Trick or Treat Street 2009

The University of Richmond will be hosting its 11th Annual Trick or Treat Street on Saturday, October 31 from 11 AM to 3 PM. Sponsored by the Panhellenic and Interfraternity councils and other student organizations, Trick or Treat Street provides a fun and safe Halloween experience for all children in the metro Richmond and surrounding areas. Activities include a ghostly graveyard tour, a haunted pirate ship, a costume contest, three moonbounces, a straw maze, pumpkin painting, food, games and more! Tickets are $5 for one child, $12 for three and all proceeds will be donated to the Children's Organ Transplant Association benefiting Cole Hafer, a four year old boy from Richmond in need of a liver transplant. We will be sponsoring an Inflatable Bounce House and a Bean Bag Toss.

Broventures of Sorts

Okay, I get it. I fell into some apathy myself and have not continued to post enough on this site. Yet, one could say that "bro-ventures" may have had something to do with it (Excuses).

Through my own experience in Beta Beta, I have noticed that brothers will drive hours for a chance to hang out and find their ways into derelict behavior together whether it is a graduation party (Summer is full of those little excuses to meet up with brothers), someone has rented out a beach house (Bad idea for an open invitation to an entire fraternity), or just a random weekend someone extends an invitation to . And in my own experience, I have noticed that invitations that include even the allusion to kegs will automatically attract at least 10 brothers to crash your house. Yet, one could not be happier to clean up Domino's off some walls, Champagne corks sprayed around rooms and empty cans of Natural Light strewn through every room.

Yet, Broventures seem to take on an even more interesting and more meaningful tone when they are guys that you cannot just walk to their apartment or dorm room, or even take the 5 minute drive to their house. These are the adventures that make this brotherhood so strong that 40-50 years down the road make each brother as close if not closer than they were when they attended U of R. The bond that never dies, AEKDB.

Brother Jay Wright submitted this story and picture of some of the 70's brothers bro-venture to Tampa:

"The 70’s were revisited in Tampa/St. Petersburg in January. Brothers Kevin Hutchinson, Steve Murphy, Jim Sutherland, Hil Beck, Rob Bruns, Chris Mullen, and Jay Wright spent a long weekend at the beach. The major surprise was that no one was arrested. The 70's brothers have instituted a series of misadventures aptly called “club meetings.” There have been meetings in the Richmond area, Norfolk and New York City and can be called at any time in any place. From the picture, you can tell that the group is not exclusive and welcomes new attendees at every event. Note Brothers Beck and Murphy in their Cuban shirts sampling prize cigars while in Ybor City inside Tampa. You are never too old to sample the good life."

Brothers Hil Beck and Steve Murphy

Trick or Treat Street

We would like to invite all brothers and their families to a day of Halloween festivities at the University of Richmond's Fraternity Rows. Beta Beta will be hosting a Haunted House in this day that provides a safe Halloween experience for all children in Richmond and the surrounding areas. It should be a great event, and we hope that many of you can attend.

The Fall of Roscoe Jenkins

Our chapter made headlines last week. Though not the good kind.

It began with the chapter's rush chair demonstrating poor judgment by sending an email to rushees laced with offensive and degrading language. This email was quickly forwarded to the rest of the student body, university administrators, and even among alumni. The Collegian ran a front-page story that ensured the entire University community knew the most explicit passages of the email. The story even found it's way to the local news last night.

While opinions vary on the response, it's safe to say that the email itself was a poor reflection on our chapter, inconsistent with the values to which we aspire. Unfortunately, this one bad decision by one brother is going to affect how Kappa Sigma is perceived by the rest of the University for quite awhile.

Silver linings in all this: good to know the actives feel such pride about the quality of their lodge parties (according to rush chair Roscoe: "we don't do lodges; we f*cking invented 'em"); and good to know that alumni will turn out in droves to make a mockery of the whole thing through humorous comments to the Collegian story.

The Class of 2012

The next batch of Beta Beta Brothers will be pulled from a very elite pool of candidates:

The university received 7,970 applications--a university record--and accepted 2,522 students (32 percent). Of students admitted, 790 enrolled (31 percent). Among first-year students, more than half who submitted high school class rank were in the top 10 percent.

The Class of 2012 is a dynamic group of students who have dedicated themselves to humanitarian relief, wildlife preservation and serving in the U.S. Army. Some also have overcome tremendous odds, such as fleeing Afghanistan to escape the Taliban. Others assumed leadership roles in their high schools and communities and demonstrated extraordinary academic achievement. The first-year class includes 19 valedictorians, 68 student government and class presidents, 53 members of state champion athletic teams, 52 editors of school publications and 16 Eagle and Girl Scout Award winners.

In addition to an Army veteran, the first-year class includes: a student who worked as a translator for the German Embassy in Kabul and later worked with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); a student who worked as a Congressional intern; and a student who served as the president of a group for Hispanic girls.

The university’s first-year students come from 42 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 34 countries. Forty percent hail from the Mid-Atlantic, with 16 percent from Virginia. Seven percent are from outside of the United States. Domestic students of color make up 12 percent of the first-year class, and 15 percent are first-generation college students.

Among all these valedictorians and class presidents, I have no doubt that a future Derelict of the Week is just waiting to be found.