Preface
It is not often that you see a group of guys, faced with overwhelming odds against them, stand up, declare their values and intentions and then persevere.
For me it started with a trip to Chicago for the National Board of Directors meeting in late October. (These meetings are now open to all SigEps and are worth attending.) One item on the agenda was Kent State appealing their chapter closing. This is an unusual action. Usually, by the time a chapter is closed, the brothers in that chapter really don’t care anymore. Having many friends and their children attend Kent throughout the years, I knew of the reputation Kent State’s chapter had for drinking and poor grades.
Personally, I thought that this appeal was a non-starter. I was exceptionally wrong. Together, as a group of 12 with their faculty advisor, they walked into the room. Dressed in dark blue blazers, khaki pants, maroon shirts, and dark ties (including the faculty advisor) they posed an impressive sight. Over the next 15 minutes, six brothers made the presentation of a lifetime.
As I watched it, from the second slide onward, I was struck with the realization that these guys just “got it”. They knew; they believed in their core what it was to be a Sig Ep. This presentation material should become the mainstay of SigEp’s presentation to new colleges where they are looking at expanding. I have put it up on the alumni web site for you to look at.
What had changed? After they had received their chapter closing notice, the freshmen, the sophomores, and two juniors started to make wholesale changes. However it was too late. The chapter was closed. Did this stop them from persevering? No. They went to the rest of the brothers and declared that they were taking over the remains of the chapter and would rebuild without them.
I was so moved by their presentation that while the Board deliberated, I visited with them. I introduced myself and spoke for about five minutes about Ohio Theta. At the end I told them, if they were given a second chance, that Ohio Theta was extending to them the opportunity to come to Cincinnati to work together in rebuilding their leadership positions. They would need this since only two brothers had held a previous chapter position.
Kent was offered a second chance and at the chapter exec meeting the next day at the house, I shared my story. Needless to say, your exec board of Ohio Theta completely embraced the idea. Something to do with the ritual about “when a brother is down ...” Two weeks later the Kent State brothers came down to Cincinnati for a day long CLA type of leadership training.
Personally, for me, this is my eleventh year as a chapter counselor and my sixth Ohio Theta board. It was humbling and gratifying to see that not only did the Kent State brothers get it, but also that when it counted, your Ohio Theta brothers stood up, rolled up their sleeves and did what a 12 time Buc Cup does best!
Bert Bullock
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Here is what our brothers from Kent State had to say.
From John Rhodeback
“Recently, I had a chance to take a trip from Kent State University to visit my fellow brother SigEps at the University of Cincinnati…
I learned new effective techniques to help me in my recruiting process… I also learned the correct way to use the Balanced Man Scholarship as a huge summer recruitment tool. My chapter in recent years has never used this to help them recruit. Another thing that I learned was to set goals at the beginning of the year that I can look back on to help me stay on track over the year.
In conclusion, the trip to Cincinnati was a great success for me. I was able to learn many techniques that will help me in my recruiting. I am appreciative to the Brothers of Ohio Theta for taking the time out of the weekend to help me improve my chapter and improve myself as the V.P of Recruitment at Ohio Lambda.”
From
“When we arrived at Ohio Theta we were welcomed with open arms. Despite the fact that the men of Ohio Theta are 100 + in manpower, stellar in academics and without a doubt, leaders of their campus, right from the start we felt as if we were welcome among their chapter of “true” balanced men.”
“The first thing that really stood out to us was the way that they presented the leadership training goals. We immediately understood that these goals would not be easy to reach, but rather, would only be achieved with through the hard work and perseverance of a chapter of men devoted to a righteous cause. Yet, even though we were in the process of learning valuable leadership skills, from a chapter of men who have had a history of unmistakable greatness, these men did not look down on us. Rather, they treated us as brothers, just as they do each other, and in doing so, they presented us with goals that at the end of the leadership training academy, we truly felt we would reach.”
“Some of the men who really stood out during the academy were chapter president Mark Kroeger and VP - Member Development, Kyle Sutton. These two men showed leadership qualities that truly inspired the brothers of Ohio Lambda.”
“We are looking forward to working with Ohio Theta in the near future to implement a sound member development program, which has been lacking at Kent State. Overall, these men had something to offer us in every aspect of fraternal life and we will continue to utilize their excellence as a model to better our own progression at Kent State, toward becoming an elite chapter ourselves.”
From Kurt Hutson
“First of all I would like to extend a great thanks to all the brothers at the Ohio Theta Chapter for hosting the retreat. I would also like to extend a personal thank you to Bert Bullock for going out of his way to help our Ohio Lambda Chapter. The retreat at Cincinnati was just what we as a chapter and executive board needed.”
“Mark had broken down the basics for us on how to keep our members unified and to work as a team. Nick stressed to us the importance of clearly defining goals, getting them written down, and then periodically assessing those goals and setting recognizable time tables for achieving them. This is one area where I think our chapter really needed some help in.”
“The Cincinnati Retreat was a valuable and rewarding experience and I look forward to future retreats with our Brothers of the Ohio Theta.”