Responsibility of the Chapters

[zhbeta158]

This is just something that's been on my mind for some time.

Here at SJ we have been having a lot of apathy over the past two and half to three years (ever since we moved into our mansion). We've basically had to reinvent the wheel again. What has been clear to me is whose my brother and who isn't. What i've noticed is that chapters function better and infinitely stronger when everyone is brothers, even if it means only being a handful of guys. While a chapter can do less with less members, in the long run it is with the utmost importance that chapters operate with only "brothers," no matter their size. A brother cant always contribute at any given time but a brother is one who has the utmost care for the wellbeing of the chapter and her members.
Chapters have a responsibility to not only initiate but grant alumni-status to only members who are "brothers," for all the chapters trust each other that only "Betas" will be let out into the real world. Twenty years down the line, if I am to meet a Beta and be in need of his assistance, I should know I could count on him, alternatively, if this person did not deserve his alumni status basically due to the fact that he wasn't a "brother" then I would not only be let down by him, but by his chapter by letting him hold the title as brother.
I think it is very much important for brothers to realize that the Beta process doesn't end once one is initiated.
For the well-being of my beta brothers for now, for the future, locally as well as the world at large: it is my responsibility that my chapter only allows true brothers to bear the name, 'Beta Theta Pi;' It is my responsibility that I make sure non-betas leave, even if it means that my chapter and I go through daunting hardship.
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[ECUJacob]

I agree with you. This is a realization that takes many brothers years to experience. Typically, any chapter going through troubled times sees an increase in apathy and the number of "fair weather brothers".

I commend you for voicing this stance and I hope your chapter has the conviction to follow through with it. I will be the first to admit that sometimes it is hard to suggest that a brother progess on in status before his due time.

[Coramoor]

I think that you have to be careful about who you call an 'unworthy' brother. I read several things in what you said.

1. It always has been and always will be a situation in which 10% of the people do 90% of the work. School, fraternity, the military, everything.

2. If you truly get to know your brothers, you will also find out what they enjoy doing and what they are good at. In my chapter we had guys that were absolutely awesome at recruitment as far as talking up the chapter and showing rushees a good time. Trusting them to plan a recruitment function would have been a catastrophe.

3. I also think that you are totally ignoring one of the lessons in our three principles. I won't go into detail, but you guys that read the ritual book every night should be able to figure it out.

However, there is a time that a brother must be told to step up or get out. It is a hard decision and needs to be back up with facts and events-not just a few guys disliking the man in question b/c he doesn't live, breath, and sleep Beta like the rest of us. We never truly know what is going on in someone's life, so just beware.

[EE-BO]

zhbeta158- well said. I think you have hit on the key frustration many feel at times. I know I did- as the guy who was Philanthropy chair basically every semester I was an active member and had a hard time getting people motivated to participate.

I note you guys have a new house from your post and I am glad you said that because it has been my observation that a big new house is not an automatic magic pill that suddenly makes a chapter all it can be. That is certainly the perception, but a new house alone does not motivate people (if anything it can be a bit of a de-motivator since guys who do not have a big new house will tend to work hard to make it happen.)

In terms of motivation in general, Coramoor has wise words I think. Fraternities are like any organization- and when you go out in the work force you will find that a majority of people just get by while a very few really put in the hours. This is not a measure of a person's devotion- but merely of Beta's time priority in their life, and we all have different lives going on. Think of it like moving out of state after college. Just because you only see your immediate family twice a year if you live far away does not change your love for them- there are just practical aspects of life that mean you see each other face to face less often.

There is a difference between people who don't do much beyond pay dues and those who actively work against the best interests of the chapter. It is my experience the former are the majority- and you need them because they do pay dues and come to social events and form the basis of a chapter of a social fraternity. Beyond needing them, they are brothers and they do care for the most part. They just might not have the time or interest to go the extra mile of the officers or other leaders. Those who are a true detriment to a chapter are a rarity however.

I don't have any solution to that frustrating problem you are talking about- I sure was not able to get my entire chapter to come to philanthropy events even when I could get sororities to partner with us. My chapter today is doing a better job of that- so maybe part of the problem was me and my approach back in my time as an active.

But the events did happen, and some guys went and we did good work. So it was not a total loss.

I started my career at one of the largest Arthur Andersen offices in the world. I was one of the guys who worked 100 hour weeks with some frequency and was put on all the big jobs traveling around the country. I resented friends of mine who worked 40 hours a week auditing benefit plans and other stuff- getting the same salary as I did. Same as what you speak of being in a fraternity- everyone paying the same money, but some doing far more work than others to make it all happen.

But over time I got a far greater benefit. One year out of school I was meeting face to face with CEOs and CFOs and company leaders- including a few people you may have seen on MSNBC a few times. I also developed a real taste and expertise for a fast paced life operating at a very high level.

Being a Beta says something good about you for the rest of your life. Having worked at Arthur Andersen or any of the other major public accounting firms says something good about you for the rest of your life.

However, the degree to which you achieve personally in such an organization has a whole other level of benefits and personal fulfillment that- at least for me- are only something you realize at some future point when you look back and see how far you have come compared to your peers.

I came back to Beta over a year ago as an advisor and I have had a great time. In college I thought only dorks and people with nothing to do would spend time as adults working with the fraternity.

I was so wrong about that, and I am glad of it- because right now my role in Beta means more to me than anything I did as an active.

Anyway, I'll stop now before I fill a whole page. I have watched your posts in general and I hope your enthusiasm will continue and that you will maybe come back as an alumnus to do good things. Beta, like any other grouping of people in any setting, will have many devoted members but few key leaders. And those leaders can find a whole new level of the Beta experience- though it does not make them any better or more worthy than any other Beta.

[a.e.B.O.T.]

ZHBeta, I agree with you as I have often felt that same struggle. I also agree with coramoor and ee-bo that it is a difficult situation. In my more niave beta days, I even called those people out saying that I don't consider them brothers. I realize now that that was wrong.

There is a reason why those "undeserving" brothers were invited to join your chapter, and a reason why they chose to join. I hope they were for the right reasons. As a member of the chapter, your job is not to immediately cut the fat, but push and aide your "brothers" towards the Beta pride that is necessary to be a true brother. Instead of pushing them away, you need to get them to remember why they joined Beta and really discover what they love about the fraternity. Often times they lose their "enthusiasm" because the chapter is not going in the direction they want, or they feel they cannot participate in the way they wish. Talk to those guys. Ask them what missing. Asking them why they arn't "brothers" and fix it! If you do not try, then you are not committing to the same value that coramoor eluded to that you took an oath to uphold. Its hard, and it difficult, but that's how you know its the right choice. Cutting them out may be necessary down the road, but that is the easy way out.