In the last issue of The Beacon there was a tactless and very disparaging “Letter to the Editor,” that was written by a self-proclaimed ‘smart student.’ It was a clearly petulant person with an obvious vendetta or animosity towards our chapter or its members. Not only was it laden with grammatical errors which question the writer’s assertion that they were invited to an honor society, but it was also riddled with false assumptions and baseless accusations.

The intent of this response is not to slam the unknown author, or spread more rumors. Its purpose is to correct some of the grossly inaccurate assumptions that skew the facts about our organization, attempt to damage our reputation, and wrongly sway the potential members who simply do not know about our structure or operational oversight.

Firstly, to address the questions brought up about our finances, which is admittedly a valid concern; it must be clearly stated that we are NOT a student ‘club.’ Thereby, we do NOT receive any financial support from our Student Senate. To be a student ‘club’ you must be all-inclusive, we accept members on an invite-only basis. When one becomes a member, they pay a fee of $80 dollars. Phi Theta Kappa takes $60 of that, and our chapter gets the remaining $20. These funds go to support our chapter activities and our community outreach – such as starting and stocking the Captain’s Cupboard food pantry.

As far as the travelling we do, our chapter is expected to attend two conventions yearly – regionals and internationals. As a college that houses a chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, our college is expected to send us to these conventions, but this money does NOT come from the student activity fee that is added to your tuition bill, and does not go through the Student Senate’s Finance Committee.

Although we are not a student club, when we travel we are still upheld to the same comportment that all other student organizations are. What’s more, all members of the officer team and anyone who travels with us are also upheld to Phi Theta Kappa’s own standards of conduct which include a written non-consumption pledge.  We are NOT permitted to go to bars or partying, nor do we have the time to do so. If one member happens to break the rules this does not reflect on the entire organization, chapter, or advisor. We are an honors society people, need I say more?

Now onto the bowling: yes, we do go bowling, and that comes out of our chapter’s funds. One of the four hallmarks of Phi Theta Kappa is to promote fellowship among its members, which bowling clearly serves the purpose of accomplishing.

As far as “preferred table space,” assuming they were referring to our Bagel Sale location; that space is open to all student organizations on a first-come, first-served basis.

Lastly, but surely not least, we’d like to address the “gross to have food on the floor and things cleaned in the bathroom” assertion. We are currently reviewing our procedure to triple check that we are in line with all relevant health codes, but it is unlikely the administration would allow any organization to operate in an unsafe manner. I urge you, the reader, to use your own reasoning here.

Sincerely,

Your Alpha Chi Nu Officer Team