Homecoming 2004

Whew! Homecoming has come and gone this year. While there were no major problems this year and things seemed to be relatively calm, a number of things really got me going, the first of which were the T-shirts I saw. . . . add these to the Greek "wall of shame"

"The more you score, the louder we scream"
"When was the last time you got sacked?"
"Our drinking club has a sorority problem"
"Win or lose, we still booze"
"Turning beer into breakfast since 1888"

or this one. . .

"Homecoming comes once a year,
we get up early and drink lots of beer.
When you are with XYZ, the fun never rests.
A great group of girls with really nice. . . personalities."

And believe it or not, most of these were the sorority t-shirts! Yes, it was the women who were sporting the most questionable shirts. OK. . . I admit, I chuckled and shook my head in disbelief. But I also wondered how on earth these women could walk around with these t-shirts promoting themselves and their sorority. Some call me old-fashioned. I have had a number of students tell me that things are just different in today's generation. . . they are much more open and ok with things of a sexual nature. But to do so in the name of sorority and fraternity is where I have to draw the line.

We spend countless hours trying to develop a good name for the Greek community. I hear students whine all of the time. . . . "We are not all bad. We aren't about the stereotypes 'Animal House' would have you believe! We do good things too!" For instance, they usually tout that Greeks care about the environment and the town-gown relations, every year we pick up trash in the streets during College town cleanup. Greeks care about service and philanthropy. This past year fraternities and sororities gave over $200,000 in donations and over 25,000 hours are given in service. But ladies, by strutting around in these t-shirts, you also showed that we are the ones that reinforce the "Animal House" stereotypes the best. The proof is how we represent ourselves on Homecoming weekend: a time in which alumni, faculty, staff and community are swarming campus.

We represent ourselves not by taking this time to do our good things, to show the world we can act responsibly, make good choices, and communicate to everyone that we are about leadership, scholarship, service, and fellowship (the values we pull out when we have to defend ourselves). Instead, the fraternities and sororities are roped into what I would describe as a quarantined tailgate area, far away from all the other tailgaters. "The Greek ghetto" I heard someone describe it. We have signs that warn people upon entering "No children allowed" suggesting that Greeks corrupt youth and are something evil to keep your kids away from. We drink, and drink, and drink, and drink. And then we choose to wear t-shirts that reinforce all that is "bad" about us? Doing just about everything we try to fight against when we feel targeted unfairly. But you know, maybe we are not targeted so unfairly after all?

Yes, poking fun at ourselves is fine. Yes, we do have a right to freedom of speech. Yes, these t-shirts cause people to laugh. But laugh at whose expense? I’d like to argue that it is at ours.

We are values-based organizations. It’s time to start acting like it. Perhaps then we would get the respect we deserve.

Day Four

Well. . . day four just plain sucks! Most of everything that this guy recommends to obtain more energy has been thrown out the window today. Guess when I am stressed and there is a lot going on things collapse. No exercise, way too much diet coke, no water, and worst yet, it is 8:15 and I am still at work and will most likely be here until 10:00 ot later tonight.

Homecoming is this weekend and in the fraternity and sorority world Homecoming translates to "all hands on deck!" My Saturday is going to consist of monitoring the tailgate area reserved for Greek students, make sure that they are safe and that no one under the age of 21 is drinking. Now come on!!!! I totally agree with the first part of these job duties. I want students to be safe and smart about their drinking and Homecoming festivities. Yet, I did not enter this profession to police and monitor who drinks, who does not and how those under 21 got the alcohol in the first place. This will be the challenge of the day for me.

Also a part of this weekend is interacting with alumni and promoting all of the good things that are going on in the Greek community on campus. So Saturday I get to experience the drunken fest that is homecoming and then in a blink of an eye I get to put on a smile and assure the alumni that the Greek community is moving forward and that they should invest in its positive future by contributing to the Creating Chapters of Excellence fund that pays for my salary and so many other worthwhile events.

At times I feel like a hypocrite. At times I feel that there is little I can do to make a difference in this community. At times I wonder if college students will ever "get" what fraternity and sorority-- at its core-- is really about. At times I think I am this older, out of touch idealist that believes the Greek community can be so much more than what it currently is (if only we lived by our mission and values). At times I think that students really don't want what fraternity and sorority--at its core-- has to offer. At times I think the college students just roll their eyes and tell me the answer they think I want to hear because it is just easier that way.

We will see if this weekend is one of those times.

Day Three and New Games

Doing well. . . . was successful in going to the gym last night, getting 8 hours of sleep (ok, it was more like 7.5), limiting myself to 1 Diet Coke, and sticking to more of a schedule. All is good. Am I bouncing off the walls? Not yet. I think the thing that I like that I am doing is making a deliberate effort to make exercise a part of my routine. Something that is a part of my day from its very beginning rather than an add-on because I have free time or nothing better to do. Back when I was training for my marathons, it worked that way too. . . mostly due to the "fear" and the need to train now or pay for it later. But without a marathon goal looming over my head, exercise has taken a back seat. And I am not too happy with that.

But the biggest joy of the day was my class that I teach at Ithaca College: New Games. For the past eight weeks I have been going over to IC (the other college in Ithaca, also made famous from the movie "Road Trip") to teach a class in the department and therapeutic and recreation education. Not a bad gig considering that most of the two classes each week consist of playing games and teaching the students the best way to lead games. And the class only lasts for half the semester.

I have taught the class for three semesters, and this semester has by far been the most rewarding for me as an educator, and I think the students too. 26 of them in all. No major attendance issues this year (like in semesters past) and kids with a great amount of enthusiasm and joy for just being silly and having a good time. The class even gave me a nickname this semester: the funmiester. And they would use it.

Anyhow. . . today was the last class session. And as in semesters past, at the last class we invite as many children as we can to play with us. So today we had 12 kids (most of which are home schooled) come to the gym at Ithaca College. The cool part was that not only did we have an adorable new group of little ones to play with, but also the students took ownership in introducing and leading the games that we played. And to see all of this in action was amazing. The kids loved the experience. The students loved the experience. The parents were impressed and appreciative of the opportunity. I was humbled to know that everyone was having so much fun. I was excited to see how much everyone was getting out of a simple hour's worth of games in a college gymnasium.

There is something powerful about seeing a child laugh. There is something even more powerful about seeing a college student get jazzed over that laughter too. I needed those moments in my life today. As I complain and question about the impact that I have at Cornell and with the students with whom I work, it is a moment like the one I had earlier today when I think, "yeah, this is what it is all about. This is what I live for." And I am amazed by the simplicity of everything: Laughter.

At the end of the class, I had several students come up to me and thank me for "the best class" that they have had at IC. How much they learned and how much fun it was. They wished that the class would continue on for the entire semester. They called me "funmiester" one last time; they even gave me a round of applause. It feels good to be appreciated. To feel validated. But it feels even better to know that the students will look back on this class, and especially this day, to remember the laughter and the joy that can be had when people come together in the spirit of play.

Day Two

Well. . . can't say that I have more energy today. Actually feeling a bit annoyed due to a frustrating staff meeting and the realization that the rest of the world (ok, more like the rest of the staff in my office) does not feel and think like me. Ugh! How aggravating. OK, I know that this would be a terrible thing, but sometimes I find myself questioning my job, my work, and the impact I have on the students with whom I work. Sometimes I feel so limited in my ability.

But, enough of my frustrations. . . on to my energy makeover! I DID drink 4 glasses of water yesterday. I DID go to the gym for a 2 mile run. I DID have only ONE diet coke yesterday. I DID get 8 hours of sleep. I DID NOT hit the snooze button this morning. But I DID go back to sleep after I turned off the alarm. OK, no one is perfect.

Day two is going well. Sticking pretty close to the plan and my goals for the day. I just need to learn how to drink more water. I'll share the full report tomorrow.

Energize Me!

OK. . . so watching the Today Show this morning as I got ready for work, I listened to some testimonials from three women about how they are getting "energy makeovers" from some energy guru, Jon Gordon. Apparently what he has been asking them to do is working. This energy makeover started last week as we learned a bit more about the CRAZY lives all three women lead and how they just feel exasperated at the end of each day. Sounds way too familiar, I thought. Lately I have been fighting this slump in my mood, attitude, and all around productivity level. And if I am feeling this way now, I cannot imagine what it would be like to add on family responsibilities in a matter of years. So, I started listening to what this guy, Jon had to say.

Granted, this guy's credibility is questionable because as he is talking he is practically jumping off the walls. Sure, if he is an energy guru, he needs to exude energy, but come on. . . . he was over the top. A bit too happy. I'd like to see him when he finally crashes, cause I know it is ugly. Nevertheless, I still listened to his message of 1) cut caffeine, 2) simple energy workouts every day (we are talking 10-minute walks), 3) drink water, 4) no snooze button, 5) Eight hours of sleep. All seem pretty doable, I thought. Just have to be a bit more intentional with things.

So. . . just what I intend to do. . . for the next seven days I intend to take the "energy addict challenge" that he proposes. . . almost like what these three women are doing and reporting on the Today Show every morning. I am going into this week trying to be more deliberate and attempting to structure my day a bit more. My preferred style is to go with the flow and let the day determine what I do and what happens. But, I know where that gets me at the end of the day: feeling drained.

Day one is today. . . . my commitments for the day: 1) drink 4 glasses of water (I am still on glass one), 2) go to the gym for a short workout (its starting to get dark and cold outside), and 3) go to bed by 10:30 for my eight hours of sleep. . .and NO snooze button in the AM!

I'll make notes of my successes and challenges each day on my blog and at the end of these seven days I'll analyze how things are working. And if nothing else, at least I tried something different. Certainly I'll learn some helpful ways of being or some new insights into how I operate.

Off I go to drink my water!

Yeeeeehaaw!

What a happy day. Not only is it a crisp and sunny fall day in Ithaca (a rarity in these parts), but I just discovered that the Texas Quarters are now in circulation! So here is a simple shout out to the great state to show my enthusiasm over the newly released quarter. The back of the coin is not that spectacular. . . I would have expected to see The Alamo, the Texas Flag, or maybe even a picture of the Bush Dynasty. But I guess the picture of the state and the star make the back rather timeless. Doesn't quite grab me though. But what does grab me is that we now have a new quarter to admire and collect when we spend our cash!

Yes, I am one of those that collects all of the state quarters. Mind you I am not as obsessive as some people I know whose goal is to stockpile as many state quarters as possible (yes Ed, I am talking about YOU). I simply am collecting 3 quarters from each state: 2 from the "P" mint and 1 from the "D" mint. While 2 of these quarters are for my own personal collection, the extra "P" mint goes to a collection that I am keeping for my future family, cause some day we are gonna learn all about the United States, its geography, and history from the backs of a bunch of different quarters. Yeah, I know, family fun at its best! But imagine the show-and-tell that my son or daughter can bring into school.

My collection is far from complete. It seems that the 2003 coins are harder to find. Or at least they have been harder for me to get my hands on. I just have not seen many of the 2003s in circulation. Alabama is close to nonexistent up here. I am still on the hunt for Michigan, Florida, Alabama, Missouri, and Mississippi (the Denver mints especially). Being from the east coast, the P mint (Philadelphia) is much easier to find. That half of my collection is almost complete. Where I am hurting is the west coast Denver mint variety. And yes, for those of you who do not know, the coins from the US are minted in either Philadelphia or Denver and have a small, almost microscopic "D" or "P" on the front face of the coin.

So now, with the discovery of the Texas coin, I am now re-energized to go on the hunt for the quarters I am missing. I'll be on the West coast in December. Here is hoping that I find some more of the D mints while I am over there.