Friday, May 05, 2006
What Is, Is Like What Was
(2006) 12:30am, Thursday morning, May 4, 2006....just got back from a night filled with brotherhood, God and Donuts. I am tired, stuffed and ready for bed. Only this time, my bed won’t be in the "Dwellabode" or "The Cave"....it'll be in the nice comfort of the Holiday Inn Express in Brownwood, Texas.
It has been 15 fast years since I first stepped onto the campus of Howard Payne University as a city boy from Dallas back in 1991. I had no idea then just how my life would change forever and just what God would teach me during those few years of finishing my undergrad degree at this small Baptist school. I was blown away by it all. I still am.
It was for that reason, I felt the need to meet with the men of a certain revived/reborn HPU service fraternity Wednesday night; to encourage, challenge and share with them the happenings of those years, in hopes that God will replay them for this group as well.
Back from the dead, there is a new group of “fellas” roaming the campus of HPU...that being the new Delta Pi. They are strong, they are fun, they are large in numbers, and they are like us.
Arriving in the Heart of Texas around 8:30pm that night, I quickly surveyed the Brownwood area as I made my way into town from the DFW area off I-20. I still love that 2.5hr drive into nothingness, through the small Texas towns like Cisco, Rising Star, May and Early.
I stopped at a rest area just south of Cisco on HWY 183 and soaked it in for a few minutes. No airplane noise, no smells, no phones, no honking speedy drivers (other than me)…it was just great. I had anticipated this meeting for weeks, planning it after the first of the year. My DP brother, Clint Locks and I, had talked before about helping keep the new Delta Pi alive and well. I was in contact with some of their student leaders and they offered me this particular night to come share with them whatever God had on my heart.
Looking back over the 15 years since I had become a Delta Pi/Fellas member, there was a ton on my heart. Too much to share in ways and too little time to explain it all. I could only hope, unlike most people, that these young men could understand to even a small degree the honor and thankfulness I feel in my heart for being a part of Delta Pi and the Fellas that came along with it. Nothing has affected my life more than that small, fun group of men I was blessed to “dwell” with for those few short years at HPU. I only hoped to communicate some of that to these new guys.
I arrived on campus excited and ready to meet these men. Joel T (sounds like Joe El) met me at the old HPU gym, where the men were waiting a little after 9pm. He walked me around to the back of the building and I walked in.
Over 30 men sitting behind desks began to clap as I walked in the room, a little shocked at the numbers! The old Vice President of Delta Pi nearly got choked up on the spot. I had stepped back in time. Surveying the room my eyes caught flashbacks of Brent Hyden, Chickenbone, Wes Wakefield, Big Daddy, Barry Carter, David Curlee, Mark Olgin, Morgan Bush and many, many others. It wouldn’t take long until I would learn my early assessments weren’t too far off either.
I spent the next 30-45 minutes pouring out my heart to these young men. I shared with them the four things I learned from the men in Delta Pi and other honorary members. Things such as; responsibility, service, leadership, and friendship. I shared with them many stories of the past and they laughed and looked each other as if to say, “Yep, we’ve done that!” or “See, we figured it out…we ARE doing it right!”. Many times they cut me off at the pass to share with me a similar story. I spent a ton of time laughing and thinking to myself, “They really are picking up where we left off in 1993!”
I finished my talk by challenging them with these key factors:
1. Make the most of every day (Eph 5:16). You will only have this time in life once. Absorb it.
2. Get close to God. Life will get so busy and go by so quickly. Take the time now to deepen your walk with Him while you can.
3. Discover what God’s purpose for you is. Ask Him to reveal to you what He wants you to do and be.
4. Serve each other and develop great friendships with the men around you. Some will be lifelong friends. You never know who you might be sitting next to.
We talked about “the war”, and “the banquet and race”, and even “the bath”. We talked about pledging and we talked about serving. They shared with me their fund raising ideas and how they have helped many of the people in New Orleans by taking trips to work down there. I made sure they understood we always won Spring Sing but we always got 2nd place on the float. They got 2nd place on the float this year. Trends continue. Their float was so big it caused the school to adopt a new rule – no trailers longer than 26 feet! I call it the Delta Pi rule. I love it.
We talked about stories such as going to the Suspension Bridge, which they have done as well. I told them about Purina and the many climbs. Though they haven’t climbed it, they have done SidRich in honor of the DP past. They even got busted by cops as we did…though they got caught while trying to find their pledge books, which had been suspiciously hidden in the street sewers of downtown Brownwood! Not even we did that.
They told me about their desire to revive the “dwell” but needed more explanation in order for everyone to get it. I explained it in detail and gave them the Cup of Joe history behind it all. Then we proceeded to dwell Dr. Rainey the next morning in the hall before his class and before I left town. They get it now.
We discussed people like Big Daddy, (they have Big J), the San Diego connection, ours being Brent Hyden and theirs being their current pledge Captain. (They even looked alike and know each other!) We talked about the Mexicans in the group like Mark Olgin, and how they have 1 ½ Mexicans in the group now. Big J being the man. He laughed at the notion of him being the ½. They have a version of Chickenbone that will give you chills. As soon as I mentioned Chickenbone and his boots trying to climb Purina, the entire group laughed and pointed the newest version of him out to me.
We shared ideas about the future of the past and how they can come together. They are eager to learn and follow in many of our footsteps. Yes, they are practicing the pledging rituals…the “litany”, the banquet and the bath (though they have a better understanding of how to do them correctly now!) and they are even making Bosa…known today as “The O”…the place to hang out. Achmed and all his Egyptian glory was more than happy to welcome us in and was beaming as we sat there together on Wednesday night!
They asked me if I knew who the Ninjas were. I told them I had no idea, but when you think they are not there, they are there and to be very afraid. They laughed and proceeded to tell me about the most recent activities of such Ninjas. Nearly 16 years later and these same Ninjas are still terrorizing the hearts of HPU students and citizens of Brownwood. All I can say is I am glad I got away from them and am safe.
The new Delta Pi really is more like the Old Delta Pi than I ever imagined. They have done their homework and are doing their best to make Delta Pi once again what it was for us – a life-changing group of men whose hearts beat for God but can enjoy life to its fullest!
Needless to say I was beaming with pride and emotion upon leaving HPU for Dallas. Delta Pi started in 1983 as we all know, but it effectively died in 1993. But thanks to these men Delta Pi is again very, very alive and doing very, very well. Our legacy is moving forward. All we can do now is pray that the legacy of the new Delta Pi keeps on going.
Long live the fellas. Long live the Ninjas. Long live Delta Pi.
Brady Speers
Delta Pi V.P. ‘93
HPU Class of 1993
It has been 15 fast years since I first stepped onto the campus of Howard Payne University as a city boy from Dallas back in 1991. I had no idea then just how my life would change forever and just what God would teach me during those few years of finishing my undergrad degree at this small Baptist school. I was blown away by it all. I still am.
It was for that reason, I felt the need to meet with the men of a certain revived/reborn HPU service fraternity Wednesday night; to encourage, challenge and share with them the happenings of those years, in hopes that God will replay them for this group as well.
Back from the dead, there is a new group of “fellas” roaming the campus of HPU...that being the new Delta Pi. They are strong, they are fun, they are large in numbers, and they are like us.
Arriving in the Heart of Texas around 8:30pm that night, I quickly surveyed the Brownwood area as I made my way into town from the DFW area off I-20. I still love that 2.5hr drive into nothingness, through the small Texas towns like Cisco, Rising Star, May and Early.
I stopped at a rest area just south of Cisco on HWY 183 and soaked it in for a few minutes. No airplane noise, no smells, no phones, no honking speedy drivers (other than me)…it was just great. I had anticipated this meeting for weeks, planning it after the first of the year. My DP brother, Clint Locks and I, had talked before about helping keep the new Delta Pi alive and well. I was in contact with some of their student leaders and they offered me this particular night to come share with them whatever God had on my heart.
Looking back over the 15 years since I had become a Delta Pi/Fellas member, there was a ton on my heart. Too much to share in ways and too little time to explain it all. I could only hope, unlike most people, that these young men could understand to even a small degree the honor and thankfulness I feel in my heart for being a part of Delta Pi and the Fellas that came along with it. Nothing has affected my life more than that small, fun group of men I was blessed to “dwell” with for those few short years at HPU. I only hoped to communicate some of that to these new guys.
I arrived on campus excited and ready to meet these men. Joel T (sounds like Joe El) met me at the old HPU gym, where the men were waiting a little after 9pm. He walked me around to the back of the building and I walked in.
Over 30 men sitting behind desks began to clap as I walked in the room, a little shocked at the numbers! The old Vice President of Delta Pi nearly got choked up on the spot. I had stepped back in time. Surveying the room my eyes caught flashbacks of Brent Hyden, Chickenbone, Wes Wakefield, Big Daddy, Barry Carter, David Curlee, Mark Olgin, Morgan Bush and many, many others. It wouldn’t take long until I would learn my early assessments weren’t too far off either.
I spent the next 30-45 minutes pouring out my heart to these young men. I shared with them the four things I learned from the men in Delta Pi and other honorary members. Things such as; responsibility, service, leadership, and friendship. I shared with them many stories of the past and they laughed and looked each other as if to say, “Yep, we’ve done that!” or “See, we figured it out…we ARE doing it right!”. Many times they cut me off at the pass to share with me a similar story. I spent a ton of time laughing and thinking to myself, “They really are picking up where we left off in 1993!”
I finished my talk by challenging them with these key factors:
1. Make the most of every day (Eph 5:16). You will only have this time in life once. Absorb it.
2. Get close to God. Life will get so busy and go by so quickly. Take the time now to deepen your walk with Him while you can.
3. Discover what God’s purpose for you is. Ask Him to reveal to you what He wants you to do and be.
4. Serve each other and develop great friendships with the men around you. Some will be lifelong friends. You never know who you might be sitting next to.
We talked about “the war”, and “the banquet and race”, and even “the bath”. We talked about pledging and we talked about serving. They shared with me their fund raising ideas and how they have helped many of the people in New Orleans by taking trips to work down there. I made sure they understood we always won Spring Sing but we always got 2nd place on the float. They got 2nd place on the float this year. Trends continue. Their float was so big it caused the school to adopt a new rule – no trailers longer than 26 feet! I call it the Delta Pi rule. I love it.
We talked about stories such as going to the Suspension Bridge, which they have done as well. I told them about Purina and the many climbs. Though they haven’t climbed it, they have done SidRich in honor of the DP past. They even got busted by cops as we did…though they got caught while trying to find their pledge books, which had been suspiciously hidden in the street sewers of downtown Brownwood! Not even we did that.
They told me about their desire to revive the “dwell” but needed more explanation in order for everyone to get it. I explained it in detail and gave them the Cup of Joe history behind it all. Then we proceeded to dwell Dr. Rainey the next morning in the hall before his class and before I left town. They get it now.
We discussed people like Big Daddy, (they have Big J), the San Diego connection, ours being Brent Hyden and theirs being their current pledge Captain. (They even looked alike and know each other!) We talked about the Mexicans in the group like Mark Olgin, and how they have 1 ½ Mexicans in the group now. Big J being the man. He laughed at the notion of him being the ½. They have a version of Chickenbone that will give you chills. As soon as I mentioned Chickenbone and his boots trying to climb Purina, the entire group laughed and pointed the newest version of him out to me.
We shared ideas about the future of the past and how they can come together. They are eager to learn and follow in many of our footsteps. Yes, they are practicing the pledging rituals…the “litany”, the banquet and the bath (though they have a better understanding of how to do them correctly now!) and they are even making Bosa…known today as “The O”…the place to hang out. Achmed and all his Egyptian glory was more than happy to welcome us in and was beaming as we sat there together on Wednesday night!
They asked me if I knew who the Ninjas were. I told them I had no idea, but when you think they are not there, they are there and to be very afraid. They laughed and proceeded to tell me about the most recent activities of such Ninjas. Nearly 16 years later and these same Ninjas are still terrorizing the hearts of HPU students and citizens of Brownwood. All I can say is I am glad I got away from them and am safe.
The new Delta Pi really is more like the Old Delta Pi than I ever imagined. They have done their homework and are doing their best to make Delta Pi once again what it was for us – a life-changing group of men whose hearts beat for God but can enjoy life to its fullest!
Needless to say I was beaming with pride and emotion upon leaving HPU for Dallas. Delta Pi started in 1983 as we all know, but it effectively died in 1993. But thanks to these men Delta Pi is again very, very alive and doing very, very well. Our legacy is moving forward. All we can do now is pray that the legacy of the new Delta Pi keeps on going.
Long live the fellas. Long live the Ninjas. Long live Delta Pi.
Brady Speers
Delta Pi V.P. ‘93
HPU Class of 1993
