Beta Theta Pi - Kansas State University

500 Sunset BUILDING ON THE LEGACY BETA THETA PI AT KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY P arts of our lives have changed significantly since March 2020, and the same is true for Beta at K-State. How the young men slept, ate, and interacted were adjusted as the world dealt with mask mandates and 10- day quarantine periods. As alumni volunteers, we were working to find solutions for problems we did not fathom would materialize, and that includes our pledge education. The last pledge class to go through our traditional recruitment and pledge program was the 2019 class, who are now seniors. During the pandemic, the programs became more individual in nature and activities not consistent with our values were created to fill the gap caused by the inability to gather. The 2020-22 classes were exposed to a makeshift program that was then passed down to the next class. The alumni leadership was made aware of this and worked with chapter leadership to fix it. The decision was then made to notify the Beta Theta Pi Administrative Office for their assistance. The Administrative Office and Gamma Epsilon alumni performed individual interviews to determine what had taken place and if the undergraduates wanted to work toward a more positive direction for Beta Theta Pi moving forward. Eighty-five percent of the undergraduates requested an interview to discuss the current operations of Gamma Epsilon and make a commitment to be a part of what has made the chapter so strong over the years. Seventeen members, the majority seniors, were given early alumni status, so we will be moving forward with 65 brothers. The interview process allowed us to see the strong leadership that exists within our young brothers but also shed light adjustments that need to be made. We are confident there are strong brothers at 500 Sunset who will lead us in the right direction. With a strong recruitment effort, we expect to be back at 90 members this fall. Strengthening Gamma Epsilon— Strengthening 500 Sunset Alumni Support Vital to Active Chapter Success It is important we change our culture to return to the traditional values of Gamma Epsilon, and our next steps will be facilitating this. To begin the process, we hosted a post-Membership Review Retreat on February 27 to: • Return to our values of mutual assistance, intellectual growth, and trust. • Set the foundation for reemphasizing our membership expectations. • Discuss accountability to rebuild this framework. Over the rest of the spring, our priorities are clear: • Recruit and place additional chapter volunteers to ensure all key officers are supported. • Build a 2022 calendar, including social, philanthropy, service, brotherhood, and leadership events. • Work with chapter leadership to communicate the changes and get buy-in. • Achieve maximum attendance at the Wooden Institute and General Convention.

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