This Fall, our leadership and staff have driven home the message of successful membership recruitment at our Active chapters - and many have responded well to the recruitment challenge. How? Through the major realization that "RECRUITMENT" is not "RUSH" in the traditional sense that many of us have viewed it for years. Based on an innovative program that Zeta Psi’s Development Director, Dan Backer, has promoted to those chapters ready to adapt to a better way to increase their memberships; we have seen impressive pledge class numbers at many chapters this Fall. We are confident these numbers will continue to impress throughout this school year using the Rolling Recruitment model.

Why recruitment vs. rush? Rush is what the word implies: a quick sprint – rather than a well- crafted race to the finish line. Rolling Recruitment, If properly implemented, has shown to be virtually foolproof. In fact, even where campus rules prohibit first-semester pledging, we have encouraged chapters to view membership recruitment as more than a quick, short-term program - but rather as a steady, measured commitment by members to make new friends - and convert those who may be a good fit for the chapter into pledges.

We have also committed ourselves to substantially increased contact with our chapters. Through frequent emails, phone calls, instant messaging and formal communications like this very UpZete, we are in close and constant contact with our Chapters.

Having served the International in one capacity or another for 35 years, I can say without reservation that our commitment remains steadfast to assist those chapters and members who commit themselves to excellence. A major part of that commitment is to help our chapters fully understand and implement Zeta Psi’s Rolling Recruitment program. IT WORKS, and will help strengthen Zeta Psi at all our Chapters.

If you want to see how this program works, email Dan Backer for more information.

I'd like to address a few issues that are crucial to the survival to each Zete Chapter. You've heard it from me before - the “Three R’s” of Recruitment, Risk management, and Responsibility.

Zeta Psi is off to a promising fall with chapters reporting strong pledge numbers. With new groups at Georgia and Binghamton coming on line this year we could surpass 600 initiates for the first time in many years. Recruiting new members is the life blood of a chapter. Zeta Psi has developed The Rolling Recruitment Plan. For those chapters with recruitment challenges – THIS PLAN WORKS!

Risk Management. Let’s remember what it means - manage your risk. As a college student you'll have many opportunities to expand your horizons. Each decision you make has some element of risk involved. Unless you live in a bubble you'll never eliminate risk. What you can do is REDUCE your risk. That’s why we have a Risk Management Policy. Our policy provides guidelines for chapters and individuals to reduce risky behavior while still interacting with the world. Please know the policy and follow it. In the next week each Chapter Phi will receive a copy of the policy and be asked to distribute & review it at the next Chapter meeting. Knowing and following our Risk Management Policy will have a positive impact on your college experience.

Responsibility - as a chapter and as an individual. You undergraduates are growing into adults. A key characteristic by which you'll be judged in life is responsibility. It will make or break you in your chosen profession and in your personal relationships. As Zeta Psi Chapters and members of Zeta Psi you have responsibilities - key of which are to positively promote the fraternity, meet your financial obligations, follow fraternity and school policies, and look out for your fellow brothers. We all share these responsibilities, not just officers. Be sure you make wise decisions and help others do the same.

Let's make Fall 2006 the best ever in Zeta Psi. Each Chapter has the capability to be in the top of fraternities on their campuses. Being mediocre is not acceptable - that's just not Zeta Psi.

Zeta Psi is very pleased to announce the hiring of Anthony Shibata, Omicron/Nebraska Wesleyan '06, as our Director of Chapter Services. Anthony is filling the position being vacated by Chris Bond as Chris looks to move on to work in Washington, D.C. before starting law school. I'd like to personally thank Chris for his dedicated work for Zeta Psi over the past 16 months. Chris' style and presence will be missed and we all wish him the best in his future endeavors. Chris leaves staff on October 31st. His final duty for Zeta Psi is editing The Circle for November distribution.

Anthony came on board September 22nd, jumping right in with the Pacific LTI and chapter visits to UCLA and Claremont. He's now settled in Pearl River and has begun his first road trip visiting our Midwest Chapters. Anthony has a strong background in Zeta Psi coming from his leadership in the Omicron, one of the top chapters in Zeta Psi. Anthony also assisted Zeta Psi as a Convention Staff member in Philadelphia and Boston. We look forward to great work from Anthony as he visits and serves Chapters. Welcome aboard!

Active Chapter fees & Insurance are now past due - if your chapter has not paid its fees for Fall 2006 yet, PLEASE DO SO RIGHT AWAY. Timely payment of these fees insures our ability to keep providing the best services to all our Active & Elder Chapters and Brothers.

Oct. 23 (MONDAY) – FALL SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINE - Don't miss out on this valuable source of educational aid!
Oct. 30 (MONDAY) – DC Elders 3rd Annual Fall Wine Tasting - cli ck here for details
Nov. 4 (SATURDAY) – Southern LTI at UVA/Beta
Nov. 10 (FRIDAY) - Theta Phi Alumni Reception Chapter
Nov. 11 (SATURDAY) - Theta Xi's Annual Commemoration
Nov. 16 (THURSDAY) - Zeta Psi New York City Alumni Club Event. Details TBA here
Nov. 18 (SATURDAY) - Zeta Psi Boston Alumni Club Event. Details TBA here

“Men don’t join Fraternities – they join groups of Men they like, have fun hanging out with, respect, and feel the same in return.”

Recruitment has been incredibly strong this fall throughout Zeta Psi. The adoption by several chapters of our Rolling recruitment model has been tremendously successful – with some chapters doubling their previous pledge class sizes, and some chapters doubling their entire chapter with quality brothers! With a few chapters not yet finished with their recruitment, we already have 325 pledges, and may hit 350 or more before the end of the year! This is an incredible result and one of the finest fall recruitments in recent memory – WELL DONE BROTHERS!

As your Grand Chapter staff travels around the US & Canada this Fall – fulfilling our promise & the vision of Bill Comstock that every chapter receive a visit every semester, we’ve highlighted a few visits that have seen great results!

Phi Lambda: After a challenging year with rush restrictions and recognition issues the Phi Lambda responded this fall with a 27-man pledge class. The chapter has strong leadership and is poised to reclaim its top chapter status.

Pi Sigma: A perennially strong chapter, the Pi Sigma looks to stay that way again this year. A very friendly group that is very accommodating. They have a strong membership and are well-respected on campus.

Iota: The Iota is back to a full house and a 40-man membership thanks to a strong spring rush. Fall rush contributed 7 more men. The Chapter is strong and is a predominant fraternity on campus. The Iota has had some risk-management issues over the past few years. The chapter was given a risk management seminar this fall.

Psi: The Psi alumni’s second annual Psi Institute LTI was a big hit, helping to insure the pre-eminence of one of our finest chapters, and the chapter where Rolling Recruitment first took hold. The “Poker as Social Networking” session was particularly well received!

Upsilon Mu – after restarting 2 years ago, the chapter has grown to twelve men, secured a new chapter house (one of the last on campus), and has DOUBLED it’s membership with 12 pledges – with new members from campus sports teams and ROTC. Their Homecoming next weekend marks the culmination of a long, hard road to rebuild, and the beginning of a new challenge to remain the finest chapter at the University of Massachusetts.

Kappa – The Kappa continues strong following a near- chaptering ending suspension a few years back – with a strong and growing house and a committed leadership that threw one heck of a great homecoming!

Alpha Pi – Always a strong chapter, Alpha Pi has shown just how strong their brotherhood is when they not only survived an otherwise chapter-killing house fire, but recruited strong despite their loss, and with the remarkable support of their alumni have come back stronger than ever in a brand new house. With all this going on, the Alpha Pi still earned a number of awards at this years Convention – including the Coveted Comstock trophy, and was recognized on their campus for ‘Best Brotherhood’.

On November 1st I will be leaving Zete Headquarters to begin a career in public affairs. As I step down, I leave the office of Director of Chapter Operations in the capable hands of Anthony Shibata, Omicron '06 ( ashibata@zetapsi.org). I hope you will take the time to warmly welcome Anthony to his new position.

I have enjoyed my work with Zeta Psi tremendously, and am lucky to have been afforded the chance to get to know so many of you over the last fifteen months. The remarkable individuals who comprise our organization have taught me much about brotherhood, and about life. And so I leave my post humbled not only by our rich history, but by the commitment of the volunteers and donors who define our Order's boundless potential for future success.

In Tau Kappa Phi, Chris

As discussed at the Philadelphia Convention, there is an opportunity for Chapter's to improve their Ritual Program - through the RIP program. The RIP program will match a knowledgeable Elder volunteer with your Chapter to meet Ritual benchmarks using a train the trainer method. Each Chapter selects the learning objectives in conjunction with it's Ritual advisor, and then a detailed benchmarked plan is created to meet those learning objectives. Examples of learning objectives might be conducting better initiations, having some percentage of the Chapter earn the Gold Escutcheon Award, or anything else that is related to the Ritual of Zeta Psi.

Contact our Sigma Alpha and Ritual Committee Chairman, Lauck Walton, Pi/R.P.I. '84 (below) for an application. Applications are due October 31st.

If your interest is a Congressional Internship, send your application to Brother Zach Cikanek of Columbia, on staff with Congresswoman Judy Biggert of IL at zcc2001@gmail.com.

For the position on Former Attorney General Ed Meese's Staff at The Heritage Foundation, send your application to Darren Littell of the Univ. of Washington, currently on Mr. Meese's staff at dlittell@u.washington.edu.

Those interested in positions in Public or Government Relations, send application to Matt Pearce of the Univ. of Washington at matthp@comcast.net.
All other applications [i.e. Dept. of Commerce, National Transportation Safety Board, Dept. of Agriculture, Legislative Affairs Section of the Reserve Officers Association, Dept. of Health & Human Services, Bryan Cave International Lobbying, and the U. S. Senate Judiciary Committee], send applications to Brian Phillips at phillips@taxfoundation.org with a copy to Admiral Carey at RADMCarey@aol.com.

Deadline for all is Nov. 7th so we can select and notify applicants by Nov. 21st.

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Pictured (L to R): Jon Clark with fellow Canadian Zetes, Timm DesRoches (Phi of Mu Theta), another Zete, & James Best (Canadian Foundation President) enjoying the Convention Boat Cruise.

If you’ve ever found yourself perplexed by the mounting number of technological changes taking place daily, or have wondered what exactly those changes have to do with you and your life, Jon Clark is your man. The Phi of the Theta Phi chapter, Jon is pursuing a major in Media, Information, and Technoculture from the University of Western Ontario and a major in Multimedia Design from Fashawe College.

At a school with the second largest Greek community in Canada, rush is anything but easy. But this year the Theta Phi chapter, with Jon at the helm, has doubled their chapter’s numbers in one fell swoop. By using a revised recruitment process that focuses fraternity attention squarely upon quality individuals, rather than simply holding “party after party”, Jon has elevated the Zete presence on campus beyond all expectation.

Jon began college as a self-described shy type, but after being paired with a pledge-father who aimed to bring out his social side, Jon went on to become social coordinator his sophomore year. After dedicating a great deal of time and effort his first two years, Jon was well prepared to take on the responsibilities of Phi, so much so that “in all honesty, it came quite naturally”. Though he has done a great deal for his chapter, Jon is modest about his achievements, and attributes the ease of transition both to involved young alumni and to observing those who presided before him. Along this same line, Jon attributed a great deal of his personal development to the supportive atmosphere of Zeta Psi, and spoke of how “Zeta Psi has given me the opportunity to realize that it's possible to go very far- -that I have the potential to balance a lot of things at once and to accomplish goals that seem out of reach at first glance.”

On top of running his chapter and double majoring, Jon also operates his own web-design business. Though he isn’t able to devote a great deal of time to the business while in school, he plans on cultivating his entrepreneurial endeavor after graduation by expanding its scope far beyond the, still quite successful, word of mouth network in place. If you’d like to see a bit of his work while also learning a bit more about the Theta Phi chapter, he created and operates their current chapter website at www.thetaphi.com. In what’s left of his spare time, as hard as it might be to believe he still has a bit, he enjoys playing many different sports and also expanding his knowledge of the high-tech world. With all of this on his plate, it’s that amazing Jon ever sleeps, but it’s certainly inspiring to see such zeal for Zeta Psi, and for life in general, at the undergraduate level.

Our Alpha Phi Alpha, Russ March, knows a thing or two about what it takes to succeed. Over the past 60 years, Russ has excelled in the classroom, chapter room, boardroom, and in just about any other room you might find him.

After graduating from New Britain Senior High School in 1954, Russ proudly served his country in the Army before moving on to attend the University of Connecticut. Inspired by his mother and father, Russ obtained a J.D. at Capital University Law School with aspirations of entering the insurance field. In 1964, K&K Insurance Agency opened their doors to Russ and enrolled him in their management-training program; after just a few short years, Russ had climbed all the way to the post of Executive Vice President.

While with K&K, an insurance provider for high-risk sporting events such as automobile and motorcycle racing, Russ developed an affinity for motorcycle culture. So much so that when Russ left K&K in 1970, he was asked to become the Executive Director of the American Motorcycle Association. At that time, the AMA was a fledgling organization of around 10,000 members. Under Russ’s guidance and his introduction of a more organic membership development structure, the AMA would grow to over 1,000,000 members nationwide in just 3 years.

With a combination of sound investment strategies and fiscal intuition, Russ prospered throughout the 1970’s, and was ready to try his hand at entrepreneurship. During the 80’s, Russ bought 3 national insurance companies, focusing on sports insurance, and founded his own risk retention company, National Warranty. After pushing himself above and beyond as Chairman of the Board for all four companies, his body pushed back in 1990, resulting in a major heart attack. As a result, Russ sold all his companies but National Warranty. Not one to be hindered by the whims of nature, Russ has founded two more companies to date: Marich Acceptance Corporation, a nationwide used car leasing company, and EGM Investment, an investment strategy company for other insurance companies.

Throughout his career, Russ has maintained a strong commitment to Zeta Psi. He takes great pride in our Fraternity and can speak for hours on the many ways in which Zeta Psi has added value to both his personal and professional life. “I really want to stress the values of brotherhood to our undergraduate members. If you take the principles of Zeta Psi to heart, and act in a manner that shows the depth of your commitment to our institution, there is truly no end to the ways in which our brotherhood can aid you in your journey through life.” Coming from a man who has succeeded in as many areas of life as Russ, there’s certainly more than a little truth in those words.

Our first ever Zeta Psi-wide Philanthropy event - for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America/Canada was held on Wednesday, Oct. 4th at campuses throughout the US & Canada - to great success!

While the results are still pouring in, we anticipate a pretty good result from those chapters that were able to participate. Surpisingly, many campuses have rules against 'Dorm-Storming', which prevented several chapters from participating, but we still saw a great turn out nonetheless!

Full results should be compiled for the next UpZete, but for those Alumni who would like to help support this worthy cause, you can click below to make a (tax deductible) donation to the BBBSA as part of our Zeta Psi fundraising campaign!

Thanks again to all the chapters and Brothers who participated!