Question:
My fraternity recently won chapter of the year on my campus. We have great guys with great ideas, but we have noticed a decline in interest within the brotherhood. Not as many people are actively involved in the chapter. What are a few tips we can utilize to promote chapter excitement?
Answer:
When you have a situation where guys aren’t as active as they should be, then that is a reflection on the chapter. That situation is telling you that the chapter is not doing things that the brotherhood is interested in. To overcome this, you need to reach out to the brothers and figure out what they want from the chapter. Then you need to provide it.
It is also a reflection of your personal friendships. Some of the best times a brother will have in a fraternity is just hanging out at the house. If your brotherhood isn’t doing that, it could be a reason for the apathy you suggest you are having. The leadership team needs to make a concerted effort to reach out to the brothers and get them to hang out more. If everyone on the leadership team does this, it won’t be long before the energy is back in your chapter.
With all that being said, make sure you have a problem before you try to fix one. You are obviously doing something right due to the award you won.
Question:
What is the best way to handle a committee chairman that is consistently doing a poor job at his job?
Answer:
This is a very difficult situation. If handled poorly, you can damage a lot of relationships.
If you want to remove this person – there are several steps you need to have in place to make sure this isn’t a subjective decision.
First, you need to have a man-to-man talk with them about their performance. You need to do that being sure they have a clear objective with their job responsibilities. If they don’t have that, then you don’t have clear grounds that they are failing. Then, you need to have concrete examples of where they have failed. Again, this makes it not subjective.
If you have both those components, have a man to man talk with the brother who is failing. He is your brother, you don’t want him to fail. Try to coach him along. Make sure there isn’t a reason why he isn’t succeeding. If there is, do everything you can to remove that barrier to success. If he can’t or won’t succeed, then allow him to gracefully resign. This guy will be your brother when this is all over with, be sure you don’t take away his dignity and hurt his pride.
Finally, if all this doesn’t work, then replace him. Make it swift and don’t dwell on it. You will have un-subjective reasons for your decision if you followed the steps above, which will validate your decision.
That is the short answer. I dedicate an entire chapter to this very subject in my new book – The Chapter President – that I recommend you check out if you are definitely going to remove an officer. This is a very difficult situation and if handled poorly you may lose a brother in the process.
Question:
I am in a fraternity which is currently a colony, not a chapter. We really want to charter next semester but we are having a tough time getting guys. We don’t want to take just anyone randomly but we need numbers. What should we do?
Answer:
Check out these two articles:
Fraternity Recruitment – 5 Ways Your Fraternity can KILL It
31 Days to Better Fraternity Recruitment
Question:
I have some financial questions about being in a Fraternity. I am a business student, because of screwing around in HS had to go to community college, but I have got my GPA up to a 3.8 and was offered an opportunity to continue my business studies in China for a year. With that said, it has opened some educational doors for me and I will be now able to go to a much better university. I have always wanted to rush since just my grades originally did not allow for this to happen my first year out of high school. Now that I will have the opportunity to rush I am wondering if it will be possible from a financial perspective. I have no problem taking out a college loan for fraternity dues, but my parents are middle class and getting extra money to blow on going to spring break, going out to eat all the time etc., etc. will be an issue for me. Is this a deal breaker for my future in fraternity?
Answer:
I can’t comment on your financial decision. I have no idea what your situation is. I can tell you two things though:
First – if you do not meet your financial obligations to the fraternity then you are not a good brother. You are leach that sucks the life out of a chapter. Don’t ever be that guy.
Second – if it is important to you, you can afford it. I paid my way through school. I had loans to help which mainly went to my tuition. All my spending money came from the myriad of jobs I had in school.
Fraternity was important to me, so I found a way to pay my dues. I typically earned this money during the summer so I wouldn’t have to worry about it during the year. If fraternity is important to you, then you can do the same thing.
I suggest you try it out. See if it is worth it. Rush, learn about a few chapters. See if fraternity is right for you. If it is, then you will know it. If it is not, then at least you will be able to live without having that doubt.