Known to many within the Greek community, last Friday was Fall Bid Night. Bid night is one of two nights per year that IFC fraternities can take in new members.
As a brother of the Lodge, bid night is one of my favorite nights of the year. All of us enjoy welcoming new men to our community — and all of our traditions that occur that night. This year, we were proud to welcome six men. I was very happy with the number and quality of men that decided to join us.
This is the first time that we have welcomed new members in the Fall. I only expected a small change in the formula by having a fall class. Typically, we’d continue doing the same recruitment events, same social events, and same philanthropy events. I didn’t expect much of that to change a week ago, but this week I feel differently.
Wednesday, we hosted Michael Ayalon, the former Executive Director of Sigma Pi, for a discussion on hazing prevention, dinner, and general discussion on improving our chapter. Ayalon was a great presenter and did not devolve into the typical “Greek life is bad” mantra; instead, he stated that Greek life is the best thing ever — if it’s done right. Part of his discussion included how tradition is never an excuse.
I never want to forsake all of our traditions. I absolutely love putting on a suit for dinner every day of the week at 6 p.m. sharp, eating some delicious food cooked by our chef, then enjoying a nice cup of coffee outside with everyone before each one of us goes on with the rest of our respective days. We’ve done formal dinners for years upon years — well before I had even heard of Stevens before. Some of my fondest memories are at dinner with my brothers.
In fact, my favorite dinner memory was when I was invited to Thanksgiving dinner my freshman year. During dinner, one of the brothers stopped his conversation while waiting for dinner and asked me, from the front of the table in front of all 35 people, “Mark, what are you thankful for?” It made me feel accepted. It made me feel a part of everything. So when I received my bid to join the Lodge at the beginning of the Spring semester, my answer was 100% “yes.”
Dinner is one of our strongest traditions here at the Lodge — and I never want to forsake that. Traditions are a strong glue that binds our brotherhood together. However, I think it’s important to deeply examine the why. Why are we doing this? As a senior, I’ve seen and heard a lot of different things that happen across Greek organizations. I know that we are going to be thinking about everything we do. But what about other organizations? I can’t speak for what goes on elsewhere.
Examining the why can only make us better — and with the boys back in town — there isn’t a better time for all of us to grow.
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