True Brotherhood Cont'd.

In my last blog, I got at the basics of what true brotherhood really means & felt that I did an awesome job thus far doing just that. For this round, I'll touch on more pressing issues on what true brotherhood really means in its other aspects.

It's about meeting your obligations as a fraternity member from a financial standpoint (i.e. seeing to it that your dues are fully paid - not delinquent beyond the pale; paying your housing dues in full, among other things). Being in a fraternity is not the free ride some folks envision Greek life as being; for the record, one of the primary reasons for why some chapters have went down the tubes, besides behavioral problems, are the following:

(1) Some of the chapter members weren't pulling their share of the workload by paying their housing & membership dues in a timely fashion;
(2) there was no one in charge of the chapter's financial ship...aka mismanagement of funding;
(3) (with #2 in mind) the Treasurer isn't holding anyone accountable when it comes to getting their dues & other whatnot paid off accordingly.

When either of these incidents occur, 9 times out of 10, the chapters in question either (a) are suspended until they pay off everything in full or in the worst case scenario, (b) get shut down for good.

True brotherhood is also about making sound & balanced decisions. Any chapter who has had a lengthy record of drug/alcohol abuse only continues the vicious cycle of trouble with their Headquarters, the university, so on & so forth. On top of that, how many fraternities on their respective campuses have continued functioning as exemplary role models for the Greek community as well as academically if their members condone/encourage the use of illegal drugs or abuse their share of alcohol on a regular basis? Those who have somehow stayed on, still set in their ways of disrespect & of stereotypical behavior which movies such as Old School and Animal House glorify to the gills do not know what it means to be Greek. If anything, they have completely forgotten what true Greek life is all about. And come to think of it, there are dudes who wear Greek letters & who happen to be an unworthy lot when it comes to representing the Greek community 110%, based on the info I brought up in the last few lines which I have just wrote.

Here's the thing: true brotherhood is living up to the standards which your respective fraternities were founded upon & nothing less than this could suffice. Not only will people feel the differences which you're making inside & outside the Greek community; people will know the differences you're making as well, further evidence which shows them that you are sincerely proud to be part of the Greek system & benefitting from it exponentially.