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Transcript of May 2012 Paragon
Volume XIV Issue VII
May 2012
In this Issue
Convention Uncensored (1)
Scholarship Reminder (2)
The Wall of Prejudice (3)
Overcoming the Odds in
Record Time (4)
Summer Recruitment (6)
Summer Checklist (8)
Convention Uncensored
Over the years there have been
many articles and emails written by
IHQ staff about how wonderful and
exciting Convention is. For this is-
sue of the Paragon, we at IHQ
thought it would be more productive
to have a fellow undergrad simply
share his experience from Conven-
tion. Below is an interview with Ar-
mand Anderson, Rex of our Canada
Kappa Kappa Chapter. Please
note that Armand was not given
directions about how to answer
the questions, nor were any of
his answers censored.
Why did you want to attend
Convention last year?
“It was a combination of
things. I'd been to conclaves
and had phenomenal times and
I'd heard Convention described
as "taking three Conclaves and
putting them on steroids". I was
also excited by the idea of
meeting brothers from every
chapter. I'm a huge fan of visit-
ing other chapters so I thought
it would be awesome to meet a
bunch of the guys before I got
there. And finally I'd heard amaz-
ing testimonials from brothers who I
held in high regard.”
What were your expectations of
the weekend before you attend
Convention?
“I expected to meet a lot of people
and learn a bunch of things and
have a great time. Understand
though, saying that is like watching
a video of someone skydiving and
describing your expectations for
jumping out of a plane: The real
experience is very different.”
What was your favorite session?
“Without a doubt it was the recruit-
ment seminar from Phired Up. It's a
high energy session that goes be-
yond simply teaching great recruit-
ment techniques. It inspires great-
ness. I'm very excited to hear that
Phired Up will be returning to Con-
vention 2012.”
What did you learn during Con-
vention?
“Many things. Although I feel eve-
ryone takes different things away
Chapter Spotlight
NY Kappa Tau
Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute (RPI)
Brothers Anthony Policastro
and Artie Adams visit the
Great Wall of China.
(see picture on pg. 9)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NY Phi Lambda
Adelphi University
Brother Pedro Hipolito re-
ceived the Established
Student Leader award
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
OH Beta Tau
Baldwin-Wallace College
Brother Rich Teal was
elected President of the
Student Government
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WA Epsilon Alpha
Eastern Washington
University
Brothers Richard Arquette
and Cameron Pilkinton were
elected to the Pacific Affiliate
Regional of the National
Association of College and
University Residence Halls
from Convention. Chief among the
things I learned was a deeper un-
derstanding and respect of Pi
Lambda Phi itself. Along with the
sessions that went into detail about
our values and purpose, there
are also alumni brothers in atten-
dance who have been around the
fraternity who offer decades of wis-
dom and experience. Beyond that,
chapter operations, fundraising
ideas, brotherhood events, manag-
ing brotherhood, and amazing re-
cruitment techniques to name a few
things.”
Overall, what was your favorite
part of Convention?
“We had over one hundred under-
graduate delegates attend the 2011
convention. These brothers repre-
sented the best of the best of our ac-
tive brotherhood. For the first time I
felt how powerful Pi Lambda Phi is.
Being around a hundred motivated
and committed brothers made me
feel like we're unstoppable. It's truly
an amazing feeling. I left with a re-
newed passion to achieve amazing
things with my chapter, and the feel-
ing has carried on until now.”
Reflecting back on the expecta-
tions of the weekend, was Conven-
tion anything like what you
thought it would be? If not, what
is your view of Convention now?
“Convention exceeded every expec-
tation I had. It's very difficult to put
into words how profoundly glorious
a Convention is. It is an experience
that has to be lived.”
So why have you decided to at-
tend Convention for a second year
in a row?
“Convention was one of the
most amazing things I'd ever been a
part of. I wouldn't want to pass up
an opportunity to experience that
again.”
Why should brothers attend Con-
vention?
“It will change you. On top of
learning about the fraternity we
love in a professional setting you
will also learn from the delegates
from every chapter. A lot of these
guys have learned things in their
time that I hadn't, and vice versa.
We all learned as much from each
other as we did from the sessions.
You will meet brothers from chap-
ters all over North America and
learn about different traditions and
quirks of every chapter. And finally,
heed this very well: you are not in a
learning session the whole time.
Things will get wild.”
Anything else you would like to
mention in regards to Conven-
tion?
“Three things to any undergraduate
who plans on coming to Conven-
tion: First, use it as an excuse to
visit other chapters along the way.
It will heighten the experience. Sec-
ond, spend as much of your free
time as you can with your fellow
delegates. You will learn exponen-
tially more that way. And third, per-
haps the most important, bring a
gift of some kind for Laura Patricio.
She is a saint.”
Scholarship Reminder
Are you a hard working student and
Fraternity brother who could use
additional financial support to con-
tinue your academic success? Con-
sider applying for one of Pi Lambda
Phi's Educational Foundation Schol-
Chapter Spotlight
Order of Omega is a leadership
honor society for members of
Greek organizations. Order of
Omega recognizes juniors and
seniors who have exemplified
high standards in the areas of
scholarship, leadership, in-
volvement within their respec-
tive organization and within the
Greek, campus, and local com-
munity. Members are selected
from the top 3% of students at
each institution. Pi Lambda Phi
would like to congratulate the
following brothers for being
inducted into the Order of
Omega this academic year!
CA Tau
University of California, Berke-
ley
Lin Derek
-
MD Kappa Delta
Salisbury University
Samuel Voorhees
Michael Walker
-
NC Omega Beta
University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill
Francisco Andrade
Thomas Mazzawi
arships and you can potentially re-
ceive the support of your Fraternity
in achieving your academic endeav-
ors. Pi Lambda Phi's Educational
Foundation awards scholarships
each year to those undergraduate or
graduate brothers in good standing
who are most deserving at our An-
nual Leadership Convention.
Through the generous donations of
our alumni brothers, the Educational
Foundation is able to award multi-
ple scholarships and you need only
complete one application to be eligi-
ble for the different scholarships.
Please read more about the applica-
tion process at our Scholarships
Page and apply today! You can also
view last year's scholarship recipi-
ents in our Banquet Program on the
Convention 2011 Review. The
deadline to apply for scholarships is
June 30, so don't wait and apply
now!
The Wall of Prejudice
What began as a small event to pro-
mote a better understanding be-
tween people
through small
discussions on
Carroll Uni-
versity’s cam-
pus quickly
became some-
thing much
more. On
M o n d a y ,
April 16,
2012, after
months of
planning and
working with
the university,
the WI Chi Upsilon chapter of Pi
Lambda Phi revealed their philan-
thropy event, “The Wall of Preju-
dice” (the Wall).
The Wall was simply a temporary
wall, made of wood built in a public
place, where people can write every
derogatory term they have been
called. A few days later, the people
who wrote the hateful words, which
had negatively impacted their lives,
would have the opportunity to tear
them and the Wall down. The pur-
pose of the event is to bring tradi-
tionally unspoken topics, such as the
impact of prejudicial terms, to the
forefront of discussion.
Reactions from this event ranged
greatly from those moved to tears as
they reflected upon personal experi-
ences and saw words either used
against or by themselves written on
the wall to those who felt this dem-
onstration was both inappropriate
and would fail to make a lasting dif-
ference in the way people treated
one another.
Although the concept of the event is
simple, write words on a wall and
then tear it down, the impact of this
event was anything but simple. Stu-
dents, campus administration and
faculty, members of the community
and even the local and state media
Chapter Spotlight
Order of Omega cont.
NC Omega Zeta
Western Carolina University
William Reid Baker
Douglas Bridges
Daniel Glen Keener
-
NY Kappa Tau
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Patrick Edward Flanagan Jr.
Anthony L. Policastro
Eric W. Sellke
-
NY Omega Epsilon
University at Buffalo
Karan Kapoor
-
NY Phi Lambda
Adelphi University
Joseph Vernace
-
Baldwin-Wallace College
OH Beta Tau
Rodney Hildebrand
Richard Teel
took notice as a group of college
Fraternity Men stood up against the
negative impact prejudice plays in
the lives of millions of people. Lo-
cal Talk Radio Host, Charlie Sykes
was one of the first to publically
comment about this event. Conver-
sations about this event continued to
grow and eventually gained recogni-
tion and airtime on Fox6News Mil-
waukee. Fox6News reported on the
Wall twice, once prior to tearing
down the Wall and once again re-
porting on the tearing down of the
Wall.
Although opinions varied on
whether this event was appropriate
or would lead to the elimination of
prejudice, it did accomplish its pri-
mary goal. This goal was to simply
fulfill the mission of the Elimination
of Prejudice: “creates long lasting
community change by addressing
the underlying differences between
people that prevent progress. By
setting the conditions for sensitive
societal conversations to take
place, the Elimination of Prejudice
promotes a better understanding
between people.”
To more fully understand the impact
and various opinions and feelings
towards this Wall, here are a few
quotes gathered from Carroll Uni-
versity students, administration and
faculty:
“It was a very eye-opening
event. Many conversations were
had in classes and all around cam-
pus about prejudice and how there
can be a better understanding be-
tween people. It is a topic that can
be forgotten and pushed aside. Hav-
ing the wall on campus made people
f a c e t h e i s s u e . ”
– Kevin Trigonis (WI Chi Upsilon
Chapter Advisor & Carroll Univer-
sity Football Coach)
I think that this particular activist
move is outrageous. The idea may
sound fine in principal, but in prac-
tice falls through. I’m embarrassed
to say that I am a student at the
University with that wall up on cam-
pus. I think that it is absurd that the
school OK’ed its creation.
– Carroll University Student
“You have set a great example not
only for other Greeks, but individu-
als on campus.” - Carroll University Student
“Thank you, Pi Lambda Phi Frater-
nity, for providing this experience,
albeit all the controversy the wall
got this past week. I've never been
so proud of being a Carroll student
(and a Best Buddies member, when
it comes to tearing down the "r-
word") as I was today :) “
- Carroll University Student
“As a professor, I loved the passion
and reactions of the students. I ad-
mired their ability to learn and
grow from the wall and share per-
sonal experiences with classmates.
Student apathy is a concern at times
in education, and what happened
yesterday in my classroom was any-
t h i n g b u t t h a t . ”
- Carroll University Faculty
Overcoming the Odds in
Record Time
The reason for closing a chapter
comes in many forms. Tens of thou-
sands of dollars in utility bills and
lack of recognition from the univer-
sity due to variety of risk manage-
ment issues was justification for re-
voking PA Alpha Delta’s charter in
the early 2000’s.
Following the closure of the chap-
ter, the thought of returning to Tem-
Chapter Spotlight
Order of Omega cont.
PA Kappa Eta
Widener University
Jonathan Daddario
Josh Koble
Tony Mathew
-
VA Omicron Zeta
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
& State University
Milad Soufastai
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Is your chapter or a Brother
doing noteworthy things on
your campus? If so, please let
us know!
Email Patrick Spanner at [email protected]
ple University’s campus appeared to
be more of a dream than a realistic
idea to most. However, a few moti-
vated alumni, with the support of
then Executive Director Gary Sand-
ers and the International Headquar-
ters (IHQ), were determined to have
PA Alpha Delta rejoin the ranks of
the top chapters within Pilam.
“Mike Naegle, Jim Kelsh, Bob Ar-
thur and Shawn Mahoney were the
primary cogs in the wheel of reor-
ganization,” said Ryan Overturf, the
current Chapter Advisor. “Without
these men, we wouldn’t be any-
where, let alone where we are to-
day.” Fred Brehm, a member of the
PA Alpha Delta housing corp, also
played a key role in managing chap-
ter funds in the absence of a chapter.
In 2009, after a partnership between
IHQ, alumni and Temple University
was formed, Ian Lowe and Phil
Spence began recruiting the men
who would inevitably lead the chap-
ter to its unprecedented success.
Jacob Atar, along with his friend
Andrew Bollinger, noticed the op-
portunity at hand. After setting up a
meeting with Ian, the two were in-
stantly sold on the values and pur-
pose of the Fraternity. “I remember
thinking that we could not possibly
fail as a chapter if we have a virtu-
ous purpose,” stated Jacob.
The two men were joined by twelve
other motivated young men, includ-
ing Bryan Mann. “Like many of my
Brothers, I never thought I would be
joining a Fraternity,” said Bryan.
“Through Nate [Moore, a fellow Re
-Founding Father,] and the Creed, I
found myself joining the best or-
ganization I could ask for and some-
thing I never considered for my-
self.”
From the beginning of the re-
colonization process, many of the
Re-Founding Fathers figured out
how much work it would be to be-
come a chartered chapter. However,
the workload did not scare them and
they began recruiting quality men
and working through the long list of
requirements established for them to
achieve their goal of becoming
chartered chapter.
Success did not come easily to the
chapter. “There were many chal-
lenges the brotherhood faced ini-
tially like how to increase their pres-
ence on campus and legitimize
themselves as a burgeoning chapter
in an ever-growing Greek campus.
These challenges were easily met by
solid work ethic and espousing a
good message, that of equality,”
stated Ryan. “The harder challenges
came from within the chapter.”
Like many other standards based
chapters, PA Alpha Delta inevitably
had to address the issue of Brothers
failing to meet the standards.
“Within the first year we had people
not paying dues on time or getting
poor grades and I would say the
hardest moment was letting go of
some of our best friends who didn’t
want to follow the rules,” shared
Jacob. “It was hard because we
started bending rules slightly in the
beginning and all hell broke loose,
finally we stopped and realized it
was much better to love those broth-
ers from afar and that it was best to
let them go. It was the hardest and
best decision we’ve ever made and
the chapter is 100% better off since
we’ve gotten past that point.”
Through the successes and chal-
lenges, on April 20, 2012, PA Alpha
Delta once again became a char-
tered chapter of Pi Lambda Phi.
From all of the interviews and dis-
cussions, Jacob summarized the re-
founding of PA Alpha Delta the
best:
“Being a re-founding father was
hard work, but we wouldn’t have
gotten their without our alumni and
especially IHQ. With all our grum-
bles and fights they kept us on
course and focused and I’m glad for
all the long hours they put in to keep
us honest. I think Kovner said it
best, its hard work but in the end
when you work for something it’s
so much more meaningful and I
hope my chapter continues a tradi-
tion of always bettering itself no
matter what. I hope they continue
moving forward year after year.”
Summer Recruitment With summer in full swing it is im-
portant to not lose sight of what is
ahead of you, and the opportunities
that lay right in front of you.
Whether you are getting settled into
summer classes, an internship, job
or just relaxing at home, there are
many things that you and the broth-
ers of your chapter can be doing
NOW to work towards a successful
recruitment class in the Fall. Simply
put, you can't say you recruit 365 if
you're not recruiting right now!
Here are a few things you and your
chapter can do to keep recruiting
throughout the summer, regardless
if you are within close proximity or
not:
Update Your Names List
Keep your contacts organized by
updating your chapter Names List.
Remove men who graduated and
mark those who joined another Fra-
ternity. Add notes to those who you
spent additional time with through-
out the semester to make it easier
for brothers to remember him in the
fall. Think through and add the
classmates you had in the Spring
that you wish you spent more time
with and if you are taking summer
classes, go ahead and add the men
you have met in your current
classes. Make sure every brothers
checks Facebook and talks to
friends to see who from their home-
town or high school is coming to
your University or College and add
them as well.
The larger your recruitment pool,
the higher probability you will find
the type of men you are looking to
recruit. One of our colonies with
just over 10 brothers started last fall
with a names list of over 300! They
went on to initiate over 10 men in
both the Fall and the Spring. What
is your chapter's recruitment poten-
tial?
Schedule Events
Don't wait to get back to campus to
schedule your Fall events. Regard-
less if you have a formal rush or an
open recruitment on your campus,
make sure you setup your calendar
now so you can spend time meeting
the people you will invite to those
events. Don't stop with just your
large events either. Take time to
plan out what small activities you
can do and go ahead and schedule
those as well. Even something as
small as playing pickup sports
games every day the first week of
classes, putting it on the calendar
now will help brothers prepare for it
and gives you an easy excuse to in-
vite someone you just met or are
looking forward to spending time
with when classes begin.
Summer is just as crucial of a time
to have small events as any other,
and you don't have to spend a lot of
money to do it. Instead of planning
a huge summer bbq, plan a BYOM
cookout (bring your own meat) and
make it more intimate for the
friends you invite. If you are in your
hometown you can do the same.
Plan get togethers with high school
friends and find out who is going to
your school in the Fall.
Probably the easiest events to
schedule are those that are already
planned by someone else. Check
your University calendar for any
welcome week, freshmen move in,
orientation and student activity fairs
for great opportunities to meet peo-
ple with no work besides showing
up.
Schedule a Recruitment Work-
shop
Talking to strangers may come
natural to some and feel painfully
awkward to others. Even more diffi-
cult is meeting someone for the first
time and taking the leap of faith to
open up, be vulnerable and genu-
inely interested enough to form a
friendship, all the while assessing
whether this person has the charac-
teristics and values that we are look-
ing for in a potential member. Plan a
Recruitment Workshop at the begin-
ning of the Fall semester to hone in
on your conversational skills and
ability to communicate the values of
the Fraternity. A classic problem
with Fraternity men is that we get so
close to each other we sometimes
forget how to make new friends.
Practice meeting someone for the
first time, make sure everyone feels
comfortable asking for someone's
phone number and inviting them to
hang out at your next small gather-
ing and review when and how to
bring up the Fraternity. Invite your
Chapter Advisor, alumni, your
Greek Life Advisor or even sorority
women (great way to build relation-
ships for your next social event) to
make the workshop the most im-
pactful.
If you want to do anything well in
life, you have to practice. Don't as-
sume you will become a great re-
cruiter by just reading some tips. Go
out and practice meeting people and
bring experiences to your workshop
to help address the challenges other
brothers may have in first interac-
tions or building relationships. If
you're not practicing, you're not get-
ting better. If you're not getting bet-
ter, you're falling behind.
Stay In Contact
The summer days may fly by or
pass at a crawling pace. Either way,
we all enjoy the opportunity to get a
random message from someone
genuinely interested in how we're
doing and the chance to connect
with old friends. Be the person who
stays in contact with your friends
over summer and go the extra step
to actually call someone to see how
they are doing instead of just send-
ing a text (or Facebook message, or
Facebook chat, or tweet...). Reach-
ing out to men on your names list
just to see how their summer is go-
ing creates a great opportunity to
ask what they are planning on doing
in the Fall, what are they planning
on getting involved with or even
what they wish they did in last se-
mester. Many brothers say they
have a PNM "locked up" to join
next semester. Don't count on that if
you aren't making the effort to stay
connected and build on your rela-
tionship because you can bet he is
meeting new people during the sum-
mer who could affect his decision to
join or not in the fall.
Get in contact with incoming fresh-
men and start asking what they are
excited about in the Fall, how they
are planning to get involved and
when he wants to meet up so you
can show him around campus.
Now that you have some tips for
summer recruitment, go out and
start recruiting and preparing for the
Fall! Also check out this Recruit-
ment Challenge from our friends at
Phired Up!
Summer Checklist Summer is a great time to reflect
and plan. Reflect on your perform-
ance from the past academic year in
your classes, in the organizations
you are a part of, in the positions
you hold, in the Fraternity, in your
friendships, in your relationships.
Did you do a good job? Can you
improve? How? Ask yourself these
questions as you reflect and begin to
plan. Plan your classes for the next
few semesters, plan future intern-
ships or summer jobs, plan what
new organizations you will get in-
volved with and what new roles you
will take on. Plan how you will
strengthen your friendships and re-
lationships and think through which
are actually most important to you.
Plan how you can help your Frater-
nity chapter achieve its goals.
Here is a checklist of things you and
your chapter can do to reflect on the
previous academic year and plan for
the next one:
Chapter
Review and asses your goals from
last semester in the following areas
of Fraternity Operations:
Academic - GPA, cumulative
and semester.
Service - Hours per brother,
hours per semester, amount of
projects completed…
Recruitment - Men on names
list, bids extended, bids ac-
cepted, men initiated…
Philanthropy - Dates for your
events, other organizations
events…
Social - Number of events with
sororities, with other organiza-
tions…
Brotherhood - Number of
events.
© 2005-2012 Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Athletics - Placing in intramu-
rals, number of teams spon-
sored...
Once reviewed, set new goals for
the upcoming academic year and
semester. Make sure every brother
is aware of the goals and bought
into completing them. Everyone
does not have to 100% agree, but
everyone must be willing to work
towards common goals.
Create plans for how you will
achieve each of your goals. Sched-
ule the events you will need to have
in order to achieve them:
Schedule summer and Fall re-
cruitment events.
Schedule service events and be-
gin coordinating with the or-
ganizations you will need to
setup the event with.
Schedule Philanthropy events.
Schedule Social events.
Schedule Brotherhood events.
Schedule an Executive Board
Retreat to help coordinate every-
one's plans and dates. Use this to
also review each position's re-
flections of last year's goals and
upcoming plans.
Individual
Review past performance and create
new goals for yourself in the follow-
ing areas:
Academic - GPA, cumulative
and semester.
Service - Hours per semester,
projects you participate in…
Recruitment - Number of men
you add to the names list, build
personal relationships with, get
to join…
Involvement - Number of or-
ganizations you are part of,
number of positions you hold in
your organizations…
Philanthropy - Dollars you raise
for another organization's phi-
lanthropy, for the Elimination of
Prejudice...
© 2005-2012 Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity, Inc. All Rights Reserved.