LXA's in Davis CA

[lobo]

What up lambda chis. I am a new intiate at UC Davis, and i want to say how much i love LXA. The girls love us and the guys want to be us. The only thing is that the whole brotherhood thing is missing. During my time as an AM i never really got close to any of the guys, and I know it was like that for all the AM's in my class and after me. We are 2 years old and we are doing great so far we are almost chartered, but it will not last if this keeps. Does anyone have any suggestions do bring the group together esp. the AM's and the other guys. Also do you guys have any recruiting ideas, so far all we have done is bring guys that one of the brothers knows so its basicly invite. Thanks guys. any help would be great.


lobo

In ZAX

[SniffDNZ098]

lobo:

nice to see some of the UC Davis breathern up there. I went to high school with one of your bros. Brother Soskin. Nice guy actually and hes on the Davis baseball team which is cool.

My ideas:

Intramurals
Weekly Dinner (Simple as spaghetti and bread)
Watchin Major Sportin events (NBA Playoffs)
Community Service where everyone works together
Hang out in one area on campus

Those are my ideas...Any others?

[john1082]

The closeness which you seek develops over time. The chapter-to-be is in the process of getting a charter back. That takes work on behalf of all concerned and those efforts may seem to overshadow those events which one would think would be 'brotherhood' events.

Dveloping that feeling of brotherhood is elusive. One must first enjoy the company of his brothers. They must seek each other out not because it is a fraternity thing to do but because the genuinely enjoy each other's company and counsel.

Chapters also tend to bind together in times of adversity and how this is managed often determines if the adversity sinks the chapter. This would be an exceedingly unpleasant way to develop that feeling of oneness with the brothers. And it doesn't often work.

Getting together for dinner once or twice a week is a great way to start the process. Nothing formal perhaps, perhaps a group gaggle at the dining commons that handles the dorm kids. An hour of hoops followed by pizza is another low stress, low cost way of gettingtogether as a group. Perhaps a group trip to Sac State to observe Rx. This might be especially instructive as your Zeta lacks the corporate knowledge regarding ritual.

Creativity is the key. What worked at North Dakota won't work at UC Davis. It has to be your program. One thing that you must reemember is thatthe closeness that you seek takes time to develop. The requisite trust that must accompany the closeness that you seek is not something immediate but takes time to cultivate.

You're doingjust fine.


John Gezelius
California, '78
M 1082

Originally posted by lobo
What up lambda chis. I am a new intiate at UC Davis, and i want to say how much i love LXA. The girls love us and the guys want to be us. The only thing is that the whole brotherhood thing is missing. During my time as an AM i never really got close to any of the guys, and I know it was like that for all the AM's in my class and after me. We are 2 years old and we are doing great so far we are almost chartered, but it will not last if this keeps. Does anyone have any suggestions do bring the group together esp. the AM's and the other guys. Also do you guys have any recruiting ideas, so far all we have done is bring guys that one of the brothers knows so its basicly invite. Thanks guys. any help would be great.


lobo

In ZAX

[Mooch279]

Lobo congats on being initiated. Let me start off by saying anything can be turned into a brotherhood event, if you let. You have to want to let the bond grow. speaking for myself some great events i always liked were thing like road trips, my chapter is in baltimore md but we use to drive all over the place for pretty much no reason looking back on it. The first time i had white castle is b/c we were sitting around one night at like 1 in the morning and we felt hungry, one of the guys who was from new york said hey lets go to white castle. The closest white castle was on broadway in Philadelphia (2 hrs away). it was a good trip that i wont go into here but about once a month for the next year a group of us would go hit the UPenn chapter and then get white castle on the way home.

another good event is what my chapter calls a Good & Wellfair (G&W), i think other chaptes call it thorns and roses. But pretty much its a way to clear the air. Its a candle pass where anything can be talked about, good/bad and it stays in that room.

also having a movie night once a month is good. some good brotherhood movies: Varsity blue, hoosiers, matrix, animal house, dead poets society, swingers, majr league, the replacements and so on. either in your house or reserve a lecture hall and show it on campus if you can.

also a good team challenge: sometimes we play capture the flag all over campus, every thursday in the town around our school people get together in a local gym and play dogdge ball (like 74 to 100 people) so we do that every once in a while. paint ball is good, maybe take over a mini golf place for a couple hours. stuff like that, and the best thing with events like these are not only are you going to be getting the guys closer, but for most of the events i listed you can also invite prospectives out to them and turn them into a rush event as well.

hoped this helped.

[SniffDNZ098]

Also do remember UC Davis Lambda Chi's is that we have a Chapter at Sac State; Phi Pi Zeta Meet up with them and chill.

[Harison27]

We have a mandatory Lamp Session, Once a month, always at 9:30 P.M. as that is after all classes have ended, so no one can say that they are in class., once again, what is said as the Lamp is passed around, stays in the room. We've gotten some pretty bad arguements that way, but it cleared up a lot of negativity and in most cases misunderstandings between those involved. We had a Pig roast this past spring and it was a decent showing. I've got two pigs at a farm for the fall and its a great way for a Gif and a Recruiting event. If you try to have a Barbecue or something (picnic ???) try contacting as many of the local businesses as you can and see what they are willing to donate. I got Coca Cola to donate Sodas, Frito Lay gave us about 100 bags of chips (because they were to expire in two days). we had Ice donated by Home City Ice and plenty of other stuff. The only side effect was that we had so much stuff that we practically ate leftovers for two months. You might also try to become good friends with the Recruiters on campus or the Army National Guard. As long as we fly a Banner that says "Go Army" over our balcony, and give them two weeks notice, we get all of our tables and chairs for free and even better yet, we get access to one of the Hum V's with a kicking sound system. But that is something that I am working on at my school and it is working... you should try it though. Harrison.

[JP_U1053]

Lobo, congratulations on your feelings and esp. your concern. You said that the brotherhood thing was missing. What attracted you to Lambda Chi in the first place? Do you have a Big brother-Little Brother syastem in place? Have you and your brothers exploited the strengths of your chapter in portraying our fraternity on a positive note to a prospective propect? Is your main rush period fall or spring? If fall, do you have summer rush?

You may or may not be aware that two of your brothers from UC-Davis were among 28 recipients of Undergraduate Scholarships from the Educational Foundation- Eric Wagner and Sam Moradian.
What has the overall GPA of your colony been compared to the Greek Fraternity system?

You sound like a forward thinking brother who has a passion for excellence and wants to see progress in many fields. And there's nothing wrong with that. Sell the features that brought you to Lambda Chi and ask that your peers do likewise. Ask your High Rho to create a stronger link with alums and undergraduates and carry that determination through the fall semester when more alums come back to visit.

JP