[BrianAggieLCA]

Hey guys,
I'm a brother at Texas A&M and am on the 2002 Student Advisory Committee. I'm gonna try to give my view as one of the authors of this legislation. I'm gonna admit up front, that the reasons that we gave at the Regional Conferences sounded like we were ashamed of being called a fraternity. We made the mistake of forgetting that the actives and alumns dont have the same information that we do, and so wouldnt see things from the same perspective as we do. To say that we want to change the name to brotherhood because we are ashamed of the word fraternity, and dont want outsiders to see us like "Animal House" is wrong. If someone is going to pigeon-hole us then that is they're fault for being closed minded. For me, the name change is for us, not them. The one thing that makes us different from the other clubs and organizations on our campuses isn't our mixers and crush parties or our focus on scholastics or even our service activities. You can get all these things elsewhere. But the one thing that no one else has is Brotherhood. It's the force that ties all the other aspects of who we are together. Take away the chance for leadership, excellence in academics, service to the community, and the great social events, and though diminished, we could still exist and be Lambda Chi. But take away the brotherhood and, even if you keep all the other things, we are just another club. We wanted to put a spotlight on the aspect of who we are that we consider the most important and are the most proud of. No one is saying that changing the name is supposed to change who we are. It's a purely symbolic gesture to exhalt this quality. I realized the other day that with all the awards given by HQ for service and outstanding chapters, there isnt one that rewards brotherhood. I agree that brotherhood is something that is hard to measure, but I think we should reward those chapters that have achieved what sadly, many of our chapters don't have. We have put a huge focus on our AM program, but I think we forgot why that was changed in the first place. It was done because we realized that you dont have to beat each other up to build brotherhood. It was all based on brotherhood. Perhaps this name change is more like the step they forgot when they started the AM program. And as for other fraternities, if they want to follow suit and change their names as well, I say more power to them. Maybe if we do it the others will look closely at their own brotherhood and want to put more emphasis on it as well. They say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Now as for the alumni aspect. After going back and reading the legislation I realized that we didnt say why. We just said they would, which sounds pretty stupid. The reasoning behind that was that with a greater focus on brotherhood, along with some of the programs envisioned by Tom Helmbock(Ex VP), that more brothers would see the brotherhood as more than just four years. It wasn't intended to impact the current alumni as much as those to come. The senior ritual that is being tested this semester is all part of that plan. I honestly havent seen the ritual so I dont know what it is in it, but it sounds pretty cool. That was my main reason for wanting this name change. It wasnt because Im ashamed of the word fraternity or of who we are, but the opposite, that I'm proud of who we are and want to share it with everyone.
Now as for the comments on the Student Advisory Committee. Since Regionals we have been attacked by brothers as being biased, unrepresentative, and even unbrotherly. I take all of these as personal attacks. I am a brother just like every one of you and deserve to be treated as such. I have a deep love for this fraternity, and would gladly give all I have to save it. Everyone on the Student Advisory Committee is the same. We wouldn't have applied for this position and given up our time and money if we didn't care about the fraternity. We are one of a handful of fraternities that actually has undergraduate representation on the Board of Directors, and if you remember from the other legislation, we are trying to add a 2nd member. If you want to talk individually about SAC feel free to e-mail me. I hope all the undergraduates who were at Regionals apply, it is an awsome opportunity.
I guess that's it. I doubt I changed anyone's mine about the name change proposal, but I wanted you to know why I support it. Just a side note, just because SAC says we support something, doesnt mean we had a unanimous vote. We go by concensus. The name change however was one thing we were all dedicated to.

In ZAX,
Brian Stevens
DM 191

P.S. Sorry for any spelling or grammar stuff, I'm not an English major.