BYX Nationals Visits Florida

by Nathan Miller
Ministry Associate

Have you ever had the opportunity to roast an entire pig? How about eat a pig’s tongue? Ear? Snout? Skin? Brain? Well I had the opportunity to taste all of these things when I made my BYX visit out to Gainesville, FL and meet with the men of the Upsilon Chapter at UF.

I woke up Saturday morning and boarded a plane to Orlando where I jumped in my rental car (and actually saw an alligator on the highway) and made my way to Gainesville for some great time of fellowship and planning with the BYX guys.

After a short drive I got into the Gainesville city limits and my mouth started watering because I could already smell the pig roasting. The men were having a brotherhood event called BYX Pig Roast and I was invited and I wasn’t going to miss this for the world.

I checked in at my hotel and headed over to Mr and Mrs Jaye’s house. Mr. and Mrs. Jaye are an awesome couple who greatly believe in what BYX is about and offered their home and backyard to be used for this event. When I arrived at the house the brothers were in the backyard playing some volleyball, throwing around a frisbee or football and playing with the Jaye’s dog. I greeted all the men and then requested to see the pig.

Mr Tzobanakis (Dean the Pledge Captain’s Dad) brought his roasting box and he had already begun preparing for the whole pig to be roasted. It took SEVERAL hours for the pig to fully cook but I promise you it is absolutely worth the wait. We took the pig out of the roasting box and on a giant cutting board and Mr. T pulled out a meat cleaver and went to work. He slowly cut up the entire pig while the men got to sample all of the things that I mentioned above. We also got to have some of the best ribs and bacon that I have ever had in my entire life. We got tons of meat piled on our plates and we went inside to watch the US DOMINATE some Winter Olympics. It was an incredible experience that I will never forget!

I woke up the next morning, about 5 pounds heavier, and went to church with a group of the guys and grabbed some lunch with them at an Asian Bistro afterward. After some great food and conversation we headed over to Shane’s (chaplain) house for officer meeting. We spent a good amount of time planning out the upcoming events, discussing what the men were dealing with personally and what we can do to help BYX take off at UF.

After the officer meeting we watched one of the BYX intramural football teams absolutely wreck shop on the other team.

The next day was spent meeting with officers one on one at the Christian Study Center until it was time for chapter. After some great worship at chapter I got up and helped the men plan out some events and gave them some ideas on how to promote BYX on their campus in a big way. We ended up planning an event called Dodge Balls For Haiti that takes place two weeks before their Island Party. The main goal of this event is to help spread the word about BYX and campus as well as raising some money for a solid cause.

This was the last time I would ever be visiting the Upsilon chapter so after some tough goodbyes I went back to the hotel and left from Orlando the next day to come back home to Texas.

Overall my visit was an absolute blast but there are still some major concerns that need to be lifted up on behalf of the UF Guys. The main thing that these men are still struggling with is awareness on campus and growth within the chapter. They continue to have an uphill struggle to be known on campus and to have a consistent increase in membership. These guys are great and they “get” BYX. Please be in prayer that the Lord would continue to present them with avenues to expand their awareness on campus and that He would bring them some new members to help sustain the chapter.