Rumor vs. Fact


> If you compare the schedule for the 2004 International Convention in Charlotte with those of past Conventions, and if you take a look at the details of Moose International’s corporate restructuring and our new Vice Presidents, and especially if you were a recipient of the thick mailing detailing 192 proposed amendments to the fraternity’s General Laws to be considered at the June Convention . . . well, you probably realize that we are leading the Moose fraternity toward the most sweeping structural changes it has experienced in more than a half-century.

We are taking this course because, I feel, we must. There was a sentence from my Convention report last May in Chicago which still states the situation about as clearly as I can: “What we have been doing has not been working. It is time for a change.” I did not agree to serve as your Director General five years ago to just preside with complacency over an organization whose membership numbers remain in a slow decline—and I will not do so.

However, whenever any large organization chooses to undertake swift and significant change, some apprehensiveness is unavoidable—and rumors are bound to fly fast and furious. The Moose is no different. So let me openly set forth what have been perhaps the top three rumors as we’ve heard them—and then let me respond with the facts of the matter.

Rumor #1: Supreme Secretary Chet Albright was pushed out, and was told he had to vacate his office by Feb. 17. Fact: Chet, who turns 65 in May, told me in mid-January that he had decided to retire effective Monday, March 8. On Jan. 19, Chet said that with accumulated vacation days, his last actual day in the office would be Friday, Feb. 27, and he moved out of his office on that day—on his own schedule. New Vice President/Fraternal Operations Kurt Wiebe did not move into that office until March 22.

Rumor #2: The Moose Legion Council is being eliminated, and women will be eligible for the Moose Legion beginning this year. Fact: Taking these one at a time: there has been considerable “outside-the-box” discussion on the Moose Legion—but there are no plans to eliminate the Moose Legion Council. Today and for many years, the Moose Legion Code of Rules has stated that “all legislative, executive and judicial authority for government is vested in the Supreme Council.” The Moose Legion has always operated under the auspices of the Supreme Council, and this will continue. Regarding women coming into the Moose Legion, this is very premature. There has indeed been discussion at Moose International on various options for a Family Membership—including the possibility of re-admitting Women of the Moose into the fraternity’s Degree of Service (they were indeed partnered with men in what was known as “Mooseheart Legion” from 1913 to 1931). But no presentation of this concept has even yet been made to the Moose Legion Council.

Rumor #3: The Loyal Order of Moose and Women of the Moose will soon be merged into one organization. Fact: Destroying the Women of the Moose as a separate and distinct component of this Order would be perhaps the most enormous mistake any Director General could make—and I don’t intend for it to happen on my watch. The Women of the Moose, unlike the “women’s auxiliary” of any other organization, is a strong, efficient and successful engine for Family Center development; and for fundraising, community service, and just plain hard work and great ideas throughout our program. Why would we mess with success? What is happening, of course, are intensive discussions on the subject of Joint Management of our Moose facilities by leaders both of the Lodges of the Loyal Order of Moose and Chapters of the Women of the Moose. This should surprise no one; for fully four years, one of the seven cornerstones of the “Moose Momentum” strategic plan has been to “develop and recommend methods for the joint management of Moose homes by men and women working together . . .”

I hope you’re planning to come to the Convention in Charlotte June 25-30, because you’ll hear much more!



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