Brothers,
As part of the launch of our new website, I wanted to take the opportunity to share the reason I joined, and why I’m still involved today.
As I have become more involved in the PA Theta Alumni Association, I have been reminded of those reasons. Hint: It wasn’t because we had a big house with pillars and a beach volleyball court (that was pretty great though).
The primary argument I heard from opponents of Fraternity life was “Why are you paying for friends?” While I disagree with this sentiment, perhaps I was OK with the idea of paying for friends – Much to my surprise, my second doubles position on the high school Tennis team hadn’t placed me in many social circles.
My Dad was in a fraternity at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta (Go Stormy Petrels) and always told me stories about his fraternity brothers. Once I asked him, “Are you still friends with any of those guys?” He responded, “I haven’t heard from, or seen any of them in 20 years.” My dad deeply regrets this, and I knew I didn’t want that to happen to me.
August 2020 will mark 10 years since my graduation from Penn State, and I am proud to say that I still have a core group of friends from the fraternity. Some live close by, but many more do not. What is so great about this group is that even if we don’t speak for months, a quick visit or group chat reminds us all of the powerful connection we still have.
This type of friendship is challenging, and I know that it will take more work to make it another 10 years. It’s part of the reason I see so much value in the PA Theta Alumni Association. I’ll gladly leverage anything at my disposal to help keep existing friendships strong, and re-open ones that may have dwindled.
With that said, here are some of the reasons I joined Phi Delta Theta and why I’m involved in the Alumni Association:
- To be your friend and brother
- To celebrate your marriages
- To celebrate my marriage
- To get to know and celebrate your children
- For you to know and celebrate my children
- To drink with you
- To golf with you (and drink)
- To celebrate your career and accomplishments (perhaps with a drink)
- To support you when things get difficult
- To be your friend and brother.
In drafting this, I started digging through photos, old and new – Here are a few I thought were worth sharing. I hope this will encourage many of you to do the same.
