National Advisor
As the semester
continues and seemingly everywhere except for the state of Texas begins to
experience fall, I had the privilege of making my first official chapter visit
in the Big 12. Stillwater, Oklahoma was the destination for my trip to see the
men of the Oklahoma State Chapter. Given that I love autumn, I was excited to
be able to wear my orange loud and proud as I went through this visit. My time
in Stillwater was memorable and productive, which leads me to believe that
great things are in store for this chapter’s future.
After I checked into
my hotel, I was greeted by President Justin Langston and Secretary Drew Renfro.
One thing that both Chris Godfrey, my predecessor with this chapter, and I can
always say about the men of OSU is that they roll out the red carpet for their
national advisor. I was greeted with an official looking itinerary for the
visit and enough OSU gear to make me feel like a native. It was enjoyable
meeting Drew as he is one of the new officers in the chapter. He was appointed
to the secretary position over the summer and has done a remarkable job of
filling in the role. He played a substantial role in putting on the OSU legacy
chapter weekend and has served well in his limited time as secretary.
Our first order of
business was a trip to Eskimo Joe’s, which is a must-see in Stillwater. It is
part restaurant and part school spirit shop with the food to match its
reputation. Treasurer Heath Vessels and Pledge Captain Kameron Morris met us at
the restaurant for a great lunch. I found out that Heath’s younger brother is
currently going through his pledgeship process at The University of Oklahoma. It
is always exciting to see BYX legacies begin to form within families as our
organization gets older and establishes deeper family ties. Heath and Kameron
bring strong leadership attributes to the officer corps. It was easy to tell
that Kameron is committed to the development of this pledge class, which will
serve the fraternity well in the future.
Will Fears and Brad
Robinson, vice president and chaplain respectively, met up with us for an
officer corps meeting at a local restaurant pot called Tokyo Pot, where you
order your food and make it yourself. We had ample time to discuss the vision
and the direction of the chapter. There has been a distinct identity shift in
this chapter over the past few years. This officer corps has been pushing the
chapter towards a more fraternal identity, which is more congruent with the
vision of BYX. While this is healthy for the chapter, there have certainly been
some growing pains associated with this shift, which we discussed in length.
Saturday was an exciting
day for me as I got to experience my first Big 12 football game. The Texas
Longhorns came to town to take on the Cowboys and it was evident that the
campus was excited for the game. Being a college football fanatic, I could not
have been more excited walking up to the tailgate Saturday to see what the rest
of the day would entail. The men of OSU started tailgating for the first time
this year and have made significant strides in that regard, which I am proud of
them for. They utilized cell groups to divide who would set up and take down
the tailgate, which worked effectively.
The game was quite
exciting even though Texas ended up winning the game on the final drive. I was
able to sit with a whole section of BYX men and really experience them in a fun
social atmosphere. Boone Pickens is an excellent venue to watch a college
football game, and, as an SEC enthusiast, it was a refreshing change of pace to
see both offenses run rampant throughout the game.
On Sunday night I
attended the pledge and chapter meetings. I was greeted with quite the surprise
when the pledges came to the meeting dressed in all sorts of ridiculous
costumes. I was even more surprised to find out that the officer corps had a
costume waiting for me, which I wore during the duration of the two meetings.
The chapter meeting was smooth and efficient and I was highly pleased with the
pledges these men have brought in.
If this pledge class
is any indication of the future and direction of this chapter, then I am highly
confident that bright days lie ahead for these men. The chapter pulled in a
pledge class of 26 this semester, and they are highly energetic and ready to
dive in to everything that BYX has to offer. On the Friday night in which I
arrived, the officer corps took me to Pops, which is a local favorite soda shoppe with over 500 types of soda. While we were there, to our surprise, a
group of about 15 pledges had organized a hangout and came to Pops as well. I
had a fruitful discussion with the men about their pledge class identity, and I
can’t wait to see what these men bring to the chapter in the future.
On my final day of
the visit, I was blessed with the opportunity to have multiple meetings with
actives and men who are running for office. Some men wanted to get to know me
while others were open about their concern and their heart for the chapter. I
was appreciative to see the investment and care these men have for their
fraternity, and I was able to more clearly discuss the vision of the fraternity
with them in a more personal setting.
This chapter is one
that is getting over the hump of being a new chapter and learning what it means
to be established and not only exist on campus, but to thrive on campus. The
past year has been fruitful for the men, and, if their efforts in recruiting stay
on track, I have no doubt in my mind they will cement themselves as the best
fraternity at OSU sooner rather than later.
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