February 7, 2020
On the last weekend of January 2020, over ninety Brothers and guests gathered for the Winter Conclave. Over the course of three days, Alpha Chi Rho men served the local community, learned best practices for their Chapter operations, and visited the national office for the first time.
While many of our members were traveling down to New Jersey for the Conclave on Saturday, twelve Brothers and staff gathered to volunteer with the St. Bernard’s Project (SBP) in Toms River, NJ. Our goal of the day was to help a local woman, April, with the renovations of her home which was damaged by super-storm Sandy. Brothers helped April remove items from her home, clean them to prevent any mold, and stored them in a POD for safe keeping. After our service, April told SBP, “having Alpha Chi Rho as the first volunteers at [my] home really made the idea of moving back home a reality. The Alpha Chi Rho Brothers were enjoyable, diligent, considerate, kind and most of all compassionate throughout the entire experience.” All of our Brothers thank SBP for allowing us to connect with April and help her on her journey of moving back home.
On Saturday, the Conclave officially began at Monmouth University. Throughout the course of the day, Chapter delegates split up to attend different sessions relating to their respective officer positions. The officers learned about financial management from our national financial platform GreekBill, recruitment and event management skills from our staff, and how to use the Alpha Chi Rho health and safety standards from our keynote speaker Stefano Fasulo and our staff. The Conclave ended with a reaffirming of the Landmarks and a goal setting activity to accurately gauge what the Chapters learned at Conclave. If you would like to read a summary of each of the learning sessions, please click here.
Many of our Brothers departed after the Conclave ended and dinner was concluded that night, but fourteen members came to the national office for the first time. During the visit, they received an extensive tour from the national staff, bonded over some breakfast, and helped with the Initiation of four members from the Phi Beta Chi Chapter (Radford).
The national staff, national Council, and Educational Foundation Board of Trustees were very thankful for all who attended and their aptitude for learning best practices to bring back to their Chapters.