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Today we celebrate Delta Chi’s 125 years of existence on this earth. We also mourn the lose of brother Colin Brough and the brothers involved in the horrific tragedy in Flagstaff, Arizona. Please keep them, their families, and the community in your thoughts and prayers.
I remember being at the Centennial celebration a brief 25 years ago, and at that time, I never imagined 25 years later that I would be your 52nd “AA”. What an incredible honor! The last 25 years have been an incredible and unforgettable fraternity experience for me. How many reading this right now were at the Centennial celebration? Undergraduates, take note that anyone attending the Centennial celebration has been actively involved since before most of you were born! This is what makes Delta Chi great! And in order to stay great, continued involvement and support from alumni is necessary.
As Founder Albert Sullard Barnes said, “Delta Chi is not a weekend or once a year affair, but a lifelong opportunity and privilege.”
As brothers of Delta Chi, it is our obligation to support our Fraternity and the Educational Foundation in order to continue to grow and offer educational programs for our chapters. The social, business, and conflict resolution skills acquired during the undergraduate experience are invaluable strengths that truly prepare men for life after college.
As alumni, we must stay committed and focused to continue to mentor, guide, and teach our undergraduate brothers as they navigate through all the challenges of college, the fraternity experience, and other challenges that life presents to them.
Alumni support is critical for the future of Delta Chi, and to you undergraduates reading this, YOU are the future alumni. YOU are the future leaders of this great fraternity. YOUR responsibility to Delta Chi has only just begun.
I have a question for you… Who is the most important person in Delta Chi? It certainly is not me, or any member of the Board of Regents. It is not any Past “AA”, member of the Order of the White Carnation, nor your chapter “A”. It is the Associate Member.
These men are by far the most important individuals in Delta Chi. The Associate Members are the future of Delta Chi – they are the future leaders of your chapters and this Fraternity. How is this Fraternity supposed to survive if the associate members do not understand the meaning of promoting friendship, developing character, advancing justice, and assisting in the acquisition of a sound education?
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Our associate members will love and respect Delta Chi even more when our student members offer a fraternity experience full of value and lead by example. Hazing will not accomplish this, and in fact, it will lead to the total opposite. I was initiated in 1985 at The University of Massachusetts. Thirty years ago the culture was certainly different, but I will tell you this, I WAS NOT HAZED. I went through the new member program that was authorized by Headquarters and gained so much respect for Delta Chi that I vowed to stay involved the rest of my life.
There is no room for hazing in Delta Chi, and I believe that hazing can and will kill some fraternities in the near future. I hope that Delta Chi is not a victim of this; this is a fate we can control. If we do not want to risk losing a chapter or the whole organization due to this harmful and hateful act, the answer is simple: do not do it. Offer the valuable fraternity experience that our Founders intended for our members.
As noted in the Cornerstone, “Brotherhood is a two-way street. If you accept its advantages, you must live up to its obligations.”
Please remember, being a Delta Chi is not an oath you take once, it is an oath you live everyday. Happy Founders’ Day brothers!
In The Bond,
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][image_with_animation image_url=”4426″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][image_with_animation image_url=”5010″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]MILES C. WASHBURN, Massachusetts ’87
52nd “AA”
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