[Tom Earp]

Emailed to Me by one of My LXA Brothers!


Read and think!


FYI - Article out of this weeks Chronicle of Higher Education
>>>>>
>>>>> Four Rules for Saving a Fraternity
>>>>> At Linfield College, one house's president brought his chapter back from
>>>>> the brink
>>>>>
>>>>> ELIZABETH F. FARRELL
>>>>> McMinnville, Ore.
>>>>>
>>>>> After taking over as president of the Theta Chi fraternity at Linfield
>>>>> College last fall, Justin Samples lost 15 pounds and the ability to sleep
>>>>> through the night. That is what the constant stress of trying to rein in
>>>>> an out-of-control fraternity will do to a 20-year-old.
>>>>> So it was a surprise that last year on Halloween, a night known for pranks
>>>>> and mayhem, he dozed off at 10 p.m.
>>>>> His slumber, however, was brief. At 2 a.m., Jubari Sykes, another Theta
>>>>> Chi member, called to tell him that the fraternity's vice president, Peter
>>>>> Munro, had just been caught stealing a digital camera and a laptop from
>>>>> the neighboring Delta Psi Delta fraternity house. Mr. Munro, who was drunk
>>>>> at the time of the incident, had brought along a pledging member to assist
>>>>> in his prank.
>>>>> Mr. Samples learned that the pledge was missing, the police were
>>>>> everywhere, and Mr. Munro was behind bars. Mr. Samples says that as he
>>>>> walked over to meet Mr. Sykes early that morning, he felt "betrayed and
>>>>> ticked off" by Mr. Munro. He realized Theta Chi had "hit rock bottom." He
>>>>> also knew what needed to be done.
>>>>> He pulled Mr. Sykes aside and said, "Pete's out, and we should go alcohol
>>>>> free." Mr. Samples recalls that Mr. Sykes "just kind of stepped back and
>>>>> said, 'What?'"
>>>>> Following a spate of alcohol-related deaths at fraternities across the
>>>>> country this fall, many fraternity leaders are in a predicament similar to
>>>>> the one Mr. Samples faced last year. Their members have reputations for
>>>>> being drunken troublemakers, and they have squandered the good will of
>>>>> administrators and local police. Many of their chapters are on the brink
>>>>> of extinction.
>>>>> Some have already folded. This month, for instance, Sigma Nu closed its
>>>>> chapter at the University of Oregon despite the recent efforts of some
>>>>> members to overcome the house's persistent problems, which included
>>>>> alcohol violations and legal battles with the university. This fall, two
>>>>> fraternities at universities in Colorado have been closed indefinitely
>>>>> following alcohol-related deaths at their houses, and many other chapters
>>>>> across the country are under pressure from police and administrators to
>>>>> shape up or shut down.
>>>>> According to experts on Greek life, most fraternities in such a
>>>>> predicament fail to make the improvements necessary to survive. "Complete
>>>>> cultural change is quite difficult," says Dan Bureau, president of the
>>>>> Association of Fraternity Advisors, a group that provides guidance on
>>>>> handling Greek-life issues to its membership of more than 1,300 college
>>>>> professionals. "For a fraternity to succeed in going from one end of the
>>>>> spectrum to another, they usually have to close down and then reopen after
>>>>> some time."
>>>>> McMinnville police had already declared Theta Chi a "public nuisance"
>>>>> before the Halloween incident and were ready to board up the fraternity's
>>>>> house, which is located off the campus. Administrators at this
>>>>> 2,500-student liberal-arts college had put the chapter on probation,
>>>>> forbidding the then-40-member fraternity from holding any social functions
>>>>> until it could prove that it had cleaned up its act.
>>>>> Saddled with that baggage, Mr. Samples defied expectations. Over the next
>>>>> four months, he and other house leaders kicked out six members, put an end
>>>>> to Theta Chi's epic beer bashes, and doubled their recruitment. In July,
>>>>> McMinnville's police chief awarded Mr. Samples --_who had stepped down as
>>>>> the fraternity's president in June --_the citizen's police medal for his
>>>>> efforts.
>>>>> Barry Tucker, director of multicultural programs at Linfield, admits that
>>>>> he thought the Theta Chi brothers were too irresponsible to save their
>>>>> fraternity. "They proved me wrong," Mr. Tucker says. "Justin was very
>>>>> persistent. He doesn't back down for anybody."
>>>>> Theta Chi's self-styled makeover is the type of swift turnaround that many
>>>>> colleges would love to inspire in their own Greek systems. At a time when
>>>>> many administrators are trying every rule and sanction imaginable to force
>>>>> troubled fraternities to improve, the story of one house's revival shows
>>>>> that sometimes the only way to save a fraternity is for the students to do
>>>>> it from within.
>>>>> #1: Be Persuasive, Not Preachy
>>>>> Banning alcohol was a tough sell to many members of Theta Chi who
>>>>> considered the fraternity their "drinking club," according to Mr. Sykes.
>>>>> Because so many of the upperclassmen were staunchly opposed to going dry,
>>>>> Mr. Samples took a low-key approach to promoting the ban. He also did some
>>>>> politicking among the younger members, telling them about his idea and
>>>>> then asking, "What do you think of it?"
>>>>> When all of Theta Chi's 40 members gathered to vote on the ban last
>>>>> November, Mr. Samples told them that every problem they had as a
>>>>> fraternity stemmed from alcohol. He urged them to vote in favor of banning
>>>>> booze in the house. Although the law in Oregon, like all states, forbids
>>>>> anyone under 21 from drinking alcoholic beverages, drinking behind closed
>>>>> doors is hard to prevent at many institutions.
>>>>> "You can't sell it as 'Hey! This is awesome!'" says Mr. Samples. "So I
>>>>> tried to go for shock value, saying, 'Just think how far the chief's jaw
>>>>> will drop when I tell him we're going dry.'"
>>>>> Theta Chi bylaws require a two-thirds majority to pass any rule, and when
>>>>> the members first voted, the measure failed. Fraternity bylaws forbid a
>>>>> second vote in the same meeting, so Mr. Samples adjourned the gathering.
>>>>> Mr. Samples says he was "livid," but he kept his cool, calmly expressing
>>>>> his disappointment. He asked members to reconsider. He commenced a new
>>>>> meeting five minutes later. This time, the measure passed by one vote.
>>>>> Despite the stress of the ordeal, the challenge of changing his brothers'
>>>>> minds intrigued him. "Something about seeing what makes people tick
>>>>> fascinates me," says Mr. Samples, a senior majoring in business. "I really
>>>>> like to rally people together and see what I can do to get the best out of
>>>>> them."
>>>>> With a trim, muscular build and well-defined jaw, Mr. Samples looks the
>>>>> part of a lifelong athlete, and says sports have given him leadership
>>>>> opportunities since his grade-school days as captain of the flag- football
>>>>> team.
>>>>> Ryan Monagle, now a junior in charge of rush recruitment, says he and
>>>>> other members were motivated by Mr. Samples's determination, and his
>>>>> willingness to do everything possible to improve Theta Chi, including
>>>>> quitting the football team at the beginning of that semester to devote
>>>>> more time to the fraternity. "It's really hard to not help out and back
>>>>> him up when you see him there on his hands and knees scrubbing floors,"
>>>>> says Mr. Monagle.
>>>>> #2: Redefine Loyalty
>>>>> As difficult as it was to persuade members to approve the alcohol ban, the
>>>>> real hurdle was enforcing it. Not surprisingly, the Theta Chi members who
>>>>> had opposed the ban were the same ones who were getting into the
>>>>> alcohol-related trouble. They refused to change their behavior.
>>>>> "Things ended up escalating in the house," says Mr. Samples. "There was a
>>>>> certain faction of brothers who said 'screw this' and were basically
>>>>> giving the finger to the police."
>>>>> Kicking out the disruptive members was not an easy decision for any
>>>>> member. Ultimately, Mr. Monagle says, they had no choice but to remove the
>>>>> disruptive members, whom he refers to as a "cancer." Still, he says he
>>>>> felt "kind of like I was stabbing them in the back."
>>>>> The principles of loyalty and brotherhood are a double-edged sword: They
>>>>> can either inspire a fraternity to improve or precipitate its downfall.
>>>>> The problem with organizations that foment such strong bonds among members
>>>>> is that they sometimes defend one another even when it contradicts the
>>>>> best interest of the group.
>>>>> "They're young kids and maybe it's the first time they've felt like a part
>>>>> of something," says Carl Swanson, the Greek adviser to Linfield's four
>>>>> fraternities and four sororities. "A lot of them want to belong and don't
>>>>> want to be the first to say something, even if they think what others in
>>>>> the group are doing is wrong."
>>>>> The tide of peer pressure, however, is reversible. In Theta Chi's case,
>>>>> Mr. Samples and members of the fraternity's executive council held
>>>>> separate votes on each problematic member, six in all. "With the first
>>>>> person we suspended, the vote was a lot closer than it should have been,"
>>>>> says Mr. Samples. "But then, with each subsequent member, it got
>>>>> cumulatively less close."
>>>>> Amid what members describe as a "civil war," they trusted Mr. Samples's
>>>>> leadership. Mr. Monagle, who is still good friends with some of the former
>>>>> members, says they were "not bad people, just good guys who made some bad
>>>>> decisions."
>>>>> One of the students they voted out was Mr. Munro, who had stolen the
>>>>> electronics equipment on Halloween night. Although he insists that he left
>>>>> voluntarily, and remains on good terms with many of his friends in Theta
>>>>> Chi, he still faults members of the fraternity for their lack of loyalty.
>>>>> "With brotherhood, the bottom line is you don't sell out your brothers, no
>>>>> matter the cost," says Mr. Munro. He calls the theft "a prank that got out
>>>>> of control." Theta Chi members, he says, "made me look like I was a
>>>>> horrible person, and made me the scapegoat for all the house's problems."
>>>>> A month after getting arrested, Mr. Munro says he withdrew from Linfield
>>>>> in an effort to stop drinking. (He says he now does so only occasionally.)
>>>>> And some members took his move as a wake-up call. Without the convenience
>>>>> of free-flowing beer in the house, they did not imbibe nearly as often.
>>>>> #3: Make Friends With the Police
>>>>> One of Linfield's top administrators says Greek students on the campus
>>>>> often think everyone is out to get them. Local police officers complain
>>>>> that students "act like they're their own lawyers," arguing about their
>>>>> legal rights instead of taking responsibility for their actions, says
>>>>> Wayne McFarlin, McMinnville's chief of police.
>>>>> Yet Mr. Samples sought to build an alliance with the authority figures
>>>>> many students considered their enemies.
>>>>> He admits that the specter of sanctions from the police and college
>>>>> "forced us to deal with problems in a very abrupt fashion, a lot faster
>>>>> than I would have liked."
>>>>> Instead of rebelling against authority, however, Mr. Samples set up weekly
>>>>> meetings with Linfield's student-life adviser, the Greek-life adviser, and
>>>>> his fraternity's faculty adviser. He asked many former Theta Chi leaders
>>>>> and alumni advisers for advice, and consulted with the executive director
>>>>> of Theta Chi's national office, David Westol, in a series of telephone
>>>>> conversations during the reorganization.
>>>>> He also met with Chief McFarlin at least once a month.
>>>>> He even followed Chief McFarlin's suggestion to erect a fence bordering
>>>>> Theta Chi's property, to keep inebriated students from wandering into the
>>>>> fraternity's yard. His openness to such ideas pleasantly surprised Chief
>>>>> McFarlin, and it played a large role in earning Mr. Samples the citizen's
>>>>> police medal.
>>>>> "His leadership was something I really wanted to capture," says Chief
>>>>> McFarlin. "He took a lot of personal risks. Nobody, not even police chiefs
>>>>> want to do something that makes people upset with them, but he understood
>>>>> that sometimes the mission takes precedence over personal feelings."
>>>>> #4: Change Your Image
>>>>> The most demoralizing effect of Theta Chi's problems was the treatment its
>>>>> members received on the campus and around town. Wearing Theta Chi letters,
>>>>> they say, was like having "Kick Me" signs on their backs. Mr. Samples
>>>>> recalls walking into a 7-Eleven in his Theta Chi shirt, which prompted the
>>>>> clerk to remark, "You guys are in a lot of trouble, huh?"
>>>>> Both the campus and local newspapers had reported all of the fraternity's
>>>>> misdeeds. So Mr. Samples started off his fraternity's image makeover by
>>>>> writing a letter to the student newspaper, The Linfield Review, in which
>>>>> he apologized for Theta Chi's behavior and explained what its members were
>>>>> doing to improve.
>>>>> Mr. Samples also helped pass a new rule that required every Theta Chi
>>>>> member to increase his community-service commitment from 4 hours to 10
>>>>> hours per semester. That paid off with some good press: Local newspapers
>>>>> published articles about Theta Chi members volunteering at local tutoring
>>>>> programs and co-sponsoring a Toys for Tots drive with the McMinnville Fire
>>>>> Department.
>>>>> Recognizing that a handful of bad apples can spoil an entire house's
>>>>> image, Mr. Samples and other members of the fraternity examined their
>>>>> recruitment practices and decided to become more selective. "We paid for
>>>>> the recruitment mistakes of other classes," says Mr. Samples, "because the
>>>>> emphasis was on getting large numbers of people instead of focusing on
>>>>> quality members."
>>>>> That approach is often a result of financial pressures --_without enough
>>>>> members, expenses, including hefty mortgages and party costs, can become
>>>>> prohibitive. Sometimes that means that house leaders do not carefully
>>>>> consider how dedicated each student will be to their organization.
>>>>> But instead of hurting its popularity, Theta Chi's new membership
>>>>> requirements, including a minimum 3.0 grade-point average for new members
>>>>> --_based on high-school grades for freshmen --_and demonstrated leadership
>>>>> skills, increased interest among prospective members, attracting the
>>>>> largest pledge class ever the following fall, with 22 members compared
>>>>> with an average of 6 for each of the previous four years.
>>>>> The image overhaul has changed perceptions of the house on the campus.
>>>>> "They used to be bad, but are getting better," says one Linfield student
>>>>> of the fraternity.
>>>>> Administrators at Linfield are impressed by Theta Chi's progress, though
>>>>> they qualify their praise by noting that the fraternity has plenty of room
>>>>> for improvement. Under Linfield's new Greek Standards Program,
>>>>> fraternities are assigned points in four categories: academic performance,
>>>>> financial responsibility, community service, and member education. Theta
>>>>> Chi, like all the college's fraternities, falls short of the minimum
>>>>> requirements, meaning it cannot hold more than two social events per
>>>>> semester. The Theta Chi house will also retain its status as a "public
>>>>> nuisance" unless no complaints are filed with the police until next
>>>>> August, according to Chief McFarlin.
>>>>> As of late November, Theta Chi had only one noise complaint for the whole
>>>>> semester.
>>>>> "They are doing a really nice job managing their property," says Chief
>>>>> McFarlin, who was so impressed by the improvement that he sent a letter to
>>>>> Linfield College's president in early November commending Theta Chi --_and
>>>>> other Linfield fraternities --_for their progress.
>>>>> Mr. Samples says he does not mind if his brothers drink --_as long as it's
>>>>> not in the house. Even though he is no longer Theta Chi's president, he
>>>>> still patrols the halls of the fraternity house at 2 or 3 a.m. on
>>>>> weekends, to make sure residents are following the rules.
>>>>> Despite his diligence, his brothers sometimes break the rules. On a recent
>>>>> Friday afternoon, for instance, a 24-pack of Busch beer and unopened
>>>>> bottle of Bacardi rum sit on top of the mini-fridge in one member's room.
>>>>> Upon hearing about it, Mr. Samples shakes his head. But he is not
>>>>> surprised.
>>>>> "It makes me mad," he says. "But going dry is an ongoing process, and we
>>>>> have to remind everyone each week that we are still an alcohol-free
>>>>> house."