Esprit De Fraternite

[Dynasty]

Are we as a whole actually maintaining this in this day in age or have we drifted away from good ol' Esprit de Fraternite.....let's get some insightful dialogue going...other organizations can apply the concept to your org if you would like to comment..................I mean when we see so many devisive things happening and so many inactive members.............


"Esprit De Fraternite"

An Alpha Phi Alpha man’s attitude should not be “how much can I derive from the Fraternity?” but “how much can I do for the Fraternity?” In proportion to what he does for his chapter and for Alpha Phi Alpha will a member receive lasting benefit from the Fraternity to himself in the way of self development by duty well done and by the respect of brothers well served.

A member’s duties should be:

• Prompt payment of all Financial obligations, the prime requisite of successful Fraternal life;
• the doing of good scholastic work in his chosed vocation, there by accomplishing the real end of a college course;
• the reasonable endeavor to participate in general college activities and social service and to excel therein;
• the proper consideration of all things, with appropriate attention to the high moral standards of Alpha Phi Alpha.

By; Charles H. Garvin, 4th Gen. President

[Senusret I]

I have reflected on "Esprit" several times over the past four years of membership.....as a wide-eyed neo who swore he'd never be inactive to a hurt prophyte who swore he'd never go back.

I used to wonder why Brothers went inactive -- now I know why.

You can't reclaim brothers by pointing to their "obligation." Most will not feel obligated if they don't feel welcome, if the Fraternite is missing from Esprit.

Brothers get tired of being treated like they are only good for checks.

Brothers get tired of being talked to any kind of way. I know I sure did -- I never cursed anybody out until after I became an Alpha.

Brothers don't want to keep giving to an org that takes from them, whups on them, and then doesn't provide services that equal the labor given. And personally, I think that's fair.

Are you inclined to reclaim yourself with a five-year old website and national magazines that don't come out regularly?

I guess what I'm saying is that although I agree with the words, they need to be applied differently in 2007. A different fraternity exists now and a different way of providing services needs to be applied.

And I know Brothers will implore me to keep our business in-house -- tough noogies!

[Senusret I]

I thought about it some more, and I wanted to expand on a few things and provide possible solutions so it doesn't sound like I'm just complaining:


1) Reclaimation needs to happen on the highest levels of administration. We need a Development Department at Headquarters that manages the Life Membership Campaign, donations to the Foundation, and works to reclaim our prominent members. Not all will have the time to join a chapter, but each one should contribute to Alpha in some tangible way, whether it's how Lionel Richie gave a concert at no charge to Alpha or how Senator Brooke was a speaker at the public program.

2) On the local level, Brothers need to change their approach to reclaiming others. Inactive Brothers need to feel wanted, not just needed and brow-beat. A phone call that says "Hey Frat, you were missed at the last chapter meeting!" goes a lot further than "When you bringing your ass back to chapter meeting???" (Happened to me!)

3) The fraternity needs to do a better job in two areas of communication:
a) How it tells its own story.
b) How it delivers its services.

Our website needs to be overhauled and made into a design that is more intuitive. Our President should have a new public message every month. If not the President, then rotate the monthly message among the regional VPs. We need press releases from the highest levels that highlight what we're doing aside from suing Stomp the Yard.

Chi Omega recently launched an online version of their national organ -- how great would it be if we had an online quarterly Sphinx Magazine with ENHANCED members-only sections? Imagine the quickness with with births, deaths, marriages, chapter projects, etc, could be reported?

Overall, I still believe that APhiA is the best fraternity! We just need to do a better job at showing it and implementing it.

[Dynasty]

Amazingly enough the reference to Eprit De Fraternite is used alot by the administration in our chapter at the the recent Eastern Region past 25th General President Bro Williams- Pointed out how often times in the pursuit of the goals of the brotherhood we forget about the brothers.

In essence we forget about the things that develop bonds like...hanging out when outside of meetings and actual events that are scheduled.

I am currently in process of trying to get a hospitality/reclamation committee going in my chapter because I have encountered so many dis-enfranchised brothers......numerous amounts who all make reference....to just un-brotherly things happening on multiple levels......just wonder how to overcome it.......its hard to get somebody back when they are jaded..........

[Senusret I]

What chapter are you in? There is a new brother thread at the top of this forum where you can post pertinent info.

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

Inactive Brothers need to feel wanted, not just needed and brow-beat. A phone call that says "Hey Frat, you were missed at the last chapter meeting!" goes a lot further than "When you bringing your ass back to chapter meeting???" (Happened to me!)

Shid, I need to konw hiow that was said, because I do it all of the time (I don't use ass, though.) Is it possible you were being a little too sensitive. I mean the bigger thing is they wanted you to come back. Since I know your situation, I may be naive, but that seemed like a good thing to me.

I guess I don't believe that folx are NEEDED at chapter meetings, unless there is a problem getting a quorum-LOL. I just think it was a crude way to say we missed you--come back.

[Senusret I]

Originally Posted by ladygreek

Shid, I need to konw hiow that was said, because I do it all of the time (I don't use ass, though.) Is it possible you were being a little too sensitive. I mean the bigger thing is they wanted you to come back. Since I know your situation, I may be naive, but that seemed like a good thing to me.

I guess I don't believe that folx are NEEDED at chapter meetings, unless there is a problem getting a quorum-LOL. I just think it was a crude way to say we missed you--come back.

Oh don't get me wrong -- I know the Brother said it out of love! Plus he's actually elderly, and you know how the filter dissapears after a certain age. Mine was last year, LOL jk.

And I definitely believe that someone asking you back crudely is better than no one asking you back at all.

I guess what I'd like to see is more training on how to be nice to people, lol....sounds silly, but when you're trying to run chapter programs and wonder why the same 15 out of a hundred always show up, there's got to be some systemic changes that (in my opinion) have a lot to do with how people interact with each other, and perhaps more specifically, how black men interact with each other.

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

but when you're trying to run chapter programs and wonder why the same 15 out of a hundred always show up

This happens with us, too. But have a meeting to elect officers or new members and folx come out of the woodwork.

But you are right about we interact with each other.

[Dynasty]

whats interesting about things are that alot of brothers complain about incative brothers...but they will know like 10 a never do anything to try and help them come back but then at the same time complain about the excessive amount of work that has to be done and how they are the only ones who care....

I wonder what would happen it there was a hiatus on taking new initiates and chapters were required to up there memebership through reclamation...........it would be interesting to see the efforts that would put forth

[7thSonofOsiris]

Bruhs,

As you know, over the course of marked time, things do tend to change and I am speaking of course about the direction of our organization's administrative focuses and our organization's Membership Reclamation focuses. When Past President Garvin partook in the creation of the EdF, things were so different then. Not only was the climate in the country different in regards to everything from Civil Rights, to, black folks' level of literacy v.s. illiteracy, but you must include in that, the climate of what made Men..Men, back then was different.
When I came into the Hood, you were expected to work your ass off, and to hold high the torch of our beloved Fraternity. You were expected to graduate and then to attach yourself to an alumni/graduate chapter and to not do so, meant a slight mark against your undergraduate chapter, and ultimately, it was a mark against the Bruhs who made you, and what was even more amazing was, that if you did something that made your college chapter look like shit, it reflected upon everyone who was ever made at that chapter. The issue of brothers being brothers to one another, was an issue of internal being specific unto each Bruh. Just because one pledged didn't guarantee that he'd be a good Bruh nor a good worker, though, as a chapter, you did your damnedest to try to initiate and bring in good Men. But what a guy's pledging did mean was that he succeeded at an aspired goal to become a member. The true work and worth of that Bruh depended fully upon his character and his holistic understanding of whom he was. Men back then lived by a different credo. Men back then, especially us Black Men, tended to bond together for the sake of true brotherhood and purpose, regardless of fraternal affiliation. Basically, Men tried to ensure that they were Men.
We now, on a contemporary stage of existence, are allowed in some ways, to not operate if you will, in the fullness of the scope that allows one to be just what we were indeed born to be...Men. With so many things out there that firstly, tries to de-masculate African American Men, and then secondly, tries to disrupt our family structure, and thirdly, our understanding of how to propagate the upliftment and overall progression of our race, what tends to be shuffled about and lost is the one thing that is required by all brothers to be brothers, and that is, that thing that makes us Men.
Our culture is wrought filled with images that tend to deny us our place as sons who are decendants of Kings. Our culture is wrought with images that directs our attention, and our missions toward the one thing that will quietly and nefariously cause us to find our moment of true extinction, money and and the need to chase it. Don't get me wrong, economic power, money management and education coupled with masterful handling and good stewardship are necessary, but if our males are more focused on chasing that dollar, our families will continue to suffer, our marriages will continue to suffer and our race as a whole, will continue to suffer. We are truthfully, in some ways, following in the footsteps of Native Americans in regards to our fight against poverty, whether it is economic poverty, educational poverty or spiritual poverty. And truly in my opinion, these things that plague our race can't be corrected by just our women alone, but rather, this fight should be spearheaded by us Men.
Once we have found the ways that will allow us to get back to us being Men, then we will have started the process to understanding what is occuring within the life of not just our Fraternity, but the other BGLFraternities, because as a whole, we are all not operating within the prescribed desires of our most honorable Founders, and to me, if Alpha Phi Alpha is struggling with these issues, then the others will only follow suit, because we lead the way.

7th

[PhrozenGenius]

I am a young brother who has seen more of the Esprite than the Fraternite, so I can completely relate to Sensuret's ideas. As a recent graduate I toyed with the idea of not becoming active because of the pain I endured as an undergraduate member. (Stuff I don't really want to delve into publicly)

However, I chose to stay active because of the bond I was shown with other brothers, chapters, and arms of Alpha. I am often despised because I take a critical stance when it comes to the things Alpha is doing and the Fraternite aspect is one of them.

It's Alpha Phi Alpha FRATERNITY Incorporated. Not Alpha Phi Alpha INCORPORATED Fraternity....

Can we put the BROTHERHOOD FIRST please?

[7thSonofOsiris]

Phrozen,

Young Bruh, trust me when I say this, and I say it with total fervor. Brotherhood exist in that plane betwixt the guttural and the temporal, and it is there that you will and must find brotherhood. If you should happen to meet your brother and you challenge him in the hopes of gaining a perspective of his training and readiness, you should automatically yearn to see him pass the test, but in the instance that he fails to prove himself readied rightly, you must school him.
I say that to say this, in you younger Bruhs, we Bruhs who were made before your genesis in our beloved, find a cause to remember and further, a cause to teach, train and mentor. In us older Bruhs, we Bruhs who were made before your genesis in our beloved, you must find a cause to seek to be taught, seek to be trained and seek to be mentored. After gaining this shield and calling it your own, you must always remain a student to her. Alpha seeks no man, so once she's yours, don't find yourself complaining about her, but rather, you should work to enhance her, upgrade her, and always, always Young Bruh, make sure that you greatly represent her. You never know, your example of brotherhood, might impact those that need to see an example of brotherhood, again, teaching the new what its all about, and reminding the old about what the original draw was, to begin with.
Right after we crossed those perilous sands back in 1991, an Old Head from my college chapter who had crossed in 1980, came down to school us Neos in what's referred to as, "hot seat training". We endured nearly an hour's worth of schooling and there were many lessons learned in that moment, but one of the teachings that was imparted on us that day still rings and resounds aloud in my head. This Old Head said:

"When it comes to being a Great Bruh remember this.
Greatness is in being, never in becoming"

"06!"
7th

[BlaccSupermann]

First, let me say I did introduce myself on the new member thread. I pledged in 1986. I was active in 1987 and the new time I was active was maybe 2000. I go between being active and inactive for various reasons. I think all of the African American organizations including the NAACP and black greek organizations are dealing with how to attract members, but more importantly, how to keep members. Most of these organizations did not change with the times. There are still battles to fight, still afronts to our very being, but many of these organizations have not been appealing to the African American masses since the Civil Rights Movement. Brothers are not active for a variety of reasons. Some will never be active again. Some just need to right re-introduction. I am currently active with Beta Psi Lambda in Los Angeles and it is an adventure. I do agree that we should try reclamation over new membership, but we need to advance our thinking past the "old school." For example, what would you say to your favorite grammar school teacher who is now teaching your son with the exact same lessons, books, materials, etc. that she taught you with?

[YoungPHA]

I have read all of these post and I had to reply because I think about this subject constantly. To add to the well written responses, I will lay out my experience. I have been an undergrad member of the fraternity for 2 and 1/2 years and used to wonder why any member of Alpha would decide to lay down their Alpha shield and not look back. However, the path of Alpha I decided to follow has been filled with both smooth surfaces and rocks placed every which way! I have witnessed some of the most unbrotherly acts within the brotherhood (A lot of that is due to selection, but that is another topic)! I have thick skin so that has not deterred me. I make it a habit to count the good; which there have many good times in my chapter. What was even more disappointing was that we rarely have our alumni come back to support our chapter. In fact, we only have seen brothers on campus from 1997 onward and rarely those before 2001 (My chapter was founded in 1973). That is why I have taken it upon myself to make plans for a chapter reunion for men once acquainted to reunite and shake hands! A lot of the younger brothers need to see how the spirit of the older brotherhood was and the older brothers will in turn know that they're wanted and maybe make a commitment to at least support their home chapter. Brothers BlaccSupermann, Senusret I, and 7thSonofOsiris I thank you for your insightful words and ask your permission to use some of your ideas/words within my chapter and with other Alphas I come across. Also, Bro. Dynasty, thanks for the subject.
The future of Alpha rest on our shoulders!
Fraternally,
Bro. Blount

[Wolfman]

This is a problem that affects all BGLOs. It is also a multi-faceted one. First, as studies have shown younger people tend to be more narcissicistic today. Their frame of reference is the self. Thus, when push comes to shove, the basic criteria which motivates one to act has to do with how it'll effect me;what am I going to get out of it, etc. Even if the qualms are legitimate, this mindset is corrosive to any organization--in fact it's inimical to the functioining of an organization which requires a high level of group cohesion, like a fraternity. There are responsibilities of brotherhood, not just benefits! You have to be brotherly, even to those who aren't brotherly all the time. One has to be committed to the ideals of your fraternity, above and beyond what you may see exhibited around you. There are always brothers "crying in the wilderness," who are doing the right thing and are struggling to make things better for the fraternity.These are our inspirations. This commitment has to be the bedrock before one can legitimately claim the mantle of reformer and iconoclastic renewer of the the "Tradition" as the new generation of leaders. I've been a member of a venerable grad chapter with old line leadership. They tend to be somewhat sceptical of the "new kids on the block." Sometimes it may be the case of short-sighted prejudice but I've come to view it in other terms also: before they hand you the "keys to the kingdom" they want to know if you are truly and utterly committed to the organization come hell or high water, through thick and thin, through good times and bad times, through disagreements and personality conflicts. In other words, are you mature enough to handle the responsibility over the long haul. Will you stick in there when brothers won't fulfill their obligations,remain recalcitrant, act "ig'nant" and abusive and don't respect the bonds of brotherhood? They've often proved it with their "blood, sweat and tears" over the decades in untiring service and devotion to the cause.

Just some food for thought. These are reflections on things I've learned,through the grace and mercy of God, from great men in the fraternity for men--Omega Psi Phi!