Recruiting a High Pi to the middle of [relative] nowhere

[choster]

Greeting everyone; I am, as they say, a longtime lurker, and I hesitate to ask for advice as I cannot be said to have contributed to the community here. Nevertheless, I cannot imagine our chapter is the only one who has faced this problem: when there are almost no alumni who live near the chapter, how do you recruit a High Pi?

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Cornell is located in Ithaca, with a population of about 40,000 about five hours northwest of New York City. It is not a "small town" by many standards. But almost no one is "from" here— the overwhelming majority of students come from farther than 200 miles away, and three decades of a depressed economy and depopulation in upstate New York means no one ever comes back except for a grad program or to take a short-term job with the colleges.

Therefore, our High Pis, since Doc Dirghalli stepped down in the 1960s, have almost entirely been drawn from business school, law school, and graduate school students. But recently, the qualifications for High Pi have been tightened, so that instead of being at least two years out of school, the candidate must be at least five years out of school. That very sharply reduces the number of candidates to choose from.

We recently ran a search on MyLCA for brothers of the Class of 1970 and younger who live in the county. There were five results: two former law students and one former intern (bad addresses), one grad student (too young), and one not interested. Going further afield is a dubious adventure. I realize in some parts of the country that a 50-mile drive is no big deal, but the roads here are narrow and winding (you need to drive almost 40 minutes to get to an interstate), and winters are harsh, and it's a lot to ask an alum with a career and family to drive in from over an hour away at least once a week.

On the flip side, we could recruit an alum from out of the area. After all, cheap mobile phone plans, videoconferencing, and the like mean communication is frequent and easy. But a few years ago we tried this, with a very energetic alum who lives in New York City, and the results were mixed. Having a High Pi physically present for chapter meetings and Ritual and whatnot cannot be replicated on an iPhone teleconference.

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What do other chapters in small towns do? Is there someone who just happens to live in town who's willing to serve? That's happened for us three times, the last from about 1975-1989, but not a situation that exists right now. Do you have a remote High Pi who only visits a few times a year? Do you appoint a non-brother? Do you simply go without?

[Katmandu]

My son is a LCA so forgive the crash. I have heard of some organizations in that situation ...isolated, not many alums in the region...address the issue by identifying an interested person who exemplifies the character of the organization, brings some skills and who is permanently located in the area....an attorney, a professor, businessman/woman etc, and inviting them to serve as an unofficial advisor, then if they are supportive and willing to be in it for the long term, offering alum or honor initiation. This would not be a quick fix, but might be more long term fix, if LCA allows that type of initiation. Good luck!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Is there the possibility of an advisory council? If the actual High Pi is remote, maybe you could have one of the younger guys as a different advisor on the council who attends in person.

[choster]

Thanks for the speedy responses. @Katmandu Our national does allow non-members to be appointed as the alumni advisor in extraordinary circumstances. Identifying someone willing and able remains a challenge, though. @DeltaBetaBaby Lambda Chi does have a chapter body known as the "Alumni Advisory Board," whose members are appointed by the High Pi, and are there to assist him. Ours has never been very active, and may need to be something we invest in figuring out.

The rule change has hit us at a delicate time. With an almost-$3 million construction project just concluded, and another fundraising effort underway to relieve ourselves of a heavy debt burden, and the undergrad chapter still recovering from displacement and disruption, we're eager to establish some stability. I am hoping our current nominee is duly appointed, but we will need to replace him in a couple of years.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by choster

@DeltaBetaBaby Lambda Chi does have a chapter body known as the "Alumni Advisory Board," whose members are appointed by the High Pi, and are there to assist him. Ours has never been very active, and may need to be something we invest in figuring out.

I hope your HQ is willing to assist you on this, and it may be tough to find enough people, but it is really valuable because it allows more continuity than switching advisors every few years. Having someone step into the main role from an auxiliary role can be much smoother.

[Tom Earp]

First as a Brother your eta is not alone!!! There are others who do not have High Pi's. It can be very tough to find one if no Alum Brothers are close. We at LX Z finally got one but he drives @ 30 miles each way and is from another Zeta.
He was not well accepted at first at first, but has been one of the best we have had ever!

Is there any other Alumnus around that area from any zeta?

What irks me, is that I H Q expect to go to I H Q on their dime and for every two years. Above and beyond the call of duty!!

You might contact I H Q to see if they know anyone from that area>

In ZAX,

and good luck to you!

[DubaiSis]

Talk to a professor you like. Not necessarily to recruit him (and is HER an option?), but to help you network in the community. And remind your guys you want to KEEP him. No hazing episodes or other crap that will make him run for the hills.