True Brother Initiative

[JonoBN41]

Or to paraphrase George Orwell, "All brothers are true brothers, some are just truer than others." Just kidding.

[GammaZeta]

I've been thinking about this. I'm not so sure I like the idea that there is a specific "type" that we should pursue or strive to become. I've always liked the diversity of Gamma Zeta; rich, poor, young, old, white, black, asian, jewish, christian, political, scientific, lazy, ambitious, studious, party-animal...

If we were encouraged to go after any type of standard, other than being a good guy, I think we would have missed out on a lot of good brothers.

In fact, the more I think about it the less I like it. I also think it is very insulting to those that are alumni, the one's that made LXA what it is today.

It's almost like saying "Hey good job alumni on all your hard work and donations which helped form Lambda Chi Alpha, but you don't really fit in anymore. Oh by the way, we will now encourage your chapter to recruit a specific type of person, who will most likely be completely different from the type of people you and your fellow alumni are. Your "type" isn't welcome in the future of the fraternity, but you are more than welcome to stick around and donate your time and money to this practice of elitism."

[john1082]

I don't know if I am cynical or experienced . . .

Having seen Great Passage, LEAP, IMPACT, and some others that I don't recall come and go over the past 30 years I look at True Brother with some skepticism. Not criticism, but skepticism. It tested in the midwest and east, save for one chapter in San Diego. Until now all I have seen is smoke an mirrors. The roll out last week dealt with the Outer Circle but not the Inner Circle program. Apparently that will be released to chapters (a) when it is ready, and (b) when the staff decides that a chapter is "ready" (worthy?) of the Inner Circle program.

Will the Inner Circle program readiness be predicated on a series of hoops which must be jumped through? Membership numbers or scholarship or finances? If the program remains voluntary for chapter adoption, what will be the fall-out for chapters that do not adopt the program? Non-consideration from award consideration like the Grand High Alpha award? If that is the cease then it really isn't voluntary adoption because there would be sanctions for non-adoption of the program.

I had lunch on Saturday with the undergrads, passing up the alumni college lunch. One of the guys that I sat with came from a test chapter. When I asked him about TBI he replied that when folks came to evaluate the program he was asked "What is good about the program?" and then, after he offered his thoughts, he added "Now do you want to know what didn't work?" He told me that the reply from staff was "We've already got that." If that is how it was really evaluated at the chapter level then we're not getting, as Brother Paul Harvey says "The rest of the story."

[dever860]

Just read the new C&C, as of this second it hasn't been posted on the website, and I was a bit disappointed. Yea I don't get it. It didn't go into any details, basically went on for 2 pages about what I already knew.

Regardless of which, I am still going to try to implement whatever it is.

Speaking of IMPACT, I am aware of quite a few angry people who tried for years to get up to IMPACT 4 and then found it they just canceled it. Very disappointed they were.

[GammaZeta]

Oh man, I forgot Paul Harvey was a LXA! I LOVE his stories.

Why do we always need fancy national programs in our chapters? When will HQ learn that 300 chapters nationwide are not the same, and do not have the same ideals, brotherhood, goals or concerns and problems.

I guess I am taking a more libertarian view of our organization; less is better. I find it hard to continue to move on to new programs when we haven't mastered the basic, bread and butter fundamentals of a fraternity.

More and more this seems to be more buzzwords so that HQ can pat themselves on the back for being "proactive" (God I hate that word).

Outside of risk management, I think the primary focus should be aggressive recruitment and aggressive fundraising. Recruitment and fundraising is like garlic, too much is never enough. All of our resources should be put into those two issues. Don't waste money on fancy programs. Get a LXA recruiter on as many college campuses with that money. Don't waste time thinking of slogans. Get our HQ staff on the phone calling up alumni asking for donations with that time.

We need to go back to basics and realize we are an organization that needs two things: new brothers and money. Period.