Good Evening Brothers,

I just wanted to send a short note to inform you that our final pledge class totals 13 rather than 14 as previously noted.

One young man decided this was not the right thing for him at this time in his life. Not a problem from my standpoint as it should be "right " and not "wrong". Although I wish he had chosen differently, I am sure this was not an easy decision for him and truth be told, I applaud him for making that decision...it took real strength. Perhaps we'll see him again in the future and if not, let us not forget the following:

"The Men of Principle Program will not be the choice of every young man, but will be the choice of those who want to be different, and different for the right reasons"

Earlier today Deno Emili, Dave Cottington and I (it's tough having the lowest numbers in this crowd) met with Travis Fisher (our man from Oxford taking responsibility for this effort) and the pledge class for our first formal "retreat" at the house. "Retreats" are the acronym for various "formal" meetings the pledges will have during their pledging process. Retreats are one of many steps during this process where members of the Advisory Team are present.

I just want to tell you all that it was 4+ hours of tremendous achievement. This afternoon we entered the first "formal" step of the "Men of Principle" program and it went extremely well.

We all got a chance to talk openly and as I listened to them today, one thing struck me...these young men are very different from one another. Their differences tough are not unlike how different the pledge brothers in our respective classes were from one another. Yet, different as they are, they all exhibit a maturity and cohesiveness that is pure. They all see things in a collaborative, complementary way and, it is pretty cool to watch their different backgrounds come together as one.

We have a great foundation for our future...we really do!