When I was an undergrad, we were founding the chapter at Tulane University. The District Governor (Bill Davenport), and local alums in our AVC (or alumni board back then) were the face of HQ to me. To be fair, and because Bill Davenport will read this and call me on it, HQ provided the regional directors that first came and recruited our core group. These were impressive young men, and to my discredit I have long since forgotten their names.
My point is any line between the two (HQ and AVC) are blurred. HQ reflects on the AVC (and visa versa) where it matters - in the minds and view of the undergrads. And these can be adversarial, or at least strained relationships. AVCs and HQ felt more like fathers than big brothers. As a recent graduate, would you be ready to be a dad? Would you fell that way?
My undergrad experience was part of an organized entity, supported through HQ, with a "process", even more so now that we have the Balanced Man Program. But it does seem, in MY observation, that the lifetime experience from the sales collateral ends as an organized GOAL at graduation. Those who seek out a continuity of brotherhood, or seek out to serve a chapter (in an AVC), or to continue developing as the "man of quality"; do so on their own, no longer supported on that path by carefully laid mapping from the undergraduate programs. It seems what some advocate, and others oppose, is that there should be something more. Does the Balanced Man Program guide the graduate into an Alumni that is led to seek out an alumni association, AVC, Regional Director role, or even one day working at HQ and fixing the concerns being constantly debated on this site? Why is the young man, out of school for the first time and on his own, NOT as vital a asset/resource/brother as a senior still in school? Why is there nothing for him? And onward into life until he can be an asset again, as a well heeled donor reflecting back on the last time anyone called him brother, as an undergrad. And missing that experience so much, he is influenced to donate and support the cause. How is this the only model worth advocating?
Bill Davenport will probably agree that I was never much of a leader in my undergrad days as a founding father at Tulane, as Ed Jones will attest to now as a member of the SigEp Feds. I was and am a member – a brother of varying activity levels. But there is a continuity that runs through both experiences for me. It may not be the same exact experience, but it has the same rules. Virtue, Diligence, Brotherly Love. You get out of the experience what you put into it. It provides opportunities; some social yes, but also to remain part of the brotherhood experience. Everyone I know who is active on an AVC came to that participation through the connections they made with the Feds. The times I have been approached to become active with an AVC, it was brothers I knew as a Fed first. I went to CLA last year through their influence. I found this site through them. Oh yeah... met my wife too.
I have many incidents in my professional life where I demand someone that complains to take the initiative. Complaining is too easy, anyone can do it. If you come to me with a complaint, you better come with a solution, or at least a suggestion to get things started. In that spirit, I propose the following:
- Extend and define the Fellow Challenge as a challenge that will extend into Alumni Status. Include provisions that the Fellow attend AVC meetings post graduation, join an alumni organization, or volunteer in some way with a chapter local to where their post-graduation life has taken them.
(or)
- Create an Alumni Symbol Challenge. Same ideas as above; volunteer activity, with an AVC, chapter, or alumni group. No local alumni group? Start one. Speak to undergraduate chapters about what the first years out of school are like. Mentor Seniors on facing the real world, finding jobs, and being a Mentor for their own Alumni Symbol Challenge.
(and)
- Go further and create an Alumni Association Challenge. Let these informal groups be built into organizations that can receive these young men, and continue the experience, including a new challenge to participate in (Alumni Symbol Challenge or Fellow Challenge). These groups could participate in the training from HQ to build future Balanced Man Stewards, and the other AVC skill sets. Those that choose to join an AVC choose to meet the higher standard of leadership there, just as they would as executive board members as undergraduates.
Unlike the AVC this young man will remember, this is a two way street – you are giving back while the brotherhood is still there to help you build the balanced man into the future. You could be afforded the opportunity to connect with a chapter or chapters, fellow SigEp alumni, and work with them on a mutual goal. And yes, offer social aspects like meeting sorority alumni associations, or happy hours, or super bowl parties, or golf outings.
If the challenges are designed, and recognized by the national HQ (wouldn’t it be nice to see more Alumni attend CLA and Conclave to accept their recognition), maybe there could be Alumni dues collected to pay for the extended challenge & support. Or maybe not, to keep the Alumni 100% independent of HQ, as both risk management and “cutting the apron strings”. There could even be alumni badge alternatives signifying these successes.
Selfishly, I’d like to see a component of this to learn, understand, and aspire to the Balanced Man Program’s guidance. I came from a chapter before the BMP existed, so I have limited understanding. Build into the Alumni Challenge the chance to learn the BMP, maybe from an AVC Steward, giving the opportunity to interact with the AVC and learn the BMP at the same time.
I believe that some will argue there should be a distance between Alumni Groups and HQ. From both sides of the subject; some will want to remain free of HQ entanglement, others will say HQ exists solely for the undergraduates, and any effort in the direction of alumni is wasted. I actually am safely placed on the fence in this, unsure of who is right. I see the Feds, benefiting from the lack of HQ interference, but hurt by it’s informal nature. I see my wife’s Alumni Association flourishing under the organization and continuity provided by it’s association with their HQ. Maybe the answer is to start by focusing on the brother himself. What does Sigma Phi Epsilon say to the recent graduate? Who is there in his life to say it? Perhaps this young man has spent 4 years diligently pursuing challenges placed in front of him, in order to develop himself and his chapter. Could there be enough energy and capacity left in this young man to pursue a new challenge, designed to introduce him to the world, but ALSO to introduce him to the people in this world waiting to grasp his hand and call him brother. It might be a start.
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