Alter President's Message and More - The Rattle, Fall 1964
National President’s Message
The 108th Anniversary Convention was a success from many points of view. In spite of a recent bout with "Cleo," the weather was good and the facilities, excellent. Attendance, however, was only fair. Several good chapters were not represented at Miami Beach and total attendance, undergraduate and alumni, was much below what should be expected at a Florida convention. Why would responsible chapters pass up the opportunity to be part of that activity of the fraternity where its officers are elected and its laws made? This remains a question in the minds of many of us who were there.
In the last issue of The Rattle I reviewed the last two years, little thinking or intending that I would again be writing the president's message for this issue. Now, let us look ahead to the next two years. Perhaps the biggest task to be undertaken is an improvement in our scholarship standing. Can our active chapters and our alumni be satisfied with our below average position? Improvement in this field must begin at the chapter level. It must begin with the type of men pledged, in the chapter program, in the attitude toward the individual's scholastic attainment. Scholarship improvement must be accomplished by the chapter, and it is something in which the undergraduates and alumni of each chapter must be vitally interested. While the AMA may be an imperfect yardstick for scholastic measurement, let it not find us wanting.
Howard Alter Jr.
A second task is that of alumni participation and cooperation, particularly on the national level. Why is it so hard to find men who will devote some of their time and ability to the Fraternity? Have we forgotten that the oaths we took were not just for our undergraduate years? Why it is so hard to find alumni advisors and financial supervisors for our chapters, mature men willing to advise and supervise in the training of young men? Why is it so hard to find qualified men to serve as regional counselors, to accept the responsibility and devote the time for national set-vice? I'm inclined to believe that it is because we do not ask enough from our alumni, We are let off too easily once we have left the chapter fold; too little is asked of us. This why a leading educator said to the Greeks on his campus, "I was a Theta Chi .. ." He is — not was, and we are Theta this. I challenge each and every one of us to prove it day by day.
Evidence of this negligence in our responsibility to fraternity is the response to the call for support of the hasher Memorial Fund. No one man in our time was so beloved and respected by the while Fraternity. The need of our chapters in the field that this fund coven is great. And yet, the response is less than enthusiastic. Here is an area where we can prove ourselves, here is an area where we can pick up the challenge .. . now. Will we do it?
Fraternally Yours,
Howard R. Alter Jr.
National President
"At the annual meeting of the CFSA held at French Lick, Indiana, in July, 1964, William T. Brigham, Executive Secretary of Sigma Chi, was elected president. The Executive Committee of CRSA is shown in the photo above. Front Row (left to right) William E. Forester, Kappa Alpha Order; William T. Brigham, Sigma Chi, President; Lewis Bacon, Alpha Kappa Lambda. Rear Row (left to right) George W. Chapman, Theta Chi; Jack L. Anson, Phi Kappa Tau; Rex A. Smith, Sigma Alpha Epsilon; Richard R. Fletcher, Sigma Nu; Ted W. Wyman, Phi Sigma Epsilon; George S. Toll, Alpha Epsilon Pi.
Howard Alter, Jr., president of Theta Chi, receiving the key to the city from the Mayor of Miami Beach - with George Chapman in foreground - at the Theta Chi Fraternity 108th National Convention in Miami Fla.
George W. Chapman, Cyril F. Flad, and Howard R. Alter, Jr. - At the Greeting Luncheon, opening Theta Chi Fraternity's 108th Anniversary Convention, the Distinguished Service Award of Theta Chi was presented to Cyril F. Flad, Executive Director of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.