"The Importance of Fraternity Chapters"

Among the many issues that beset the fraternity, the one that elicits
more than the usual queries involves the topic of Chapters.
Inevitably, the question of their importance and relevance will often
be posed not only by brods but observers alike who claim that our
strength lies precisely along this line.

How important are chapters?

The answer is found in the very heart of the original Triskelion
gospel of reforming the traditional fraternity system. Our philosophy
of reform was certainly not meant to be exclusive to the University of
the Philippines nor was it conceived to be simply a convenient way of
providing an alternative to those who seek change and purpose to an
old, traditional way of pursuing the concept of campus brotherhood.
The philosophy needs to be propagated, the gospel spread to anyone and
everyone willing to listen, and more importantly , the concept has to
be practiced and embraced by those who swore to live by it.

Propelled by this sense of purpose, the brods in the early seventies
reached out and sought others outside of the UP campus who had the
will to challenge their own university frat system. It took a
considerable amount of time and a lot of effort to obtain acceptance
of a concept that sought true commitment and sacrifice from young
minds. The first and the oldest maritime school in the country came to
be the very first to dare adopt these set of ideals . Thus, the
Philippine Maritime Academy officially became the first TAU GAMMA PHI
chapter in the country. Others, like UST, Mapua, Adamson, UE, and FEU
followed suit- a move that consequently changed the course of
fraternity life in the university belt.

From my perspective, the importance of Chapters should be viewed on
the basis of having been able to propagate and share the very essence
of the Triskelion concept to other campuses outside of UP. It
confirmed that there were others within the system, who believed and
were willing to validate within their own academic confines the ideals
of a Triskelion brotherhood. It stood as proof that indeed we were
filling a void, a need that was not fulfilled in many campuses for
decades, a yearning for a different kind of fraternity.

But that was then, and this is NOW.

Over the years and after a brief episode of success, things began to
change. Chapter formation was suddenly equated with numbers. Quantity
in favor of quality. Strength in numbers became the new mantra. And
the old guidelines were thrown away to be replaced by hastily devised
rituals and a hodge podge of membership procedures designed to herd
new recruits into a production line type of admission process.

Worse, we took the fraternity out of the confines of the college
campus and brought it into neighborhoods while applying recruitment
concepts that were originally meant for a student organization.
Leaving the confines of a structured environment and stepping into the
streets was like entering a social laboratory of sorts and doing
experiments without the benefit of scientific skills or even the
proper hyphothesis.

I know that I will no doubt ruffle the feathers of a good number of
brods with my statements. I am however , too old and too stubborn to
engage in compromise and shy away from being candid. We have seen
enough and heard enough to know that drastic measures will have to be
taken to revive the true Triskelion spirit of reform and this time
direct the same not at the system which we initially intended to
change, but to our own organization instead!

As I have said before, the concept has to be practiced and embraced by
those who swore to live by it. How many of us have done so? Who can
honestly say, even among the alumni that they left the frat better
than they found it?

Maybe at this point we should stop debating over the importance of
chapters. We need new chapters like we need a hole in the head. We
have more than enough. The key is to make them relevant.

And that is a hard thing to do.

By: Rod Confesor