State of the Brotherhood
Brothers, I'm sitting here trying to think of what to write, and this is all that comes to mind so here we go:
I've been noticing a polarization of this fraternity and it worries me. Some would said that this fraternity is being split between the liturgical denominations and the protestant denominations, but that is not what I've observed. To call this exactly what it is, I've seen a disconnect between the Catholic brothers and everyone else regardless of how traditional other backgrounds are. I'm honestly unsure what to do about this split. we must be sure to open our arms to all brothers of faith regardless of how they express it. I have seen things from both sides that could be interpreted as attempts to suppress the expression of the other, and I will no longer tolerate this.
What is our fraternity about? Sigma Theta Epsilon. Sunergoi Theou Esmen. FELLOW WORKERS WITH GOD. We are FELLOW workers with God. This needs to be how we're viewing our work constantly. We do not need to legislate protective measures against discrimination in our documents because we are a group of HIGH QUALITY Christian men who love each other.
Having said that, one of my biggest concerns right now is the amendments I've seen about our spiritual advisor. Completely eliminating all church leadership is a move out of fear of some form of discrimination in the future and it eliminates most if not all of the people that we could potentially have fill that role. I think it's foolish to eliminate possibilities for spiritual advice to come into our brotherhood, especially in a role like this where the one giving has absolutely no authority over our group. If we notice discrimination, we already have in place the vote of confidence at the midpoint of the term.
Brothers, I love you all. Some of you have no idea the ways in which you have impacted my life, and you very well may never find out. This fraternity is the most important thing I've done with my life so far and I simply want to see it continue to grow. My heart is for the fraternity, If I've offended some of you, I cannot make a sincere apology. I mean what I've written here and it comes not from my denominational preference, but from my heart for the good of this brotherhood.
I've also noticed a downward trend in the passion of our brotherhood as a whole. Our brotherhood has the potential to do great things on this campus. Look at what our concert committee has pulled off in just a few weeks. (By the way, if you have bands you want to see, talk to Matt, Jeremy, Kenny, or Jake) This fraternity is YOURS. Sunshine said something in chapter that really hit me hard. Take ownership of your fraternity. He's right on. This is your fraternity. It doesn't belong to the old guys or the exec board or the chaplain. It's yours. It's ours. We are fellow workers with God each having an equal share in the future of this fraternity.
You have ownership of this fraternity and if your leaders are not doing their jobs in the way you would like, tell us. Call us out. We are elected officials. Our job is to serve you. Don't let your position limit what you do. If you have ideas for other areas of this brotherhood, please tell someone. We have so many talented and creative men in this group. It would be a shame not to take advantage of that.
Don't forget that Exec is an open meeting. I would love to see more brothers coming to exec and throwing ideas around. To me, the best sign of someone being ready for leadership is that they're already acting like leaders. We all have an equal voice from Tau class all the way back to Lambda class. Some of our best ideas come from our younger members.
YOUNG MEMBERS: You have an especially important duty to speak up. At the end of this year, our fraternity is going to be mostly younger guys. This fraternity is going to become whatever YOU make it. Speak up. Refuse to be ignored. And by the way the Chiefs game was a great idea! I want to see more things like that from you guys.
OLD MEMBERS: You aren't done here yet! And don't you dare act like you are. I regret that I didn't write this at the beginning of the semester, but it's still true now. You are still brothers and I hope that you don't think you're done on May 2nd, because you're not. I don't care if you're going to japan, chicago, or staying in Peoria. I'm tired of ignoring our alumni and you guys are going to stay in contact with STE even if we have to hunt you down. We love you guys too much to let your knotted rope become a noose.
Alright my brothers, I think I've rambled on enough for one day, but I plan on making use of this in the future, so watch for updates.