Tau Delt Today

Saying Good-bye to your Graduating Seniors and Hello to New Alumni!

2011-05-02T17:58:00.005-04:00

As Tau Delta Phi enters its second century, we can not forget that each year we add to our alumni community - the source of many of our traditions and a sense of brotherhood that never ends. In my experience, this time of the year is usually when brothers are trying to wrap up loose ends, get in assignments that were due long ago and trying to get ready for the finals fast approaching. But we sometimes forget that graduation will bring a new chapter in the lives of our brothers.

If your chapter has an associated alumni chapter, remind him to register and get involved during the summer. If your chapter does not, talk to your graduating seniors about working with the Executive Council to create one. With more and more colonies in the works, we will need more active alumni within our region (and afar) to get connected and support our fraternity's expansion efforts.

We can never forget that our fraternity has survived because our most dedicated fraters have put in the time to lead and support the necessary work at the national, regional and local level to keep us alive for the last 100 years. Imagine how our fraternity will look in the next 10 to 20 years if our recent alumni gave just 2 hours a month to support our chapter and colony efforts! From hosting events for the next graduating class to raising money for scholarships and chapter housing efforts, our alumni are critical for our continued growth and success.

I want to encourage all of you with brothers graduating to take a minute to thank him for his service to the undergraduate chapter. Wish him well as he continues on his journey through life. Share with him a moment or memory that you will tell your new pledges when he is gone.

And above all, continue to remind him of his importance to your chapter and all of our chapters. Good luck with finals, enjoy your graduations and best wishes for the future!

TDF.

Highlighting Fraternity on your Resume

2011-04-18T18:19:00.002-04:00

I have worked with many graduating seniors or rising juniors that try to hawk their fraternity experience on their resumes and only list 'Name of the Fraternity, Initiated 20XX.' If I hiring people and were to see this on your resume, I would wonder what you learned about leadership - and leaving me wondering isn't a good way to get a job from me.

We know that many business leaders have benefited from fraternity and sorority experience. But not all of them know your chapter lingo - does anyone else ever really use the word Quaestor anymore?

When I review the resumes for fraternity men, especially for the Tau Delta Phi men I know, I encourage them to expand on their leadership experience and connect it with the job or internship they are looking to get. For instance, if you want to get a job where you are doing sales, you can highlight your recruitment/rush chair experience - you recruited X number of men through values-based programming, created an online tracking system for recruitment interactions and developed a matrix for offering fraternity membership.

You can also highlight the same chair experience if you wanted a job where you could manage other staff - you delegated tasks among X number of active brothers, held one-on-one trainings with new members to teach them skills for recruitment, and evaluated the overall team based on bid-matching and unaccepted bids. As you can see, you don't need to put the same bullets for the same position - change up the bullets so they reflect the type of job you want

Or if you want a job that handles money you want to list ANY position where you handled money, such as Steward or Philanthropy chair:

Fundraising Chair Fall 20XX

· Worked with chapter membership of 22 men to raise chapter funds for philanthropy and chapter resources

· Raised over $XXXX in monies in one semester, donated to 3 national philanthropies

· Tracked expenses and income with chapter treasurer

or

President January 20XX – Present
Vice President January 20XX – December 20XX

* Managed a group of 25 chapter members, including directing weekly chapter, executive meetings

* Overall responsibility for $15,000 in continual renovations to chapter house

* Responsible for annual $20,000 chapter budget; supervised chapter leaders on responsible budget management

Noting money on your resume is a great way to demonstrate trust - because anyone who trusts you with money is likely to trust you with something else valuable.

Also, when you list your chapter leadership positions, it's ok to use a term that is more clear in regular terms such as President (instead of Consul), New Member Educator (instead of Magister), or Treasurer (intead of Quaestor). This way hiring managers know what you are trying to share without guessing.

Good luck to all the graduating seniors that will be looking for jobs (if you haven't found one yet) and to all the fraters who are being elected into new fraternity positions. We know you will learn many things that will help you with your professional life after graduation!

Creating a Tau Delt Values-Based Program

2011-03-24T16:52:00.007-04:00

April is a popular month for college students to do on-campus programming - the weather is warmer, you can see the end in sight for your classes, and the new member process is winding down enough for all members (new and old) to put focus into campus involvement. Have you considered this in your programming calendar: do a campus program about one of our fraternity values? I know, I know - "it's one more thing to do and programming calendars are already full and brothers are really busy with (_____________ fill in the blank)."

Think about it - this is when the freshmen and sophomore students are finally picking their heads up out of their books and looking around, thinking to themselves "what is next year going to be like?" Their attention is just begging to be sought out - why not do it with a program that highlights the best of our fraternity?

1. "Can-struction" Project: Building character in Tau Delt men is a cornerstone of our fraternity, and we strive to identify men of character during our recruitment efforts. One way to help men build character is to provide service for others. An easy effort to coordinate quickly is to collect cans and dried goods from students, faculty and staff (and your own family's pantries) and do a can-stacking or building program. Give a prize to the group that brings in the most food, one to the group that builds the tallest structure, one to the best-looking structure, etc. Then you and the men you want to recruit next fall can deliver the food (and any money collected) to your local Feeding America food pantry. Stick around to help in in the pantry, feel good about your work and know that you are helping others in need. Call it a gym-day if you have to - your arms and shoulders will get a workout!

2. Tutor Nights before Finals: Highlight the best academics you have in your chapter or colony by hosting a tutor night for freshman-level exams. Reserve a room in one (or more) of the freshmen residence halls on your campus, co-sponsor the event with an RA, and bring in healthy 'brain foods' with lots of B vitamins. If you need to, bring in tutors from your learning center for classes your brothers don't (or can't ) give the best tutoring advice. And think about it- you can recruit the RA, the tutors and the Freshman all in event while focusing on academics. This might be a new way to recruit - using studying - but it shows that our fraternity cares about the grades of its members.

3. Alumni Resume Review/Interview Skill Night: Our fraternity alumni are committed to life-long brotherhood - and one way they can demonstrate that with your campus population is to help them understand what it takes to get a job! Invite alumni - from your chapter or elsewhere - to help out with resume reviews or with internship and first-job interviews. This shows any potential members that our alumni care about the chapter, that we have professionals working in many different areas of the business world, and that brotherhood doesn't end when college is over. Plus it allows your alumni members a chance to see your best work in action - recruiting men who have goals and dreams of their own. It's a win-win-win situation.

These are just three ideas that can be arranged within the next 6 weeks, but if you need more time make them your Fall recruitment programs! Remember that recruitment is a year-round process and you need to finish the year with Tau Delt on the minds of the men you want to invite to be a member in the Fall. Good luck with the rest of the semester!

What New Members Need

2011-03-03T16:28:00.003-05:00

As your chapters and colonies engage in your new member education I would like to reinforce the 'education' part. In my experience working with Tau Delt chapters, and other chapters at the college where I work, many times issues with chapter operations and programming usually center around a lack of understanding of when to best teach the skills it takes to be effective chapter leaders. Do you wait until they are finished and initiated? Or when they hold a chapter leadership position? Or only when called up in a committee?

I suggest adding this sort of education during the new member education program. That way it connects the ideas of developing leadership with being a strong brother, and that the chapter and colony benefits from the leadership development in tangible ways.

1. Encourage community service and philanthropy: One easy program to plan is a passive program around our national philanthropy, Feeding America. We require our brothers to get involved locally to support their local Feeding America food banks, but do all of them understand issues surrounding poverty and hunger? Encourage new members to research poverty and hunger statistics in your city or county and make posters to advertise why donations to the food banks make a real difference, making the donations personal to the campus and the community. This also allows them to learn how to advertise on-campus in ways that attract positive attention, and why our fraternity consider this type of service relevant and important. Plus the posters can be used at future programs hosted by the chapter regarding philanthropy and community service.

2. Reflect on skills it takes to be a chapter leader: Hopefully during your selection of your new member class, you thought about the skills each man was bringing to the chapter - but do the men know and understand what you saw him in and what else he can and should learn to be a better leader? Ask the men to write a short essay on his strengths he could bring to the chapter and what skill he wants to learn before taking on chapter leadership roles. Then connect the men with an on-campus leadership workshop so they go and learn that skill! This also brings up a great conversation between the new men and their Big Brothers, so that their education is now directed toward their personal development.

3. Develop recruitment strategies: Some of the best men to recruit your next class are the current men - they are typically closer in age and taking classes with the men you want to meet. So ask the current class to plan an on-campus event. It doesn't have to be a recruitment event, but all events sponsored by the chapter are unintentionally recruitment events since they showcase the best the chapter has to offer. Good events could be a game-room pool tournament, flag football pick-up game on the campus green, a video game release party in a dorm - it doesn't need to be so large it becomes impossible. But we all know that successful programs are always in the details - so teach them now to look at the details of their first program based on your campus policies. There are multiple rewards for this - you get an on-campus event, an alcohol-free program, a leadership development experience, a recruitment event for the next class, and you've taught your newest members how to recruit!

Ultimately, your newest members need to have these skills reinforced in positive and educational ways. Being an effective chapter leader isn't accidental - it takes time, effort and energy. So why not put the time, effort and energy into the start of the process before they finish instead of putting in extra time, effort and energy after they are done? Figure out what could or would work most effectively and your new members (and the chapter) will be most appreciative!

Reflections on the Pyramid Leadership Institute: The Student Perspective

2011-02-01T15:35:00.000-05:00

Below is an article written by Anthony Krake, TE F10 for the NJIT student newspaper, The Vector.

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On Saturday January 22, Tau Delta Phi hosted its 2nd Annual national leadership conference, the Pyramid Leadership Institute in the New Jersey Institute of Technology Campus Center. Around 80 Tau Delts from our active chapters and colonies - plus executive council members from around the country - attended the event, which discussed everything from the preservation of fraternal rituals all the way to the future of Tau Delta Phi.

This eight-hour event consisted of multiple breakout sessions where alumni, new members, and general members discussed different topics involving the fraternity as a whole and had an opportunity to express their ideas and opinions to their national officers about the roads they would like to take in the future. Each group also had individual discussions about their personal role in bettering the fraternity for the new era of Greek Life.

To help understand where fraternities will be heading, Mr. Greg Hauser, a renowned New York attorney who specializes in fraternity affairs, presented his speech, “The Future of Greek Life.” His speech explained where fraternities have been, where they are going, and the actions that must be taken to help them survive and prosper.

The leadership institute was a great success in helping Tau Delta Phi continue its 64-year standing at NJIT, as well as help future development and expansion of the fraternity. Leadership is one of the most important qualities to have, and Tau Delta Phi uses events like these to ensure their fraternity builds leaders within every member.

******

If you have positive experiences from the Pyramid Leadership Institute that you want to share, do so now! We want to hear from all of you about how you are using the Institute to make your chapter and colony better.

Five things I learned at the Pyramid Leadership Institute

2011-01-24T17:14:00.004-05:00

This past weekend, we had a significant number of our undergraduate men and recent alumni show up for our second Pyramid Leadership Institute. As a student affairs educator and advisor, I have planned, presented or facilitated sessions at my fair share of leadership experiences and I can say, hands down, that this was one of the best programs I have been part of. Here are five reasons why we should all be proud of our work together this past weekend:

1. We doubled our attendance. A year and a half ago, at the inaugural Pyramid Leadership Institute, we had a number of men show up from our colonies but not nearly as many from any one group as we did this past year. I know that making events 'mandatory' isn't the best way to motivate men to attend - and it almost makes it seem that leadership development is a punishment for 'having to' go to an event. This year, however, we had 80 men participate with entire neophyte classes and more than the required leadership asked to attend. Hopefully we have begun to create a culture of new fraternity men that value leadership as part of their fraternal experience. Or more simply - it's not so bad going to this kind of event and you're going to bring more brothers next time!

2. We shared our challenges. All chapters and colonies have issues making things work the way they are supposed to. But sometimes we have to let go of our ego and admit to our brothers near AND far that we need help. From the conversations I overheard and the comments shared in the tracks I was in, some brothers shared challenges include motivating brothers to do, well, anything, better ways to collect dues and fund-raise money, and how to create new tradition programs and the use of our values to recruit. These are not unique issues by any means, and some chapters deal with them better than others. But brainstorming with a group of men sharing the same issue can sometimes lead to solutions no one could imagine. Which is a good lead-in to the next point of pride....

3. We shared our successes. It was great talking to our leaders about how they deal with the challenges of running their chapters and colonies and who were so gracious to share what is working well. Taking pride in what your chapter and colony is doing and wanting it to be just yours is a natural reaction - but we had a moment where our men were willing to share what they do best...and then invite others to do the same thing on their campuses. When we share in our successes, we are all going to succeed. Plus the benefit of having our current number of chapters and colonies is that our leaders can share their successes in person more often. Don't stop sharing and don't wait for the next Institute!

4. Our guest speaker added prestige. Greg Hauser from Delta Chi Fraternity, past national president of his fraternity and the NIC, spoke about the history of Greek Life and its future on our college campuses. His impression of the men who attended was very complimentary and most assuredly his positive perception of our fraternity and its development will be shared among our national colleagues. Setting the tone as he did has helped elevate our Institute from simply a chance for brothers to network and talk to a true student leadership and educational experience that compares nationally with our fraternity peers. This really is a recruitment tool, even if you didn't know it.

5. We met your (and our) needs. I have talked to many of our attendees about their reactions to the program and nearly all of their reactions were positive. We were able to have men leave NJIT knowing what could work better within their chapters, reinforcing for some of our chapters that their work is aligned with the Fraternity goals, encouraging our new and old members to learn from each other as well as our older alumni. We know that some needs still need to be met (such as helping undergrads gain more professional skills, learning to network with alumni, etc) but the more critical needs were met and set us up to meet more needs with other successful programs in the future. We should have more conversations about our Obligations and starting with having tracks for each Obligation was a good start.

Again, this was one of the best leadership programs I have been privileged to be part of and while we can improve aspects of the program to better meet your needs, I am confident that this program could stand next to any other fraternity or student development program as a point of pride. If you attended the program, talk it up with potential members and those brothers who couldn't or wouldn't attend. Only by creating the expectation that TauDelt men attend leadership programming as part of the fraternity experience will we be be able to increase attendance at all of our programs - and this helps all of us.

We should all be proud of our work this past weekend and begin to brainstorm how to make it better next year! It's great to be a TauDelt!

Pyramid Leadership Institute: A Time For TauDelt To Shine

2011-01-08T22:20:00.006-05:00

I love quotes. Anyone who knows anything about me, knows that I am a "quotoholic." There are lots of reasons why I love quotations. They show us a glimpse into so many things....history, sociology, psychology, philosophy, etc. The famous ones, the ones that last, are the ones that are the most potent formulas and something that erupts out of a certain time period but is also timeless and valuable to us today. Some of my favorite quotes to follow are quotes by famous Tau Delta Phi alumni...I especially enjoy looking for coded messages revealing some of our fraternity's values locked within the quotations! One of my favorite overall quotes is a quote I often use by Brother Hubert Humphrey, Vice President of the United States: "It is not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left." That was the introductory quote I used for at least one speech as Grand Consul!

This January 22nd in Newark, NJ at the NJIT Campus Center, Tau Delta Phi will host the second most important event to the National Convention: The Second Annual Pyramid Leadership Institute, and gives us a chance to network, to socialize, and most importantly to better ourselves. The Leadership Institute is a credit to Past Grand Consul Shaun Armhold and to Past Grand Vice Consul Pete Sasso who arranged the first event last year. In one way, it is even better then the convention...IT'S FREE to all undergraduates and alumni who want to attend, and breakfast AND lunch will both be served! Just sign up at the link! There will be four tracks this year, they are: ALUMNI (for alumni members and graduating seniors), LEADERSHIP (for the chapter executive board members), GENERAL MEMBER (for those chapter members who aren't leaders on the executive board), and NEOPHYTE (for those guys who are newly initiated into the fraternity). The kick-off speaker for the event is Greg Hauser, Esq, a brother and Past National President of Delta Chi Fraternity and Past President of the North-American Interfraternity Conference. He will be speaking on "The Future of Greek Life."

The first quote that comes to mind when I think of the importance of this Institute to undergraduates and alumni alike is a quote by our famous Frater David Sarnoff, "Success, in a generally accepted sense of the term, means the opportunity to experience and to realize to the maximum the forces that are within us." David Sarnoff has historically been described, not only as self-made, but also as a ruthless, "emperor-like" captain of industry. Yet, notice in his definition the use of the word "us," denoting his feeling of plurality. Not his success, but our success. Success is an US factor, and the Pyramid Leadership Institute is designed to help brothers succeed as a group, to share ideas, and to work out common problems and use common strategies to make our fraternity more successful.

When I think of the positive ways that our fraternity has affected so many lives, and when I think of the ways that we are DIFFERENT from other fraternities, it really brings a smile to my face! I was on a Tau Delta Phi alumni website the other day created by the brothers at the University of Arizona (Tau Delta Chapter), and some of the brothers gave video-recorded speeches at this reunion. They talked a lot about the context of being in college, in Arizona, in the 40's, 50's, and 60's. Arizona was apparently a polarized state, and some of them commented at how forward thinking they were as undergrads! Tau Delta Phi was THE DIVERSE fraternity of that generation at the University of Arizona...allowing entrance to men of EVERY race and creed. It reminded me of my own fraternity undergraduate experience...And, what a set of social misfits we were....guys from every different background calling each other brother. I know that's not just my experience...I was Grand Consul when Delta Nu Chapter was founded, and saw their mutual acceptance of each other's differences and how that made them stronger. I also saw that acceptance of diversity and warmth of brotherhood expressed at times by the brothers of Delta Xi, Tau Epsilon, and Tau Iota, and I saw that same type of cross-cultural dedication develop again this past semester at Montclair State University Colony! If Tau Delta Phi has a cookie-cutter type (similar to some other organizations) than our type is most definitely "eclectic"...just a group of men dedicated to our values of brotherhood. What better chance then this year's Pyramid Leadership Institute to celebrate, learn about, and improve that brotherhood by coming out and learning how to make your chapter better as either an alumnus or undergraduate. Frater Floyd Little put our example of brotherhood best in describing himself: "I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon…if I can."

Yep, I like the rhythm of that too...but not as much as this quote by Frater Sammy Davis, Jr. which definitely identifies the ideals of Tau Delta Phi, "Alcohol gives you infinite patience for stupidity." Oops, not that quote by Sammy, but rather this one, "You always have two choices: your commitment versus your fear." And, isn't that really the meaning of our fraternity? Do you choose to stay and face the mysterious, or do you run away? Do you choose to attend the Pyramid Leadership Institute which could really help out your chapter, or do you choose to sleep in Saturday the 22nd? In the words of Frater Eddie Cantor, come on out to the Pyramid Leadership Institute, "Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why."

Kicking Off a New Year with Transitioning

2011-01-05T13:55:00.008-05:00

Welcome to the 2011! I know many of you are still enjoying your winter break and haven't begun to think about your life back on campus just yet. But I wanted to prepare you with some things to think about for when you do start again - as a student and as a leader in your chapter/colony.

Many of the chapters elected new consuls and executive boards for the year - congrats to our newest chapter and colony leaders! What is your plan for transitioning into your new positions? What materials have been passed on - with a context to understand them - so you can use them to avoid mistakes and make good decisions? What are the goals you have for the year - and how do you plan to measure them?

That's a lot of questions, I know. But these are just the tip of the iceberg. Any leader will tell you that there are so many good intentions when starting in a new leadership role, but so few resources. So find some resources!

Do you have a transition plan? We sometimes assume that people elected into positions have natural abilities to know their jobs the first day. But my experience has shown that people need a little more coaching than that. Pick a day when your new executive board can meet - hopefully within the first couple of weeks of the new semester if not sooner - so you can talk about strengths, challenges and goals within the board. If you can invite previous exec board members, the better. If not, at least get their comments in an email about what challenges they faced and what goals were not met as a board.
Do you have a binder? I've seen the same binder passed from exec to exec, in some chapters, without any editing or time-line, so that each time the new person gets the binder it just keeps on growing. A new binder is purchased but nothing is ever thrown out. Each exec should take the time to put together a binder that is actually useful! It can be divided in any number of ways: responsibilities, monthly, projects, etc. If you find something that looks like trash, throw it out. Or put it in a box to be archived in case you fear you might need it later. But if you don't within the year, toss it. Whatever you do, make sure you create a time line for your binder, so whoever looks at it next knows what to look for, and when.
Have you set goals? Wanting to be a 'good chapter' and recruit 'solid guys' are what we all want - but how are you going to do it? Who is going to be responsible for each part? How will you track progress? Use the SMART Goals model and make sure that all of your executive board members have an action plan - to help him organize his work and help you track his progress (or lack thereof). Plus the goals help you decide as a group how to set up your finances - are you saving money now in case you need it later? What are your goals for paying off back debt?

Even if you have elections for new officers later in the semester, you can revisit your goals and finances now for the next semester. And start planning your transition for later in the semester.

If you do any one of the ideas above, you will have effectively changed the culture of your chapter or colony. Add in one new step a year and newly elected officers years from now won't remember a time when they weren't doing transitions. As always, if you have questions about leadership, let me know.

Enjoy what time off you have before the semester starts - you're going to be busy!

A Reflection on College Governance Policies and their Educational Effectiveness

2010-12-10T21:15:00.005-05:00

In 1972, The U.S. Supreme Court decided a landmark case, "Healy v. James" which was about the rights of students to freely associate on state college campuses. In that case, the court decided that a college couldn't decide to not give an organization recognition simply because of fear that the organization's principles might be in conflict with their own, and established that reasonable standards, not based on personal bias, need to be established at state colleges in the United States for the recognition of student organizations. The case still stands as a landmark case, and it has not been overruled.

This week, I had the opportunity to take part in the recognition process of a Greek Letter organization at a state college. The college's rules for recognition are very old, and the campus has a self-incorporated Student Government and Greek Council, meaning the students have total control without administrative interference, over who gets recognized and who doesn't. The group of men seeking recognition had to go through two weeks of being harangued by Greeks who didn't ask them questions pertaining to the standards by which the organization was supposed to be recognized on campus, but rather based on personal biases, judgments or opinions. At one point, the men, were even asked to line up and name their founders. Luckily for them, the Greek Council presiding officer found that question out of order. However, as I sat there, I realized that the Greek Council maintained no legitimate standard for recognition. This thought popped into my head as the men were being asked, "I know classes are in session and it's finals week, but why aren't your members all here at this meeting?" The inappropriate questions and lack of clear standards troubled me the most, that was until the next day, when I was asked to attend and present to the Student Government.

The Student Government meeting started at 3PM, and I was asked to attend the majority of the meeting. I walked in before the meeting was called to order, and was then told by the SGA President that I could come back in two hours if I wanted to. The meeting presentation didn't actually take place for another 5 hours. As I sat there, I thought about the amount of respect that campus administrators request their students have of them, and how much respect they demand from the National Offices they deal with, and wondered if the Dean of Students of this campus would appreciate it if I invited him or her to a meeting at our Fraternity's national office, told him or her it would start at 3PM, then when he or she got there at 3PM, I would tell him or her that I would see them in two hours at 5PM, but not actually bring them into our office until 8PM. Do you think that would go over well? However, hypocritically, that is the way they treat their fellow professionals and allow their students to treat their fellow professionals.

When we went to the Student Government, you would have thought that they were the US Congress. I can understand their self-inflated importance; it's good to teach students the importance of good government (key word in that being "good"). However, what I saw was a Student Government that operated in such a way that it demonstrated how much like the US Congress it really was. Every SGA "legislator" represented a "special interest group" and wasn't there to serve the good of his or her constituents, but rather the organizations in which they held membership, and used the Student Government as a way to funnel money into their private "special interests" and the chartered groups that they served as officers on. I know we should teach students that reality exists, but I didn't know we should aid them in re-creating duplicitous government? One irony I found was the way that the student legislators decided to "charter" and granted budgets to organizations. For example, a group wanting to form an "Israeli Culture club" was told to go away and join Hillel by one legislator (and then lost the vote for chartering). Meanwhile, another club, "Students for a Democratic Society" (ironically the organization that sued President Healy to get on campus at Central Connecticut State College in the above mentioned case) weren't asked any questions despite their statement to "bring civil unrest to the community at the University." Now, my political tendencies have always leaned liberally, some people say too liberally, but really? The culture club get's turned away cause a bigot doesn't understand the difference between Judaism as a religion and Israeli culture, and the other group that promises civil unrest to the campus is recognized without question? Wow, based on what standards...and that was the whole point to the mess I saw before me! The SGA at this campus was allowed, just like the Greek Council, to operate without any recognition standards. Organizations that had many supporters, but didn't even meet the size standards of the SGA were recognized. While others, who didn't have SGA legislators in their back pocket had a harder time.

Luckily for us, the group had made friends with several legislators, and the men of this colony, even though they didn't have any legislators amongst them, were able to "dance between the rain drops" at the barrage of questions having no point, including, and my favorite, "Why don't you just pledge another group?" And, the same question the men had heard yesterday, "I know that it's the middle of finals, but why aren't all your guys here?" This, coming after a great presentation that stated how we were different and what we could bring to the campus, and after we explained how the men had met the Greek Council standard and received an affirmative 26-0-2 vote of all the Greek Council members. One of our biggest oppositions in SGA was another fraternity interest group that was forming and that had cried for three months about how the other NIC fraternities on campus weren't following the NIC "Freedom of Association" statement...because they wanted to get their group recognized for the initial time by the Greek Council. Yet, now, in SGA they wanted to play the other side of the coin, and deny us our final charter for no other reason except that they could.

We won the vote in the end, so I guess I should just be thankful. However, the educator in me makes me think: what are we teaching the students? Why aren't we teaching them how to form standards? How to act professionally? And, how to define the term: "conflict of interests," as well as teaching them the difference between good and bad government and good and bad policy? Instead, the college officials were abdicating their responsibility to teach professionalism, standards, policy development, and any of the other good things that can come out of student civic involvement and instead were promoting a culture that shows, "if your corrupt and nepotistic, you can get what you want too."

And finally, I thought back thankfully to the college administrators at Ramapo College where I went to school, and how they always made us demonstrate legal justifications to the reasons behind why we did what we did in our student government and Greek life programs. It certainly made me appreciative to learn the ideal, rather then the individually corrupt that I saw this week! Again, it is our obligation to teach students the right way to do things, and to promote their professional development. Sadly, at some places, a legal standard which has been held as the law of the land for over 30 years still hasn't made it's way into some state colleges.

Fraternity Housing: A Reflection

2010-12-03T17:11:00.016-05:00

I got some great news this evening; it seems that all the financial modifications and investments have been put in place, that the leases have been signed, the security deposits paid, and that the Delta Iota Chapter will be re-opening it's fraternity house doors for the Spring Semester 2010 after having had to close them last May because of a lack of residents and the financial inability to continue without a full house. Having lived in the house myself, I am ecstatic at the news that my chapter is moving back into its house!

This whole process of trying to "save" then "sell" then "save" a fraternity house that my chapter brothers and I (both alumni and undergraduate) at Delta Iota have been going through made me think a lot about Fraternity Houses and whether or not they are really an important aspect to the concept of "Fraternity." It also really challenged the beliefs and feelings of a lot of the other brothers of our Chapter as well. It affected me so much I decided to do some research on it.

Fraternity housing first became popular about 20 years after the first social fraternity was founded in 1845 at the University of Michigan. The Fraternity House belonged to the Chi Psi Fraternity. It was a log cabin located deep in the woods outside of Ann Arbor. The reason it was so hidden was because being in a fraternity would result in expulsion back then. Fraternity houses then became a popular commodity in the Northern U.S. as Southern Students didn't have the means to afford fraternity housing. Kappa Sigma was the first fraternity to own a Southern Fraternity House at the University of the South in 1882, and in 1886 Alpha Phi Sorority opened up the first Sorority House. Greek Houses started mainly as "lodges" where people would hang out, hold meetings, and perform rituals. They did not start as residences, but developed into that over time.

Tau Delta Phi, on a national level, has a long history of trying to get each of it's chapters to either rent or own housing. Perhaps, the importance of Fraternity Housing in our Fraternity exists because our Fraternity's founders started their fraternity experience by sharing a house for the brothers of Alpha Chapter and Gamma Chapter that they had in Harlem on 137th Street? Perhaps other brothers might know more then me on this topic, but I do know that fraternity housing, if you look through our records, has always been considered CENTRAL to the TauDelt experience!

Tau Delta Phi has had some beautiful houses over the years (some examples are sprinkled through this post). However, classiness doesn't exist in mansions alone. Where would Tau Delta Phi have been over the last several decades without the Tau Epsilon House at 269 King Boulevard? As well as other houses both formal and informal such as 210 Deep Creek, 39 Memorial Park, The Stumble Inn, and many more that have made their way into our hearts!?!

Is fraternity housing necessary for a successful fraternity chapter? I would have to say, overall, that "yes it is necessary!" I think that while every chapter may not have a "house" that is owned, every chapter needs to have a residence, a headquarters if you will, where brothers can head to in order to just "be brothers" with everyone else in the chapter. From that humble start (whether it's a dorm room or an on-campus apartment), I do think that every chapter needs to try to move toward an actual house or apartment (in the case of an inner city chapter) if it can! Somewhere where the brothers can share chapter meals, play a game of horseshoes in the backyard (or hang out up in Florida if you're in Newark), and just generally enjoy themselves. Beyond that, if we look at Fraternity Housing as mentioned in our traditions, it is mentioned in our fraternity song,"This Pin," and mentioned in the Pledge Ceremony, as well as hinted at in our Basic Obligations.

What can we learn from this reflection on Delta Iota's struggles? The truth of the matter is, that despite all the heartache, trouble, and extra responsibility that a chapter and its alumni need to have if they are caring for a house that they own or manage, the reality is that Dorothy was totally right when she said, "there's no place like home," and home for both the alumni and actives of Delta Iota is 39 Memorial Park Drive, no matter how many times we need to fix the leak in the dining room ceiling or redesign the upstairs bathroom to find that leak!

I wish that same feeling of "home" to all the other brothers of all the other chapters....may you find joy in keeping, maintaining, purchasing, renting, or saving for your fraternity house! And, if you have no home, come January 15th, when ours re-opens, you are welcome there!!!!

I want to say a special thank you to Adam Drewry, PGQ, CK who single-handedly found a way to keep Delta Iota House going when it was about to be foreclosed on, and found a way to redo the finances so we could re-open our beloved home:

"Here's to Brother Adam, the best of them all!"

Millennial Students Today

2010-12-02T21:48:00.003-05:00

You know it's funny, thanks to being amongst the recently unemployed, I have had a lot more time to read. I read a few things lately that interested me, one was a blog post I read on the millennial generation :

http://info.aia.org/nwsltr_nacq.cfm?pagename=nacq_090122_kennedy

It's about the Millennial Generation, that is to say, the college students of today. I encourage you to read the post, it interestingly enough talks about generational predictors effecting architecture (perhaps some of our Tau Epsilon bros may find it interesting).

The blog post was a follow-up to a book I read, which, oddly enough I had sitting around the house, but that I hadn't read in college (even though I had it from a sociology class I had taken). It was called Generations: The History of Americas Future and it was published in 1991.

Seriously, it is interesting, even if the book is a load, to think of generations as cyclical. And, the facts that are most interesting are how the current generation is "hard to define" in where it begins and ends...as the book says itself there are always outliers (those older who are representative of a younger generation, and those younger who act like older generations), but generational studies look at norms, not outlying data (meaning, looking at what's typical, not what's unusual)....and from that, we can learn a lot about the guys who are coming into OR who are already in and leading our organization today!

For example, I am considered on the "cusp" of the millennial movement, depending on if you believe that millennial students were born starting in 1977, 1980, or 1982 (if 1980 is the cut-off year....my younger sister gets in, if 77 is the cutoff, so do I, lol) to those people born in either 1997, 2000, or 2002 respectively (a GENERATION is considered a 20 year birth period).

There are so many interesting facts about this group. First of all, the births taking place from 1980 to 2000 OUTNUMBER the births that took place during the baby boom years....you are bigger then THE BIGGEST generation in American History! And, yet, during the time when our parents were typically "growing up" the world was anti-baby as marked by advances in birth control, and even movies of the time....starting with Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, The Exorcist II, The Exorcist III, Omen, Omen II, Omen III, Carrie, Halloween, Friday the 13th, etc. Which was a sharp contrast to the period of the 1950's when the popular movies were feel good movies and where childhood was considered valuable. What does that say about this current generation?

Even beyond what was going on in society was how the Millennial Generation developed...when the Internet "came out" (and no, Al Gore didn't invent it), we were told that was the "end" of community but look at how community has been "redefined" with social networking like facebook making it's way to center stage (they even had a facebook movie, lol). It demonstrates that the events which hit the millennial generation have created more of a community. In our parents' generation, the baby boomers, we watched as the world became individualistic and revolutionary, so revolutionary that 1968 had an unprecedented number of assassinations in American history, and only a few years earlier a Presidential assassination would become the defining event of that generation (for our grandparents it was Pearl Harbor as the defining event).

Consider those revolutionary changes to the changes we have faced that have almost forced us to be more community driven: 9/11, the biggest recession in American history since the Great Depression, and the election of an African-American man to the Whitehouse...

Some have labeled this millennial generation as the generation that can and will change the world because they have been told that they can and, who knows, perhaps they will. Either way, in a fraternal sense, it is definitely something interesting to consider...if this generation is supposed to be defined as "communal" as opposed to "individualistic" then our fraternity or any fraternity would be a perfect vehicle...so how do we get ourselves in the "frame of mind" to accept and attract these men into our organization?

How has fraternity membership positively impacted your life, and how has it negatively effected you?

2010-12-01T17:37:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, I interviewed for a position at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Metropolitan Campus in Teaneck, New Jersey. I was interviewing for the Assistant Director of Student Life position which would be in charge of student programming and Greek Life. I have to say that in the interviews I have been on lately (and perhaps this is just a phenomenon in the education field, but who knows) there have been some really thought provoking questions that have actually stayed with me for a long time after the interview was over. My hat has to go off to the team of interviewers at FDU yesterday...of all the interviews I've been on (about 5 to 7 now), they had the most interesting and most thought provoking questions.

Most striking of all the questions they asked was this one question that felt like it was tailored for people who love fraternity life, in other words, people like me: "Being a part of a fraternity, what was the best experience you remember having as part of a fraternity, and what has negatively impacted you about fraternity life?" What was best about fraternity life...that's so easy to answer...the camaraderie, the brotherhood, the many different things that me and my brothers have done over the years, of course the one time that stands out the most was the time that I decided to run for Student Government President. I had already been Inter Greek Senate President, and now I was looking at being a leader in college in a wider audience. There was only one problem, I hated public speaking (some people would say that today, you could never tell, but back then, I did). My fraternity brothers helped me through the "big debate" in the student center (podiums, microphones, stages, about one hundred to one hundred and fifty people in the audience...in other words, nightmare for someone who hates public speaking).

So anyway, the TauDelts were smart, they knew that when I had taken public speaking class, I was taught to speak to the back of the room...so they took all the seats at the very back of the room so I would see them when I looked out into the audience and would be comforted by their presence. It worked, and it was a great demonstration of how fraternity brothers help each other try to do "big, scary things" and support each other through the hard times.

The second part of the question was going to be more difficult. How had fraternity negatively effected me? Lots of different things ran through my mind. What I said, and what I believe, is that the most negative imprint that Greek Life has left in its past is what has probably effected me the most. I'm talking about hazing. I know that whenever you bring that up to a bunch of other Greeks they go, "oh, Man, this topic again," but truthfully, it is the single most negative thing out there for Greek Life. I'm not writing some public service announcement, nor am I trying to get preachy, but we are in 2010...can't we, as Greeks, as fraternity men find a way to prepare our prospectives for membership besides hazing? We are still at a rate where Greeks kill and maim people every year over these activities. Maybe it's just that I'm getting to be an old man, but the stuff that I see passing as new member education in many fraternities oftentimes has no point...and if it did have a point, that point was lost three to seven decades ago...Half the time we don't even realize where the negative stuff started, unless we investigate:

Drop-Offs: Started in the Colonial era and was supposed to be an example of how a team can work together (by the way the first hazing death from a fraternity ever was the result of a drop-off

Paddling: That was a form of discipline used by the university on its students as was a demerit structure, as were greetings, as was half of the stuff out there that Greeks do nowadays.

Branding: That comes from slavery for god sakes, it was the way that one master would demonstrate that he owned another person...

Fraternities and Sororities are in a period of real growth right now, but the only way we are going to sustain that growth is if we finally, once and for all, move away from the "hazardous hazing," the hazing that skids out of control, that causes harm to someone psychologically or physically and that has no real point, and if we move toward meaningful new member education programs that aren't boring, and that are challenging for the new members.

Honestly, I think that hazing is what turns off us older alumni the most. When the events a chapter runs involve hazing...alumni don't want to deal with it or be there (at least the good alumni that you want at your events). We are beyond all that. Subjecting someone to mental and physical cruelty really isn't what I call a good time.

So overall, what was my answer to the question? It was having to be a part of a group of organizations that I knew had the potential to do so much good for the world, but also had the potential to do so much bad as well. That was what negatively effected me the most...having to deal with the dichotomy between what fraternities are supposed to be and what they really are because of the impact of hazing.

Teaching Leadership

2010-12-01T17:33:00.005-05:00

As a new Member of the Board, its my goal meet as many of our chapter leaders as possible. I believe the only way I can be effective during my time on the board is to learn first-hand how our chapters and colonies work, and offer as much advice, suggestions and resources as possible. One of the first things I try to learn is how does the chapter run its meetings and make decisions. I also have tried to learn the ways the chapter is training or mentoring its newest members.

During my visits, I have learned many things - one of which is that our chapter leaders need some help on how to teach and learn leadership. It's a core concept to running an effective organization - and often demands the organization to answer a few questions:

How does the chapter define who is a leader?
How are the fraters learning how to run their own organization as new members, neophytes, senior leaders or active alumni?
What value is placed on fraters practicing leadership (and making mistakes along the way?)
Where on campus are the fraters putting chapter-developed leadership skills into action?
How are alumni helping developing strong leaders within the undergraduate membership?

Consider how your own chapter would answer these questions - they might help you solve some of the issues that your chapter might be facing such as low motivation, lack of trust of new leaders, frustration with recruitment, etc.

One good thing that every chapter can do now is to do a leadership assessment of all the members - the DISC leadership assessment, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and True Colors are among a few that are available either free or low-cost online. Just knowing what type of leader each frater is can be helpful when assigning tasks within the chapter, understanding conflict or who is (and isn't) best to put out to recruit.

Chapter leaders should develop a close relationship with the leadership programs coordinator - having a campus ally that can train members for free never hurts. Plus this person knows other student leaders that may be good men to talk about joining a fraternity like Tau Delta Phi.

And never forget - talk to our alumni! One of the benefits of joining a fraternity is talking to working professionals about how to put leadership into action after graduation. I hear from many men who have graduated who wish they could have practiced leadership skills before graduation and who give excellent advice on what is really important for fraternity men to know before graduation.

If you have any questions on how to best approach any of these topics, feel free to reach out to any EC member including me.

How small of a world is it?

2010-01-31T12:36:00.000-05:00

How many people work with Tau Delts? Personally, I work with two. The first is my pledge brother and former roommate in the house at Delta Iota, Craig. Craig graduated a year ahead of me and got hired at the company we both work at now soon thereafter. When I was going in to my last semester at Ramapo he hooked me up with a winter internship there and I started working there full-time after graduation. The second Tau Delt I work with and happen to share an office with is Steve. Steve is from Delta Kappa and happened to find the opening at our company through LinkedIn when we were hiring last spring. Needless to say working with your brothers makes from some interesting times around the office.

How many people have found out that family members or friends are Tau Delts? Turns out my mom's cousin, my 2nd cousin, is a Tau Delt back from his days at the Cooper Union. We stumbled upon this connection 5 years after I joined the Fraternity at, of all the places, my father's wake. Turns out that with all my family there and several brothers there, my 2nd cousin ran in to Ronny B (I think everyone knows Ron). Turns out they actually go way back to the point where Ron was either in or at least at his wedding. That means that my mom probably met Ron 20+ years before I even thought about joining the Fraternity.

Similar story happended to one of my closer friends, Jim. Jim and I grew up together and stayed close all throughout school. Jim actually transferred to Ramapo for a year where he joined Tau Delt before leaving to enter into the State Police. A few years later Jim gets married and obviously becomes closer with his new family. In turn, because we are so close, I get to know some of his wife's family as well. Well it turns out that Jim's wife's Uncle Jack went to NJIT and is a Tau Delt. They came across this when they linked up on Facebook and Jack saw that Jim was a Tau Delt. Next time they saw each other Jack goes up to Jim and whips out his membership card and starts going in to Sweetheart of Tau Delta Phi - turns out he pinned his wife during their college days. I'm looking forward to the next time I see Jack because we got in to a decent conversation over the summer at Jim's about the new Chevys we both bought that week. I can only imagine where our next conversation will go.

I guess it just goes to show you that the world is a lot smaller then we think.

Feel free to share your stories with us here on the blog, on Facebook, or Twitter. You can also email me at mreuter@taudelt.net.

Grand Councillor Conference Call Tonight

2009-12-06T18:04:00.000-05:00

I am in Montreal, Canada, preparing for the conference call toinght. This call is part of the Leadership Series the EC setup this semester for the benefit of our Fraternity. Tonight's call will focus on the Service Learning Program, Rituals, and Scholarship. I expect the call to be informative and successful.

Conversation with Delta Nu Consul

2009-10-03T13:31:00.000-04:00

Last week I called Josh, the Consul at DN. I called him simply because I wanted to introduce myself and let him know I and the EC are here to help. I plan on doing the same with the other Consuls this semester. I would encourage the EC and all of our Brothers to maintain in touch with your chapter. It is very important for us to be there for our Brothers and offer our help. Back to my conversation with Josh. Josh mentioned to me some of the areas he was working on with the chapter. Josh and I agreed that this is a time for DN which is of high importance. DN needs to bounce back from recent happenings and work towards a bright future. Josh understands this and I am confident he will do his best to make it happen.

I plan on posting more regularly on this message board.

New MOB!

2009-06-17T20:17:00.000-04:00

Today, we officially welcome Michal Nadolny (TE) to our Executive Council. He was recently appointed as our newest Member of the Board, and was sworn in just today!

After sharing lunch and some conversation, PGC and current GCr Joseph Keber served as witness to the quaint ceremony. In small park on the campus of Kean University, Michal pledged our oath and sealed his commitment.

For Frater Nadolny, the expectations are high as we have already seen his contributions on the National scene. We are excited and getting ready to see him make us proud. Brother, welcome to the Executive Council!

2009-03-18T17:31:00.000-04:00

Hey just a quick pic I found on my laptop, thought I would share...

Jeff Miller (DK) and I at his wedding in 08.

Congrats again to Jeff & his beautiful bride!

Consul's Dinner - Re-cap!

2009-03-18T14:33:00.000-04:00

On 3/7 men from TE, TI, DI, DK, DN, and DX chapters met me at the Harvest Moon in New Brunswick, NJ to share a meal and some stories. It was an opportunity for chapter leaders to blow off some steam and have fun with other high-caliber brothers. The food, refreshments, and conversation were all very appetizing...

Three big things were talked on around the table:

1. Keeping Alumni involved
2. Constant recruitment
3. Inter-chapter events

It was really nice to see the healthy exchange of ideas, and the pledges to help each other in earnest. Inter-chapter relations go a long way into the overall success and health of Tau Delt. How we treat brothers outside of our respective chapter houses extends the lifelong connections that we share, and that we should further. The men get that very well.

There's a lot of talent in our undergrad leaders. I can't wait to see what kind of impact they will leave on our fraternity. I think to myself what kind of legacy will we be watching in ten years?

So I'll put it out there to you, what do you think our newest leaders can offer us? What should we expect to see?

Need your pictures!

2009-03-07T13:39:00.000-05:00

If you have some pictures you want to share with our fraternity, please email me!

Last weekend, this weekend, and next event...

2009-03-07T11:52:00.000-05:00

The Tau Delt Networking event last Saturday was successful. Many fraters had the opportunity to meet new people and connect with old friends. Quite a few nuggets of advice were exchanged, and some important professional relationships were established.

We'll be keeping this going at future events. In the meantime, I am setting up the next round table discussions. These are free-flowing talks in person, on tele-conferences, or on the web intended to strengthen our reach and value to each other.

The next talks will be about:

"Fundraising for alums and undergrads"

"Alumni without active chapters, how

to stay connected"

Check back here for specific time and venue information.

What do you want to talk about? Be heard... sarmhold@taudelt.net

This weekend is the Consul's Dinner, in New Brunswick, NJ. Check back here to see what happened!