Education in Fraternity

July 8th, 2006 by shock

In some ways the concept of education in fraternity can be seen as a new one, but in reality its roots are as old and as deep as those of fraternity itself. In this concept, men are brought into the entire group as individuals and are involved in the entire batch as responsible and participating members. Their talents are used to further the experience offered by the batch, and they are given the same privileges and responsibilities as an initiated member except for the right to witness the Ritual, to vote on matters concerning the Ritual, candidates for initiation or disassociation, or in formal disciplinary hearings. In short, there are no distinctions between initiated and non-initiated members except those stated above; rather, each man is accepted on his own merits and is made a responsible member of the fraternitv from the beginning.

The last concept is important because it recognizes the fact that every man is an individual, coming from every conceivable background. As a fraternity, Beta Epsilon learns how to use the rich diversity within each batch to enhance the fraternal experience. Every batch must learn to find ,a place for every individual to grow within the fraternity. When one looks at Beta Epsilon it is discovered that no-great differences exist between initiate and non-initiate except knowledge in the ritualistic mysteries of the fraternity and perhaps a difference in age. All other distinctions made are artificial, and hence create a barrier between men. When two men become friends in a social setting it is normally through finding common interests and they then pursue those interests together. Fraternity need not be any different. Through involvement in the Fraternity, a new member can find those with whom he has the most in common. This is a natural process, and there need be only an opportunity for people to come together for this to occur naturally. Fraternity Education is a natural process which through creative
programming, a batch can provide a positive growing and learning experience. One idea that should be kept in mind is that different people will integrate into the group at different rates.

Actually, a fraternity is a continuous process of getting to know people, so there need not be any alarm if some men appear to be a bit slow in responding with others. Let each man proceed at his own pace, and give everyone the  opportunity to get to know each other through quality programming, a high degree of involvement and a diversification of batch activity. A true Fraternity Education Program gives a batch a sound sense of fraternalism because equality and sharing are all a member knows. Each man will learn how to cope up to other individuals in order to get to know them and in order to bring them into his society. This is an important lesson in fraternity. The cornerstone of Fraternity Education is simple: with regard to each other all individuals in the batch interact with one another on a fraternal level. In short, the correct way in which to treat an Associate Member is just as you would a friend or brother. To make a rigid institution of what is essentially a friend making process is to falsify that process and generally leads to -hazing. There is no “make work” in Beta Epsilon. There are no pledge class (or Associate Member) officers because there is no emphasis on the class’ unity, just on the batch. There are no special duties only for the Associate Members; we are all equally involved in all responsibilities and obligations. There is no place for deliberately insufficient work, like cleaning floors with toothbrushes, or even relying only on one set of members to clean up for us; we must all participate and use our time and resources to the maximum degree possible.

Beta Epsilon has no excessive manpower or time to waste - evervthing we need to contribute to the improvement of the fratenity itself & the society.