Beta Pi:
IS BETA PI BLOG WITHOUT ANY REDEEMING SOCIAL OR ARTISTIC MERIT?:
YEA . . . . or
NAY?
Beta Pi Blog’s purpose: to bring ATO, Beta Pi Chapter Brothers and ATO Gal-Pals together. The blog is not to be taken seriously - it is meant for
fun.
The Beta Pi Blog is non-political. It includes
pictures, links,
Archives of previous issues,
and other time-wasters.
To get
there, go to web address: http://beta-pi-blog.blogspot.com
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VANDERBILT PC POLICE DROP HAMMER ON ACTIVE CHAPTER
I wrote to ATO National President Wynn Smiley, and he wrote me back. I received his letter today. Bad news.
“Lawrence,
The University has suspended the chapter for one semester. It will not be allowed to operate for the remaining academic year. The National Fraternity has not decided what the outcome will be after the one semester suspension. However, we have been working with the younger members of the chapter in hopes that we can regroup, allowing the chapter to operate in a more functional manner.
Sincerely,
WYNN R. SMILEY | CHIEF
EXECUTIVE OFFICER
One North Pennsylvania Street, Twelfth
Floor, Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: 317.684.1865 | Fax: 317.684.1862
I have a letter in to Mr. Smiley for more details on exactly why the Actives were so severely punished. But based on the information I have, my opinion is this: to suspend the Active Chapter for the entire Spring Semester is
harsh
and unjust.
As I understood it, the Actives had been caught providing beer to a Rushee.
The University had not yet decided their fate when all of a sudden BAM! - the Rush Chairman sent out a prurient e-mail (supposedly it was meant as “satirical” and “humorous”) which found its way to University Officials, and also to ATO National.
Well, as you are all aware, the Administration is obsessed with political correctness, and has come down hard on Fraternities. That is a separate discussion. But all this happened shortly after the Vanderbilt Football team members’ sex scandal. Draw your own conclusions.
Fact: Fraternity boys drink – even though it is against the rules. Fact: Fraternity boys swear. This is the nature of things. We all know this, including the VANDERBILT PC POLICE. Why then has Vanderbilt come down so hard on ATO? This is unknown, but I suspect they want to use ATO to set an example.
Everything that could be done to help the Actives
was done.
1.
Is Vanderbilt’s
punishment of the Active Chapter a just punishment, considering it deprives the
Chapter of a Spring 2014 Pledge Class, a significant financial hardship?
2.
What should
our individual responses be? (I am personally tempted to write to Vanderbilt
Officials, express my disapproval of the severity of punishment, and tell them
I am suspending the remaining 2 years of Annual Giving which I pledged to the
University, as a financial expression of my disapproval. The only language Vanderbilt seems to understand
is the Almighty Dollar).
BOWL UPDATE:
The big
“reveal” is supposed to be December 8th!
Google has replaced “Google Friend Connect” with “Google +”! I am sure many of you will say to yourselves “WTF do I care?” Here is the story.
As you know, I went on a campaign several months ago to get you all to “join” the blog website. At that time, Blogger offered a feature called “Google Friend Connect.” That was what we had. We were successful in getting 37 of you signed on to that feature.
Then, a few weeks ago, I discovered Google made some
really cool changes, offering a newer version called “Google +” – basically
a new social networking app - and as I read the fine print, I discovered that
although “Google Friend Connect” still works (or appears on the page), they
have “discontinued it” – whatever that means.
My guess is, they will let it be, but it won’t grow, no one new can join
it. UH OH.
So . . . I got really inspired when my friend Matt
Blankenship sent me an invitation to join his Google+ friend circle. Coincidentally, he sent this while I was
working on changing to this new format.
Google + has this thing called “circles.” A light bulb went off . . . let’s see . . .
“circles” – YES! Beta Pi Blog can have
its own “circles.”
So now we do – we now have a “Beta Pi” circle for
ATO’s, and a “Beta Pi Gal-Pals” circle for our female friends! I am psyched!
It works WAY better than the old Google Friend Connect did. Most notably, a “circle” can act as an e-mail
list, allowing me to share the blog and comments with you without the hassle of
writing an e-mail and pasting the link.
It is great, perfect for what we do.
So, if you get an invitation to join or accept Google+ from me, I hope
you will click on “accept.” It will ask
you to make a profile, but you can opt out of most of it except name and e-mail
address. Thanks again Matt Blankenship
for the inspiration. It couldn’t have
come at a better time.
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HERE'S HOW to “JOIN THIS SITE”: All you need to do is JOIN "GOOGLE +" -- click ACCEPT
to invitations or click on "JOIN" GOOGLE + FOLLOWERS.
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HOW TO
POST, OR READ COMMENTS: Just click the
button - Comments - below.
BETA PI BLOG ROSTER STATS: As of
December 3, 2013, there are 37 Blog Website Members; there are 115 ATO’s
on the blog list, plus 16 ATO Gal-Pals. And,
there are 6 Brothers who do not have e-mail, led by J.D. Strickland who refuses
to get a computer.
VTL,
Larry Simons
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