This semester for me is a big time of change. I started seminary and recently coerced, by God’s grace, a woman into marrying me, and this visit yet again marked another change in my life that will become central to the work I am being called to in BYX. For my first few visits I am going with National Director & CDO Brian Lee as he “hands the torch off” to me and visits these chapters he started not too long ago for the last time.
When we arrived in Lexington we immediately went to a brother’s house for time to hang out with the brothers and meet the new pledges. Kentucky started this first semester with an Alpha Class of seven, which was a pretty huge start considering these guys were initiated as a chapter just five months ago.
As we met with the guys I was immediately drawn to the enthusiasm the pledges had for talking to me. I pushed myself to engage with all the men there, and was pumped to see these little babies grow up over the next four years.
That night, Brian and I met with the officer team for coffee and discussed the health of the chapter and their team as a whole. I loved hearing the sincerity of these men and the willingness to be transparent with where they are. Truthfully, that place is the “we have no idea what we are doing but the semester is here already and we are freaking out” stage. What a wonderful place.
The discussion seemed to help them out immensely and gave them a better mindset for this semester. It will be a time of taking note of what works and what does not work in the chapter this semester.
Then Monday came, a time of many interviews, really healthy food (we started our day at waffle house, if that gives you a sense of “healthy”) that are always tough on the workouts the next week. But, the meetings with the officers were crucial for these men to feel prepared for the next few months.
Older chapters like Texas and TCU probably take for granted the state of order that comes from being established. These men will have to, at times, be in a state of youthful ignorance this semester because running a chapter well for an entire semester is hard enough, but when you have not functioned as a chapter for even one semester, it is almost impossible.
So, the theme for this visit was making mistakes is crucial for growth. I pushed these men to throw their hearts into this process this semester, and take note of what worked and what did not. That way the new officers have that information to go off of for the spring.
On a lighter note, I have a little bit of disconnect with the University of Kentucky. Being from A&M, my college experience never involved being excited for basketball come springtime. It is so strange because at UK some guys do not like football. Oh you got to be kidding me.
I wanted to talk UK football and the season so far and they were talking as if this semester is a parole period until they are free to watch a real sport in the spring. I honestly could not wrap my mind around that to be honest, but maybe that is good for the chapter this semester. No big distractions like cross-country road trips for tailgating before a big football game. Kentucky does not have big football games.
Monday night was meeting night, which produced many fears in President Jesse Matherly as he and the officers sat around in a pseudo-officer meeting before pledge meeting to discuss a service event with a sorority on campus. But God is sovereign, and the men worked it out and Chase, the pledge captain, and I ran pledge meeting and prepared the men for the semester ahead. It was a bit strange having the pledge captain going through his first pledgeship ever along with the pledges, but I guess that will be the norm for me as I take on the new chapters as BYX continues to grow.
Full meeting consisted of announcements and my address, where I shared my testimony and the importance on becoming transparent in cell groups. This will be their first time in cell groups as a chapter, and I wanted to give them a vision of how a healthy cell group is done. Guys seemed to respond well to the encouragement and vision, and I appreciated the interaction in meeting.
Many questions were being asked, which was a bit of a contrast to the first grill out night we had, so I felt like they were warming up to me a bit. Sometimes the polos that the National Staff wears can intimidate, and I did all that I could to display sincerity during my talk.
After meeting I went with some of the brothers for a type of “last supper” before the chaos of the semester truly set in. We went to Tally Ho’s, a great burger joint that again was about as healthy as Waffle House. That night I started to see some maturity as these men were getting more experience under their belts. I had the privilege to help initiate the chapter with President & COO Jason Hoyt in the spring, and to already see the growth, especially with the officers, as they did more and more BYX events was incredible. What a difference five months make.
The Alpha Mu Chapter at the University of Kentucky will experience tremendous growth, both in number of members and in maturity this semester. They will encounter copious amounts of issues, but very soon they will have one full semester in the books with a second officer team ready to take the torch for the next year.
Be in prayer for these men. What an experience to be at a chapter during its foundational years. Pray for wisdom, guidance and grace as they take off in a journey to glorify Christ through this fraternity.
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