Alpha Sigma Phi - University of Washington

3 Many fraternity chapters throughout the country, and even a couple here at the UW, have been extinguished for a minimum of four or five years for the wanton disregard of the health and safety of their new members. Some of these malignant acts have even resulted in death, as in the extraor- dinarily sad case at Penn State two years ago. In that case, the Beta house has been banned forever, and those involved are scheduled to report to prison later this month. At no time in my fraternity career have I seen campus administrations locally and throughout the country so quickly shut down houses at the first sign of the possible disregard for the health and safety of the new members in an organization. I am among the first people to invite a chapter to leave campus for a very long time if they do indeed maliciously endanger their new members. In the case of one UW house, they are still gone some 20+ years later. One common theme among the problems throughout the country has been the abuse of hard alcohol. Hard alcohol consumed quickly and in significant quantities can kill a person. That's no secret, but massive abuse of hard alcohol over the past number of years has unfortunately crept into the college atmosphere with dire consequences. I honestly don't know if anyone knows precisely how part of the college experience went from the days of having a couple of social beers to the tragic days of quickly consuming a fifth of hard alcohol among two or three students. I have never been more proud of the Mu undergrads than this past autumn quarter when they made the mature deicision on their own to eliminate hard alcohol from the chapter house. No hard alcohol is permitted on the chapter house property. How does this heightened stance on hard alcohol and on new member activities come into play at the 28 remaining UW fraternities and at Mu Chapter? In the early part of autumn quarter 2018, Mu Chapter embarked on a complete restructuring of the "pledge pro- gram." We have, along with the country, even used different words to describe first-year members. While you might still hear the term "pledge" it is more likely that the term "new member" is certainly used, and at Mu you'll hear the term "new brother" -- and then upon initiation about 25 days later "newly initiated brother" is the descriptor. What used to be a pledgeship of perhaps four or five months, is now approximately 25 days. Some fraternities throughout the country now have new member periods as short as a few days. If you look back on the Alpha Sig history, the new brothers at Yale were "tapped" based upon their stellar character and background and then actually initiated very shortly thereafter. Some will wonder how a fraternity chapter can possibly teach a new brother everything there is to know in just 25 days! The answer is, you can't! But you can start the process of becom- ing a great Alpha Sig in that first short period of time, and then over many future months the additional learning takes place. Mu Chapter has had the extraordinary benefit of the careful engagement and wise counsel of former Grand Senior Presi- dent Mark Still this past school year. Importantly, Mark is now serving as the advisor and mentor to the undergrad officer responsible for the new brother orientation program. In addition to his guidance of the new brother orientation program, Mark also conducted a very successful strategic planning session over a period of many weeks involving a wide array of the undergrad leaders. As the result of the strategic planning and other interactive activities, Mu Chapter will be focused on five major areas for 2019-2020: Academics; Brotherhood; Culture; Growth; and Philanthropy. While the topics that I have addressed in this current Musings column are very serious and require continuous evaluation and appro- priate strategic change, I am proud of the fact that Mu Chapter has never been stronger, and is prepared, along with the other premier houses at the UW, to continuously achieve the paramount and fundamental goals of academic excellence along with a significant brotherhood experience that have been the hallmark of our glorious national fraternity since our founding at Yale in 1845. Photo by Will Wilson CHANGE IS GOOD, EVEN VITAL! BOB STRECKER '78 Grand Chapter Advisor Mu's new brother orientation program consists of the following: Week One: Welcome to the House / Expectations / Culture / Orientation Week Two: Scholarship Week Three: Physical and Mental Health Week Four: Brotherhood Each week also includes an all-house activity such as broomball or paintball. Initiation takes place during the fourth week and is followed by a steak and lobster celebration dinner and poker night.

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