Beta back at USC and Miami (FL)

[ZZ-kai-]

Check out this great news!
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USC Breaks Record with 83 Men
Beta Theta Pi’s record-breaking return to the University of Southern California is drawing significant attention. Beta Theta Pi’s record-breaking return to the University of Southern California is drawing significant attention. An October issue of the campus newspaper The Daily Trojan ran a story of the re-colonization on the front page. (Directly below the fold was an announcement of the largest gift in university history of $175 million by George Lucas.) With 83 founding fathers, the Gamma Tau Colony is certainly headline worthy as an overwhelming success and a record-breaking expansion for USC and the Fraternity.

The founding father class consists of 22 freshmen, 27 sophomores, 25 juniors and nine seniors. They have an average cumulative GPA (excluding freshmen) in excess of 3.25 and are very involved on campus. Leadership Consultant Josh Fairchild, Oklahoma State ’05 remarked, "They are brand new to the fraternity but not brand new to being leaders."

The re-colonization was led by a four-man recruitment team consisting of Fairchild; Directors of Operations and Education Dustin Anderson, Minnesota ’05 and Michael Wolford, Miami ’04, and Leadership Consultant David Schmidt, Connecticut ’06. The team was on campus recruiting for more than three weeks from October 1st to October 26th.

The planning for the recolonization, however, began long before the team set foot on campus. An eight person advisory team, led by Chapter Counselor Vincent Mikolay, Bethany ’00, was recruited and trained to support the new colony and other alumni offered support to the project with time and resources. “Great alumni support, collaboration with the staff and a well executed plan helped Beta’s message reverberate on campus,” said Fairchild. “Recruits benefited from knowing they had a strong heritage of alumni before them.”

Gamma Tau, installed in 1947, boasts a prestigious roll of more than 1,600 alumni including co-owner of the LA Kings, Lakers and Staples Center Ed Roski ’62, Wimbledon Champion Stan Smith ’69 and many Olympic medal winners and business leaders. USC President Steven Sample, Illinois ’62, is also a Beta.

Following three years of inactivity, the Colony will initiate a new class of Betas on November 30th. Learn more about the re-colonization and Gamma Tau at http://www.gammataualumni.com/ and http://www.dailytrojan.com/.

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Beta Takes University of Miami by Storm
In April, the University of Miami Interfraternity Council invited Beta Theta Pi to expand to campus this fall. The results of that invitation have proved overwhelmingly successful with a poignant energy permeating campus and the third largest expansion in Fraternity history. Even University President Donna E. Shalala caught the fever of excitement wearing a “Go Beta” button.

The new colony boasts 63 founding fathers assembled from the top gentlemen, scholars and leaders on campus. The class makeup is four seniors, 11 juniors, 24 sophomores and 26 freshmen. The collective GPA of the members is an astounding 3.61 (4.107 with freshmen) with seven valedictorians, seven eagle scouts, two NCAA athletes, six resident assistants and more. Further, the men represent six nationalities and many campus interests. “Beyond the numbers, what matters the most is these men are true Betas,” said Leadership Consultant Joe Kokojan, Oklahoma ’06. “Their character, values, and determination, while difficult to express in words, is incredible.”

Kokojan, along with Director of Expansion and Recruitment J.B. Scherpelz, Miami ’05; Leadership Consultant Phil Fernandez, Miami ’05, and Leadership Consultant Russell Katigan, Oklahoma State ’06 led the 24-day recruitment period ending October 18th with the founding father class induction. The team was also supported by a nine-person advisory team and superb University and campus support. “Without the support of the institution and the Office of Student Life, this success would not have been possible,” reported Kokojan.

Scherpelz explained the selection of the University of Miami as a site for expansion, “We look at alumni strength in the area, the caliber of student, strength of the Greek community and support from the University. . . Miami had all those characteristics and more. The University of Miami was a perfect campus for Beta Theta Pi.” The excitement and interest was evident with more than 200 attendees as the campus wide informational meeting and 185 men expressing interest. The project was even featured in the student NewsVision show on October 12th.

The University of Miami expansion was planned by the university as well. After reviewing 17 national organization expansion packets, four groups were invited to present to the Interfraternity Council. Beta Theta Pi was invited this fall, with Pi Kappa Phi in the fall of 2008. Associate Dean of Students Greg Singleton said, “Beta Theta Pi communicated well its mission and how it would enhance the community.”

Founding father Marlow B. Hernández explained his emotions in joining the Fraternity, “I will bring an idea, a dream which I believe resonates in those who live with an open mind and have a sincere desire to be better. We all have a purpose — an internal and external mandate to change ourselves and serve those around us. The men at Beta Theta Pi understand what it means to have principle. To be in the company of such individuals gives me hope and gives me strength.”

Kokojan will guide the founding father class through an education period concluding with initiation in February.

[ECUJacob]

I am always amazed or curious as to how someone in a pledge class of 30+ could possibly know their brothers well enough to call them "brothers". I had a hard enough time getting to know my 6 pledge brothers... and I can't imagine how they even have chapter meetings for a group that size. Sometimes I'm thankful that my school is only 7% Greek.

[BigRedBeta]

Originally Posted by ECUJacob

I am always amazed or curious as to how someone in a pledge class of 30+ could possibly know their brothers well enough to call them "brothers". I had a hard enough time getting to know my 6 pledge brothers... and I can't imagine how they even have chapter meetings for a group that size. Sometimes I'm thankful that my school is only 7% Greek.

Different stuff man, different stuff. I look at it like this, the individual classes (by year) are all fewer than 30, and if the dynamic is set up so that the bonds are started by year, they'll develop the closeness.

And it's really not that big of deal about chapter. We regularly, at least early on the year, had 50-60 guys at chapter when I was in school. Parli-Pro becomes a chapter's best friend, and there must be constant reminding not to repeat things that have already been said. Sometimes, for big discussions, we had chapter last 3, 4 or 5 hours, but for the most part, there will be a select number of guys who distinguish themselves as voices in the chapter and a few guys will never speak in chapter. The rest will speak if they have reason to and everything works.

[sdbeta1]

83 men! Wow, what a number. This is already larger than most chapters out there. Eventhough the number is large, they will still face the same challenges all new expansions encounter. But, I remember talking about USC two years ago back when San Diego was being colonized. When we heard LMU had 64, we were already astonished. So does this count as the fourth successful expansion in Southern California over the past four years?

[furmanbeta]

Sure sounds like it. I saw both those blurbs on General's website and was extremely impressed. The expansions last year weren't even within shouting distance of these numbers, so I have to give all the credit in the world to this year's LC's. They have clearly done a phenominal job. It's giving me a ton of hope as well, because both my chapter (Furman, Zeta Lambda) and the chapter where I'm doing grad school (Virginia, Omicron) will be recolonized within the next couple of years, or so we've been told. These sorts of numbers give new chapters their best opportunity to become successful, and I look forward to more high quality expansions.

[a.e.B.O.T.]

Well, they definitely are not going to have it easy. All 83 and 63 men joined with a purpose, and some of those purposes are going to clash. They have to build a foundation and with that many people, there are going to be many perspectives of how to do it. I was part of a 39 men founding father class, and it was really hard. 10 dropped out mainly because of personal conflict. The general perspective of members who come in as founding father is that they get to be a leader and help build it, which is so true, but they all try to jump in the kitchen, and then you just have too many chefs. So, with a group that size, its going to be really hard, and really frustrating for most of them.

[a.e.B.O.T.]

Hi,

As a founding father myself, I know what you are talking about. We had a 39 FF class, which made us the largest chapter on campus at that time, and even though we were less then half of what you got, we had the exact same problems. First of all, You are right, Beta goes for quantity over quality when starting a chapter. They get the quality by trying to find people from all over campus. Our colony was prided on our races diversity and how we had theatre majors, econ majors, pre-med and english majors all mixed together. We had ALOT of fighting. ALOT of discussion. Five hour chapters about one topic. Alcohol was a huge issue. We wanted to have a party, but others thought it wasnt the image we wanted... while others joined for the social aspect. It was a battle sometimes between Values VS Brotherhood as if they cant go together some how.

But you know what, that comes with the territory. You need these discussions! You need to duke it out (civilized of course). The AO set you up, and the best way to make the best chapter is just get it out all on the table. Eventually we worked it all out, and yeah it was tough. The people that were less committed quit, which was for the best, and the guys who really wanted to work on making AH the best chapter in Beta are still around. Now we are EXTREMELY succesful and we this was only 2 years ago.

So yeah, the AO dicked you over, I agree. They do that. They think they know whats best but the AO is made up of people from the "special" chapters, and they keep it that way. As far as your advisors go, they are volunteers, so really they want what is best. Keep that in mind, but remember, your chapter can tell the advisors 'no' sometimes, and the advisor/chapter relationship is better for it!

But mainly, just suck it up, and stick it out. Remember, part of the undergraduate experience is growing and making yourself a better man, but being a founding father is building and establishing a strong chapter. Both tasks are hard to do at once. My advice: think what is truly valuable for yourself, stick with that, listen to what people have to say and take time to think about it, and THEN choose to reject it or not. Voice your opinion, but allow others to voice theres as well. Try to make positive change, but remember you cant do it all over night, and you know what, you arnt going to win every battle, which is for the best, because its a collective experience.

OK, I SO LECTURED, which i bitched at someone else for doing... but you pushed the right button here

[EE-BO]

Lecture away man- you are saying some good things.

The advantage I see in these massive new pledge classes is that it jump starts a chapter with cash flow and makes it easier to get into a house right away or very quickly if a chapter house is an option.

But it takes time for a chapter to really find its place and character on campus- and that does create a lot of inner conflict at first.

The trade-off there is hard to to side with either way, but the good news is that the large size is good for the long term, while finding a certain direction is short term.

I am sorry to hear you have advisors at every meeting and checking up on you like crazy. I am an advisor myself, and I only come to chapter meetings when I have business to present (usually housing stuff since I am involved with that as well) or I just want to check things out and get feedback from the chapter on the support they need, if any.

There is nothing worse an advisor can do than take away the spirit of trust and self-governance that makes being a Beta so worthwhile.

[ZZ-kai-]

Are people really telling you that you can't drink at a party? The law tells you that you can't drink til you're 21, but even I didn't follow that rule. I doubt that the MOP Initiative is telling you that you can't drink. Your peers may be telling you that, but the AO and the MOP Initiative isn't. There are dry houses all over the place, some are dry at their own will, some are forced dry (FIJI and Phi Delt) and some are dry as a requirement of the new chapter (IE, Nebraska and SoCal). That's not MOP doing that, that's the delegates at Conventions. Placing all chapters faults on the MOP Initiative is an easy way out. And who cares what other Beta's think about MOP and your chapter? It's your chapter, make it what you want. Change it and mold it to the way you want. If you don't like how it is today, and there is a group of people that agree, change it. And the comment above about having disagreements with advisors - that is awesome. Advisers are there to advise, NOT run the chapter. If you're letting them run the chapter, then stop it. If they give you advice and you choose to take it, great, if not, great. They can only offer advice. But don't forget, they're there to help you, not run you down.

ETA: As for the discussion being 'too diverse', I can understand that completely. Now you have to act on that, recruitment going forward should focus on the guys that YOU want, not what the AO wants. After a few classes, your chapter will be more what you want than the standard canned colony the AO recruits. All things take time, don't let frustration get the best of you.


-kai-

[BigRedBeta]

Agreed with ZZ.

MOP isn't the cause of the problems - at least not directly. My chapter (Nebraska) has a dry house, but we still party with the best of them (at least in comparison to the other chapters on our campus - maybe not in comparison to some chapters at other schools). We just didn't do it in our house. It made for a cleaner place, and kinda segregated work and play. When I finally moved out of the house a senior, there were a lot of days I wasted because the night before I'd get back from the bars or a party and start drinking more. I didn't have that problem while living in...(I just got fat b/c there was poptarts and cereal to eat whenever that I didn't have to buy).

I think where MOP has gotten colonies into trouble is just like what's been described at USC - there's a certain contingent that gets drawn to Beta because they interepret dry house to mean no alcohol at all. That's a misinterpretation on their part and one that the AO doesn't put any effort into explicitly stating one way or the other, leaving everyone unsure. Perhaps that's part of the plan - to allow the chapter to decide what it means. But of course that requires a lot of discussion/debate, and probably some bruised egos. We had one pledge who quit because he had been under the impression that no one in our house drank (despite our advertising of a BADD program), needless to say he got a rude awakening his first night in the house, and even managed to hang on for about a month before he finally had enough.

I also agree with what's been said that once a chapter is established, many of the problems and infighting goes away. Sure there are always disagreement about the exact direction a decision should go, and there are often times groups of people who end up at each other's throats constantly during chapter (in my chapter it used to fall down pledge class lines - odd years vs. even years in a lot of cases). But once chapter was over, a lot of those issues got left there, and that's one thing I'd really encourage - don't make things personal and don't carry them to outside venues.

I do think it's incredibly lame that people, pledge brothers, judge you b/c you drink. That's ridiculous and completely inappropriate. If they didn't want to associate with people that drank, they shouldn't have joined a fraternity or plan on getting any sort of job other than some religious post (although I have a great-uncle who's a priest who drinks like a fish...).

[Coramoor]

Rastaone I sucks that you guys are dealing with this, but time will work things out.

My advice is to make sure that guys that do want to be social, have fun, meet girls, etc get put into key positions. Chiefly Recruitment Chair, Pledge Master, and Social Chair.

Those positions will allow you to pick the men you want, teach them how they should conduct themselves, and have good times that will create experiences you will remember forever.

It's unfortunate that some people think that alcohol and social conduct don't work...I don't know what the hell those kids are going to do in the real world. Every job I've had (since I was 16) threw parties and had massive amounts of alcohol. Now I'm in the military and in Germany...let's just say that if I didn't not learn how to conduct myself around alcohol I'd be extremely embarrassed by now. Those kids are really hurting themselves in the long run.

[EE-BO]

Originally Posted by Coramoor

It's unfortunate that some people think that alcohol and social conduct don't work...I don't know what the hell those kids are going to do in the real world. Every job I've had (since I was 16) threw parties and had massive amounts of alcohol. Now I'm in the military and in Germany...let's just say that if I didn't not learn how to conduct myself around alcohol I'd be extremely embarrassed by now. Those kids are really hurting themselves in the long run.

An excellent point- and there is ample scientific research on the different attitudes about exposing the young to alcohol at the dinner table in the US vs. Europe which supports what you are saying.

[EE-BO]

Originally Posted by rastaone

thanks a lot guys for the great responses. as far as advisers are concerned, i for one know that i cannot talk about alcohol at all when certain advisers are around, even if its just about a party over the weekend. ive talked to many of my brothers as well as several advisers, and they believe that within the vision and goals and whatever of MOP, you should not drink (responsible social conduct and some other stuff?). i had an adviser tell me that i need to work on my image, which should not include alcohol, even if i am not getting drunk.

That is ridiculous. This is a social fraternity, not a monastery. This is part of growing up and a place to make life friends- not a place to be told what to do and managed to such a degree as you report.

MPI (MOP as you call it) says nothing about not drinking, nor does it put brothers or advisors in the position to make moral judgments about other members over choices of lifestyle and personal conduct within what society deems acceptable.

As ZZ kai said, there are dry Beta houses- but that is not a requirement of MPI and it is a completely separate issue. That kind of decision comes from a chapter and or the alumni who buy/manage the house- it does not come from MPI or General Fraternity. Some houses are even substance free which means no tobacco use either. But again, this is not an MPI issue.

I really hope you guys can find a way to have some honest discussions with your advisors- but they need to take the first step to even let you feel comfortable talking openly. Otherwise you have no incentive to work with them and then they become useless- like another set of parents you don't need.

[a.e.B.O.T.]

Originally Posted by rastaone

ive talked to many of my brothers as well as several advisers, and they believe that within the vision and goals and whatever of MOP, you should not drink (responsible social conduct and some other stuff?).

When I was a starting founding father we had a lot of problems with the brotherhood aspect because of diversity and differences in opinions on alcohol, MOP translation, and etc... It was so bad, Mike Wolfard TOLD us to get drink together, lol.

The fact that they use "Responsible Social Conduct" as a means to say no alcohol is funny. Almost all social conduct in college is alcohol related, so if they meant no drinking, they should of put "No Social Conduct," lol.

Drinking is fine, as long as it it responsible, even under age. I dont think you drinking a couple beers is going to hurt betas image. However, getting shit faced drunk and running through the campus butt naked will hurt betas image (i learned the hard way!!!). So keep that in mind. Of course, the code of Beta HAS to say that it does not encourage underage drinking, and that makes total sense, cause, well its the law.

On the issue of campus image, this is a tricky thing that only time will heal. First thing, never complain about Beta to ANYONE outside of beta. Not even your closes friends, because if a conversation comes up about beta or fraternities, they may not say what you said, but their attitude in the discussion will reflect what you said. I found that was the key thing on our campus, b/c we had the same reputation at first. Talk positive about all the greeks outside your beta circle, and encourage your other bros to do so as well. Secondly, for those you think are social akward, take them on as your little project. This was the same case for our chapter two. Go with those guys to parties, encourage them to liven up (of course dont get them trashed). However, get them talking, as your friends to talk to them. Even if you dont want to be seen in public with them, inviting them over to your room for like a game of beer pong or kings helps (yes, those are drinking games, which also arnt condoned, but are good social lubricants for the socially akward)

[Coramoor]

The good thing about frats is that reputations can change quickly.

Sororities aren't so lucky, once they have a negative reputation it's damn near impossible to shake-on the flip side those with a good reputation attract the girls that will keep that reputation good.

Frats can change their rep almost over night. All it takes is one or two outstanding pledge classes and you are in the game.