Cross & Crescent

The T Bar M Resort & Conference Center in New Braunfels, Texas, hosted the Fraternity’s 2008 Winter Leadership Retreat from January 24-26, 2008.

Nearly 400 undergraduates, alumni, and Fraternity staff members attended this sold-out Celebration of Brotherhood.

The retreat provided a unique setting for the undergraduates to experience the magic of our brotherhood and to learn necessary skills to help their chapters or colonies continue to grow.

Fraternity staff and alumni held many interactive, engaging, and educational workshops and programs to honor the attendees’ commitment to the Fraternity.

The retreat serves as a large-scale version of a chapter retreat, with all of the activities providing an opportunity for attendees to strengthen their bond of brotherhood with one another and to further develop their knowledge of Lambda Chi Alpha, its teachings, applications and possibilities.

Attendees spent the weekend further strengthening their respect for the Fraternity and reinforcing the lifetime of brotherhood we all share.

Many of the important learnings at the retreat occurred when participants just spent time talking with other brothers from other chapters and colonies. By taking this action, attendees were able to fully experience the true power of Lambda Chi Alpha and brotherhood.

Day One Highlights

The first day was the arrival day for attendees. Early Bird Workshops included how to effectively facilitate a chapter officers’ retreat, how to properly report chapter membership, and a glimpse into the demanding and rewarding life on the road of being a Fraternity ELC.

After dinner, initiated brothers in attendance were treated to a fascinating talk by Grand High Pi Lynn Chipperfield (Drury 1973) about the history, changes, and evolution of our ritual.

The next event of the evening was the Conclave Meet & Greet in which chapter members attended their respective session to meet brothers from nearby chapters to share experiences and to develop future events and relationships.

The night’s final activity was a brotherhood first: a massive competition of capture the flag. Teams were divided by conclaves, which further encouraged inter-chapter team building.

Day Two Highlights

The retreat officially began with the Opening Kickoff & Welcome session on the morning of the second day. Executive Vice President Bill Farkas (Butler 1988) shared a personal story reinforcing to the attendees the lifelong importance and impact of the Fraternity’s teachings.

Farkas then introduced Texas State Rep. Joe Driver (North Texas 1971), the morning’s featured speaker, who showed a recorded video greeting from Texas Gov. Rick Perry welcoming the attendees to Texas. Driver then had all of the attendees stand and recite an oath to become honorary Texans during their stay.

The remainder of the morning consisted of workshops about the True Brotherhood Initiative, the Neville Alumni Advisers College, and the Cole Recruitment Institute — all led by a combination of alumni master stewards and ELCs.

Following lunch, one of the afternoon sessions consisted of a second brotherhood event: a high ropes course, plus a team building maze in which participants were given a series of problem solving experiences that physically engaged them to develop and execute a plan. Meanwhile, chapter advisers attended the Advisers College, while chapter presidents held their first Council of Presidents session during which chapter President Andrew Jones (Butler 2008) was elected Grand High Nu, and chapter President Bradley Hawse (Cincinnati 2009) was elected Grand High Psi.

After a dinner sponsored by the Grand High Zeta, Farkas made a few additional remarks encouraging the undergraduate members to spend time reflecting on what activities they have in their lives and chapters that are of great importance versus ones that are of lesser importance, and to make every effort to give the important ones greater priority.

Attendees then participated in an interactive presentation entitled Sex Signals, which was an informative light-hearted skit to raise awareness about the serious issues regarding sexual assault among college students. The performance comfortably portrayed the severity of the subject through audience participation and improvisation of the actors.

The rest of the evening included a second breakout session for conclaves, a chapter adviser roundtable, and finally a third brotherhood event: a highly-entertaining and competitive game of conclave team dodgeball.

Day Three Highlights

The early morning session on day three centered around the Call to Brotherhood program, which was organized into breakout sessions to encourage more interaction and discussion. The sessions focused on the importance of associate membership in determining how each brother will develop in Lambda Chi Alpha. Undergraduates discussed the role of the big brother and how this impacts an associate member’s development.

Next, the late morning session was a Chapter Code Workshop, also divided into smaller breakout sessions. This workshop taught brothers how to use the Fraternity’s Seven Core Values of True Brotherhood to develop a specific code they can take back to their chapters.

Advisers College also was held for chapter advisers, and lunch was again sponsored by the Grand High Zeta.

The afternoon included breakout sessions around Exoteric Mysteries that discussed the pre-initiation activities that are conducted in chapters prior to the Initiation Ritual. The key message was to make sure to focus on the purpose and intent of these experiences and ensure that the associate members understand what they are learning during the events.

Advisers College was held again in the afternoon, and the Council of Presidents met for their second session to discuss some hot topics and issues with which they are confronted.

The closing events of the retreat included the Celebration of Brotherhood Final Dinner and the Chapter on Trial presentation. Farkas and Grand High Alpha Dr. Ed Leonard (William Jewell 1979) both spoke after the dinner.

Leonard, who was named the president of Bethany College on August 1, 2007, entitled his remarks, “Everything I Needed to Know to Be a College President I Learned as High Alpha.” He explained to the attendees how enlightening this discovery has been nearly 30 years after serving as chapter president.

Farkas then spoke about our Fraternity’s amazing 100-year history, while also emphasizing that he is extremely motivated about seeing what exciting events the next 100 years will bring. He also encouraged the undergraduates to reflect on what they had learned and to pick a few top ideas to take back to their chapters and work with the members to determine an effective and successful implementation plan.

The after dinner session, Chapter on Trial, (created by Dave Westol, former Theta Chi executive director) was based on actual court testimonies and cases where a chapter was on trial for sexual assault. Undergraduates experienced what it would be like to be questioned by a prosecutor and to understand the real consequences of not following the risk management policies.

The final session of the night and of the retreat was a special brotherhood event that provided an open discussion for brothers about the Initiation Ritual.