happy1
OOA Interest
Posts: 129
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Post by happy1 on Oct 14, 2010 12:43:00 GMT -5
Last year, my chapter gave out 6 1K scholarships in the DC area. Like Damie said, this did not change the world, but we did what we could with what we had.
Let the youngins step and scream whether its roo, blue phi, ow ow, etc...
As they leave school and start careers and family, those fraternal activites are replaced by things of a more substansive nature.
The best we can do is provide guidance and a map to follow.
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Post by Sapphire on Oct 14, 2010 12:53:50 GMT -5
yay, Happy!
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Post by AKAShannon on Oct 14, 2010 21:00:49 GMT -5
Well stated Happy!
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Post by **Dea** on Oct 15, 2010 1:45:00 GMT -5
Historically speaking, yes, the founders and early members of most of the D9 orgs were elite. Consider the time frame, how many families could afford to send their children to grammar school in the early 1900s let alone higher education? Yes, among the ranks of early D9 orgs, there certainly were the affluent, the well connected, the best educated, and the future leaders of tomorrow. It stands to reason that the D9 orgs cultivate, mentor, and groom these people for the positions of leadership they would undoubtedly take.
Fast forward 90 or so years and tell me, is the college campus now what it was in the early 1900s? Do college populations now represent the elite as they did in the 1900s? No it doesn't... and why people don't make this distinction is beyond me. We are still training leaders & college campuses still remain the best place to find these future leaders - but let me emphasize - FUTURE leaders.
We live in a far different society than that which our founders encountered when they stepped onto campus. By means of circumstance and social order they were all forced to grow up a little bit faster, be a little more serious, be a little more focused, and a little more thoughtful in everything they did. They lived in a different time, that placed different demands on them. It is unrealistic to expect that a 19 or 20 year old that is a product of today's society is going to be a mirror image of what his/her counterpart was in the early 1900s or even the mid 1900s.
But that doesn't mean they won't grow into it. I guess I just don't understand why we are demanding a level of maturity and circumspection from young greeks that the current college population on a whole doesn't exhibit. Were I to be judged solely by my antics at Daytona Beach and Freak-Nik I guess I would also be summariliy dismissed as doing nothing for the community. But what we are as kids doesn't necessarily dictate what we'll do in the future (see Barack Obama). I would strongly caution against casitgating any or all members of BGLOs for not living up to your perceived standards due to the fact that they're young and enjoying the spoils of youth. Who among us is NOT guilty of that?
Regarding community service let me say, my chapter gives out literally thousands of dollars in scholarships and food baskets, EVERY year bar none. And yet South East DC is STILL South East DC. We haven't changed the poverty level, we haven't changed the crime rate, we haven't improved test scores. And we are a grad chapter that boasts millionaires, local politicians, business man, & entrepeneurs. What change do you suppose the local undergraduate chapters are going to create merely by giving up Stepping that one of the largest Grad Chapters in the Fraternity hasn't already done which has MORE resources, MORE man power, and MORE political connections? We're not blind to this guy's argument, we just know it to be without merit.
Greeks are a part of the Civil Right's Movement but we (the organizations) are NOT the movement itself. Yes we will often provide the individuals that provide leadership and organization skills to a movement - but our organziations themselves are NOT the movements. The movements are the people. They always have been. So if you think Greek presence has been limited concerning the BART shooting in Oakland, my question to you is where are the people? Where is the movement? What do you expect us to do that you won't do for yourself? That's a rhetorical question. I'm smart enough to know that's the society we live in now. The reward for our infantilization of generation after generation of American youth is the transformation of responsible adults into helpless wards who refuse to take any agency in addressing their own problems, but rather wait (with a sense of entitlement) for others to do something about it. Damie, I had a long reply to this which I posted last night....but as I said earlier in one of the other threads, the board crashed for about an hour last night and looks like it threw away all my posts! SO....should I get motivated again to respond to this I will...but as of right now your post is the end of this convo. (btween u and me that is) |
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Post by All Pledging Is Legal on Oct 15, 2010 20:08:17 GMT -5
It is time for BGLOs to change their focus. They need to focus on helping college students become smarter and graduating with meaningful degrees. I would love to see undergrad Greeks do away with community service and focus solely on collegiate issues. Why should college students be concentrating on anything outside of college?!?
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Post by Robelite on Oct 16, 2010 10:11:35 GMT -5
It is time for BGLOs to change their focus. They need to focus on helping college students become smarter and graduating with meaningful degrees. I would love to see undergrad Greeks do away with community service and focus solely on collegiate issues. Why should college students be concentrating on anything outside of college?!?[/b] Maybe because college students don't intend to stay in college for the rest of their lives. Well, MOST don't. There are some career undergrads....those that never grow up, and fail to assume the lives and responsibilities of adults. Are you one of them? |
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Post by All Pledging Is Legal on Oct 16, 2010 16:55:08 GMT -5
It is time for BGLOs to change their focus. They need to focus on helping college students become smarter and graduating with meaningful degrees. I would love to see undergrad Greeks do away with community service and focus solely on collegiate issues. Why should college students be concentrating on anything outside of college?!?[/b] Maybe because college students don't intend to stay in college for the rest of their lives. Well, MOST don't. There are some career undergrads....those that never grow up, and fail to assume the lives and responsibilities of adults. Are you one of them? [/quote] Of course I am. |
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Post by Robelite on Oct 17, 2010 12:38:10 GMT -5
I always felt like y0u were.
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Post by peppermint on Oct 17, 2010 12:57:40 GMT -5
<---wishes she would have remained a career ugrad for financial purposes. Taxes and college loan repayments suck
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Post by Robelite on Oct 17, 2010 13:03:02 GMT -5
LOL @ peppermint! Trust me, before too long, you'd have to pay those student loans back. I think they'd get just a bit suspicious if you reported that you'd been an undergrad for the last 20 years.
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Post by Cambist on Oct 18, 2010 7:06:45 GMT -5
It is time for BGLOs to change their focus. They need to focus on helping college students become smarter and graduating with meaningful degrees. I would love to see undergrad Greeks do away with community service and focus solely on collegiate issues. Why should college students be concentrating on anything outside of college?!? I agree with the first part of your post. Our organizations SHOULD put more of the focus back on the development of our members. What is college but a preparation ground for life? No college student needs help figuring out how to have fun and be social. They do need support in gaining perspective but then again, it goes back to what Damie said....you've gotta select better people. If the requirements for joining our organizations was a 3.5, students would achieve a 3.5. The real problem in our organizations comes after people are in. Once our members have vowed their undying love and lifelong dedication to scholarship, and other principles of which they have very little knowledge, they are initiated and then the GPA's start to drop. Of course this doesn't happen in every chapter but it does happen in many. Once APIL mentioned undergraduates developing a testing database. This is one way 'other' organizations have helped themselves maintain their academic relevance. There needs to be others. The social aspect will be there. |
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Post by T-Rex91 on Oct 18, 2010 7:23:22 GMT -5
I don't see why collegiates should have problem with service. What gets old is always having to do it in an organized fashion under your org's banner. If you only did your service hours to gain entry into the org, yeah, there's a fail somewhere. If you only do service through org events, yeah, there's a fail somewhere. We were tutors and church volunteers and such outside of the org. Many Sorors at the grad level have their own civic interests and it all counts as service.
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Post by Cambist on Oct 18, 2010 9:47:24 GMT -5
I believe our organizations should open new venues for UG to get involved in different levels of service.
For instance, with the size, knowledge and influence of our organizations we should be addressing national and global issues and learning how to dance on that stage. I would agree that a lot of those things you learn locally by organizing projects and programs but we need to step up our game.
In college, I was a vocal critic of the "fish fry and canned food drive" mentality of BGLO's. Are they important? OF COURSE. Do they teach valuable lessons and skills? Of course!! Do our members need to graduate to more meaningful projects eventually? Of course!
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Post by All Pledging Is Legal on Nov 13, 2010 11:05:16 GMT -5
I believe our organizations should open new venues for UG to get involved in different levels of service. For instance, with the size, knowledge and influence of our organizations we should be addressing national and global issues and learning how to dance on that stage. I would agree that a lot of those things you learn locally by organizing projects and programs but we need to step up our game. In college, I was a vocal critic of the "fish fry and canned food drive" mentality of BGLO's. Are they important? OF COURSE. Do they teach valuable lessons and skills? Of course!! Do our members need to graduate to more meaningful projects eventually? Of course! Address national and global issues? That is utterly foolish. College students need to focus on college. We have enough rich people throwing money at third world countries. |
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Post by peppermint on Nov 13, 2010 11:23:54 GMT -5
APIL, the hope is that one day these undergrads will be one of those rich people throwing money at third world countries. It's partly our job to help open their worldview beyond the college campus.
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Post by Cambist on Nov 15, 2010 7:49:33 GMT -5
I believe our organizations should open new venues for UG to get involved in different levels of service. For instance, with the size, knowledge and influence of our organizations we should be addressing national and global issues and learning how to dance on that stage. I would agree that a lot of those things you learn locally by organizing projects and programs but we need to step up our game. In college, I was a vocal critic of the "fish fry and canned food drive" mentality of BGLO's. Are they important? OF COURSE. Do they teach valuable lessons and skills? Of course!! Do our members need to graduate to more meaningful projects eventually? Of course! Address national and global issues? That is utterly foolish. College students need to focus on college. We have enough rich people throwing money at third world countries. You are correct. That's why a food drive and a step show are good for college students. The fish fry comment was related to graduate chapters and how we conduct our business. If you are doing the same activities in a graduate chapter, on the same level, that you were doing on the ug level then it's time to step up your game or shut down your chapter. I believe that "service" tag gets overplayed. Having said that, performing service is one way to help undergrads develop skills necessary to be productive and successful on the next level. I know that we can make the experience for all brothers more fun. Yep, I said it...fun. I'm sick of this constant focus on the business of our organizations. It's important but we often forget that if it's not fun...no one will stick around! |
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