Over the year we will be following the Interfraternity Council at Washington State University as they teach fraternity men how to build themselves into better men. John McMullan is the President of the Interfraternity Council and has started the Program “The Washington State Gentleman.” American Gentleman will be featuring posts and updates from John throughout the year chronicling his progress and the progress of the entire Cougar Campus. It is my sincere hope that WSU and AG can inspire other campuses across the nation to follow suit. 

Ladies & Gentlemen,

The Washington State University Interfraternity Council is proud to announce a new campaign to promote the development of men, based off of the 150 lessons and advice of The American Gentleman. Before I talk about our program any further, there is not enough appreciation we could give to The American Gentleman, because he has created an outline for what it truly means to be a gentleman in modern day society. His efforts to update his blog and Twitter, and devotion to making men better men is greatly appreciated.

The Interfraternity Council at Washington State University had recently determined that our current culture is more concerned with being ‘fratty’ rather than being a member of a ‘fraternity.’ With this growing concern, we began to search for what it actually means to be a part of a fraternity. With many parallels between being a gentleman and being a member of a fraternity, we found ourselves turning to The American Gentleman. The American Gentleman has given hundreds of people advice on what it means to be a gentleman, while providing thoughtful lessons that will act as a blueprint in developing character development for our members. This goal of the campaign is to challenge, highlight, and promote what it means to be a gentleman as a college student and Fraternity man. The Interfraternity Council (IFC) will be utilizing social media to tweet and post multiple individual challenges each week that, if executed, will embody the essence of a true American Gentleman. Some examples are: holding the door for 5 people, complimenting a woman on something other than looks, or standing when a woman enters the room. In addition, we will be posting one challenge per week for an entire chapter, which will present an opportunity or event where the entire membership can promote their brotherhood and the development of gentlemen. Such examples of events are: etiquette dinners, ballroom dancing lessons, or faculty appreciation dinners. Finally, the IFC will be adding the ‘Gentlemen’ element to our constituent meetings, in which we will provide valuable information and training for our chapters’ officers while practicing proper business etiquette.

We encourage all men to take the challenge with us, by following us on Twitter @WSUIFC, and monitor our campus’s progress by searching #WSUGentleman . I also look forward to updating The American Gentleman community of our campus’ progress with periodic blog posts, photos, and videos about events that are working for us. We are always open to new ideas, challenges, and appreciate feedback. 

Fraternally yours,
John 
IFCPresident@wsu.edu