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MPI (MOP as you call it- same thing) does not require a dry house or a commitment by the member to not drink. The dry house bit is the option of the chapter or the alumni who are paying for/managing the property.
I am not saying no alcohol- in fact I don't even like the idea of a dry house. College is not a time for babysitting. I did not like advisors trying to babysit me when I was an undergrad, and I have no intentions of doing it now.
What I am saying, and I think your post implies agreement, is that so foolish and open a display suggests that there is a general level of complete disregard for certain common sense boundaries which still allow young men to self-govern, but with some general guidance from above that can, and will, prevent a lot of potential risk management incidents.
In other words, you can see the keg and the drinking games in plain view. So what is it that you are not seeing that might be going on that indicates a wholly reckless attitude? Maybe nothing serious at all- but that is a pretty big chance to take given the stakes.
I see your point about waiting for the facts- my contention is that the facts and opinions do not belong on the internet. This is a matter for internal consideration by the chapter, alumni, and perhaps Convention if members of other chapters choose to get involved.
My comments are merely meant to address and analyze what is being disclosed publicly- and give a perspective on how that is going to be received by many, though surely not all.
This facebook post tells a lot. Just look at how it is worded. Note the following comment posted by a suspended member (excerpt from what aeBOT posted above),
"I'd sure love to know the rationale...but of course, they didn't enumerate the reasons, just gave us a ridiculously broad outline, which supposedly covers everyone. When I persisted in asking for the reason for my removal, I recieved another voicemail saying that I was removed for a number of reasons, but the "bulk" of it was my attitude and "problems with authority" as well as the incident occuring last semester at my house.
The incident was that there were reportedly some of our sophomores there playing drinking games on our porch and we had a keg out there too--which was actually empty, it was dated about 2 years old. The AO photographed it, though the photos were never released."
1. I see no understanding or willingness to accept that the "incident" was a very bad and inappropriate move. The fact it happened off the dry property is not really important. That other house was intended to be and is openly "advertised" as a "Beta House" (the Annex is the term I have heard most often). And the obvious goal of setting it up was to have all the benefits of being in a fraternity, but none of the responsibility that comes with it. Otherwise, why not live in the provided chapter house, or get a group of GDI friends together and do what you want?
The litmus test is simple. If there were to be a publicized risk management incident at that Annex house, how likely is it the press and the community would refer specifically to Beta Theta Pi? How likely is it that Beta Theta Pi GF and the chapter's advisors would face liability? I say the answer to both is "very likely", so regardless of the technicalities- that Annex is, in effect, a Beta House (my opinion anyway, certainly subject to debate.)
2. Why does this member seem to think it matters that GF has not "released" the photo or that the keg was empty? Are we a brotherhood or a sea of strangers who will settle disputes in court on legal technicalities?
Bob, when I was an undergrad I had a love/hate relationship with GF too. Goes with the territory, and it is healthy in a way. Now as an adult and advisor, I see it as a relationship that needs to be somewhat adversarial at times.
The goal, in my mind, is to let the actives in a chapter grow and develop in ways that GDIs never could. A chapter house is a mini-environment all to itself. A place where guys learn financial responsibility. A place where guys learn to manage their own lives and protect their home. A place where guys can learn to have a 2 hour fight in chapter over a critical internal issue and then put it all behind them and go have a beer and watch the game later.
Almost all advisors, alumni and GF people I have met don't want to interfere in that process. We benefitted from learning it on our own, and it would be selfish of us to try and take that away from the next generation.
But we do have to set some strict boundaries and enforce them. It is not easy and it is not fun. But it rarely needs to happen, and it only needs to happen to prevent or alleviate the kind of situation that no college student, no matter how smart or dedicated, has the life experience to understand and manage. And of course, how an advisor or GF goes about doing it makes all the difference in how it is received and dealt with.
The blog and the facebook posts claim the situation was handled poorly- which does happen sometimes. We are all human. However, the more that is said- the clearer it becomes to me that this was not the case. The more they say, the more they will unintentionally reveal- as the facebook post illustrates clearly.
And I see nothing brotherly about trying to drag other chapters (and any non-Beta who reads these public disclosures) into this mess with one-sided and emotional arguments that are not even logical at face value.
Time will tell...
Last edited by EE-BO; 03-04-2007 at 12:41 PM.
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