Fraternity Secrets - although we do have a Directory

[JonoBN41]

At a convention in Las Vegas last June I saw a very nice Lambda Chi Alpha badge for sale - yellow gold with an all-diamond Lambda. I didn't have enough money with me, so I had to pass on it.

Last week the guy who had it announced he had some pins (of various GLOs) to sell so I asked if he still had that diamond LCA badge. He did, and gave me a very reasonable price, so I bought it.

As soon as it arrived I verified the inscription (zeta and #) on the back, calculating that it belonged to a brother who was only two years older than I. Quite possibly he was still alive and if so, would be ecstatic to get it back. The badge is unbelievably beautiful! Diamonds on yellow gold? Absolutely gorgeous.

Now we come to the secrecy part.

I immediately wrote to IHQ, telling them I had acquired said badge and wanted to return it to its owner. Could they put a name to the zeta number and provide me with his e-mail address?

Absolutely not. Here's the reply I received:

"It is our policy that we don’t give out contact info for our members for security purposes. I did however go ahead and email the owner of the badge with your contact information, in case he is interested. "

You did WHAT? This left me scratching my head as to how policy can change from one sentence to the next. Why is one brother's e-mail address secret and mine is not? Was it proper for him to have composed his own e-mail and written on my behalf without first securing my permission? I still don't know what he wrote

What annoys me is the apparent godlike personna with which the IT guys in Indianapolis seem to imbue themselves. They have all the data at their disposal, but apparently trust only themselves with it. They know me. They know who I am. They know I help edit the C&C. I told them why I was asking. I've been around for 34 years as a brother.

So WHY do they treat me like an outsider with some sort of malicious intent? As a brother-at-large am I not to be trusted with one e-mail address? After all, how many names, home addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses are already published in the 2003 directory?

It worked out satisfactorily in a rather businesslike manner. The brother will be getting his badge back and he offered to reimburse me for what I paid for it. Fine. But I would much rather have broached the subject myself in a more brotherly way, in my own words, and I was denied the satisfaction of doing that. I have the feeling he was taken aback by the original message too.

What could have been a very nice, happy ending has resulted in general annoyance on my part and a feeling of less belonging to Lambda Chi Alpha because of it. Why do they have such a condescending attitude toward older brothers? Do they think our generation is like theirs?

Have "privacy concerns" reached a truly absurd level? Has anyone else experienced a situation similar to this?

In Z.A.X.
Jono