On December 4th, 2005, a promise was made to me. It was the
promise of a richer and more fulfilled college career, an expanded social
network of friends, a journey that would ultimately shape my personality, and
most importantly, becoming a part of an everlasting brotherhood with an
unmatched sense of unity and pride: it was the promise of family. That day, I
crossed as a brother of Nu Alpha Phi.
On June 19th, 2010, it was my turn to make a promise: to commit
my entire being towards the betterment of the fraternity, to uphold all its
ideals and principles, to innovate, invigorate, and elevate Nu Alpha Phi. On
this day I was elected National President.
After nearly seven years as a brother and two years as
National President, I can proudly say we both kept our word.
The fraternity has grown tremendously. It has become more legitimate, popular, and
secure. It has expanded, restructured, and re-strengthened itself. With my
Executive Board, we gutted out what did not work and improved what did. We
challenged the old system and pioneered new projects:
- We expanded our brotherhood deeper by adding a new establishment.
- We now fully protect all our chapters with National Insurance.
- We have increased our visibility through the launch of our new website (www.naphi.com), our blog, and stepped up our game in the social media arena.
- We now have more financial accountability with the addition of a non-profit banking account.
- We inaugurated a new Warden to protect the safety of all our prospective members and to make sure each of our chapters adhere to the mandated pledging policies of each university.
- We inaugurated a new Public Relations chair to make sure that we are the topic of conversation on all social networking channels.
- We added the Neo Retreat to our list of National Events, which increases our chapter interaction for the year. This boosts our sense of Unity and maintains the reputation of our close-knit Brotherhood that we proudly profess.
- That means that we now have the Neo Retreat, Chapter Wars 1 & 2, National Semi-Formal, National BBQ, National Summer and Winter Meetings, Winter Dinner, Annual Thanksgiving Football Game, World of Dance, and numerous workshops and chapter shows throughout the year as options for brothers to come together, compete, hang out, learn, and overall enjoy each other's company.
- We implemented our first ever stroll competition, which brought out the creativity and swagger of every chapter and put it on display. Now every year, a new stroll gets chosen to become the universal national stroll.
- And we have made tremendous improvements to our infrastructure that include constitutional amendments, adding centralized data storage, syncing communication between chapters and National, and opening up more opportunities for younger actives to take on large scale challenges.
All this
would not have been possible without the unrelenting dedication of my team and
their commitment to fulfilling our goals. It has been an honor serving the fraternity and I am in awe looking back at all we accomplished in the last two years. I want to take a moment to thank my E-Board for their hard work.
To Eddie - You
definitely went above and beyond your position this past year and deserve every
bit of your Leadership Award. You stepped up whenever big things needed to
happen and you followed through on every single project. You have come a long
way since the pledging days of summer 2008 and I'm proud of you for everything
that you have become. Thank you for being such a great right hand man, but more
importantly, for being such a great friend. Without you, none of what we
accomplished could have been possible. I am glad I passed the torch to you. These
next two years are yours. Own it.
To Jeff -
Thank you for holding everyone accountable and providing transparency to all of
the fraternity. You provided a lot of great advice and logic when I went off with
my wild aspirations. I know we didn't always see eye to eye but we always did
want the very best for the fraternity and through it all, it was great working
with you.
To Jomi -
To the 2010 Most Potential and 2011 Mr. Nu Alpha Phi, what else can I say that
has not already been said? You have been a blessing to this fraternity. You
have contributed more to Nu Alpha Phi than anyone can count and you still
continue to do so. I'm sure everyone will agree that the fraternity would not
be where it is today, if not for you. You are a man born of Black and Maroon
and I look forward to the day when you command the ship.
To Mike - To
the 2010 Brother of the Year, "You only get out what you put in," right? Thank you for putting in such massive work to restructure our pledging
process. You made it safer for our prospective members and made it possible for
each generation to be closer. We as a fraternity have made great strides in our
process and you deserve all the credit.
To Arthur -
Mr. Swagoo... I loved the thrill and intensity you always brought to the table.
You continually came up with new ideas and stepped up to put in work. Together
with Jomi, you helped usher in a great addition to the fraternity. These past
two years have been fantastic with you on my team. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors
whether they be in California or Boston or wherever.
To the new E-Board - these next two years will be a remarkable
journey. You are now in a position to shape the fraternity and will quickly
learn how much you can accomplish if you continually set goals. Make sure to
work together as a team and you will make magic happen. I leave proudly knowing that I left my mark on the fraternity. Now it is time to leave yours.
For the good and welfare,
Venom
