[15920] in APO-L
All Male Chapters and the Convention
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (00mastratton@BSUVC.BSU.EDU)
Fri Jan 3 13:33:33 1997
Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1997 13:32:09 -0500
Reply-To: 00MASTRATTON@BSUVC.BSU.EDU
From: 00mastratton@BSUVC.BSU.EDU
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
Brothers,
I wanted to take a moment of your time to discuss my thoughts
regarding the "Gentleman's Agreement" and the results of the
1996 Convention. As a voting delegate, my Chapter left all
decisions on all issues to my colleague and me. While I had
drawn an initial conclusion that I would support Brother Correl's
resolution, I had also decided not to cast ANY vote on this
issue without first speaking with some of the all-male chapters
through their representatives (my thanks to the Brothers I spoke
with from Drexel University.)
Back to the point: by its actions of sending this to a special
committee, the 1996 Convention did the right thing by the
National Fraternity - to have decided this issue, either way, with
out a prudential look at ALL possible consequences is irresponsible,
and as a result, antithetical to this history of this Fraternity.
I don't know what my opinion is: yes, I think it IS discriminator
that an organization which is co-ed allows part of its ranks to
exclude women. However, to make a substantive change of this sort
in regards to the relation between the National Organization and
its component Chapters is ill-advised until the effects of those
changes can be studied. My compliments to the Chapter Operationas
Committee for their hard and EXCELLENT work on this. As a member
of the Reference Committee on Rules and Credentials, the excellent
report and discussions with the Chapter Ops Chairman made our work
much easier.
One final point: the debate on this issue reaffired to me that
while we might disagree, we can do so (for the most part) with
civility and Brotherhood. My thanks to all the delegates, voting
and non-voting, who spoke with me on this issue prior to the floor
debate. Truly, this issue, ironically, symbolizes the total
aspect of Brotherhood.
In Leadership, Friendship, and Service,
Mark Stratton
President
Delta Xi Chapter
Ball State University
