The years your son is in college is a time of tremendous possibilities for his own personal growth and well-being. Young men develop best in a congenial and stimulating environment, and a fraternity chapter, with its group of men banded together for common goals, can supply such an atmosphere.
The primary justification for the existence of a college fraternity is its value to the positive social growth and development of the young men who are its members. While scholarship, leadership and service to the community are our duty, it is the personal effect of theses activities on your sons that is most empowering and long lived.
In your sons desire to join a national fraternity, he is guaranteed to develop many lifelong traits and skills that will benefit him for the rest of his life. Listed below are a few of these traits, but the lifelong experiences and memories that can be gained are limitless.
Developing Interpersonal Skills
Even if your son already demonstrates some of these skills, he will quickly learn even more ways to get along with people. He will learn how to adjust his behavior in the give and take of chapter life and, at times, he will be forced to set aside his own personal desires for the betterment of the group. On other occasions, he will be placed in a leadership position in order to carry out chapter duties and projects.
The atmosphere of mutual helpfulness that exists in fraternity chapters assists in the development of character and personality. A man with developed interpersonal skills is an asset to any organization, regardless of what career or life paths he may choose.
Furnished College Home and Cooperative Living
Fraternities provide a valuable service to both undergraduates and colleges on most campuses by furnishing living quarters for students. In fraternity housing, the traditions and character of Phi Psi will take the place of parental restrictions. If housed, the property is generally owned by a local corporation, comprised of Phi Psi alumni. A mutual partnership between chapter and corporation will prepare your son for the demands of maintaining his own residence after college.
More than that, Chapter life is an experience in cooperative living. Fraternity members learn to respect the opinions of others, to share with them, and to assume part of the group’s obligations. Phi Psi will help your son develop poise, initiative, tact, and judgment. In addition, the fraternity experience hopes to teach him discipline, obedience, respect, good manners, social duties, and responsibilities.
Encouragement of Scholarship and Broadening of Outside Interests
Phi Psi chapters recognize that the primary goal in your son’s attendance at the university is to strive and obtain a high degree of scholastic achievement. Phi Psi chapters around the country help students obtain their scholarly goals through the enforcement of concise and strict study rules and an encouragement of a serious attitude toward studies. Realizing that no device can force your son to study, chapters seek to stimulate, inspire, and support strong academic performance.
Phi Psi chapters encourage participation of its members in worthwhile extra-curricular activities, simply because of the inherent value and enjoyment that can be garnered from them. Personal growth and skills can be advanced by joining athletic, political, journalistic, or cultural organizations on campus and, often, career or life-long hobbies flow out of such involvement. In athletics, fraternity teams form the mainstay of the universities intramural sport programs.
Increasing Social Poise and Providing Leadership and Business Training
By the time your son leaves college, it will be expected that he possess a certain amount of social poise. In business or graduate school, he will be judged by his level of social sophistication. A fraternity chapter offers an excellent opportunity for constructively developing his social skills. A Phi Psi chapter insists on gentlemanly behavior as a matter of chapter pride and campus reputation.
Offers Advice and Counsel
Throughout their college careers, your son will be faced with scholastic challenges, the need to carefully plan his time, and dramatic personal and emotional experiences. Phi Psi will provide advice, counsel, and support, filling the void caused by the distance between your son and his family. Older Phi Psi brothers are often available and eager to help your son as he encounters the challenges and traumas of college life.