Welcomed into a Chapter
The consultant job can be lonely at times, which is why it can be very gratifying to be welcomed into a chapter house and to make meaningful connections with the men in the chapter. Of those, I would say the highlight of my stays has been my visits to Rho Chapter at Stevens Institute of Technology. The men there remind me a lot of my own chapter, the chapter has a large population of athletes as did my home chapter of Gamma Theta at Baker University.
During the fall, the chapter had struggled with its Ritual performance, as it had in years past. I could tell that there was not as much of a focus on the Ritual as I would’ve liked. I challenged the chapter to start to take it more seriously and to make it a priority to improve both the performance and the education.
Upon my return visit in the spring, I was told that the chapter had reached out to Anthony Albanese, who is the chapters division vice president (DVP). He had been helping them with their Ritual performance the whole spring, and I could tell there was a large improvement in the practice that I saw in the spring as opposed to the fall.
Often in this job, you wonder if what you are telling chapters is going in one ear and out the other, if they will just continue to do the things they want to do without listening to your suggestions. For me, it was extremely rewarding to see that since my last visit, the chapter had taken my advice and ran with it. For me, it affirmed that what I am doing is important and that the consultant program truly is making an impact on young men all across the country.