Interesting article about a Brother & disabled participation

[john1082]

I don't like the word disabled either, but the phrase 'differently abled' is a bit awkward. The article used the word disabled, too. I've often wondered how we would perform ritual if someone were deaf or blind. There is a blind brother that I see at national events and I really do need to chat with him about this for my own edification. I always seem to be scurrying off somewhere else when I see him and I need to set aside some quality time to chat with him.

At some campuses the lack of inclusion may be used against us and I believe that we need to take a sincere look at how we present ourselves to this largely un-recruited group.

[Eric_Berger]

John,

I belive that Matt Selm is that Brother at the International events.

ZAX,
Eric

[john1082]

Eric, I think you're right and I believe the name of his beautiful dog is Jessica

[Bilski]

GZ, I appreciate your passion but I question your rhetoric. Jeremy is a great brother who participates in as many activities as possible but there are some things it simply isn't possible for him to do. Jeremy's condition keeps him from staying overnight with us so he isn't able to go on multi-day road trips with us. His electric chair weighs several hundred pounds so we can't just carry him upstairs and magically wish his mode of transportation up there. Jeremy understands that there are some things he can't do with us but that's no reason why we should have a formal at an inaccessible restaurant or hall!

I don't pretend to know the circumstances of the brother you speak of from your chapter so I would hope you could extend the same courtesy to your brother at another zeta and not presume we hold him to some sort of lower standard than any other brother. He and the other brothers in my zeta with disabilities have all held High Zeta positions and are some of the most highly regarded brothers we have. I don't appreciate your attempts to twist my comments into suggesting I expect any less of MY brothers, officers, and friends.


On a lighter note:
Eric and John, you're right, Matt Selm is a blind member of Zeta Sigma who has held a number of positions in our chapter including High Rho and High Theta. He's been to the past 3 Leadership Seminars / General Assembly. No doubt you remember him from the 2006 Gen Assembly when he gave our case for staying open as a chapter. He's always had a passion for this fraternity that's driven him to seek out new ways and ideas from alumni and other chapters to help us grow and improve. I only hope to have the devotion he's shown this fraternity.

Oh, and FYI, his dog is our mascot Janelle!

[john1082]

I knew her name started with a "J"

Zeta-Sigma is Louisville?

[GammaZeta]

It's not rhetoric.

I did say he did everything he was capable of.

Obviously there are some things that are impossible.

But we always did what we had to do to make him a part of as much as we could.

I also wasn't targeting YOUR specific brother.

I was making more generalized statement about society and how they treat the "disabled" as a whole.