Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldest_Pledge
And why is this? Why isn't Beta Theta Pi a social driver on the campuses at which we have chapters? Shouldn't we be?
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This question gets to a larger issue- that of rush.
Rush is sacred. When it comes to the actual selection of individual members, the active members of a given chapter have the absolute decisionmaking power- and I have yet to see the advisor or General Fraternity officer who would dare cross that line. And may God go with them if they do (I have seen alumni offer "commentary" on new pledges that was out of bounds and the aftermath it brought on.)
Opinions are sometimes sought of course- but really more in terms of looking at logistical factors- not inherent aspects of individuals. And usually I have found these are financially related- specifically how payment plans could be arranged or dues reductions could be done in a case of true hardship for someone who we really want to join or reaffiliate.
There is no way, in my strong opinion, that chapters could be encouraged to diversify their membership on any grounds (be it racial, religious or otherwise) without creating a level of intrusion that would be intolerable and would completely disregard the judgement of the active members. The only way to something like that and have it work would be to impose arbitrary standards (for example grades) that would guarantee a person can get in- with no regard for the individual feelings of members.
Fraternity chapters reflect their campuses and the decisions of individual members. Diversity exists in our overall composition- but at the chapter level it is easy to miss that in the process of missing the forest for the trees. Reaffiliations to other chapters are never automatic and don't always happen precisely because chapters can be wildly different in their membership and internal management.
To me the right answer is to, whenever asked or just in one's actions and presence, make it clear to the chapter that advisors and alumni respect their choices of rush candidates regardless of whether that candidate would have been acceptable back when that alumnus was active. This validates a chapter's desire to act on their own judgement- and that is a critical aspect of the maturation that fraternities offer their members.
It is not just about race either- finances and lifestyle play a role too when it comes to recruitment. Back when I was active, Beta was twice as expensive at my school as it is now because we had the largest fraternity house on campus. There are a lot of Betas since that house was sold who have been great brothers but would never have been able to join when the dues alone were nearly $5,000 per year.
On the other hand, there are many guys from my era who would probably not be offered a bid from the current chapter if they were rushing today. Back in my time there was a lot more partying and most of us were business and history majors who spent our weekends hunting and fishing. The chapter today is quite different- mostly engineers and far more scholastically focused.
This does not mean that either era, or any era, of my chapter's existence was better than another.
I just state all this to support my case that member recruitment has to be in the hands of the active chapter since even the most involved alumnus cannot possibly be in tune with all the nuances of the day that affect rush- and therefore cannot be relied upon to provide overall beneficial guidance on who to pledge and on what grounds.
All IMHO.
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