Pulling Back The Curtain That Hides How We Pick Our Leaders (Part 1 of 2)

We are fond of saying that the undergraduates have all of the power in the fraternity. After all, they have 260 or so votes of the 300 or so votes cast at Conclave. This is not only untrue; it is downright insulting to our undergraduates. They have the votes at Conclave, but their power ends when Conclave ends.

The Grand Chapter makes grand gestures. They eliminate hazing, they break down membership barriers, they change member development programs, etc. and then they spend the rest of the Conclave, and sometimes the rest of their lives, patting themselves on the back for doing, what Chris Rock said, “you were supposed to do.” As a member of a minority group, it always makes the hair on my neck stand up when some old white guy stands up at a fraternity gathering and takes credit for the kick-starting the civil rights movement by doing people of color a favor by letting them join his fraternity. But I digress…where were we…oh yeah…

…The Grand Chapter’s proclamations are then turned over to our NBD (8 alumni and 3 undergraduates), who run the fraternity while the Grand Chapter (Conclave) is not in session. This just happens to be approximately 722 days (our of an available 730 or so) in a two-year cycle. They set the agenda, make the priorities and distribute the cash. If they do not like what the Grand Chapter did at Conclave, they can simply put the proclamations on a back burner where they can die while no one notices. The NBD creates committees to study and develop these priorities. The committees inform our NBD of their ideas. The NBD then instructs our HQ Staff on these priorities and directs them to go out make these priorities a reality with our volunteers and chapters.

As you can see, it is our NBD that has the real power in the organization. And this is why it is so important that the process of their election is brought from behind the curtain and into the light of day. Our undergraduate delegates are the only people who have the power to make this happen.

This is not an attack upon the NBD or the individual brothers who comprise the board. They are all fine and well-intentioned men who donate their time to the good of the cause and make important and difficult decisions for the good of the order. This is an attack upon the process.

This fraternity is a great organization populated by great people who do great things. This particular author thinks that the fraternity can be better; that it can do more, that it can become a gold standard for others to follow. Right now, we are simply the best of a bad lot that we need to leave behind once and for all. We need leaders who can bring new ideas to the table and take the organization to new and unseen heights.

The way the fraternity currently selects its’ leadership does not foster this growth. It actually impedes this growth by stacking the NBD with people that come from the same old tired pool of past, present and future “Wizards” with nothing new to offer (more about the “Wizards” in part 2 of this post). They have no vested interest in changing the process. You do. Make these “Wizards” perform their magic in the light of day. There are some small things that you can do to shed light on this process:

1. You can pass legislation that bars anyone but the candidates from speaking to the nominating committees; and,

2. You can demand that there be a “candidates forum”, a 1 to 2 hour session during Conclave where anyone in attendance can ask the announced candidates questions about their “vision” for Sig Ep.

This author thinks that the blanket ban on open campaigning does nothing but benefit vested interests in the outcome. You can open the process, and make it more honest, by making these two simple tweaks to the system. Keeping “open campaigning” in the form of spending money, "wining and dining", printing badges and flyers and the like "banned" is a good thing. The closed and secretive nature of the process is not.

You truly do have the power in this regard. Will you exercise it in Nashville?

Part 2 to follow in the coming days…just follow the yellow brick road.