom far outweighs what I learn in school.
While I respect the motives of the substance-free proponents of this thread, please understand that it is very frustrating to be summarily dismissed on the notion that alcohol in a person's residence is inherently bad. To suggest that Coramoor (me too perhaps since I agree with him?) pledged Beta for the wrong reasons just because of a position on the substance-free housing question is a pretty big insult and it puts things in black and white terms that should not be a basis for judgement in a brotherhood.
That is where the internal strife comes from- and it is unnecessary since any time I have sat down and met with Betas on both sides of the argument, we could come away from it with a mutual respect and understanding. (The internet removes that personal interaction and is a good reason why online can be a treacherous forum for such discussions.)
It has been suggested in other threads, some now gone, that Beta is not a "frat". The fact is, we have some fratty chapters. And so do all fraternities. Plus all of us have chapters which are not at all fratty. There is no NIC group which is all one or the other.
And the real internal strife in all NIC fraternities over being alcohol-free is based in the fact that unlike the sororities, we have not all moved to a definitive policy at the same time. It has nothing to do with one fraternity or another having the magic answer to making all chapters places that will be free of risk management and potential lawsuits.
By virtue of the fact one has to spend a lot of money to belong, we are considered elite organizations and a segment of American society will always hate us for that. Get used to it. It is part of being successful in a country where success is prized by the intelligent and ambitious, but resented by the inadequate and lazy.
There is no doubt improvement can be made. I will admit right here and now that if my chapter was operating today the way it was when I was an active, I would not have been interested in the countless hours and financial support I put into the place now.
I recognize and appreciate the need for fraternities to evolve- but that comes just as much from the inherent changes in top colleges across the country where scholastics have become incredibly competitive as it does from the ongoing desire for fraternities to take the finest young men in a college population and make them better through their affiliation with a fraternity.
But the issue of substance free is not a moral one in my view. As I have said before, if the existing rules are enforced and honored- then there is no need for additional rules or for chapters who elect to go substance free to look down on those who do not (which is a HUGE issue right now.)
In the grand scheme of things- rush is the real answer. The drunk house on campus will bring in drunks during rush. And the reverse is true.
The answer is to have members who would not, on the whole, choose to booze up during college and make that the priority. The increasingly competitive nature of scholastics and admissions at top colleges helps a great deal in removing that crowd from the rush pool altogether.
But within the remainder, the answer is to find top guys who can be trusted- and then put them in an environment where they are trusted to do the right thing.
JMHO.
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