Drew Hunter – July 24, 2010
53rd General Assembly – Biltmore Resort & Spa
Thank you, Ed. Before I begin, I want to personally share my thanks to you before this delegation of brothers and supporters of our organization. Your lifetime of service to our Fraternity as a undergraduate leader, a former staff member, as a High Pi, as the developer of LEAP, the first Lambda Chi Alpha Leadership program, and now culminating as a brother who is wrapping up 12 years of service on the Grand High Zeta has been a remarkable journey of dedication and brotherly love. I would like to personally thank you for all that you have done for Lambda Chi Alpha and for me. Ed, you have always made the undergraduate experience a priority and your vision and support has been instrumental in the development of the entire True Brother Initiative. Brothers and guests please join me in giving Ed Leonard now our former Grand High Alpha a rousing Lambda Chi Alpha cheer. Hip, Hip, Hurray.
Before I go into my remarks here, I think I’ll state the obvious. Brothers, we have hit that point in the Assembly where a great deal has been accomplished and there isn’t much left to do but to share in our brotherhood and celebrate tonight with our closing banquet. That also means that I understand that for those of you who have served as delegates to the General Assembly and spent hours in your committee meetings and here in the Legislative Sessions, I am now the only thing left keeping you all from enjoying some much deserved free time at the pool…so I will do my best to keep this brief.
Six years ago, I agreed to run for the Grand High Zeta at the urging of many brothers and was rewarded with the support of the Assembly and became Grand High Kappa. I first ran for the Grand High Zeta because, like for so many of us, Lambda Chi Alpha clearly ranks as one of the most important decisions I have ever made in my life and one that I have never regretted for a minute. Doc Dirghalli has said it best many times when he describes Lambda Chi Alpha as nothing more than an idea. An idea that a fraternity really can live up to its goals of helping create better men. An idea that flourishes when we share a common set of values, and when we work hard to truly hold out those values for all to see. In doing so, we attract more men to our bond who want to be part of something special and to make a difference in each others lives. Through Lambda Chi Alpha we become our brothers’ brothers and we are obligated to do our best to challenge ourselves and each other to grow into being the best men and brothers we can be.
I am proud that during the last six years, our Fraternity has rediscovered who we are and who we can be. As we say in the Lambda Chi Chant, “It’s Great to be a Lambda Chi….” Well, I would also add that it is a “Great Time to be a Lambda Chi.” Right? Today, Lambda Chi Alpha is the talk of the Fraternity world in a good way and the envy of other Fraternities. Our True Brother Initiative is years ahead of schedule in both acceptance at the chapter level and in how it has been embraced by our undergraduate brothers and alumni alike. A great accomplishment in a very short period of time.
Financially, despite the hard economic times we are all enduring, Lambda Chi Alpha has returned to a sound financial position and the great work of our staff, my fellow Grand High Zeta Brothers and all of you who continue to recruit more men and retain them in your chapters all share in the credit for this turn-a-round. Today’s vote approving the dues increase will also go a long way in solidifying this goal. A great effort from all of us has made this possible.
Finally, after years of struggles in this area, we are now clearly the cutting edge Fraternity in positive engagement of our alumni. Our Master Steward and chapter volunteer rolls are providing for alumni involvement at an all time high. For our undergraduate brothers, this translates into greater support, mentorship and career networking opportunities than ever before. And, we simply have the best, professional staff in the business working on all of our behalf. I pledge to all of you that we will over the next four years stay the course and continue to build and grow as True Brothers in ZAX.
So as I said, “It’s a Great Time to be a Lambda Chi…..” Let’s say it together….
As the 23rd Grand High Alpha of our great Fraternity, I want to share first and foremost that this is a significant honor and opportunity to continue to try to give back to an organization that I dearly love. At my own chapter, I learned early on the power of brotherly love. When I first found Lambda Chi Alpha, I was not the most serious brother my chapter ever chose to bid – and frankly I got caught up in a great deal of craziness and unabashed fun early on. Honestly, for much of my freshman year, that is all I thought Fraternity was supposed to be. It was a combination of upper classmen and alumni advisors in my chapter who first called me out and challenged me to be a better man and brother. The gift they gave me was having faith that that I could do better and be better. This was my first real lesson in brotherhood. I have spent my life trying to live up to that faith.
It was also brothers who kept me in college my sophomore year at the University of Denver when my family fell on tough economic times and I was seriously considering dropping out. Brothers helped me find and navigate financial aid, get scholarships, a job and most importantly to stay in school. They didn’t have to do it -- and at the time I wasn’t sure yet why they did. It was my second real lesson in brotherhood and one that I have been trying to repay again and again over the years as I’ve worked with my own chapter as a High Pi.
These are but a couple of real life experiences and examples of brotherhood that have brought me here before you today. Without Lambda Chi Alpha, I seriously doubt I would be the man that stands before you today and that is a debt that I will never be able to fully repay. There is an old saying that youth is wasted on the young….and with all due respect to our undergraduates, I think that the same can be said about brotherhood. Although I thought I understood the concept brotherhood when I was an undergraduate, I can honestly say that every day it becomes a stronger and stronger power in my life. That is why I am here before you now and why so many hundreds of others prioritize service to our fraternity as alumni.
To my undergraduate brothers in this room, I ask you have the personal courage to follow our learning model in Lambda Chi Alpha. Your three, four or, for some of you, five or more years or so as an undergraduate will go by very fast. Please heed my advice and purposefully take time to reflect on the important personal and organizational events in your chapter and in your life in the name of brotherhood. Figure out at an emotional level what they mean to you and what you learned or gained from them. Create opportunities for dialogue on these important events and I guarantee you that you will grow your brotherhood for yourself and at the chapter level.
Alright, I hear the pool calling louder and louder, so let me get to what I am envisioning as your 23rd Grand High Alpha. Few who have worked with me over the last six years should be surprised when I start with True Brother. During my interview earlier this week, one of the undergraduates serving on the Nominating Committee asked me what my biggest fear for the future of Lambda Chi Alpha would be. After reflecting on it and ruling out obvious worldwide calamities that might occur and would be out of our control, I shared that my biggest fear would be that Lambda Chi Alpha would lose course and fail to fully embrace the opportunity that the True Brother Initiative offers. So first of all, I want to make it clear that I will do all that I can to make sure that Lambda Chi Alpha continues to devote the time, talent and resources to continue to build and grow this initiative. We owe it to our undergraduate brothers now and into the future.
I will also make sure that this effort continues to be accountable to our organization. That we continue to research the impact of True Brother and that as our Ritual teaches we see this initiative as ever growing. Brothers, through True Brother, Lambda Chi Alpha is the first and only Fraternity that can prove with actual, independently reviewed data that being involved in our organization positively impacts the developmental growth of our undergraduate brothers. We build better men. When you hear Bill Farkas say that we are evolving into a co-curricular organization, this is what he means. We can demonstrate to our host colleges and universities that Lambda Chi Alpha complements the educational mission of their campus. Brothers, if your chapter has yet to embrace what we are doing here in True Brother, please have some faith, demonstrate some personal courage and use your leadership positions to help your Zeta embrace True Brother.
My second major priority involves building upon the importance of growing the concept that Lambda Chi Alpha is for life. We will be creating a new Board level Committee to look at the alumni experience in Lambda Chi and how we can continue to grow this experience so more and more brothers return to give back their time, talent and resources to their chapter and the General Fraternity. We will build upon the training opportunities of Advisors College for our chapter level alumni volunteers and we’ll be complementing the Master Steward program with a purposeful recruitment and training effort of younger alumni as Stewards to concentrate on helping deliver our many programs at the chapter level.
Moving past the old model of LCAP, where Lambda Chi Alpha became landlords for several of our chapters and that as a Grand High Zeta we have done our best in recent years to close down, I am proposing that we find the best minds out there in our brotherhood on the housing topic and that we create a consultant group of alumni brothers to be available to help our House Corporations and undergraduates get a better grip on all that goes into maintaining a chapter house from a life safety and financial health perspective. Many of our chapter houses are becoming burdens on our undergraduates and fail to be as attractive as other residential opportunities. We need to plan as an organization how to best help our chapters in their housing decisions so our undergraduate leaders can concentrate on building their brotherhoods vs. keeping an aging structure safe.
Providing the best support for chapter operations will continue to be a priority. As a Grand High Zeta we will do our best to make sure the organization has the resources to lead the fraternity world in support for our chapters. As John Holloway shared at the convocation Friday morning, we are growing and adding support to our chapters while most of our peer organizations are cutting back or reducing services. We will continue to find a good balance in how we can maximize technology and communications to help our chapters while keeping the brother to brother contacts of our ELC visits, conclaves, and efforts lead by the Master Stewards of each Conclave. This is an area where we will continue to shine.
Finally, I want to assure everyone here that when we talk about our organization values, that is not something that is directed only at our Call to Brotherhood education at the chapter level. Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Service and Stewardship, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage are the frameworks for how we as Lambda Chi Alpha’s voluntarily agree to live our lives. As Grand High Alpha, I pledge to all of you that I -- and the returning and newly elected brothers of the Grand High Zeta will also live by these values and our decisions will be measured against them. We will operate as transparently as possible as a Board and we will be available and accountable to this brotherhood for the leadership and vision we provide on your behalf.
So with all of this in mind, I want to close by thanking a few people who have given me this great opportunity to give back to our organization. Ed and my brothers on the current Grand High Zeta, each of you are special in your service and thank you for your faith in me as I have tried to be the architect and head cheer leader for the True Brother Initiative. Your service to our Fraternity will go down in our history as a “Great Time for Lambda Chi”. I would also like to extend this thank you to the many members of the Board of Counselors here today. You all are again living proof of Lambda Chi for life and I value so much the wisdom and faith that you all share.
To True Brother Council made up of fellow Brothers Mike Smith, Wayne Gossard, Elgan Baker, Eric Berger and staff brothers John Holloway, Tim Reuter, Tad Lichtenauer and Aaron Parker – serving with you all to build this important initiative has been beyond rewarding. In extension to all of the Master Stewards whose time and expertise is now an indispensable part of our ability to deliver programs at the chapter level. And to Bill Farkas, our Executive Vice President who has had complete faith in supporting our efforts on behalf of True Brother. Thank you.
To all of my brothers in Alpha Pi who had faith in me all of those years ago by offering me the hand of brotherhood and teaching me what it meant, especially Brother Carl Hyde who was my High Pi for many years and to those I followed on the Grand High Zeta including two former Grand High Alpha’s Russell Shetterly and Tozier Brown. And, finally to Mike Smith whom I have advised with at Denver for more years than either of us care to recall…thank you.
To my beloved wife Margaret Carolyn Hunter…thank you for all of your support, patience and love demonstrated time and again for Lambda Chi Alpha. Thank you for being here now and for me for the last two decades.
And lastly, to all of our undergraduate brothers gathered here today – you are what this is all about. Thank you for all you do as Lambda Chi’s.
Brothers, again It Truly is Great to Be a Lambda Chi and a Great Time to Be a Lambda Chi and I hope that four years from now, we will be able to share even more reasons why this is true. Thank you for your faith in me and now, only our former Grand High Alpha stands between you and the pool being open!