We're still looking for people to be involved with our two Committees, Events and Communications.

For further information, please check our website www.zetapsinyc.org or contact us at president@zetapsinyc.org or our facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/ZetaPsiNYC)

Our next event will be a happy hour on Thursday August 12th, with details to follow soon, as well as a Roundtable event on Saturday August 21st at the 2010 New Orleans Convention. Future happy hours will be held on the second Thursday of each month, with details available via our listserve, website, or facebook.

For all practical purposes, this will be my last UpZete article, at least as Phi Alpha.  Next month is convention and new men assume the offices that lead this organization.  While there is some relief in knowing I won't have a monthly article deadline, there are some winsome thoughts too.
 
During my two years as Phi Alpha, I had some objectives I wanted to achieve --- some were completed; some just started; and some inchoate.  But I have no doubt I will remain involved with Zeta Psi at the chapter, Elder, or even Board levels for many years.  And that got me thinking....
 
After I joined Zeta Psi and moved from active to Elder, I fully expected to be involved for a lifetime in some meaningful way. Over those 40 years that involvement has taken a variety of forms, ultimately as Phi Alpha.  But it never occurred to me that I wouldn't be involved.  I continue to find it unfathomable why and how brothers Zeta Psi experience lasts a total of about 4 years!
 
In any organization, formal or informal, only a very small percentage e.g. less than 10% ever become "institutionally" engaged, i.e. actively involved over a period of time.    We have about 27,000 living Zetes; all fraternities are probably about 10 times that amount.  I would be surprised if there were 2,700 Zetes as Elder advisors, Board members, Grand Chapter committee members, local chapter advisers, i.e. something more than just writing a check (while we appreciate those that do, and would like more to do so). 
 
One of the great dilemmas of this organization is its inability to connect and engage with more than a very small percentage of its members, particularly for fundraising and volunteerism.
 
So, is Zeta Psi as unique as we like to believe, or is it just an Elks with its own handshake?
 
I like to think most organization are self-selecting, i.e. by their promotion, stated interests and objectives, its own selecting processes, it then attracts those more attuned to those beliefs than those that are just "joiners". And those that seek and join are similarly more dedicated than the guy just looking for a party or a bed.
 
I have absolutely no empirical evidence to this theory whatsoever!  Of course, that will not stop me from proposing my own view.
 
I like to believe that while the over all participation statistics are not significantly different than other social groups, the quality is, i.e. that the 10% that accept, believe and commit to a "Zete for life" principal engage fully and frequently.  We see them at conventions, important local events, as Elder Board members for their, or other, local chapters.  These are the brothers that constantly supply the backbone, the infrastructure of this whole organization.
 
I like to think of myself as one of them, and I would be very satisfied with my term as Phi Alpha if, in any small way, I was able to influence a few of you to follow that path.  In whatever formal way you choose, make the commitment to be a "Zete for life".  Hopefully your example will influence some other Zete to also consider why he was chosen and why he chose to be a Zete, and rise to the occasion.
 
What better legacy can one have?