Archive for March, 2006

The US, MLB and WBC

Bro. Prince Sherwood recently sent the following letter:

Greetings Honorable President, Bro. Paul Griffin; Distinguished Regional Directors and National Director of Social Action.

The United States and Major Leaque Baseball recently played host to the World Baseball Classic.  The U.S. State Department initially denied entry to the Cuban Baseball team because of the long standing foreign policy position against Cuba.  After the teams of several countries threatened to pull out of the tournament, Cuba and the U.S. reached an agreement whereby all proceeds earned by the Cuban team would be donated to Katrina victims leaving the Cubans with Zero Dollars from the event.
Read more…

Vote Chris Rey for SE Regional Director

i first met bro. chris rey at conclave LA last july. he delivered the technology workshop and i made sure to introduce myself. given the web centric nature of his presentation and the fact i work for Yahoo!, i was pretty sure we’d keep in touch. a month later, chris asked me to succeed him as the international director of technology.  he brought me up to speed not only of the website day-to-day operations, but also about how the general board is structured – all while moving, taking classes, and being a father. not only did he put me in the position to succeed as the director of technology, but he was a consistent advocate in both words and actions as the wheels fell of the bus.

as you consider your choice for southeastern regional director this weekend, give strong consideration to brother chris rey. there are few who exemplify the principles of the organization more.
http://www.voterey.com 

Crescent submissions

bro. ron lewis, editor of the Crescent, sent out the following email requesting submissions for the spring 2006 edition:

The Spring 2006 issue of the Crescent Magazine is currently in production. The theme for this issue is Education. As always, we are looking Brothers who are interested in writing articles for the Crescent and Brothers, as well as others, to feature in the Crescent as it relates to our theme and the following topics:

• Mentoring programs (Beta Club, etc.)
• American Cancer Society and March of Dimes events (all programs)
• Scholarship (banquets, recipients, achievements, awards, etc)
• Profile of Successful Educators (School Superintendents, School Board members, University Presidents / Vice
Presidents / Deans / Researchers / Professors, School Principals, teachers, etc)
• Businesses/Non-profits that are involved in Education
• Innovative educational products
• Successful school programs (elementary, middle, high, college, universities) national and international
• Profile of a student who has been successful despite experiencing major adversity

Articles should be between 400 and 1000 words, single-spaced and sent electronically and must be saved as a .rtf or .txt file format. Photos must be saved using the .jpg file format. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and brevity. Please forward all submissions as an email attachment to: crescenteditor@gmail.com. Please contact me via email if you have any questions.

DEADLINE FOR ARTICLES: APRIL 30, 2006 at midnight.

We receive a large volume of submissions thereby making it not possible to include each submission for publication. The Crescent Magazine editorial staff reviews all submissions and actual submissions chosen for publication are based solely at our discretion.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in making our Crescent Magazine the best!

Fraternally,

Brother Ron Lewis, Editor
The Crescent Magazine

western regional wrap up

first off, sorry it’s taken me so long to get this post up. the trip was a whirlwind adventure and after making up for the missed days at work, i’m finally at the point to share my thoughts with you.

Day1: The Arrival – Thursday, March 16

I flew into Ontario on Thursday afternoon. I spoke with Bro. Phil Hubbard, immediate past regional director, and he said they should still be playing golf. Bro. Miller rounds the corner as I’m checking in. It takes him all of 5 seconds to ask when I’m transfering to a chapter up north. Luckily, I’m prepared with as soon as I hear back from Theta Lambda Sigma chapter. I had already planned to spend the rest of the time out in Redondo Beach, but when I retured to the hotel, I could see more Frat buzzing around. I decide to look for the hospitality suite and catch Bro. Donald Jemison’s eye. He knows, I follows, and it’s on.

We rounded 3 corners and I could hear the music bumpin’. Yeah, the Sigmas are in the house! We swing in the door and it’s Frat everywhere. I turn right into the living room and hear an “Ooooh!!!” from Bro. Hubbard. Seconds later, I plop down to Bro. Savage on the couch. I see one of my prophytes, Bro. Richard Batiste and head on to the other room to show him love and Bro. Ruben Galvez is like “damn I just finished telling Richard you’re coming tomorrow”. I make myself a plate of fried chicken and Soror quickly hooks me up with a drink. I post up at the couch and get much love from Bro. Christian Gonzalez.

Minutes later, Bro. Paul Griffin, the Intl. President, walks in. He says a few words and I head over to say hi. This is the first time we’ve seen each other since our little falling out and it’s uneventful. I think we’re both grown ups, right? I asked him if he’d say hi to some students my Sands is bringing to the step show, then I found out he’s leaving Friday afternoon. No probs, I say. You’re easy to replace. Laugh-Laugh, Wink-Wink. Let me see if Donald would say hi to these kids.

As the night wore on, more Frat rolled thru and got the same kinda “OOOOH!” reception I got when walking in from someone in the room. I could tell it was gonna be a good weekend.

Day 2: Time for Business – Friday, March 17

We had the registration booth all setup in the lobby with Frat still arriving. We started the morning session late, but amazingly ended on time. While chatting it up with Paul outside, Bro. Brandon Wallace brought over a neo from Alpha chapter who’s from LA. When he told us he was 2006, we were like “Wow!” He crossed on March 11! He damn near had sand still behind his ears.

Paul’s address was nothing new to me. It was the same information that was presented at the General Board meeting in November. I would say that it was appropriate for the audience, but would have loved to see more progress.

Ruben and I headed out to TGIFriday’s for dinner. Half way thru, Sorors Tiffany, Malika, and Veronica came by so we asked them to join us. Turns out Malika and I are Sands so that was a pleasant surprise. The quality time spent getting to know these members of the Blue & White Phamily was a recurring theme over the weekend. It’s what makes that bond so great.

By now, my Sands, Ashanti was on his was as was Bro. Bjorn Davis – O-Pi was definitely in the house. Bjorn and I bounced between the bar, the hospitality suite, and the dance. I had Bros. Wallace and Jemison say hi to Ashanti’s kids. Pi Zeta from Sin City finally rolled thru. Friday night was kickin’

My last regional conference was San Diego in 1994. I was a neo then and overhwhelmed with the sheer number of Frat at the hotel. While this conference didn’t compare numbers-wise, I’m happy to hear that we had 102 registered, well over the 60 anticipated. But despite the passionate arguments both on and off the floor that marred an otherwise successful regional conference, the thought I want to leave you with is Brotherhood. It’s one of our principles and I believe it’s what really sets us apart. I’ve heard from more than one source that Sigmas are really tight. And the sisters of Pi Zeta Zeta showed how that ‘hood extends well beyond our constitutional bond. With the smaller conference, you kept running into the same Brothers/Sisters over and over again. You really got to know them well. From chillin’ on the floor with Bro. Alex Roy during breaks, to trying to spell Bro. John Izard V (conference planner), to being called “old school” by a collegiate and then turning around and saying at least I’m not as old as Bro. Mike Bush, I loved seeing each and every one of my Frat Brothers this past weekend during regionals. Bro. Gerald Smith suggested we go back to the basics and start with Brotherhood; the rest will follow. I’m happy to say the west is on the right track.

headed for regionals

in a few hours, i’m hopping on a plane to head down for regionals. i didn’t manage to get a guest blogger, but i’ll try to recruit someone while i’m there. worst case is you read about it from my point of view…again. what a weekend this is – regionals, march madness and st. patrick’s day all rolled into one.