Beta Theta Pi - University of Missouri

THE ZETA PHI 2 A MATTER WORTH FIGHTING FOR Alumni Ban Together for the Future of Zeta Phi Chapter I n the early summer, our business manager, Christian Neuner '91, informed us that he would be leaving his position. He has been a valuable part of our management team for the last four years and will be missed. He agreed, however, to stay on and help us through several months of this school year and continues to do so in an advisory role. From July through October, there was a lot of work involved to get the chapter house ready to open, ranging from inventorying needed furniture to getting the house bills and housing contracts. He also has been instrumental in getting several projects completed in time for the 150th Beta celebration. We were very fortunate that Christian agreed to stay on during this difficult and busy period. We wish him the best in his next endeavor! We were lucky to have a very strong group of officers that we worked with this past year. As you know, alumni advisors cannot always be present, making it important that the officers do their duties. is entails continuing valid chapter traditions and stopping traditions that are not in line with our standards as a fraternity. It is not always easy for an officer to take a stand that conflicts with the views of many of his fraternity brothers, but nonetheless, they have been doing a wonderful job in their positions. Our fiscal year ended June 30, and I am pleased to report our financial position remains strong and we have continued to make payments on our debt, which is now down to about $1.6 million. e successful financial year was in spite of additional costs associated with COVID-19. ese costs were associated with how meals were served, as many things had to be individually wrapped. Our housemother, Lana, did an excellent job of managing a tricky situation while not letting costs get out of control. To further help reduce COVID-related costs, Brad Robertson '84 donated sanitizer dispensers which were placed around the house. Eighteen months ago, we were not sure we would even open the house, but we made it! We are pleased that the chapter has finished its probation status that started in the fall of 2020 (which I reported on in a prior newsletter). e disciplinary actions at MU, however, do not favor fraternities. Over the last two years, I have provided information and concern in this newsletter regarding additional supervision of fraternities by the university. e new regulations were promulgated a while ago, and many regulations were deferred due to COVID, such as freshmen being required to live in the dormitories unless certain requirements are met. I believe we are one of only two houses that still have freshmen living in the house. With this new supervision, it is clear that we do not operate in the environment many of you remember from your days at 520 College. e university has not always been fair in their dealings with us, but the facts have not been black and white either. In time, it is highly likely we will be at odds over a future disciplinary issue. Some important statistics I wanted to share include: • Over the last four years there has been a 26% decline in fraternity membership. • ere have been 77 violations of rules— many resulting in disciplinary probation or suspension of a chapter. • e university adopted many of its policies based on a report from consultant DYAD, which appears to be essentially a pre-packaged mixture of policy reforms with a heavy dose of social engineering. e bottom line is that the university is attempting to micromanage fraternities and the young men who are members. All of us remember the difficulty of even suggesting things to men between 18-22 years old, let alone nitpicking them and their activities. ere are additional—substantial—restrictions on recruitment activities as well as all social activities. Many of us are concerned that these new rules and regulations are making the fraternity life less appealing to young men, and they may instead choose to live in the dormitory as freshmen and then move to off- campus housing where they are virtually free from the university's supervision. e absence of a solid, well-run intramural program has also subtracted from fraternity life. In short, fraternities find themselves operating in a hostile environment, and I am concerned that the Greek system, and ultimately the university, will suffer irreparable damage due to excessive supervision by the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. We have significant concern that there is little in the way of due process for fraternities. We have all read about some of the absurd actions at universities on both coasts that directly infringed on the rights of young men. Further, despite lip service to the contrary, there has been disciplinary action taken against an entire fraternity due to the actions of a few members or even a single rogue member. Note that the process is not at all the same when an MU athletic team member gets out of line, or even a member of the faculty or certain other organizations on campus. e hearing process does not allow a fraternity to have meaningful representation, and the panels who render judgements are advised by the same office that brings the charges in the first place. I am not saying that Zeta Phi does not have room for improvement with its behavior and activities, as we are staunchly committed to stamping out hazing, drug abuse, and sexual assault. But for MU, the pendulum has swung far beyond this. For many good young men, the dormitory or off-campus living route may become more appealing than 520 College, and many future high-ability students interested in a vibrant Greek system may no longer choose MU in the first place. In response to the university policies, a group of prominent fraternity alumni have been leading the charge to organize Greek life alumni to take a harder stand against these rules, which we feel are overreaching. If you did a roll call of the fraternities that were on campus when you were in school, you would find that more than a few are gone. In some cases, the house members did not live up to their ideals, but in others, alumni just got tired of dealing with rules that don't fit the modern college man. We will continue to provide updates to you on this matter—but the next time the university calls on you to make a donation, please remind its representatives that much of the reason for your loyalty arises out of your Greek experience and that you are taking note of how the university is treating the Greek community. Yours in __kai__, John Hillhouse '69 Secretary Zeta Phi House Corporation hillhouse@drlb.net

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