Arthur Cook

Arthur Franklin Cook
Arthur, National Convention Banquet 2009
Name	Arthur Franklin Cook
Chapter	Beta Phi Western Kentucky University
Date Inducted	April 18, 2007
Roll Number	ΒΦ 241
Alumni Chapter/Assoc	N/A
Honorary Member	N/A
Major	History, Social Studies
Birthdate	July 23, 1988
Spouse	N/A
Nicknames	N/A
Awards	N/A

Arthur Cook (born 23 July 1988) is an Active Member of Beta Phi Chapter (ΒΦ 241) at Western Kentucky University. Arthur was born in Beaver Dam Kentucky, and decided to attend WKU to pursue a career in teaching. Arthur is now planning on attending Law School directly after college, and would love to work with Civil Rights litigation.

Rush and Early Brotherhood

Arthur decided to join Beta Phi chapter after being recruited by his hometown friend and his then soon-to-be fiance, Jeremy Jones and Sara Miller Jones. He rushed his first possible semester, qualifying with a 4.0 grade point average and 18 credit hours, and became an initiate in February 2007. Beta Phi Chapter pinned two initiates in his class, one of which never returned after pinning. Arthur became the sole initiate, and completed his process on 17 April 2007 representing the entire AA class.

Arthur returned as a Brother in the Fall of 2007, excited to discover what being a member of a National Honor Fraternity would be about. He worked with Beta Phi on their Rush and Recruitment plans. He was quickly recruited by the Mid South Region consultant Aaron Coffey to speak on behalf of Beta Phi at their Informational Night. Being a new Brother, and a little unsure of himself, he begrudgingly agreed. Arthur began to notice serious problems arising in the chapter just a few weeks into his first full semester. Left with seven active Brothers (having recruited just he the semester before) Beta Phi was struggling to create a successful program. To complicate matters, nearly all of the active Brothers were upper class, and as such could not dedicate the amount of time needed to complete most of the more minimal jobs in the chapter.

After an unsuccessful rush, followed by a empty pinning class, Beta Phi was forced into a tough position. National Council asked Beta Phi to attempt Rush a second time. Most of the members did not feel they had the time to complete another rush session, and as a result, refused National Council's request, knowing that it would almost certainly mean expulsion from Beta Phi. Arthur was quite disparaged at what he had seen in his recruitment process versus how the chapter really functioned.

Beta Phi was reorganized in Spring 2008. Indeed, four active Brothers as well as one inactive Brother graduated without achieving Alumni status. The only other Brother able and willing to return was Sara Jones, who became a dear friend and wonderful Big Brother to Arthur. After some convincing, Arthur decided to return to Beta Phi and dedicate his free time to ensuring that Beta Phi would not collapse a second time. Sara Miller Jones became the first graduate and Alumni of the new Beta Phi chapter, and the chapter inducted seven new Brothers that Spring.

Collegiate Years at Beta Phi

Arthur has been Vice President of Beta Phi since its reorganization in 2008. He has served as acting President in many occasions and has assumed much responsibility for the chapter's viability. Arthur has spear headed a number of initiatives at Beta Phi, such as a bylaws amendment to prevent the chapter from incurring the same problems as before the chapter collapsed. Arthur has also worked closely with each new brother to ensure that they fully understand their role in the larger body.

Official Roles

Vice President (2008-present) Social Chair (2007-Fall 2009) Scholarship Chair (Fall 2009-present) Treasurer (Fall 2008)

National Involvement

Arthur has been the delegate to Grand Chapter for two years, in 2008 and 2009. Additionally, Arthur has served as liaison to National Council, as well as National Staff since his induction.

Bigs and Littles

Arthur Cook represents a new family of Big/Little in Beta Phi. Arthur's Big is Sara Jones.

• Little-Lauran Shive (Resigned)
• Little-Gretchen Bies
• Little-Luke Haley
• Little-Jonathan Somoza
• Grand Little- Jessica Mounce (Resigned)
• Grand Little- Mary Duckworth

Further Resources

• http://www.facebook.com/arthur.f.cook

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