At The Crossroads - My Chapter SUCKS

[Rudey]

Firehouse is right. The only thing I'd add is maybe if he can't just became rush chair, that he still rush and become active on the comm. I'm a true believer that often it's numbers that fix things up since they indicate how successful and determined you are.

-Rudey

Originally posted by Firehouse
It's 11:45 pm on Christmas Eve, Stan. Your passion and dedication are commendable, so here's an early present for you. Here's how to accomplish what you want to do.
1) Stop complaining to the brothers. Say nothing negative to them about the chapter, about them or anything else. Say only positive, encouraging things no matter how they respond to you.
2) Drop all your offices immediately and become rush chairman. Rush (recruitment) is the key to everything. Who controls membership controls the chapter's destiny. A good rush chairman can literally build his own chapter in his own image. Stay rush chairman. No other offices or responsibilities.
3) Gather around you a corps of true believers. Every chapter has leaders; some lead for bad and some for good. You be a force that inspires others to follow you. Make them your desciples. Seek out men like you and pledge them. Pledge as many as possible and do it all year long. Have two or three classes each semester if you can. Passion counts for a lot, but you have to know what you're doing. Otherwise you're a gerbil in a wheel.
4) Never try to accomplish anything in chapter meeting. In a weak chapter, these meeting are largely where complainers spout off, dampen the enthusiasm of good men, and throw up roadblocks to achievement. JUST GO AHEAD AND DO THINGS. As you are successful, others will back you up. never get in an argument with a loser in chapter meeting. In fact, it's probably not possible but you'd be better off never addressing the chapter at all. Remember, if you are going to be effective you have to go ahead and make decisions. The chapter as it is constituted now will NEVER 'vote' to make the needed changes. Realize that it's not necessary for the chapter to reach a consensus on any of your issues. You don't need to get rid of guys, just go aroud them. You drive ahead. You control the vision. You just have to accomplish this by force of will. Fortunately, as you succeed you will become credible and valuable and more men will follow you.
5) Spend 50% of your time as rush chairman rushing the chapter. I mean, go from room to room talking with brothers individually about the fraternity. Remember what I told you: never be negative and don't trash the brothers or the chapter. It's not that they don't deserve it; it's that negative talk/negative attitude will have results counter to what you want. Talk about your vision and what Delta Sig should be, and how you are going to make that happen. Make them see the big picture that you see. Don't ever cloud that picture with dark talk.
6) If you embrace these things and pursue them with enthusiasm and intelligence, you will succeed. If you decide to move forward, let me know if I can help.
Merry Christmas, Stan. You deserve a good turn.

[RedMusiq4U]

I want to shed a little light on this subject, I was in a similiar situation like yourself but no where near as drastic as yours, WOW. My situation was that I was in charge of Publications and needed pics and other things from the Historian for our display case each month to make a long story short I'm Historian now and the job will get done. As far as leadership, things were lacking and I felt we weren't getting things done and I was questioning whether or not I should go inactive. Things are better now and I hope that our new President gets the job done, he will he's a cool guy. I was appauled at the fact that your fraternity was that slack and that you hold SIX of the positions in the frat. All I can say is POWER starts at the head meaning the President, if he doesn't show any pride and love in his org and doesn't have HIS ish together then he needs to check his priorities and his dedication to his org. On that note I encourage you to hang in there and continue to do what your doing no matter what's going on. Continue to hold your head up high and rep your frat despite what others say, you lead by example, if they see you doing good in the name of Delta Sigma Phi then hopefully that recognition will rub off and motivate the other brothers to get off their a$$e$ and start working. You joined this org for a reason and if you let that reason die then you wasted you time. Reevaluate your views and talk to the other active brothers and see where they stand on this issue and decide what to. So I hope I've inspired you to keep on going and to do what you have to to turn this situation around. The alumni won't help you unless you help yourself so do what is in your power to make things better. Firehouse was right about rush chair, recruit men who share your vision and mold them into willing, working men who will bring life back to your org. Maybe you should possibly look into running for President as well since you show so much intiative and drive. That's all for now I have more advice if you need it.

[absolutuscchick]

Whoa, majorly good post!!!!

Originally posted by Firehouse
It's 11:45 pm on Christmas Eve, Stan. Your passion and dedication are commendable, so here's an early present for you. Here's how to accomplish what you want to do.
1) Stop complaining to the brothers. Say nothing negative to them about the chapter, about them or anything else. Say only positive, encouraging things no matter how they respond to you.
2) Drop all your offices immediately and become rush chairman. Rush (recruitment) is the key to everything. Who controls membership controls the chapter's destiny. A good rush chairman can literally build his own chapter in his own image. Stay rush chairman. No other offices or responsibilities.
3) Gather around you a corps of true believers. Every chapter has leaders; some lead for bad and some for good. You be a force that inspires others to follow you. Make them your desciples. Seek out men like you and pledge them. Pledge as many as possible and do it all year long. Have two or three classes each semester if you can. Passion counts for a lot, but you have to know what you're doing. Otherwise you're a gerbil in a wheel.
4) Never try to accomplish anything in chapter meeting. In a weak chapter, these meeting are largely where complainers spout off, dampen the enthusiasm of good men, and throw up roadblocks to achievement. JUST GO AHEAD AND DO THINGS. As you are successful, others will back you up. never get in an argument with a loser in chapter meeting. In fact, it's probably not possible but you'd be better off never addressing the chapter at all. Remember, if you are going to be effective you have to go ahead and make decisions. The chapter as it is constituted now will NEVER 'vote' to make the needed changes. Realize that it's not necessary for the chapter to reach a consensus on any of your issues. You don't need to get rid of guys, just go aroud them. You drive ahead. You control the vision. You just have to accomplish this by force of will. Fortunately, as you succeed you will become credible and valuable and more men will follow you.
5) Spend 50% of your time as rush chairman rushing the chapter. I mean, go from room to room talking with brothers individually about the fraternity. Remember what I told you: never be negative and don't trash the brothers or the chapter. It's not that they don't deserve it; it's that negative talk/negative attitude will have results counter to what you want. Talk about your vision and what Delta Sig should be, and how you are going to make that happen. Make them see the big picture that you see. Don't ever cloud that picture with dark talk.
6) If you embrace these things and pursue them with enthusiasm and intelligence, you will succeed. If you decide to move forward, let me know if I can help.
Merry Christmas, Stan. You deserve a good turn.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by DeltaSigStan
That's a very good point. The five that actually do care have to utilize the 7 new JAs, cause I know most of them care too, and they're becoming dangerously close to being apathetic as well.

I think this is the biggest thing. If you can round up the five guys who really care and get them to get the new guys involved and ready to help change things, that automatically cuts your work load in half.

Everybody else has had some really good advice too. I hope things get better for you.

[fingerbang]

heres my to cents from someone still active in his chapter ( i think a lot fo your alumns am i right?)

#1 i wouldnt tell alumni. They wont really do anything that drastic to help realistically. If you are asking them for help with things that really boil down to heart, which is what im getting, they are not gonna be to happy. also what they think is helping wont really help that much. also, this happened to us when we werent that great, and a bro went and talked to the alumni and he became chastised from the chapter. if u do talk to alumni try to find a younger one in his 20's from your own chapter or another one that it the area. i would suggest also if past presidents of your chapter are in the area, kep them involved as advisors or something cause they are still young and have a lot of heart.

#2 someone said that dont bring it up at chapter meeting. they are definetly right, i would suggest calling off meeting and instead circle up the chairs and have a roundtable where all the brothers sit and talk about the problem, its what we do and i think it actually works

#3 i think that a brotherhood retreat would be an awesome idea. go out in the woods with a keg or whatever, get shit housed and bond for awhile, tell the new ja's stories about the house to get them more amped and bring some love back to the old guys

#4 i personally wouldnt do rush chair, it seems like you got to much stuff on your plate. grab one of your bros you can count on, help him do it and do something really unique for rush in the spring, i cant think of anything right now but you know what i mean. think of what you guys offer that others dont and utilize it.

#5 dont be so down on yourself, theirs been times when ive hated my chapter more than anything and wonder how we ever get anything done, but some how things worked out. Take your twelve guys or whatever it is and put your name out as much as possible, rock in the philanthopies this spring go insane for greek week and put your name on the board


im out

[josh8o]

Originally posted by fingerbang
#1 i wouldnt tell alumni. They wont really do anything that drastic to help realistically. If you are asking them for help with things that really boil down to heart, which is what im getting, they are not gonna be to happy. also what they think is helping wont really help that much. also, this happened to us when we werent that great, and a bro went and talked to the alumni and he became chastised from the chapter. if u do talk to alumni try to find a younger one in his 20's from your own chapter or another one that it the area. i would suggest also if past presidents of your chapter are in the area, kep them involved as advisors or something cause they are still young and have a lot of heart.

word....
the last thing you want is an alum to step in and do nothing but make your life hell because you ccontacted him. i talked to an alum who is young and a good friend of mine this semester. hw didnt help me in the way i hoped, and there are guys in my house who dont like/trust me anymore....kinda a shitty situation. anyway, everyone here has been giving you good advice. when i get back to sd on sunday hit me up...let mw know if i can help you with anything. i know that the begining of this semester when i would get fed up with the bull shit in my house i would go and party with the guys from IFC exec. it helps to have a social outlet that will help you forget the crap that is stressing you out within your house.

[ZTAJennyZX]

I think everyone's suggestions so far are great. However, I am going to try to give you a slightly simpler route. THere is a fraternity on my campus that is in the SAME EXACT position Delta Sig is in on your campus. However, as far as I know, the guys here don't want to change their status. That said, I'd like to congratulate you on at least seeing there is a problem and being willing to "fix" it. I can understand you're problem with seeing HQ and your alumni about the situation, because some of your brothers may point fingers at you. However, new members are the future to your chapter, and getting guys who are willing to be die hard brothers will be your greatest asset. Usually, fraternities have a few girls that hang out with the guys on a regular basis. If you have a sweetheart, maybe you could enlist her help and any other (trustworthy) girls in finding guys that would be beneficial to the chapter. I know that here a lot of fraternities use the help of girls to recruit. And like someone else said, definately do some informal recruiting. Sometimes formal recruitment just catches the guys that want to join a fraternity for the parties, and informal cuts down on that just a little. In any case, your position is a tough one and I wish you and your chapter all the luck in the world!

[Tom Earp]

Stan,
Man I can understand completely!

The old adatage is really true: 90-10! 10 % do and the 90 % dont.

We have had the same situation and it has drug our Chapter down to almost being at the point taht i would contact hdq and say Hey, we need help there!

Of course, that is a no-no!

A alot depends on Your Alum Base also. Are they willing to coime in and work with you, not tell and dictate like the good old days?
Our group with a lot of dedicated Alums hold a mentoring session each Semester to work with the Chapter. Sometimes it helps and then at times it doesnt. If, it gets so bad, then there can and will be a major problem.

I dont know what actually happened to the SPE Chapter at My School, but just found out recently that Alums and Hdq. people came down and cleaned house! Left them with 3 Actives and 2 new Associates. Moved out of their House.

As much as I hate to think about it, it may jsut Kiill them, but help us, as we are fighting to rebuild. I have also mentioned about a House cleaning. Those that do not pay their bills, out, those that do not keep grades out!

Everyone gets very nervous when I say that!

Maybe it is time for Your Chapter! The Dead wood will do nothing but drag you down! Numbers are not everything!

Bro. all I can do is wish you the best of luck! It does take more than one strong heart to make something work!

If interested, PM me and will give you a Ma Bell Call just to chat and kick stuff around!

Do not close all avenues, jsut think about possibiliteis!

[AXJules]

Stan, I don't think this is going to help much, but anyway,
In the time I've lurked/posted here, two things have been apparent to me:
1) Your house has struggled for awhile (which has NOTHING to do with quality, necessarily)
and
2) You love being a Delta Sig. Really though.

There comes a time when you can't do enough. When your house is in a position where things may not get any better or worse, you'll just flounder "in between". I'm not trying to be negative, I'm just telling you I've been there and it would kill me if I knew you walked away thinking your contributions were minimal. Hell, we don't even really know you and we can tell you're a kick ass brother in your house. So please promise us that whenever you do graduate, you'll do it knowing you gave Delt Sig your all.

Another thing I've come to realize is that graduation is not the be all and end all of Greek life. Just look at the board! I'm not sure how popular alumni groups are with guys or Delt Sig, for all I know they could be really GHEY, but with sororities sometimes its better than the college years (from what I've heard.) You know a lot about IFC, you know tons about DSig (the name keeps getting shorter as I post, lol) so how do you know that you won't be an advisor or something once you graduate?? And you might love that even more.

All the suggestions you've received have been great- the purpose of my post was just to keep you from beating yourself up. Props to you for being realistic about the situation and being passionate about something important to you.


And lastly, don't forget- Greek life is crazy. Some reps take YEARS to get over, and some things change overnight. If you absolutely kill in philanthropies, or something else competitive for an entire semester and recruit recruit recruit, you could see results as soon as this April.

[DeltaSigStan]

Your guys' support has been awesome. I've contacted a local alum from the 80s (when we had damn near 120 guys), and we shared so many of the same sentiments, and I think the spark has been made, and things MIGHT change. The best thing is that he has gone through many of the same things; at the time he joined, the chapter was very small, and his class helped start a reformation that would last until about the mid 90s. He also dealt with the same dumb IFC director. During his time, not only were they the "Animal House", but Delta Sig dominated IFC exec board, did numerous community service, and even created the SDSU Designated Driver program (only for the University to copy the idea the next year).

See, the thing about my devotion is that I don't work within the house because of my chapter. Going to convention, I learned what it REALLY means to be a brother of this fraternity, and I MYSELF feel like I owe it to the 103,649 brothers who came before me. I owe it to the two men who created this brotherhood 104 years ago. I owe it to 54 years of tradition on this campus. So, I gladly oblige to doing my duties as a member of Delta Sigma Phi, not Gamma ALpha chapter. And you're right. I WILL be an advisor. I WILL go to convention every yr it's held, no matter if my chapter exists or not.

But, at the same time, I realize there are more important things I should be worrying about right now, such as school, and well, school, and I'm more aware of what I should be doing right now overall. And right now, the only thing I can do is just have fun when the chapter DOES do things.

Anyways, after today, things seem a lot brighter since I've brought attention to those who know how things SHOULD work. So, let's just hope some good comes out of this semester.

And don't worry the SDSU greeks on this board, my name will totally be kept out of this little "Plan of Action".

Unless the bros come one here, but I'm guessing they probably won't.

[PhiPsiRuss]

I'm glad that you found an alumnus who is simpatico with you. Its so much easier to pursue reform with someone else, than to do it alone.

[HPU PIKE]

Stan, first of all I just want to reaffirm to you that this is not a problem unique to your chapter. It is a huge problem with many GLOs. My chapter of Pike for instance, was in a position of having 11 active members. This was before I joined, but I think you may be able to relate to our situation. A year later, through some hard work, our chapter has 21 actives and NOT ONE brother leaving next year. Our only senior is going to become a super senior and hang on for one more year.

As with your chapter, there are a select handful of men who are willing to put forth any sort of effort. This was apparent when I became a brother in Spring 03. Along with my pledge class, most of whom all share my motivation for our chapter, and a few upperclassmen, we have started the change that will turn our chapter around. Like yours, our chapter was the one who used to be great, but became the do-nothing, bad rep fraternity. And with only 4 frat. on campus, image is everything.

There is a theory called the 20/80 ratio. 20% of the people do 80% of the work in most organizations. It has been my effort to disprove this theory. While it was definitely true in my chapter, we began the year with a very serious first chapter meeting. The 7 or 8 of us who had taken leadership postitions basically addressed the chapter in this manner : our way or the high way. We told them what our plan was for the year, presented a well-organized calendar and budget, and setforth guidelines for what our chapter would be this year. Those that objected were asked to leave the chapter room and subsequently go inactive. This was harsh, but the lazy, "in it for the parties" brothers actually got our message and responded.

After years of having no philanthropy or community service projects, we decided to start small. We began the year with our Adopt-a-Highway project and made attendance mandatory. The result was a huge surge in morale for chapter. Just that one event sparked a fire in many of the brothers. Next, we set out to gain a little campus recognition by winning the annual Derby Day(like a field day at the beginning of every year). Although the contest is pretty much a joke (tug-o-war, dizzy bat, mattress races, etc...) we still took first place and instantly the incoming freshman males heard the President anounce "Pi Kappa Alpha" as the winner. That was HUGE. Not only good PR, but it also caused another wave of good morale in the chapter.

My conclusion to this novel: Heed the good advice of the people on here. Take the one's who are willing to show their love for Delta Sigma Phi and use them as examples. Give the remaining guys the ultamatim. *corny metaphor coming up* A good example: Your chapter will become a train next semester. You already have a handful of men who are on board, those that chose not to, will be left behind at their own discretion. No regrets. You take the initiative and make things right. Best of luck to you and your chapter.

[bruinaphi]

Congrats! It sounds like you are on the right track!

[aside] Our Alpha Phi chapter at SDSU is also the Gamma Alpha Chapter [/aside]

Good luck!

[DeltaSigStan]

Originally posted by bruinaphi
Congrats! It sounds like you are on the right track!

[aside] Our Alpha Phi chapter at SDSU is also the Gamma Alpha Chapter [/aside]

Good luck!

Laura

I know . I was just hanging out with one of them, and my lil bro's big sis is an Alpha Phi.

And I just ran into a Delta Sig from UCLA at the bank

[Buttonz]

Seems as if things are looking up....it's going to be hard work, but it seems that you have it in you to see things through because of the love you have for your brothers.

GOOD LUCK!