Out of Touch
Hi all,
I had an active come up to me after a community (non-fraternity) event and harrangue me for a few minutes about how I was "disrespecting my brothers" and "out of touch" with the chapter and fraternity. I'm a AAA (assistant alumnus advisor) and have been one since last summer as our chapter is relatively new and we haven't got a lot of local alumni. Most of our graduates move back to Calgary or points beyond.
This individual is about to be placed on suspension for financial reasons, but I fear he has a point. We've been very rigid about risk management and the Code of Conduct (essentially a para-legal document which outlines unacceptable and illegal behaviours which we can not condone or permit) because I as a founding father am completely unwilling to let our charter be yanked because we choose to throw a kegger or an open party or use illicit substances which are seen as "not a big deal" by some members.
This individual is very popular and is known as a bit of a party animal. He frequently organizes unofficial events which are kept secret from anybody in the fraternity except those he invites (although this differs from a private party in that he generally only invites brothers).
What he specifically pointed out was that I have a policy of total enforcement, not selective enforcement. He'd like to make it okay for our members to police themselves, rather than relying on an American made document. I see this as illogical. If we start changing the rules to allow whatever behaviour we want, it creates a disrespect for the fraternity as a whole.
Is it wrong for an alumnus member placed in a position of authority to expect that the rules be kept? I realise it's an undergrad chapter and they need to make their own mistakes, but I just don't want to see my chapter dragged under because we are bound to trip up if we let the most lenient of us decide policy.
Something I hear a lot is "Chapter X lets it slide, so why can't we?". Does anybody else hear this a lot? Chapter X may let it happen, but Chapter Y got busted and lost their charter. I'm getting kind of sick of hearing it, but it's turning the alumni and founders against the undergrads.
Canadian
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