Greville,
Firstly, I thank you for responding to my message because the truth is most elected officer do not have the back bone to do so. I will say, although we often disagree on issues I always get a reply. That is appreciated.
I have never had the desire to run for office on the regional and/or national level and will never do so. I have done so on the chapter level, undergrad and grad. I have two reasons for that, a) at this time I am not willing to play the games required to make it happen and b) I truly believe I can be of more help to Sigma on the outside of the political arena.
Let’s not sit here and act like we do not have brothers in the Fraternity running for office for the sole purpose of feeding their personal agendas and egos. I submitted an amendment, through Delta Pi Sigma, to remove the one vote for every past international president at Conclave 2006. When it came to the floor there was an uproar from the past presidents and some of our brainwashed brothers. Why? They do not want one man one vote(which I do not think will work, but it is another issue for another time)but are willing to have past presidents have the voting strength of 10 brothers. Are they more important than the other members? After all they chose to run for office. The problem is their egos are so inflated, they believe they are “better than”. We have too many brothers with many titles but nothing to show for those titles. They boast about being this or that, but did nothing while in any of those positions. Sure, this does not apply to all and I did not mean to imply that it did. Those whom it applies to will know when they read my message. They will know if they fit into the category of Frat or sigma.
You list the sacrifices you have to endured as an elected officer. I know of these sacrifices and will not sit here and dispute them. Any active brother knows how it is to put in the work with the Fraternity and sacrifice time with the Family. Do not think the time spent traveling and carrying out the duties of your office is not appreciated. However, if we were doing things more efficiently and correctly we can cut down on some of the time away from family. With the technology we have available today why do we keep having these state and area meetings every week for three months? We can do this in a much more efficient matter by using the technology available to us.
I will not claim every brother feels the way I do. This would be foolish. However, I can guarantee you this, if we were to poll every brother financial or not about their satisfaction with Sigma the vast majority would agree with me. The poll would not even be close. If it was a election it would be a land slide. If we were playing spades me and my partner might go for a BOSTON. I have no doubt about that.
So far I have received over twenty e-mail responses to my message and yours is the first “negative” response. Most of the e-mails are not from brothers I know, but from those receiving it from those on this e-mail list.
I have attended meetings with brothers I view as political, we all have. This does not mean we share the same view on all things Sigma. This does not mean I do not give my opinion when we disagree on an issue. Brothers know the deal with me, you can be my boy but do not ask me a question if you do not want to hear the truth. I am not here to tell you what you want to hear. If I think what you are doing is foul I will call you on it, This goes for everyone. I do not discriminate when it comes to spitting fire, friend or foe. Ask those who are close to me, they will tell you.
Yes, I have not held any office beyond the chapter level. However, I have been around the block a few times. I am not a neophyte without a clue as to what has been going on for the past few decades. I have been in the game for over twenty years and the frustration has only become worse. You can not sit here and tell me after 92 years we are anywhere near where Sigma should be. Like I stated in my message, Sigma was once a force in the communities we served, but now we are IRRELEVANT. We try to be too much like the others and not be the Phi Beta Sigma our Founders intended us to be. We are always trying to impress others with these elaborate conferences and functions. NOBODY IS PAYING ATTENTION, NOBODY CARES.
I criticize when I think it is warranted, but not too high on my hog to acknowledge those doing their thing either. I know there are chapter out here doing great thing in their communities and will continue to do so. However, the international organization and the regions are not holding up their end. I have offered my assistance on several occasions, but have never received a response. I criticized the past two Crescent magazines and offered to take on an issue as editor to show how it can be done. This is from a brother with no experience in editing a magazine. However, I know and can admit my short comings. The key is my contacts with brothers with the experience to get a top notch Crescent published. My offer never received a response from any General Board member. I personally drafted letters of suspension for Arthur Thomas and others in office during the Terry Davis fiasco. The rules according to our international constitution were followed to a “T”. The General board chose to ignore my letters and let Thomas and company leave office without answering to the membership. These are but a few examples. The reality is we have those in office with no desire to do things correctly. Correcting the ills of Sigma will destroy their comfort zone. They do not want brothers to know what is going on. An ignorant, unprepared brother is the best for their plans. Why do we still have the same bogus MIP in place without any serious attempts to revise it since its implementation? It is all by design. No mistakes here.
When asked to give input in the Fraternity I answer the call. Bro. Lewis asked me to provide a few articles for the Crescent, and I did so without hesitation. I also assisted in the leg work necessary to set up interviews and other items for the issue. So, I put in the wok on the positive end and I do not need any pat on the back for my work. It is not being done for me, it is being done for Sigma. In the same way I put the truth out there for brothers to know, not for me, but for Sigma. When I do it I ask for nothing in return. I am not asking brothers for money or their vote. I am asking for their help to rid Sigma of its cancer so Sigma can be whole again.
I want to see the BROTHERHOOD we proclaim. Today that aspect of Sigma is weak at best . If you do not believe me ask Bro. Mark “Mallet” Pacich about brotherhood, ask Bro. Kevin Christian, Bro. Phil Eugenio or the brother who gave the presentation concerning conference planning at the last GB meeting. These brothers can give you an idea of how a brother is treated by the Fraternity and the GB. Terry Davis has been shown more LOVE from Sigma over the past few years.
I have been too long winded on the issue already. So, let me close with this. Ask the brothers about my feelings about you Greville. I have always believed you are a good brother with good intentions. However, my problem with you has to do mainly with those around you. I believe you are misguided and following the wrong path. You are not alone. We have many hard working brothers in Sigma following the wrong path. They are not in tune with the vision our Founders had for Sigma. If they were we would not be in the position we are currently in. My hope is you will work with us from this point on to do what is right for Sigma. We need your help.
Know this, even though we disagree on things I am here to assist whenever and where ever I can. We do not have to agree on all issue to work for Sigma’s future. It is what BROTHERS do. . .
PEACE,
Todd
