You Want Us to Do What?

In this course so far, we're learning a lot about "living our ritual".

The only thing I have to say about this is--if you don't know your values, how do you expect to live a values-based life? It's kinda like being a heart surgeon but not knowing the difference between a vein or an artery OR being a banker and not knowing how to count OR being a pastor and have never read the gospel.

To be 100% REAL, here's where I think the problem lies: when we take new members into our organizations, we have these REALLY HIGH expectations of them to learn our values, history, purpose, founders, and all else but then the education stops there. Why do we have Directors/Masters/VPs of New Member Education but not Total Member Education? Why do we put so much emphasis on those coming into our organizations but not those that are IN or organizations? Maybe this problem is just an IFC issue but I know that it exists abundantly in our community and the interviews last Friday proved just that.

If we were to walk down the streets and ask people to provide some words that describe what it means "to be an American", here are some responses you'd probably get: freedom, liberty, justice, innovation, enterprise, etc. etc. etc.

If you were to walk down the street and poll the regular "passer byer" on what it means to be "in a fraternity or sorority", can you imagine the responses you'd get? Think about it for a minute... All it takes is one news headline. One story from a friend. One facebook post. Here's the very scary thing: there are 3,000 people in our community! All it takes is one.

Like I've said in other posts--I'm not a fan of being a whistle-blower unless there's a solution to the problem... Here it is once again: ACCOUNTABILITY. Let's hold ALL members of our organizations as accountable as we hold our new members. Let's call out active members during meetings to recite the object (that's not hazing--if so I'm reporting my Poli Sci prof!). Let's change the title of our VP/Director/Master/Captain of New Member Education to Total Member Education. Let's have our members' facebook pages monitored to ensure that they're living their values on the web. Let's implement an alcohol-free facility policy. We know the problems. They're in the headlines, we hear them from non-Greeks everyday--why don't we act? The answer: WE'RE COWARDS.

Let's start living that ritual. Why do we disgrace heroes like Martin Luther King or Abraham Lincoln in our blogs (people that died for social change) if we are too coward to even speak up and be bold. The ONLY thing that a member would sacrifice is criticism. Can you imagine if just ONE member of a party "frat" (yes, i used the f-word) made a motion in a chapter meeting to ban alcohol in their chapter facilities?! That's heroism. Stop worrying about political correctness and instead worry about correcting problems.

Just Do It!


Another Angry Rant,


Clark Siddle

Values - Living with Worth: Commitment to Excellence

What are your values and how do they define you? Where do they fit in terms of your council's values? In terms of the community's values?

Unfortunately, for many individuals interested in joining Greek Life, the values of the organization are some of the last things that are sold. At least for fraternities, sometimes those words from the ritual are thrown around as catchy jargon without "real meaning". For me, it wasn't the proscribed values from my fraternity's object or any of that that sold me on "going Greek", it was the similarities between me and the brothers that made the sale easy.

At this point in my life, here are some of my top values: selfless service, education, family, and hard-work.

SELFLESS SERVICE: In my opinion, too often people get involved in community service in order to add one more thing to that resume or maybe because it's required (i.e. the Standards of Excellence) and so that is why my emphasis is on the selfless kinds of service. Selfless service doesn't necessarily come in the form of taking on a massive community service effort or stomping out illiteracy by volunteering to tutor others in someone's spare time. Selfless service in its purest form is the service that's not planned and its typically small but abundant--those random acts of kindness (RAOKs) that mean the most. For instance, do any of you have that type of friend that you know would "literally" give you the shirt off their back in order to help you out? Do any of you have a friend that always offers to buy your lunch or dinner but never expects anything in return? Do any of you have a friend that's stayed up with you half the night just to talk out a problem or even just share funny stories when they know they've got to be at class or work bright and early in the morning? When I think of selfless servants, I think of someone who values the success of others above the success of self. Someone that does the right thing because it's just the right thing to do.

In my role with Sorority & Fraternity Life, I see these selfless servants everyday. Service is something that's contagious in a lot of ways. For instance, when someone has a regular 9-5 job and they still will be up many nights sending out emails until 4 or 5 in the morning and you know it's just because they know they're making a difference in others. OR when someone fills their whole schedules with back-to-back meetings even when these meetings are not required of anyone. I do see this value at work everyday, and I am happy to say that I see it in everyone I work with at the Ohio Union and especially in Sorority & Fraternity Life.

As a community, we are getting there. I don't like that students are REQUIRED to serve others BUT I do see the necessity for it too. As a community, just since starting this class, my opinion on this has slightly changed and among classmates I know that commitment to selfless service is abundant in this group. It's an encouraging thing and I hope the enthusiasm doesn't fade.

EDUCATION: First and foremost, we all came to Ohio State for an education. Originally we thought that education came solely through the classroom but as we Greeks know, that's not always the case. Education defines who I am because I know that if I view every situation as a learning experience then I am able to grow as a person. Maybe it's been pounded into my head over the last few years, or maybe it's something I've been taught growing up.

Education obviously aligns with my job and the people that I have the opportunity to work with everyday. Many of them have degrees in "higher education" but everyone I work with is committed to providing an educational experience for us students. In the Greek community, it's a different type of education, but it's just as deliberate as the classroom, in many cases just as planned out as the classroom. We learn about living a life of principle, how to successfully work with others, how to settle conflict, and how to care for others. The individuals that I work for are committed to enhancing the educational experience for us all.

As a community, I feel that we are heading in the right direction, but not where we need to be. One of the best features in selling the Greek community is that we have a high value of our educational experience as evidence by our "higher than undergrad GPA". Unfortunately, when some groups fall short of this and do nothing to address the issue, we all suffer. I feel that the community as a whole has in the last few months gotten more serious about this issue because of the attention that's been put on those that give us all a black eye but we're not there yet.

FAMILY: I love my family! About a year ago my family got a little bigger. I went from having 1 brother to having almost 30 in just a short time. I really do view my fraternity as part of my family. I HATE referring to our chapter house as our "chapter facility"... that's not what it is. It is our chapter home. While the house is not what defines who we are and I understand that we as brothers are not a "house" as many refer to it (even I've made that mistake), this IS our home though. Family is a neat part of my fraternity. First there's the immediate brothers, but it goes even beyond that. I know and have met 90% of my fraternity brothers families and they're some of our biggest supporters (alumni or not). The fraternity experience, no matter the fraternity, should be about building a strong close-knit family.

In a sense my role with Sorority & Fraternity Life does feel like a family. That's one of my favorite things about working in the Union. It's one of the most enjoyable work environments I've ever been a part of. We have our inside jokes, our shared moments of chaos, and definitely a sense of family within the Union.

As a community--again--there's room to grow. As I said, my chapter is very tight-knit but as a community I feel we're not quite there yet. UIFI was a neat experience because I feel like we made great strides toward building that community/family, but it would be great to see more of that on a broader scale. I wouldn't expect ALL 3,000 Greek members to know each other by first name but it would be beneficial if there was a familiar face in every chapter. I think in the past year, we've taken a big step forward in growing together as a community and across council and across chapters.

HARD-WORK: My value of hard-work goes hand-in-hand with education in a lot of ways but it goes a little beyond that. As an individual, I sometimes have the tendency to "stretch myself thin". How I would apply this value to our Greek organizations is pretty simple. We all have individuals in our groups that have great ideas, or do good jobs of pointing out problems, or draw attention to big issues. Someone who values hard work never stops at identifying the problem. People, in my opinion, that value hard-work ACT. Hard-work goes back to my motto of JUST DO IT. It's really easy to be a whistle blower in an organization and point out big issues, complain about the status quo, or just sit by and let others take the charge, it's not so easy to be that change. Growing up in the country and raising livestock taught me the value of hard-work. It wasn't easy getting up an hour or two early for school just to go out to the barn and care for my projects. But I always knew that the hard-work yielded great rewards in the end (that reward partially being the money I was able to bank for college). Can you imagine is for every time someone blew the whistle for needed change in our organizations, that same person would lead the charge to JUST DO IT? Hard-work is sometimes just that: hard.

The team in Sorority and Fraternity Life understand hard work! Each of us do just as much work while "on the clock" as we do off. I love working with people that are passionate about the difference their making. It's a values-driven work environment for a values-driven industry.

As community leaders, we have a responsibility to work hard and challenge other to work hard too. We were all chosen for our positions for particular reasons. I hope that in our respective positions, this value stay at the front of our minds. It's easy for us to identify the problems plaguing our community, but if we don't act on them we are doing a disservice as leaders. Sometimes the tasks will be difficult and unrewarding, but if we remember that hard-work yields great rewards, I think we will be successful. This community "ain't seen nothin' yet!".

My values are different from everyone-else's. These 4 are just some at the top of my list. As Greek community leaders I think we ALL share one primary value. This value will be the determinant of whether we are successful or just another group of positional figures come-and-gone. That value is COMMITMENT. I am committed to living my ritual and I look forward to being a part of this movement with all of you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commitment


Fraternally,


Clark

υπεθυνότητα (Greek Accountability)

Dr. Martin Luther King was a man committed to leading a life of values. He was the son of a minister and followed in his father's footsteps and became a minister himself. Dr. King's values of civic involvement, human justice, and service, among other values is echoed in the fraternal values established by Alpha Phi Alpha. Dr. King, like many of us, chose his career because he wanted to help people and make a difference in the world. I believe that that the reverend's career choice, which eventually led to his mission in fighting social injustice, is the result of some existing values developed early in life by his commitment as a follower of Christ. BUT I also believe that Dr. King's fraternal experience did serve to reinforce and provide an environment where men of common values could sit at that "table of brotherhood" he talks about.

FarmHouse fraternity began as a Christian men's fraternity and like many other fraternities, cites numerous bible passages in our ritual. While I do believe my fraternal experience has changed me, I was drawn to FarmHouse because of the common values of the individuals in the fraternity, not the values written in the book. Fortunately, in my experience, those values of scholarship, service, desire to meet and make friends, and congeniality mirrored the values that hooked me in the beginning. Also in my fraternity, a shared interest in "rural life". What about other fraternities? Do most fraternity men and women know and are able to recite their groups' values? Even if they can recite their values, how are they doing in living the values that they swore to uphold?

My favorite blog this week was Ryan's blog that shined the light on the lack of accountability and the dysfunctions of the Greek community. I like this blog because it didn't sugar-coat the issues and he was less concerned about political correctness and diplomacy and more concerned about identifying the issues that plague his council and the greater community. For every issue that Ryan, or any other Greek leader can identify, I provide one solution: ACCOUNTABILITY. Every member of this community, in one way or another, committed to upholding the values of their organizations. It's time that we hold those members accountable that fall short of their commitment. Whether it's throwing water balloons at sorority women on bid day, hosting parties involving alcohol as a method of recruiting members, or hazing members "because it's tradition". The Greek community needs to be held accountable for upholding the values that they vowed to uphold. Whether it's through formal punishment or social pressure, I believe that we can and should shine the light on those that do well and punish those that give us all a black eye.

Dr. Martin Luther King was a great American hero that lived the values of his church and also of his brotherhood. Can you imagine the change that's possible if we hold ourselves and others accountable the same way Dr. King did through his "fraternal movement"? It was in fact a fraternal movement with the end goal of one day sitting in harmony at the "table of brotherhood".

Change happens...

Hazing In the News: More Favorite Links

If only the good things made the headlines... Here's what the non-Greek public bases their views of Greeks on:

http://www.hanknuwer.com/blog/

Rick Barnes - Hilarious Risk Management Presenter

check out his link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A7myUBD1GU

Blog Prompt for Week 1 - Special Edition

Why did we choose to start a class about Fraternal Change with a service project, and what did you learn about yourself and your peers as a result of our shared experiences today?

WHY:

We live in a revolutionary era. Whether it occurs politically, economically, socially, technologically, academically, morally, or even fraternally--change happens, and it's happening faster than ever before! We live in some exciting times and I am looking forward to being a part of the fraternal change here at Ohio State.

As Greek leaders, we have committed ourselves to service through our roles within the greater community. Kicking off this course, which is ALL ABOUT CHANGE, with a service project sets the tone for the rest of what we'll hopefully be accomplishing through this course: "committing ourselves to Fraternal Change through our roles as selfless servants".

WHAT:

Last week during class I was learning how to be a better FarmHouse fraternity leader at my fraternity's International Leadership Academy, so unfortunately I couldn't join you all in the exciting PB&J-Makin'! BUT, I did have a neat opportunity to travel from where we were staying in Missouri to a suburb in Kansas that's doing amazing things for economically underprivileged individuals and their families. The place that I did my service event was a homeless program that offers shelter, food, daycare, and other amenities for the unemployed. Our project was to prepare a basement, where the people would be staying. We spent 3 and a half hours painting a nasty mud/brick wall in a really old house. The job was hard and we had ridiculous working conditions (it was below zero outside and NO heat inside) but I left with a sense of satisfaction.

It was neat being able to work side-by-side with fraternity brothers that I'd never even met before, with shared values, and passion toward improving home chapters. The whole time, we shared our struggles and learned from each other on ideas for "back home". The energy in that giant, gross, cold basement was electrifying! By the end of those discussions most of us wanted nothing more than to be back home. Not because we were miserable, tired, or paint-covered, but because we were so excited to go back and be the change in our fraternities.

LEARNED:

I learned that there are lots of challenges in our fraternities, but there are also a lot of other leaders up to tackling those challenges through positive change. I'm pumped!

Clark Siddle's Who, Why, and How

Who am I, why am I in my Fraternity/Sorority, and how do I feel after reading this Blogabus in its entirely?

THE WHO:

My name is Clark Siddle. I am a second-year student, majoring in Political Science and Strategic Communication and minoring in Rural Sociology. Apparent by my minor, I come from a small rural community in southwest Clark County (about 1 hour west of Columbus) called Enon. My hometown's "claim-to-fame" is its ancient Adena Indian mound and giant underground aquifers! Enon's home to just over 2,000 residents and is one of those "everybody-knows-everybody, single-stoplight, Friday Night Football, All-American hometowns". I know many people hate the nuances of living in "Small-Town USA" but I know it's largely responsible for molding me into the person I am today. My hometown has played a huge part in everything from my choice of major to my values (which we'll talk about a little later). My interest in politics even stemmed largely from my involvement with my town council and interest in local policy (i know... dorky, right?)! My home, while growing up, was actually about a mile outside of town. We had a barn, pasture, and of course animals (beef steers, goats, lambs, chickens, ducks, etc.) to show at the the Clark County Fair! :) Now, I know many of you are painting a picture of this pitch-fork-holding, tractor-driving, Beverly HillBilly-style, family but that's far from it. Neither of my parents grew up on farms (or would probably even know the difference between a steer and a bull if you asked them), both of them actually work in the city managing their companies; the agricultural interest ACTUALLY started with my two sisters and I--then turned out to be a great hobby and a way to put some money in the college fund. Some of you might be wondering how cows and small-towns have anything to do with my journey into Fraternity & Sorority Life... trust me, this blog goes full-circle--just keep going.

THE WHY:

Through raising livestock, I became involved in various rural youth organizations (4-H, FFA, Farm Bureau, etc.). I started locally, becoming a club officer in my 4-H club when I was really young. As I grew up I took on more and more leadership roles affiliated to these agricultural organizations (Jr. Fair Board, Teen Leadership Council, CARTEENS, etc.). During High School I became especially interested in organizational leadership and took on roles at the state and national levels. One of these roles was my appointment to the Ohio 4-H Foundation's Board of Trustees. This role led to friendships with many of the older (mostly retired) members of the Board (John Foltz, Irv Bell, Howard Warner, etc.). One of the individuals I developed a close working relationship with was Mitzi Kitchen, a 4-H alum from Kenton, Ohio. Her son (Stew Kitchen), at the time, had an internship with the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation and he in-turn offered me a temporary job over the summer working for OFBF. Since the job was in Columbus, he offered a place to stay on-campus at 153 E. 14th Avenue; the house wasn't full during the summer term and there was plenty of space and that way I wouldn't have to make the commute EVERY day! It turned out this on-campus arrangement was the Alpha Tau Zeta House! After staying at the house for over a week, I got to know a lot of the guys (several others worked for OFBF too). Many of the them came from similar backgrounds as I did and I had countless mutual friends and acquaintances with many of them. At this point, I knew NOTHING about fraternities, other than what I saw in the news, on TV, etc. Over that next year, the network of the fraternity became more apparent than ever. First realizing the affiliation between Foltz, Bell, and Warner (the ones from the Foundation Board...) and then even people from back home (my hometown mayor, my 4-H advisor's father, etc.)...all of them members of ATZ. Well, one thing obviously led to another and I was accepted to Ohio State and then came back to campus for move-in two summers after my job with OFBF. You all--I'm sure by now--know how the rest of the story goes with how Greek recruitment operates. Fast-forward, and here I am today.

One of the best parts about joining FarmHouse (previously known as Alpha Tau Zeta) is the connection I have with the other brothers. There's not a single person in the house that I don't share a mutual friend with or have met at some other point outside of being here at Ohio State. The number-one connection being those rural values. Values of hard-work, manners, selfless service, and hospitality, etc.

THE HOW:

Tid-Bits About Me:

• I'm rarely satisfied with status quo
• I enjoy pushing people outside their comfort zones (that's where you learn the most about yourself)
• I am always asking "why?"
• I have high expectations of myself and high expectations of those close to me
• I love being around lighthearted, funny people--even though I am ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE at telling jokes
• I'm a believer that technology is under-used
• I believe in the "pull yourself up by your boot-straps" mentality
• My favorite motto is "Just Do It"

As you can probably tell by the above "about me", I often like to "shake things up". This class is different and I think that's exactly what we need, something different. I find it a little hypocritical that teachers, from kindergarten through college, are always encouraging students to "think outside the box"! How can you make students think outside the box in school if the techniques in which you're facilitating that "outside the box thinking" is as old as school itself. This class is going to be great! I love the videos! My favorite video, I don't know why, is the last one about Entrepreneurs. I'm glad we pose the question of Greek relevance first in the course. I agree that if we define "why" we're relevant first, we can figure out how we can be even more relevant in the near future.

That is all.

Fraternally,