Nationals Visits Houston Baptist University

By Brian Baudoin

National Advisor

I had the privilege of taking my first ever trip to Houston a little while ago to visit the men of BYX at HBU. This trip had many highlights, including the promise that I would get an authentic Texas eating experience with some of the best Tex-Mex the city of Houston had to offer. The men at this chapter delivered on all fronts as not only did I receive some quite tasty Mexican food, but I also experienced firsthand the true love for brotherhood and unity these men obviously share. I left Houston re-energized by these men and moved by what BYX has accomplished on this campus.

In order to understand who the men of HBU BYX are you have to understand where they came from and where they are. This is one of our oldest chapters but one that has experienced much turmoil and uncertainty in the past few years. HBU is a school of about 3,000 students, which at times can make recruiting difficult. These men are where they are today because the men in this chapter and their alumni have poured out enormous amounts of Christ-centered effort, and it has yielded much fruit in this chapter. 

Today, this chapter is in easily one of the best-run fraternities at HBU. These men respect tradition, are outgoing on campus and have kept Christ at the center of everything. This was evident at a recent open party the chapter threw. BYX paired up with the lovely ladies of Alpha Chi Omega to throw a rave that was open to all HBU students. The two organizations co-filmed a video advertising the party, which got 1,500 views before the night of the party. The party had close to 300 people in attendance and was (pardon the pun) raved about as one of the best events the campus has seen this semester. A mark of successful chapters is the willingness to step out and be bold with their campus interactions and these guys have certainly showed that.

I was greeted with a great surprise and a first in National Advisor history upon arriving on campus. President J.C. Contreras informed me that the freshman team had an intramural flag football game and that we were going to watch. What I did not expect was that the men talked to the officials, and, since I am technically a BYX alumni, they got me in their intramural game. It was a close victory for BYX in which Christ-like sportsmanship was shown to all.

The future looks bright for this chapter. On the Monday of my visit, I attended both pledge and chapter meeting. Pledge Captain John LaChappelle has done an extraordinary job keeping the men accountable on their responsibilities as pledges. The chapter pulled in 5 men that I’m confident will one day serve as leaders in the fraternity. HBU does not allow freshman to rush in the fall, and I could not be more excited to see the freshman that these men will shepherd and serve in the spring.

Chapter meeting was a great experience for me. These men do not operate with the mentality that they are a small school and are limited by that. It was apparent through the way that chapter ran that this was a true fraternal operation. These men think big and are not willing to limit themselves in any aspect of their fraternity experience. Officer nominations were done at the chapter meeting that I attended. Many men stepped forward in order to take leadership in the chapter, and I am excited about the direction that this fraternity will continue on. 

My officer meetings were productive on Tuesday. Every single officer expressed the notion that this is a much different fraternity than when they came into it, and that is a testament to the work that the advisors and officers have put in the past few semesters. The men are currently planning Java Jam, which is an open mic night hosted at a campus coffee shop that usually draws their biggest attendance of any event they do in the fall semester. I am excited to see the results of the hard work the men have been putting into this event as the men are pushing for this to be even bigger than the massive success that was the AXO-BYX rave.

Be on the lookout for great things coming out of Houston in the future. This chapter is committed to the glorification of Christ on their campus and it has been showed in abundance the past few years. I can confidently say that these men are growing in the right direction and it would not surprise me if these men surpass 50 members in the spring. I look forward to seeing these men again in the spring.