Fellow brothers,
This is the first time I have written to the entire group. As a recipient of a plethora of emails each day, I respect your time and will keep this short.
Many of us participated in person or virtually at the April 5th association meeting. It was a difficult and heart-breaking discussion as we listened to the events that have led to the demise of the Beta Pi chapter at Penn. It is a far cry from the days of receiving Smythe awards and the near 100 undergrad brothers.
It became very clear to me that I had to accept some of that responsibility as I have not been active as an alumnus in the support of the undergrads over the years. I just assumed the chapter would thrive like it did in the 70s. Clearly, I was wrong.
I/we cannot change what has happened to the chapter, but we can impact the future of our association. I have always paid my dues, and I accepted that as the least I can do without being in or near the Philadelphia area. But I also realized that just paying the nominal due will not be enough, so I decided to give an extra $1,000 this year. I know many of you give generously each year to support the association and we are all grateful for those contributions.
I would like to ask those of you that have the same mindset that I did, believing that paying the requested annual dues was adequate, to reconsider doing more. So, I am asking you revisit what you can afford and if you have not been paying dues, please try to begin that commitment now.
If you have been paying dues annually, thank you, but I ask that you try to increase that amount and possibly give a little extra this year.
I am now 72, have been dealt some tough cards over the years as I am sure many of you can relate, and am still working full-time as a result. But I also have fond memories of my undergrad years at PENN, not because of my courses but because of being part of this wonderful fraternity. So, I decided that I can no longer wait to do something more. The time is now to try to help, at least financially. If not with my personal time, then with my wallet.
Thank you all for listening.
Take care … in the bonds,
Rich Schorr ’72
