Saturday Brotherhood Lunch
The Brotherhood lunch is set up to leave no eye dry. It succeeded. The reading of the names of deceased brothers was punctuated several times with the phrase "died in Iraq". The University of GA (GA Delta) lost two members.
The main speaker - some blind mountain climer with a book to sell - was actually so good he completely overwhelmed the audience. Eric Wiehenmeyer turned out to be a great combination of wit, courage, perseverance, and sheer will to succeed. Everyone was inspired. We would like to be snarky, but it just is not in the story. (Oh yeah, he DID sell a bunch of books, too)
Finally, The Honor of Philias was presented to Scott Erwin, VA Alpha brother injured in Iraq. Lots of rah-rah about how we are rebuilding the country. If we go there my politics will intrude, so I'll just say that Bro. Erwin is a remarkable young man who sacrificed a lot to carry his message of democracy to a ravaged country, and richly deserves this honor.
One last comment...
Throughout the weekend we could not help but notice that the "invocations" were remarkably bland, as if somebody decided that any mention of a supreme entity was not 'politically correct'. At least one undergraduate member of an SEC, new to Sig Ep, expressed concern that the Fraternity was trying to eliminate any concept of faith from its utterings. He said he wanted to start a bible study but was unsure what the 'official' reaction would be. There is a difference between religious tolerance and respect for diversity, and a knee-jerk, PC, draconian removal of all acknowlegement that some people not only believe there is a God, but consider that a positive character trait. May we please at least have some focus to our invocations and blessings?
