Tuesday, December 02, 2008
It's a Tau Thing. You wouldn't understand.
| One of the first things I did once I had made the decision to move to Wilmington was to find the nearest ATO Chapter. It was with a heavy heart that I was leaving behind my beloved Alpha Zeta Chapter at Mercer. But I figured there are ATO's everywhere so I just needed to find the ones where I was headed. I placed a call to ATO Headquarters. I explained I was moving to Wilmington and looking to find an ATO Chapter in the area. They asked my name again and then there was a long pause and I was asked to hold. The next person I spoke to was the director of expansion. You know it's going to be an interesting call when you are greeted with "Thank God you called, Jason. We need your help!" Apparently they remember me from helping get my chapter back up and running back in about 1999-2000. It turns out ATO had set up a Colony here at UNC Wilmington back in 2006. For various reasons they weren't making progress. There were even thoughts of pulling the plug on the colony. Arrangements were quickly made to bring me in as soon as the school year started and I would serve as an advisor to the colony and get them rolling. Last year was a lot of frustration and growing pains. The number of members they ended the year with was about the same as the number they started with. And that was less than 1/3 of what they had to have to charter. I did not have high hopes. But something clicked this summer. I don't know what it was. I think there was a hint of thing when the colony had the highest GPA out all of the fraternities on campus. That is essentially like your JV Team beating your Varsity squad. It made everyone else sit up and take notice. it also pissed some of them off. Good. Welcome to life in "the other fraternity." They began the year by somehow recruiting almost 17 new members before Rush even started, and continued to pick up new members. When you ask the President how many guys they've picked up and he says he's not sure cause they keep coming out of the woodwork. That's a good thing. The last I heard they were over 40 members. As a colony. They've put on several huge philanthropies. As a colony. The only thing left to do it turn the Colony into a Chapter. That happens on December 13th. If you are an ATO want want to attend, let me know ASAP. A Chartering ceremony is a once in a lifetime event. Actually it's probably less often than that, since most ATO's never see one. This will be my second. Due to scheduling conflicts they will not be able to have the traditional banquet that weekend. That's the weekend of final exams. So the banquet will be set for next semester. When I know those plans I will be sure to post them here. The banquet will be for members and non-members. I've heard talk of them trying to make this the biggest banquet in ATO history. Nothing I have seen from these guys leads me to think they'll do anything less. Besides, they're ATO's. They are destined to break records and change the world. That's what we do.  |
