"Good Enough Brother"

So you say you have a bunch of dead weight in your chapter?

Here's an idea that can help you start off the new school year right for your fraternity or sorority. Sit down with your execs or with members at a retreat in the opening weeks of school and answer this question: What does it take to be a good enough brother?

If I do these basic things, you'll leave me alone, and you'll stay off my case. Come to a certain number of chapter meetings, not get in trouble with the law or university, maintain a 2.5 GPA, pay my dues on time, come to one night of recruitment. Have a pulse.

Each chapter needs to determine its own standards, but the "good enough brother" list needs to be pretty bare-bones. What is the minimum necessary to be a good enough brother or sister in your chapter?

It will be a relief to those members who are basically good people but who cannot make fraternity/sorority a huge priority. There are some folks who can only be a "good enough member," and knowing that they are contributing enough to stay active and in good standing will relieve some of their stress.

But, here's the catch: If I fail to live up to this most basic list of member expectations, I can expect to have my membership taken away.

Then, post the list of what it takes to be a "good enough brother" or "good enough sister." Hopefully, most of your members will look at that list and realize that reaching that minimal level of participation is pretty brainless, and they will strive to be much more.

Eventually, your chapter will have to take a look at how it handles those men and women who are not even able to achieve this basic, minimal level of participation and behavior. Perhaps they will even realize that folks who can't contribute in the most minimal way are dragging your chapter down. Perhaps, those not-good-enough members will be invited to leave. How much healthier would your chapter be?

When I offer this suggestion, leaders sometimes say to me: "What if everyone just starts being a good enough (member)?" I've never seen it happen, but if it does, you probably need a serious house-cleaning anyway. Start recruiting people for whom being "good enough" is simply not enough.