Brothers again i’d like to welcome you to lambda chi alpha’s 58th general assembly we’re so glad that you’re here i would like to extend a special welcome however to our collegiate delegates who have been selected by their zeta to represent their local brothers congratulations on your selection your
Brothers have provided you with a great opportunity to help move lambda chi alpha forward my name is jeff stearman and it is a distinct privilege and an honor to serve as lambda chi alpha’s 25th grand high alpha i was initiated into lambda chi alpha through kappa mu zeta at culver stockton college
In canton missouri way back in 1979. i was a business and a county major and my experience from serving as high taw provided that then awkward 18 year old with friendships and experience that continue to shape my life one of the important duties of the grant high alpha under our constitution
Is to submit a report of the state of the fraternity at each general assembly and it is my honor my privilege to deliver that report at this time as you know one of our brotherhood’s cardinal teachings is that of growth growth our crescent is always growing whether we are referring to our
Individual crescent our chapters crescent or our global data is crescent lambda chi alpha is committed to personal and collective growth and development the good news is that we get to create our own definition of growth brothers this is both a great compliment and an even greater responsibility however
It’s a compliment because we have collective confidence that we will each choose wisely but it’s a great responsibility because we are charged with becoming the best possible versions of ourselves the general assembly is the supreme executive legislative and judicial body of lambda chi alpha we have important work to do
I can think of no finer group of men to complete that work than those men gathered here namely you typically the general assembly is convened every two years and typically we are gathered in person but this is a year of firsts for all of us this is the first general assembly
That has been delayed because of a global pandemic and this is the first general assembly to be held virtually it’s been three years since we’ve last met and we will meet yet again 12 months from now i’m pleased to report that the 59th general assembly and brotherhood reunion
Will be held in person next summer in arizona but there’s important work for us to do here today before then i’d like to take a moment and help you join me in applauding the work of our legislative committees the work from our committee on constitution and the tremendous effort
Extended by the office of administration your dedication to our values to our traditions and to our ideals will ensure that we will have a productive and engaging 58th general assembly i thank you very very much over these next two days our delegates will consider the action items brought
Before the general assembly from each of these legislative committees we will also entertain a report from the student advisory committee about their important work we will hear from one of our research partners dyad strategies who will provide us with a snapshot of their research on our chapters and our membership
And we will also hear the outcomes of our focus group conversations that you conducted during the legislative committee meetings when the general assembly is not in session your grand hyzeda serves as a supreme executive legislative and judicial body of your fraternity today i would like to
Share with you some of the exciting work that we have been engaged in over these past three years to build a foundation that will serve our brotherhood for decades to come we don’t take this for granted you know each of us has benefited from the brothers who have come before us
And we have a similar responsibility to those brothers who will come after us each generation approaches fraternity differently each generation has unique challenges and each generation is equipped with unique talents and graces again our crescent is always growing and let’s be candid growth is not always free from pain in fact growth is
Hard uh we translate our open motto kalepataka law as not without labor you know that well but as literal translation is that which is worthwhile is difficult to achieve as we approach that ideal of perfect brotherly love we are reminded that we are not alone in our labor because above all
Else we are brothers first we are brothers first there are over 200 000 of us but we are brothers first we come from different walks of life but we are brothers first we may have different ideas about how the world should work but we are brothers first we may have different religious beliefs
We may have different political views but we are brothers first brothers are patient and kind brothers are not envious of each other they do not dishonor each other brothers always protect brothers always hope and brothers always persevere together even when we may disagree we are brothers first fortunately lambda chi alpha is replete
With examples of living with this brother’s first frame of mind i’d like to take a moment to recognize each of the high alphas and members of the hiseta who have served their chapters during some of the most challenging times in recent history your dedication your dedication to your chapter brothers and your creative
Leadership and perseverance is greatly appreciated it’s applauded and it’s truly inspirational thank you brothers despite the deep talent dedication and ambition in our chapters our collegiate brothers can’t do it alone just like we didn’t do it alone i’d also like to take a moment to recognize our high pies and our
Chapter advisors and the members of our advisory and control boards and of course our housing corporation members you are modeling our oaths and demonstrating what a lifetime of true brotherhood looks like and feels like you have families you have careers you have other obligations and during these challenging times you have
Selflessly given yourself to our collegiate members and our chapters again thank you brothers academic years study abroad programs and internships have been adversely impacted over the past 18 months yet bands of our alumni brothers have provided employment and virtual internships and other financial assistance to our brothers to each of you offering
Creative solutions to help our men achieve their dreams and aspirations and make it possible for them to obtain real-world experience that complements their education we applaud you thank you brothers there are also three groups of brothers and individuals who have worked tirelessly since our last general assembly
Brothers who would also join me in thanking the members of the student advisory committee the directors of the lambda chi educational foundation and the members of your grand hyzeda your fraternities board of directors it’s a pleasure to work with these individuals their dedication to lambda chi alpha is inspiring
And we are thankful for their sacrificial service to our bond i’d like you to take a moment and think about why you decided to become a lambda chi why did you join what have you learned about yourself since joining what is your greatest hope and expectation for lambda chi alpha what are you
Most proud about we have just completed another fiscal year and i’m excited to report that lambda chi alpha is one of only four greek organizations that actually grew in membership over this past year each of you have worked so hard to make that possible not without labor 59 of our chapters
Have experienced over 30 percent increase in membership growth this spring we experienced one of the highest initiation percentage rates than any other semester over the past five years while many of our competitor organizations are experiencing severe and sometimes devastating financial losses we close the fiscal year with a balanced budget thanks in no
Small part to the generosity of our donors and our alumni brothers this is not to say that we don’t have chapters that are still struggling in the face of kovid we do and we still have some chapters that are unable to meet face to face however by providing each of our
Chapters with zoom licenses and providing each chapter with a dedicated support coach to work with them alongside their alumni advisory teams we are committed to helping each of our chapters thrive our colleagues in the greek world are not experiencing the same results as we are lambda chi alpha is truly unique
We offer something special we offer something to cherish we offer something to work for our results tell us that college men seek to belong that college men seek to be part of something that is bigger than themselves that college men are interested in becoming the best possible versions of themselves and that
Lambda chi alpha is uniquely positioned to serve more men and to make a difference in our communities and families three years ago your grand isaitha undertook an ambitious strategic planning process to paraphrase lewis carroll the author of alice in wonderland i don’t often quote alice in wonderland
But if you don’t know where you’re going any road will get you there if you don’t know where you’re going any road will get you there so to help lambda chi alpha determine the road we should travel your grand isaiada undertook an effort to evaluate our strategy our structure and our talent
In the end we developed a 10-year comprehensive strategy to grow our membership to 20 000 brothers let me repeat that we’ve developed a comprehensive strategy to grow our membership to 20 000 brothers this is an ambitious goal and i’d like to spend a few moments to discuss how collectively
We intend to get there remember growth is one of lambda chi alpha’s cardinal principles however we must be cognizant of the real market forces and the pressures that are impacting our campuses and college age men specifically the reality is that the number of graduating high school seniors is declining further
The percentage of those graduating seniors choosing to attend a four-year residential college is also declining frankly there are more education choices available to graduating high school students than a decade ago we must also recognize that the men joining our campus communities what are called generational z are markedly different from the generation
Before them they have specific needs and ambitions they also attend college for very specific reasons and they align their extracurricular and co-curricular activities around those very specific reasons to them college is not a mere right of passage college is a means to an end in addition we must not ignore the fact
That the cost of an education precludes many men from even attending college in the first place i share this because if our aim is to serve more men and to help more men experience the bond of our brotherhood and to help more men become the best possible versions of themselves
We must understand who is coming to our college campuses and what pressures they face so from a strategy standpoint your grand hyzeda began looking at our mission statement and our vision statement quite candidly why does lambda chi alpha exist and specifically if lambda chi alpha didn’t exist would we create it
In the same form as it exists today your grand hyzeda deem that lambda chi alpha exists to inspire and equip men to lead an ethical life of growth service and leadership in addition we envision a world where the ideal man pursues a life of respect and inclusion for all
Where the ideal man supports one another to make a positive impact on society and an ideal man that models loyalty duty service and stewardship honor integrity and personal courage frankly our vision seeks a world where men are living our core values and putting those core values to work in their families and their
Places of employment and in their communities to achieve our mission and our vision we must have hope for the future of lambda chi alpha and a real passion for its transformation to become the premier service learning and leadership development brotherhood in north america we are brothers first we must help our brothers first
And we must inspire and equip them so they can help others do the same now if we are wildly successful and we expect to be we would expect to observe the following by two thousand and twenty eight we expect lambda chi alpha’s membership to consist of twenty thousand inspired and engaged collegiate men
Leading lives of growth service and leadership we expect lambda chi alpha to receive national acclaim and recognition for its reputation in developing men of character we would expect a hundred percent of our lambda chi alpha members to be actively involved in community and volunteer and service activities we expect 100
Percent of our members to have had an opportunity for direct leadership experience prior to their graduation we expect 25 percent of our lambda chi alpha alumni will be engaged and we expect each member who will graduate they’ll graduate with the knowledge and the tools necessary to live a healthy life including a
Lifelong network of friends and brothers and in order to achieve this success your office of administration has been asked to engage in seven key activities don’t worry about writing them all down we’ll certainly get you a copy and we’ll show some of them on the screen
But the first one is to really to fundamentally transform lambda kai alpha into the premier men’s service learning and leadership development brotherhood our actions as a brotherhood must be informed by research it must be based on fact and outcome driven we must become the brand that college
Age men their parents and our host institution most value and trust secondly we’ve asked the office of administration to develop men through creative and dynamic programming that’s informed by actionable expertise on gen z and focused on personal growth service learning and leadership development specifically we must become the experts
On developing each aspect of being a man and we have to have the programs that men want programs and networks that will help them achieve both their academic and their life goals some of you have participated in new pilot programs we are extensively testing everything before we roll out new programs the
Early responses have been positive and encouraging in concept we envision the ability for a member to enter a chapter to assess their talents their gifts their graces to use those talents to help the chapter and in the process develop some credentialed skill sets that will allow them to obtain
Internships and careers in their chosen field of study the third thing we’ve asked the office of administration to engage in is really leverage the power of mobile technology to place lambda chi alpha’s programming in the hands of every member you need to access lambda chi off as programming
And network from anywhere and we want you to be able to do that from the palm of your hand number four we need to expand aggressively to campus communities seeking values based partnerships number five we seek to partner with other values-based organizations to provide robust leadership volunteer and philanthropic opportunities feeding america
Movember and demolay are examples we want our chapters to have at least six philanthropic opportunities to choose from in the event they do not wish to develop a specific effort on their own think of a plug-and-play approach you choose approach that you want six we seek to provide and support a premier
Volunteer experience for advisors and mentors seeking to serve our members we recognize that our alumni have countless opportunities to volunteer across north america since they are a brother first we want their work with lambda chi alpha to be the most rewarding and meaningful further we want them to feel supported
And we want them to feel valued and seven we want to keep it fun we are our brothers first we’re a fraternity we’re an organization keeping it fun is critical for our sense of belonging and it’s critical for our overall mental and physical health these are each major initiatives
And i’d like to recognize our office of administration and our dedicated brothers who have provided important philanthropic investments to obtain research and to fund projects we couldn’t do any of this without you from a financial standpoint lambda chi alpha seeks to fund this programming through membership growth through increased philanthropic support
And through new revenue sources not from increasing member dues let me repeat that not from increasing member dues there are no plans or recommendations to increase lambda chi office membership dues we believe that would be counter to our desire to reach and serve more men we are excited by where we are going
And so are our brothers who have been involved in these pilot programs so how can you help us achieve success well first of all as a delegate to the 58th general assembly you have the opportunity to help ensure that our chapters are healthy learning laboratories where men can discover their talents and
Develop lifelong friendships one of our legislative committees is proposing the adoption of a new alcohol policy recognizing our collective desire to create constructive space for both physical and mental health another committee is proposing legislation to encourage the academic success of our members to help our members achieve an attractive return
On their tuition investment academic success matters to help our brothers achieve their internships graduate school and career goals these along with others are meaningful pieces of legislation and i encourage you to participate in the legislative sessions and support the work of these committees further the chapter support coaches are
There to help your chapter achieve its current and multi-year goals like the grand hyzeda i’d like you to think in terms of multi-year goals not just the current academic year make sure your chapter is leveraging your time with your chapter or support coach and occasionally involve your high pi with those calls
So that your zeta’s entire alumni team is aligned to help you make sure your chapter is taking advantage of the new programming and participating to the fullest your participation and your feedback are critical to us offering the programs that your brothers and prospective members want for our alumni brothers
Please recognize that we have chapters that need members on their advisory committees so as you are so inclined or if you know brothers who would be excellent in that capacity please reach out to the office of administration and indicate your interest we also seek to develop internships and career resources for our brothers
So if you are in a position to hire graduates or to offer internships please let us know that as well and finally your financial contribution to the educational foundation helps lambda chi alpha underwrite the educational costs of our programming working with the educational foundation we seek to secure
100 percent funding for our educational programming in doing so we ensure that our programming will be effective desired and world-class further doing so will help reduce the proportional financial burden that is met by our collegiate brothers we seek to reduce the financial barriers to becoming a brother of our bond your financial support
Makes that possible in closing i would like to announce two major initiatives that will be forming and if you have interest or no brothers who may have interest i’d kindly ask that you let me know the first project is called the ideal man initiative it ties back to our vision statement the
Ideal man initiative seeks to identify aspects of a man’s development where lambda chi alpha could become a leading expert the bottom line is that for lambda chi alpha to achieve its mission and his vision we must become experts in developing men whether physically spiritually mentally ethically financially civically
Or what have you this effort will ultimately help us identify gaps in our program it’ll also help us identify global experts and potential strategic partners that can help serve our brothers men have unique developmental needs and it’s paramount that lambda chi office programming addresses those needs the second effort is
Entitled the century project and for you history buffs since warren cole left the fraternity nearly a hundred years ago lambda chi alpha has been operating basically the same it’s been operating basically the same for 100 years sure there have been elements of our laws and our approaches that have been
Tweaked but fundamentally our structure has remained the same i’m asking that we review all of our organizational and constitutional frameworks to ensure that lambda chi alpha has the structure that will serve our brothers for the next hundred years hence its name the century project we seek to create an environment on our
Zetas that will empower our members and provide them with the autonomy they need to grow to serve and to lead in order to address the specific needs and challenges in their community as we seek to grow to twenty thousand members we need to make sure that we have the career operating structure
And the supports that those brothers and our alumni volunteers need we have the strategy we seek to ensure we have the structure that will support it and the talent needed to implement it i believe brother cole would be supportive of our efforts as we aim to serve more men
What we have is special our traditions our principles and ideals they’re noble they’re they’re timeless we have an opportunity to attract the next generation of members by building the brotherhood that they need and the brotherhood that they want the men entering their first year on campus most likely had their high school
Senior year experience diminished or cut short they are hungry to belong to something of value they’re hungry to hit their college experience running and to make up for lost time likewise you our returning brothers had to reinvent fraternity last year and you too are hungry to reconnect on campus
This is a good time to be a lambda chi the state of your fraternity is strong and we’re about to get stronger we’ve been able to grow during a global pandemic by being a brother first our brothers need us our chapters need us our communities need us and lambda chi alpha
Needs us be a brother first and invite someone else to be one with us thank you brothers and may god bless lambda chi alpha
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