Recently, I entered Zollinger House in Richmond through the front doors that face South Boulevard. As I approached our Headquarters building, I saw a red porch tile with the name of Bruce Hasenkamp, Dartmouth ’60. It is the first one you come to from that direction.
My mind immediately went to our recent Conclave, where SigEp’s Past Grand Presidents surrounded outgoing Grand President Phillip A. Cox, Indiana ’84, onstage during the Balanced Man Celebration to show the love and support we felt for him. His bravery in the face of daunting physical difficulties was an inspiration for all SigEps.
Among those onstage, in a wheelchair, was Bruce Hasenkamp. His beloved wife, Inta, had died in April, and he knew that his own time was limited. But he came to Conclave from California by himself, which must have been a very difficult trip.
I was reminded forcefully that night that 10 years before, in the same city of Nashville, my immediate predecessor as Grand President, Jim Robeson, Cincinnati ’59, attended his last Conclave. Jim was diagnosed with bladder cancer shortly after his 2003 election, but carried out his duties in his usual determined way. Toward the last, his doctor told him he could either go with his family to its annual beach week at the Outer Banks of North Carolina or to Conclave, but not both. Jim came to Conclave, also in a wheelchair.
Both Bruce and Jim passed away soon after these Conclaves. And this past January, Phil lost his own brave and lengthy fight with cancer. Reflecting on the last moments I shared with these men, I thought about what compelled them to attend Conclave knowing the end was near. Why did they, and countless others I could name, sacrifice time with family and work to give so generously, often from limited resources?
Why do volunteers do it? One thing is for sure: It is not for self-aggrandizement. Try explaining to your neighbors and friends why you’re leaving on a plane on Friday afternoon to fly to the other side of the country to attend a Fraternity event and return late Sunday night. Or try explaining to your co-workers why you’re spending so much time working with your local university’s SigEp chapter when you didn’t even attend that school. Or why you’re so involved with SigEp as a Renaissance brother, or just a friend of the Fraternity, when you never had the undergraduate experience.
The answer is simple: It’s you. The bottom-line focus of all volunteer involvement is you—the undergraduate member—and your development as a balanced man.
There is no greater joy than hearing the name of the chapter you are working with called up at Conclave to receive a Buchanan Cup; or seeing a brother you haven’t seen in a long time at a Conclave, Carlson Leadership Academy, Life After College, Ruck Leadership Institute, or on the Tragos Quest to Greece and picking up the conversation where you left off. Seeing young men grow and develop into balanced men and become volunteers and mentors themselves makes it all worthwhile.
For me, when I think about the many thousands of young men impacted by Jim Robeson, Bruce Hasenkamp, and Phil Cox, I better understand and appreciate what this Fraternity is all about—what it truly means to be different—and I become more determined to have Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love be an integral part of my life and to share that with undergraduates every chance I get.
I encourage you, our undergraduate brothers, to look for volunteer opportunities as soon as you graduate. I guarantee that you will grow in your appreciation of being a SigEp and learn firsthand why they do it.
Fraternally,
Archie Yeatts, Richmond ’64
Past Grand President
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