True Brother Initiative

[JonoBN41]

Originally Posted by JConleyWCU

Well as an undergrad im totally for our alumni to get put to pasture... jk

Gee, I was out at my observatory tonight, which is "kind of" in a pasture, looking at Jupiter. Does that count?

Love you guys.

In ZAX,
Jono
(beer monkey or scotch gentleman? Choose one)

[GammaZeta]

I chose beer monkey. In a way, I feel that the True Brother initiative is kind of a slap in the face to the present and past membership.

Like we were not good enough to uphold the values of LXA. That we now need to look for better brothers than we had before. That we as alumni were previously subpar and LXA was only settling for what they could get.

[EM1843]

I'm trying to remain optimistic, but I still haven't seen anything from IHQ that tells me what this is all about. At last GA I heard great buzz words but I was told that it was getting tested out over the next year so I assummed by now there would be packets and papers available online. How can I, as an involved alumni, possibly help my chapter implement TBI if I still don't know what it is.

[texaslambdachi]

Well, you've succeeded in dragging me into this discussion group!

I'm a bit shocked by all the negativity. I really don't see how True Brother is a slap in the face to alumni.

From what I've read here, it seems people are upset because:

1) The Fraternity launched this without consulting them (and over a
hundred thousand other alumni), because their main focus is the
undergraduate chapter.
2) They feel that they are the type of person that would not be
sought-after under the new suggestions for recruiting.
3) There's no new programming geared toward alumni.


So, my response is:

1) Duh! The primary focus of the Fraternity has always been the
undergraduates, as it should be. As for all alumni being consulted
on the matter, that's obviously not practical. Were you upset
about the launch of LEAP or Impact? I doubt that more than a
handful of alumni knew about those before the first Leadership
Seminar workshops.

2) The core values enumerated in the True Brother program are nothing
new. I have a 1948 edition of the Paedagogus that has a very
similar list of ideals. The revised statement was clearly derived
from research of the primary documents of the Fraternity (rituals,
creeds, and constitutions of LCA & TKN, early writings of the
founders, etc.) To be blunt -- as far as I'm concerned, any alumni
that object to those values should never have joined this
fraternity and are quite welcome to leave.

3) This goes back to the principle the Fraternity's primary
constituency is the undergraduate chapters. As was explained,

there is more to come, and that will include material geared toward
alumni. The people putting this together wanted to

wait until it was complete to begin the roll-out, but there was
strong pressure to accelerate development and release the first
portion right away.


From what I can tell (and, btw, I am not one of the architects of the
program), TBI in essence is:

1) Publicly enumerate the core values of the Fraternity.
2) Align all programs and publications of the Fraternity with those
values.

That's basically it. The rest is just organizational detail. I would suggest that we try to be patient in waiting for some more of those details to be explained.

In ZAX,
Ed Miller
(GGZ alumnus)

[Tom Earp]

Brother Miller, I cannot disagree with you on all of your points except:

As Almmnus,

We are supposed to be Members of LXA for Life!

We are not asked about much of anything except about donating money. Considering the time and money that each of us may spend other than doating is very big and time consuming for us but with love for what we beleive in.
I have brought this up many times and one voice agreed with me, but not a lot seems to have been done so far.
So this new step in your words I beleive goes back to the "original principles" of LXA.

So, the question is why if it is already in place?

If it needed to be updated then why? Easier language to understand?

As you said, there are 1,000s of Alumni. Who are these people, well, Brothers such as myself and many others!

I am not upset as some, but there are members in the Alumni community who care enough to ask these questions and care.

I care enough as some of the others on here do, to question the why for and where ofs.

Is that wrong?

I know how close were were to being in financial problems, ergo, that is why changes have been made.

We are one of the most forward thinking and inovative Fraternities and hopefully will always be, but it does cost money to give the services that LXA does compared to others.

Off of soap box!

[texaslambdachi]

Brother Earp,

Thanks for your reply.

I don't think there is any intention by IHQ to discount or ignore
alumni. Quite the opposite -- this initiative was done by alumni,
with almost no involvement by HQ or the GHZ, other than giving their
approval. This idea originated with some alumni who had worked on the
Graduation Ritual committee (of which I was a member, but not a major
contributor). That committee had been formed for the purpose of
creating a graduation ritual that would encourage members to be more
involved as alumni. Among the things discussed by the committee was
the fact that while we talk a lot about the ideals of the Fraternity,
we never say much about what those ideals are. This is partly due to
the fact that they were stricken from the Paedagogus out of concern
that Associates might be required to memorize anything that was
presented as a list, and that could be considered hazing.


I realize that there was a period in our history wherein alumni were
considered an unfortunate by-product of fraternity that generally
served to impede progress. While there were probably some that were
an obstacle to the elimination of hazing and to the responsible use of
alcohol, quite a number of good people were driven away, as well. I
believe our current leadership understands the importance of alumni
involvement, and is trying to address this with things like the
Graduation/Alumni ritual and, indeed, the True Brother Initiative.

Does the primary objection come from potential misconceptions due to
the name itself? -- the idea that there will be some brothers that are
"true brothers" and others that are not? That is clearly not the
intention, and I think the organizers are working to make sure that
that is not the case.


In ZAX,
Ed

[Tom Earp]

Ed, I cannot disagree with anything You have said, but it is the way I feel,
granted, it is done by Alumni.

But then My question is which Alumni?

Am I not one of the Brothers whom are Alumni who have been going or have been doing for so long?

Not hardly as there are many Brothers on this site whom are Alums who have been members of LXA for so long.

I just got off of the phone discussing this and with a We Bother are not sure of the TBI?

Granted, it cannot be put or Placed out. Or Could it?

Yes it could and it is called C&C.

I still have no Clue as of yet. Is it True?

I do not have a clue, but The Brothers I have discussed this over the Phone are still wondering!

I and they are still wondering what it is all about!

[JonoBN41]

Ed, first of all, welcome to GC. We appreciate hearing from you.

I don't think the True Brother Initiative is the same as LEAP, Impact, or the Alumni Ritual. It seems to be more on par with the change from pledgeship to associate membership or SigEp's Balanced Man program. I have been informed that the next Paedagogus (which would have come out this year) is being held up and rewritten in order to incorporate the TBI. In other words, it's a much bigger deal.

I do wish the alumni had been a little better prepared for the unveiling, especially since the alumni are expected to help administer it, according to a document from IHQ.

I'm sure it's a great program - I'm not saying it isn't - but it could have been presented with more alumni support, especially from those who have demonstrated a sincere interest in the fraternity for many years and are apparently needed to help implement it.

Virtually all of us on this board have an interest - that's we we're here. And that's why we feel a little put off. Not just the lack of being consulted, but because we still don't know much about it. It will fade, of course, as we learn more. It's all about learning, is it not?

If you have more information (and you seem to) on how the TBI applies to, and draws support from, alumni, please let us know.

In ZAX,
Jono

(Lennox - yes, that's why we're in Iraq)