THE EXPONENT: Volume 1, Number 3 A publication of the Triangle National Council Fraternity Strengthening Committee

"All your strength is in your union. All your danger is in discord; Therefore be at peace henceforward, And as brothers live together." --Longfellow

"With regard to excellence, it is not enough to know, but we must try to have and use it." --Aristotle

Contents

• Brotherhood
  • Responsibilities of Brothers
  • Ten Pretty Good Rules
• Chapter Management
  • The Chapter President
  • Committee Usage - The Short Course
  • The Chapter President
• National Chapter Spotlight
  • Building Triangle One Brother at a Time - The Summit Program
• Chapter Spotlight
• Spotlight on Prominent Triangles

Did you know that the National Constitution requires chapters to at least read through the Ritual at an active chapter meeting near the beginning of each school term? How many of you have done this?

I've only received two responses to the "Eating Together Survey" from the last issue...not a statistically significant sample to say the least. Please respond if you haven't already.

Responsibilities of Brothers

Kurt Over pitt83

National Council

Each brother initiated into Triangle Fraternity should be aware of the following implicit and explicit responsibilities:

1. We are expected to obey, and in fact live, the Code of Ethics. Failure to do this is detrimental to the welfare of the Chapter. Each brother's individual activities reflects upon the fraternity and its other members.

   Each brother is a representative of the Fraternity from the moment they first take their pledge oath.

    

2. The officers of the Fraternity must have the enthusiastic support of the brothers who are not officers. Officers are elected to facilitate the implementation of the will of the chapter as a whole. Officers should not be expected to do all the thinking and decision-making, hard work is needed from all members of the chapter.

    

3. Cooperation and acceptance of chapters decisions must be made by all brothers regardless of their personal opinion on the matter. Once the chapter has decided on a course of action, all brothers should unite in implement the decision as efficiently and successfully as possible.

    

4. Dynamic decision making as a group requires a lot of communication between brothers, officers, and alumni. If possible, much of this communication can take place outside of regular meetings. Reaching a consensus is a time-consuming process.

Ten Pretty Good Rules

Mark Snyder minn91

1. Never wrestle with a pig, you both get dirty, and the pig likes it.
2. Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference.
3. Observe everything. Admire nothing.
4. It's easier to obtain forgiveness than it is permission.
5. Rarely resist the opportunity to keep your mouth shut.
6. Don't ask the question if you cannot live with the answer.
7. If you want a new idea, read an old book.
8. If you don't know where you are going, any path will get you there.
9. Never have a philosophy which supports a lack of courage.
10. Never look back, unless you intend to go that way.

"The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master." --Rousseau

The Chapter President

Shawn Diedtrich-Norman minn90

The Minnesota chapter bylaws lists the president's duties as follows, "The President shall preside over all meetings of the Active Organization; he shall be the executive officer of the active organization; he shall represent the Active Organization on the Alumni Board of the Minnesota Chapter of Triangle; and he shall perform such duties as described in the Ritual of Triangle and as his office may require." Not much to go on is it. What does it mean?

Presiding over meetings seem pretty easy and in fact it sometimes is, but there some other duties that go along with the planning of meetings and conducting a chapter's business. The president needs to ascertain and decide what belongs on the agenda and what doesn't, which can be a long process in itself. He gets to control debate on almost any official business the chapter conducts, and to accomplish this it is his duty to be aware of the chapter's direction, Constitution, Ritual and other governing documents. He becomes the arbiter of unsolvable problems at meetings and usually is the chapter's final decision maker.

Next, the president serves as the executive officer of the organization. This is where most of the "behind the scenes" administrative duties occur. He needs to ensure that all proper forms from the National office, University, and Greek system are turned in, as well as being responsible for what is written on those forms. The president also delegates authority to his officers in order that chapter operations can run smoothly. Other officers of the chapter have their duties, but not every issue or task falls into one person's influence. He also needs to serve as the chapter information sponge and funnel. The president will be asked the most diverse set of questions imaginable and will be expected to know the answers to everything, or at least know where to find the answer. He will also be expected to get the correct information to the people in his chapter who need it.

The next stanza states that the president serves on the alumni board. Along with this function, the president may also serve as the liaison to the community, Greek system, university and any other entity conducting business with the fraternity. Another term for this is figurehead, or public relations and can result in some of the most stressful and rewarding experiences of being president

The most important and nebulous piece of the president puzzle is the next one, "and he shall perform such duties as described in the Ritual of Triangle and as his office may require." It is the duty of the president to try to behave as a model brother. His actions should speak much louder than his words. He must be willing to be the unpopular guy in the chapter when the unpopular thing needs to be done. And he must remind others of their duty and responsibility to the Code of Ethics and Ritual.

So, what does it take? Other than perseverance and a sane mind, a president needs to have many qualities. A president needs some of the following qualities more than others, and definitely all need not be present. But in order to be the most effective executive officer possible, the president needs to strive for all of these qualities. These qualities include, but are not limited to being trustworthy, organized, level-headed, fair, responsible, positive, good with people, forward thinking, service-oriented, a good listener, and a good brother. All of these traits will make a president an excellent leader and well respected and able to take criticism, Most of these traits operate on a continuum. I have witnessed unorganized presidents and officers be incredibly responsible and trustworthy, as well as experienced president's who exhibited the best of all the above qualities, but wasn't a good listener and became an ineffective officer. But if I had to choose one quality important for a president in addition to being a good brother, it would have to be service-oriented. It a president has that as the central focus of his administration, there will be nothing the chapter and its officers can't accomplish.

So know that you know what a president is, why would anyone want to run for it? Everyone has their reasons, ranging from being the only one who would run to wanting to affect a positive change in the chapter. I ran because I wanted to serve my chapter as best as I could. I felt that was the Presidency. It is also a great honor to be chosen among your peers to lead them. As president, one is able to affect and direct needed change in a chapter. A great amount of confidence and respect is bestowed upon the president when he is elected. Brothers will look to the office for tough decisions and rely on top officer to help shape the direction for the chapter. But the office also offers the opportunity to learn a multitude of small business functions, to practice people skills, and most importantly, have fun. The president will learn finances, programming, recruitment, house maintenance (or house acquisition), counseling, conducting meetings and preparation, the art of delegation, and long term planning. I know not of any position in a company, other than CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation, that offers the opportunity to gain experience in so many areas. If nothing else, the presidency was a great place to learn and practice life.

Indeed, the president is the most misunderstood officer. He can't do everything, yet he must get everything done. He can have an opinion, but must temper it to the wishes of the chapter. He will get tons of recognition when things go right and much of the discipline when they go wrong. Much of his work is done behind the scenes and at times he may appear he is not doing much at all. In fact, when things work perfectly, the president won't have much to do at all. But one thing is for sure. There is nothing like serving as the president of a fraternity. The rewards and experience are priceless.

Committee Usage - The Short Course

Shawn Diedtrich-Norman minn90

Why should anyone consider moving to a committee structure?

The reasons are simple. First, a chapter can accomplish more with less by dividing its labor. Without a committee structure, chapters tend to concentrate in one or two challenges at a time. But with a committee structure, a chapter can start working on four, five or even six different problems at one time, and get all of them solved in a short period of time.

Second, a committee is less formal and tends to generate input from all the participants. A formal chapter meeting can seem intimidating to those who generally do not speak up, but the committee provides an intimate group and less chance to forget someone is there. A structure with four or five standing committees meeting weekly or bi-weekly allows people to pick and choose the issues they want to discuss and merely give a yea or nay when it comes to a vote in the formal chapter meeting.

Third, because a committee structure provides for more opportunities to participate, brothers will find that there is a greater sense of belonging. When someone is directly involved in solving a problem or making a decision, they feel more connected to the process and will become more involved. If you are having trouble involving people in a chapter meeting, ask them to head a committee of their interest, give them a deadline, and watch them transform from dead weight to one of your more active members.

Lastly, the committee, like any other social event, provides more opportunities for brothers to bond and learn more about each other. This is essentially what being in a fraternity is all about. All of us learn the favorite beverage or dance song of each of our brothers. If you serve on a committee with a brother, that is just one more way to get to know him. You never know, the brother you serve with on a chapter committee may be the same brother you work with in an industry or political committee.

So why form a committee? The committee is one of the best vehicles to organize manpower, get everyone involved, and solve some of your chapter's toughest problems. It allows one to experience social dynamics and gain insight to more chapter operations. Sounds great doesn't it. So why aren't more chapter using it? Basically, they are unsure of how to set up a successful structure.

Well here are some hints on setting up a successful chapter committee structure:

1. Before anything is written down on paper, or a committee assignment is made, everyone (or at least a strong majority) must make a commitment to excellence. Committees don't work without participation, and unenthusiastic or negative participation doesn't solve anything. Commit yourself and your chapter to doing better.

    

2. Next, comes the meat. Analyze what your chapter does and split these into the chapter's main functions. Look at some of your major officer duties to help you. For example, a chapter needs to rush, mange finances, program social events, or take care of a house. Every chapter has a different way of operating and some different functions, but there is a similar thread through all of them. So in our example, the chapter's main functions would be Rush, Financial, Programming, and Maintenance.

    

3. Next, define the duties, responsibilities and functions of each committee. Some questions to ask are, What is the committee's sphere of influence, what can it do without a full chapter vote, how many members should this committee have, what should this committee be responsible for, which of our existing officers will be part of this committee? Try as best you can to define as much of a framework for the committee. Don't try to create every hypothetical problem and throw it into a committee, rather rely on your president's or chapter's judgment to get the pending challenge into the proper committee.

   For example, the Rush committee above will be responsible for recruiting members, handing out bids (or compiling information about each rushee so that the chapter can offer bids), creating rush brochures, educating pledges, and organization of all bidding, pledging and Ritual ceremonies. The head of the committee will be the Rush Chair, and the committee will consist of 25% of the current active membership. (I suggest percentages because it doesn't matter whether your chapter is twenty men or eighty men strong.)

    

4. Assign brothers to committees. Ask them which area they would like to serve, and what are their first and second choices in case one of their committees choices are full. The committee heads should set weekly or bi-weekly dates depending on the time of the year and how much needs to be accomplished. For example, the rush committee above will meet weekly monthly in the summer, weekly in the fall, bi-weekly in the winter, and weekly again in the spring. The committee needs to ready itself and the chapter in the summer and fall, analyze its performance in the winter, and prepare for next year's rush in the spring.

1. Lack of commitment. There is nothing that kills a committee faster than apathy. Change assignments to try to motivate some members. Put them in charge. Look for innovative ways to motivate your members. If a majority of your members don't buy into the committee idea, it will be tough to man them.

    

2. Red tape. Don't make your committees jump through hoops to get simple things done. Not everyone can or wants to have a say in everything a chapter does. Let people when an issue is coming up in a committee, get those who are interested at the meeting and make a decision. Those who aren't concerned about the color of a T-shirt will thank you.

    

3. Avoid one big committee and seven small ones. Everyone would like to belong to the committee that plans parties or seems to have the most fun. Every committee needs a representative portion of the membership in order to be successful. Rotate assignments if you have a lot of people who want to belong to one committee.

    

4. Power hungry brothers or committees. Because committees are less formal by nature, they are susceptible to those who want to "take-over" and do it their way. Try to balance personalities when making committee assignments and watch some of the committees that seem to be doing "more than their fair share."

    

5. Make sure every committee head makes a report at the chapter meeting. The chapter would be slightly irritated if they find out that they have been committed to cleaning up after the homecoming parade because one committee decided it would be good for the exercise, the day of the cleanup. Make sure everyone knows what is going on in every committee. The report need not be long, but informative.

I suggest you check it out. If you need more information on the process, email the editor of this electronic newsletter, or email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Empower your chapter and become one of the most successful and productive chapters on your campus.

The Chapter President

Jason Evans oks88

Organization: On a personal level, you may or may not be an organized person. As chapter president, though, you have to be. Before the start of each semester, you should have a plan of attack. It doesn't have to be detailed down to the finest point, but it does need some meat to it. A weekly approach works well for this type of planning. Have each week's plan written down and distributed to the membership. Discuss the current week's plan and the plans for future weeks at each chapter meeting. Feel free to modify your original plan when necessary, but try to stick to the plan whenever possible. If you have a plan in place and follow it most of the time, you will be surprised how smoothly the semester will go by.

Organization is also needed on a more detailed level. By this, I mean for each meeting and event, you should have a plan. For a chapter meeting, an agenda should be created and distributed beforehand. The chapter meeting should then follow that agenda. The agenda should have a little flexibility built into it to allow for dealing with topics that surface unexpectedly during the meeting, but once again, try to stick to the plan. Your meetings will not take as long and you will accomplish much more than if there was no plan going in. This type of planning and organization can be applied to all of the events on your semester plan. As each meeting or event approaches, have a plan in place...and follow it.

OK, so now you're organized. You have an overall plan for the semester and will formulate a detailed plan for each item that approaches. That's only a third of your job. You are also the representative of the chapter to the outside world. If an outside party wants to talk to the chapter, they will usually want to talk to you first. Your IFC will look to you to deal with any issues they have with the chapter. Yes, even National Office looks to you to represent your chapter during consultations and at National Meetings. If Bob or Al has an issue with your chapter, they will probably call you as president to discuss the issue. As far as the outside world is concerned, you are the chapter. Even if it means you turn over the issue or question to someone else in the organization, you will probably be sought out first and need to think and act with all of the principles of Triangle.

Another area where your are required to represent your chapter is in a crisis situation. Odds are you will not have to deal with a serious crisis, but if you do, take charge. You are the president and the chapter will look to you to lead it in handling the situation. This doesn't mean that you have to "do it all." It just means that they will look to your for leadership in terms of what to do and the right way to do it. If you don't have a "disaster plan," it might be a good time to write one down and get the chapter involved in doing so. This will not only get you and the chapter thinking ahead about how to deal with a "problem," it should also get you thinking about how to AVOID them in the first place! As an added bonus, the chapter will see your actions and will adapt itself to the new priorities you place on forethought, teamwork, chapter improvement, and just plain old good sense. Representing your chapter in this way, even if it means that you personally have to be the single point of contact with the media or other groups, is one of the things you signed up to do should it become necessary. It may not be fun (so make your chapter so good that you can avoid it), pleasant, or easy, but it is a necessary part of the job.

The third part of your new job can sometimes be the most difficult. As president, you have to find ways to motivate the officers and general members of your chapter. During the course of a normal semester, there is a lot that has to be done. You as president should know what these things are and when they should be complete (see...I told you that organization was a key). You also need to realize that you can't do it all yourself! So in order to get everything done, you need to motivate your officers and the rest of the chapter to do the things they've agreed to do (see also the article about responsibilities of Brothers). The other officers have certain tasks that they are in charge of and these men should also help you motivate folks. As president, your job is to make sure they are completing those tasks properly and in a timely manner. Also, when there is an event such as a National Convention, Regional Workshop, a party with another chapter, or even an event sponsored by your chapter, you should encourage participation from the entire membership.

One of the best ways to get your chapter to be motivated and to get the job done is to show them. Once again, the leadership aspect raises its head... If YOU are involved and are participating as much as possible, the rest of the chapter is more likely to follow your lead. Participate in as many events as possible. Show the rest of the chapter that you value the Brothers and other members, the Brotherhood, the activities the chapter has decided to take part in, and the other things. It is important to the membership, especially the pledge members, to see their president taking an active role in the chapter.

By the time you are president, you are likely to be an upperclassman with a fairly rigorous class load. Keep in mind that as you participate and motivate the chapter, you also need to motivate yourself to keep your studies up. You are there to get an education first and so is the rest of the chapter. Remember that when you make your semester plan and in all your day-to-day activities. Besides, if you get good grades, you'll be showing the importance of that aspect of the Triangle experience to the other members!

So now you know the secrets of a successful chapter presidency. Organize the chapter's semester and each of the events therein. Represent that chapter to all outside parties. Motivate the chapter to get everything completed in good order. Keep these three things (at least) in mind throughout the semester and you'll be amazed at how much you as president and the chapter as a whole will have accomplished.

National Chapter Spotlight

Building Triangle One Brother at a Time - The Summit Program

Steve Heitert mom81

National President

Simply joining Triangle Fraternity does not make you a better person, scholar, or citizen, but participating in a full Fraternity experience can and does foster individual growth. The strength of Triangle Fraternity is dependent upon the strength of our chapters and the strength of our chapters is dependent upon the strength of our members.

The Summit Program approaches Fraternity and chapter strength from ground level - the individual Brother. If each chapter makes the effort to nurture the development of each member, the entire Fraternity prospers. Triangle can no longer afford the luxury of pledging and initiating Brothers and then leaving their development up to fate. Each chapter must take responsibility for and foster this development for all members, from pledges to alumni.

Seven basic areas are identified as being paramount to a full Fraternity experience. Those areas are the pledge program, social program, communication, community service, scholastics, university involvement, and personal development. How each of these areas are addressed is completely up to the individual chapter.

The Summit Program does not replace the current Chapter Performance Award (CPA). The purpose of formalizing the program is to provide a vehicle for recognizing the success of our chapters and as a means of sharing their good ideas and hard work with other chapters. Recognition will come for each individual category as well for the best overall "Summit Chapter."

Participation in the Summit Program is voluntary. The first step to becoming a Summit Chapter is gaining the support of the chapter. It is recommended to schedule a retreat for the officers, the entire chapter, or both to make plans and set goals for the semester. The degree of participation in the program is an individual decision. Large chapters may decide to participate in all categories while growing chapters may decide to address only portions of the program.

The National Office will help in any manner they can. This may include passing on ideas proven successful, providing advice, guidance, or simply acting as a sounding board. Remember that the only way for membership development to be successful is for the chapter to take responsibility and make it happen.

Chapter Spotlight
No chapter has yet put together a short article about themselves or an event they do/idea they have. I wish someone would! See previous issues of the EXPONENT or email the editor for guidelines.

Spotlight on Prominent Triangles
We have been hoping to have a mini-interview with Brother Ed McCracken here. For those of you who don't know him, he's the big guy at Silicon Graphics. Unfortunately, Ed's schedule has apparently not been conducive to the interview (being conducted via email), though Brother Mark Snyder has kept pestering him and Brother Steve Chase has helped, too. Maybe in the next issue!

Tim Eiler
Triangle Fraternity National Councilman

Relentless Pursuit of EXCELLENCE!!!!