By Chris Godfrey
National Advisor
Just north of the Texas state line and past the rolling Arbuckle Mountains lies a town called Norman, Oklahoma—home of The University of Oklahoma and the Kappa Chapter of Beta Upsilon Chi. It has been an exciting year for these men as they took in one of their largest pledge classes yet.
After arriving to Norman and dropping off my suitcase at the hotel, I jumped right in to a busy few days. I started Sunday evening off catching up with “Dan the Man” Chargois. We walked and talked across campus as we went to dinner. We met up with the officers at O’Connell’s for dinner where I enjoyed meeting each of the men and getting to know them and hearing more about the chapter. Current National Advisor, Nick England, and past National Advisor, Tyler Wilson, graduated from this school so it was great to see and hear about the traditions they have been a part of as members. It continues to amaze me to see exactly how each chapter is different and yet that they all take part of a much bigger organization that shares one purpose and goal. As much as we remind the local chapter of this, it is so true—there is a place to stay and someone to greet you at many college campuses and homes across the nation.
After dinner it was chapter-meeting time. We went to the OU football stadium’s sky lounge the chapter enjoys a great meeting venue that has a nice balance of fun, business, and sincerity. It was formal chapter for my visit, and the men were looking sharp; the pledges sported their new pledge pin crest and I enjoyed greeting men as they came inside. We shared in a time of worship and then Dan introduced me to the chapter. Although there are many men in the chapter, they truly care for one another as was evident during their weekly time of encouragement through prayers and praises! I shared with the chapter who I am and how Nationals is relevant to the local chapter. There were many questions and I was excited as they showed support to our other chapters.
Pledge Captains Sean Kelly and JD Thomas have been hard at work as they went through rush and then interviewed the potentials and then organized bid ceremony. The men really are passionate about their jobs and it is great how they collaborate to conquer so much. Sean has a fountain of ideas and is filled with creativity that JD can filter through and then plan out. I met with JD for breakfast and Sean right after at a local coffee shop near campus. We discussed the pledgeship process and how it looks at OU this semester with more men. They’ve really worked on having great communication with the pledges and I think that it has benefitted such a large class. The big little ceremony went well—check out pictures on the OU BYX Facebook page. The weekend after I left they had Brolympics; it is a new pledge-brother event where pledges challenge active members to a dual in many stations/sport/activities. The men with the most points won some great and unique prizes. The event really allowed for a great time of brotherhood and when I was talking with JD and Sean I was pumped to hear how it went. Their creativity and then being able to follow through with ideas has really pushed them towards bettering pledgeship and the fraternity.
My meetings with all of the officers went well and I was fortunate to be in town during a packed officer meeting. They have so much going on but manage it very well. Homecoming, Victory, Mixers, Pledgeship, Brotherhood, Discipleship—they have really been intentional to do things with excellence and for a purpose. This chapter has continued to be more involved on campus and yet not forgetting to invest in brotherhood and unity through cell groups and large group times. God continues to amaze me through the visits and how BYX is impacting lives in our fraternity, campuses, and families.
0 comments:
Post a Comment