Letters to the Editor
Conversation
Despite what we’d like to believe, we are not infallible. Mistakes do happen to the best of us, and while the private ones can be hidden, the more public ones send our stomachs into a nausea fit and our nerves stretched to their limits. Thankfully, when we are amongst a brotherhood like Sigma Nu, the blow of embarrassment is softened by fraternal regard.
This was exactly the case when we sent an email out in October soliciting for applications for four Collegiate Grand Councilman positions on the High Council and one Collegiate Board Member position on Sigma Nu Educational Foundation’s Board of Directors. The email was intended to go out to all collegiate initiates, but due to a small blip of human error and the fickle magic of modern database systems it went out to all living initiates of the Fraternity.
A retraction was quickly sent out to explain and apologize for the error, but the resulting replies exemplified that the Legion of Honor’s brotherhood is not without its sense of humor or its lifelong commitment.
“That’s too bad, I was interested!” – Mike Gutzmer (Nebraska)
“I could have been the world’s oldest freshman!” – Pat Hatfield (Eastern Kentucky)
“Darn! I wanted to go back to school!” – Mark Moore (Virginia Tech)
“I only wish I were that young again!” – Randy Stenhouse (Bowling Green State)
“This email is an outstanding example of what Sigma Nu is achieving.” – Keith Caldwell (Austin Peay State)
“Thanks for considering me an undergrad. Wish I was. Oh for those days!” – Walter Kirkwood (Indiana)
“Thanks for making me feel young again!” – Jonathan Ingram (James Madison)
“Thanks for making me feel 38 years younger!” – Keith Perry (James Madison)
“There’s no way I’m going back to college at this age.” – Mark Morrow (South Florida)
“I am a collegiate, just an OLD one.” – Tony Fair (Georgia Southern)
“I thought about retiring from my present position and applying for one year of service in Lexington!” - Michael Bartel (Oklahoma)
“Good to see that I’m on the correct list and not on the Chapter Eternal rolls, at least not yet anyway!” - Joe Faraone (Florida)
“At 80 I don’t think I would apply.” – Lamar Sorensen (Purdue)
“Oh my gosh, are you going to discriminate against me only because I graduated from Auburn in 1973?” – Jimmy Sprayberry (Auburn)
“At age 61, it gave me pause, albeit briefly, to reflect on my youth!” – John McGowan (George Washington)
“No worries – it was a flashback to the glory days as a collegiate brother at the University of Southern California!” – Richard Oswald II (Southern California)