brother jonathan mason has announced his candidacy for international president
My Brothers in Sigma:
I hope that this letter will find all of you, your families and all of your personal and business affairs doing well and that you are living in expectation of even better days ahead.
Several weeks ago, a group of brothers from a number of regions and chapters approached me to ask whether I would be willing to serve as the president of our fraternal brotherhood. I was both honored and humbled to have been asked to consider serving in such an important position. After prayerful consideration, I outlined a series of steps to those who made the request of me. My first critical prerequisite has now been met and the time has come for me to share with you the next steps that I feel are necessary for such an undertaking to be fully successful.
On Saturday, March 17th, my home chapter, the Kappa Beta Sigma Chapter of Brooklyn, New York formally nominated me for the office of President of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. The action of my chapter has humbled me and provides me the foundation from which I can now seek the nomination and endorsement of other chapters, regions and brothers throughout our great fraternity.
In the recent past, a number of men have risen to the office of president within our fraternity. In many cases, those who sought office ran on platforms that they had personally designed and ran singular campaigns to put their names before the brotherhood. I do not wish to design a personal platform and I do not want to run a campaign as an individual. Coming forward as a member of Kappa Beta Sigma Chapter makes me responsible to my chapter for every action that I take or do not take. Coming forward under the nomination of my chapter ties me to noble brothers from Kappa Beta Sigma; men like our Most Honorable Ancestor William E. Doar, Jr. who served as our Executive Secretary for thirty years; men who set the highest standard for fraternal service. Coming forward from my chapter, and operating under their mandate, means I will be speaking *for* them rather than speaking *to* them.
I now reach out to you in an effort to expand the base of those to whom I will be responsible; for whom my voice will be the speaker of their desires and for whose hands I will function to carry out their will. I seek your support in an effort to form a partnership between you and me; a partnership in which each of you will serve the senior partner and in which I will serve as the junior partner. Our Founders gave us a very simple plan of operation. Over the past few years, we have neglected to fully utilize the model that they left to us. I pledge myself to work to recreate the mission, the method and the measurement that our Founders provided for us.
Under the Founder*s model, the Conclave decides the direction of the fraternity, the Executive Director carries out the will of the Conclave and the General Board serves as monitor that the Executive Director is faithfully carrying out the Conclave*s will. As you consider whether or not you can support me for the office of president, I ask that you fully recognize that, if elected, I will only be the public face of Phi Beta Sigma. For Sigma to achieve the success that we all deserve; you will have to be willing to do hard work on the local, regional and international level to which I can point as president. If you elect me as president, you will have to be committed to do the real work.
Based upon my understanding of the fraternity and the advice that I have been given by many young brothers and some elders in our brotherhood, if elected, I plan to lean firmly on the principles of *Brotherhood*, *Scholarship* and *Service* that established our fraternity. My mission statement will be the *Sigma Creed*; my method of operation will be the *Rules* of Sigma and the only motto to which I will subscribe will be the motto that our Founders gave us, *Culture for Service and Service for Humanity*.
On this basis, I announce to you that I have accepted the nomination of my chapter. On this basis, I ask that you consider my nomination based upon where you see Sigma going and based upon what you would like to see us providing as an international fraternity. On the basis that I have outlined, I pledge to you that I will give every talent that I have to be faithful to your trust should you choose to invest your confidence in me.
I challenge you to make plans now to come to the Conclave with developed strategies to form the policies and procedures that you want carried out over the next two years by our fraternity. I challenge you to identify others to work with me as national officers who share the Founders philosophy and who will place the same weight on carrying out your will as I have made my goal. Over the next few weeks, I plan to circulate several letters with policy alternatives. I will present these letters to outline a plan of action derived from many discussions I have had with the members of our fraternity. I encourage you to offer your thoughts and opinions as we strive to present a *T.E.A.M.* (Together Everyone Achieves More) platform to the Conclave. These plans will not serve as my program because I plan to have no program other than the one that you will debate, that you will decide and that you will put into motion by your actions at Conclave Charlotte *07.
As I approach the opening of the Conclave, I have both a feeling of hope and a feeling of anticipation. I hope that each member of our fraternity will come to recognize that our officers are only extensions of our members; and that we can and should only do what you have outlined for us to do. I also have a great feeling of anticipation. My bones tell me that Sigma is standing on the brink of a bright new future that we can create together. I am willing to work on your behalf to help create and manifest the future that the world so desperately needs and that Sigma stands in a strong position to assist in delivering.
I am looking forward to working with each of you. If you would like to get involved with our campaign, you are more than welcome. Just send an email or give me a call! *Come along with me. The best is yet to be. The last for which the first was made* (Robert Browning).
Your humble servant in Brotherhood, Scholarship and Service,
Jonathan A. Mason, Sr.
projectswwac@aol.com