My Brothers of Phi Beta Sigma:
I have served as your International Executive Director for the past seven years. I thank you for the confidence that you have shown to me and the great moments that I have experienced in the position that you entrusted to me.
Over the last seven years of my tenure, I have watched our revenues more than triple and our membership rise to the largest number in our history. We are now just weeks from the largest Conclave registration in the history of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. We have much to be proud of and I am grateful you have allowed me to be a part of these most important achievements.
In a few days my official time as your International Executive Director will come to an end. My wish would have been to continue as your IED so that many important changes could be made to strengthen Phi Beta Sigma and to fully expand our operation. At this moment, I cannot control whether or not I may be able to continue as your International Executive Director. But I can control whether or not I offer myself to protect the constitutional and financial integrity of Phi Beta Sigma. I joined Phi Beta Sigma because I believe in Brotherhood, Scholarship and Service. I have given all that I have to serve you well over the past seven years. Because of the special position that I have held over the past seven years, I did not want to simply walk away with much of the job unfinished. There are still many important things that must be done at the Conclave level, at the Executive Director level and at the General Board level in Sigma to make us operate more effectively. I want to share some of those areas of concern with you.
Over the past seven years, I have tried as hard as I could to protect and preserve the resources of Phi Beta Sigma. That job has not always been easy. I have been trained in finance and immediately upon my becoming IED, I began placing financial controls in the process of the International Office. The controls and the cross-checks that I put in place quickly revealed to me that something was very wrong. I was receiving and transferring to the International Treasurer monies that were not being reported by the Treasurer. I began reporting to the General Board almost immediately that there was a discrepancy. Although the International Executive Director is the highest appointed officer in the fraternity, over the past several administrations, the IED has increasingly been treated as though his opinions do not matter. For more than two years, as the International Treasurer continued to convert Phi Beta Sigma’s monies to his personal account at regular intervals, my reports were ignored until the amount removed grew to substantially more than one-quarter of a million dollars. The recent conviction of the former International Treasurer is very regrettable. More regrettable is the fact that the General Board ignored my reports for so long and that all of the necessary protections have still not been put in place by our present General Board.
Recently, a new International Executive Director was appointed. But, in protection of the integrity of the fraternity, I must tell you that I do not believe that the appointment satisfied the requirements set forth in our constitution. Our constitution requires the IED be present so that there is a clear and consistent record of the business process within our fraternity. Because I was excluded from the General Board meeting where the new director was appointed, I have no personal record of that appointment. This is a change from how things were done in the past. I am concerned that our constitution is being consistently violated.
Within the past month, I was presented with an invoice for a payment to the new IED for $3,750.00 for two weeks work (work beginning June 4 and continuing through June 15th). I was not concerned that the new IED (not yet officially installed in office) was being paid at a rate substantially higher than my salary; although he was not yet performing any duties of the position of Executive Director. I was concerned that the invoice was presented when the new director had only been present in the office for approximately one-half of the time that was being claimed. I was also concerned because there was no record of the time or work completed accompanying the invoice request.
I refused to issue the voucher, in protection of the Fraternity, necessitating a telephone meeting of the General Board. Although, once again I was excluded from the meeting of the General Board, I am told that the board agreed to issue two checks for $3, 750.00 to the new IED for his work in the month of June. I still do not have any supporting documentation in the headquarters to justify the payment of $7,500.00 to an officer not yet appointed.
My Brothers I am seriously concerned about what is now happening in Phi Beta Sigma and in the careless way that we are handling our finances and administration. At this point, I feel that I must step forward to offer myself as a candidate for the office of International Treasurer so that someone will be in place who can act as a custodian of the funds of Phi Beta Sigma and as a vigilant watchdog to protect Phi Beta Sigma from making the kinds of critical mistakes (constitutional and financial) that will cause us public disgrace. If I am not able to continue as International Executive Director, I am willing to give everything that I have to protect the constitutional and financial integrity of Phi Beta Sigma as International Treasurer.
I am well trained in finance, management and administration and I know what needs to be done:
- To expand the role and function of the Conclave
- To expand the role and function of the Executive Director
- To place the proper procedures in place to insure fidelity on the part of the General Board, and
- To reorganize and upgrade the administration within the International Office.
If you will entrust the office of International Treasurer to me, I will work to put the Conclave in charge of the business of Phi Beta Sigma. Currently, no Conclave has ever designed the biennial budget of the fraternity. Currently, the International Treasurer reports on the budget of the fraternity after the funds have been spent. The Conclave (our supreme body) has absolutely no present ability to direct or control our spending. I will work with the Executive Director to create a Conclave-level Budget Committee to bring before the Conclave the various budget recommendations so that the Conclave delegates can decide how they wish to spend the fraternity’s monies before a single dime has been spent. My vision is to have this Conclave-level Budget Committee composed of brothers from every level of the fraternity (not simply restricted to the General Board).
If you will entrust the office of International Treasurer to me, I will work to make the office of International Executive Director the actual day-to-day manager of the fraternity (all of the fraternity – not simply restricted to the National Office – and not under the daily mandates of any board officer). I will work to give to the IED authority equal to his title; authority that I never enjoyed during my seven year tenure. If the office of the IED is given the proper authority, it will open the proper pathway so that members, chapters and regions will have a routine way to submit proposals that will end up as Conclave alternatives to be adopted at subsequent Conclaves. The Executive Director does not presently work for the Conclave; but instead, he works for the General Board. That is why the present General Board feels they have no responsibility to even justify the reasons for a possible change to the Conclave prior to making a change. This is also why the present General Board feels that they have no responsibility to present credentials for possible new candidates before they install a new director. I will work to make the IED an employee of, and ultimately responsible to, the Conclave (through the General Board).
If you will entrust the office of International Treasurer to me, I will bring my proposals for changes in our financial controls to the Conclave so that you can either adopt them or reject them; rather than keeping these important powers only within the General Board. And, if you elect me as International Treasurer, I will ask the Conclave to staff an International Committee on financial control to write the rules that will bind me, as well as other board officers, to a standard that will protect us all.
Finally, if you will entrust the office of International Treasurer to me, I will work to identify the necessary monies to see that our International Office receives the necessary hardware and software to support the long-overdue improvements that were denied to me (and to you) over the past five years. I will also work to see that our new Executive Director (whoever he may be) receives for himself and his increased staff professional development that will enable them to better serve Phi Beta Sigma. I will also work to form the necessary support committees from among our many skilled brothers so that the ongoing development of Phi Beta Sigma will become the group effort that I am certain our Founders initially conceived.
I have served you honestly and faithfully for the seven years that I have served as your International Executive Director. I believe that I am perhaps the most prepared and experienced to continue to provide service to you in the important area of finance. I ask that I be allowed to continue serving the fraternity that I deeply love and to which I have dedicated my life.