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Lifesaver -
The ELC did some snooping around the student union building, asking any GLO girl he saw what they thought of our Fraternity. The consensus was we seemed like decent guys, but never really did anything to further our social image. The GDI guys questioned had a similar response, saying they really didn't know enough about us to WANT to join. We were so busy strenghting our bond internally, we shut everybody else out. I promise you we were the strongest and proudest Fraternity on campus, but we were killing our numbers as a result.
At the chapter meeting before his departure, he let all his findings loose. He pointed fingers, we pointed fingers back, essentially saying that nationals had us so handcuffed socially, we were actually being persecuted for playing by the rules.(We were on "Double-Secret Probation" at the time, but that's a story for another time)
We had a long debate over whether rush as we knew it was the reason for the decline in numbers. At this point is when he came out with "The message IS the media." Rush was more than hanging signs and having Milk and Cookies parties to try to get guys to WANT to join. Rush could be as simple as wearing letters more often. THE BROTHER IS THE MEDIA! If you could raise a persons opinion of YOURSELF, you were unconsciously raising the opinion of the Fraternity. On the psychological plane, most Fraternitites are not like ours; each brother is a cookie cutter image of another. Since we emphasize "Every Man a Man," we must all make ourselves better to show everybody else "This is where you belong."
Rarely in my life did something hit home so clearly. It really was that simple. It almost pissed me off that the message had come from nationals. If I could, through whatever means, improve myself in someone else's eyes, I was doing a favor to the Chapter.
We all left the meeting that night and did some hard core soul searching. Little was mentioned of that meeting after, but little needed said.
YOU are the ambassador of your Chapter. The Chapter can and will be judged by YOUR thought, word and deed. What message do YOU want to send to the masses? It really is YOUR CHOICE and ONLY your choice to make. YOU only get one chance at a first impression. What will YOU do to help or hurt your Chapter?
The message IS the media. I hope this cleared a few things up.
In ZAX,
pman
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