I couldn't be more proud to be a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon

There are numerous accomplishments in my life of which I am proud.

I have been a good father, a good husband and a good friend. I have one friendship that has lasted 51 years and two others that will be 50 years in the summer of 2015.

Although I started late, I had a good career as a journalist that lasted nearly 30 years. I worked at excellent papers in South Carolina, Colorado and Nevada, and I did really good work in four different areas -- sports, business, entertainment and column writing.

Nothing matters more than family.

If it didn't end well for me, it was at least partly my own fault for staying too long in a situation that was sliding downhill for quite some time.

I was called a "great reporter -- with soul" for sports coverage, and one of the most respected regional economists in Southern California called me the best reporter he had ever dealt with.

Are you finished bragging yet?

Almost. The first time I went bowling at age 10, my score was 9. Less than 30 years later, I rolled a 222. The first time I played golf on a full-length course, my score was 135. Two years ago, I broke 80 for the first time, and on a different occasion, I shot 37 -- one over par -- on the front nine.

Finished now?

Yup.

The point of all that -- and there was a point -- was to say that along with all sorts of other things of which I am proud, I feel very good about my membership in Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.

There have been many times I have felt I was born 20 years too late. Too late for the last Golden Age of newspapers, too late for it to be really stylish to join a fraternity.

When I joined Sig Ep in the fall of 1978 at George Mason University, I had the wonderful opportunity to be one of the founding brothers of a new chapter. Sig Ep has been around nationally since 1901, and my membership number has six digits. But my number as a member of the Virginia Mu chapter is 5.

front right, cowboy boots

I was very proud of the chapter we built, although there have been some problems on and off during the 33 years since I was there. I made it back in November 2010 -- the month we moved from California to Georgia -- for a 30th anniversary banquet.

It's difficult to believe that those of us who founded the chapter are now in our 50s and 60s, but we are.

The time will come when the meetings won't be at reunions, but at funerals. If there is one thing true and incontestable about life, it's that it is so damn short.

Sig Ep was in the news this weekend for something none of us were happy to hear. Three Ole Miss freshmen -- all  Sig Eps from Georgia -- were expelled from the fraternity for placing a noose and a Georgia flag on the statue of James Meredith, the first African-American to enroll at Ole Miss in 1962.

James Meredith at Ole Miss

In addition, the Sig Ep national office suspended the entire Ole Miss chapter until the action can be investigated.

The thing is, there are fraternities that emphasize their Southern origins. Kappa Alpha Order was founded at Washington & Lee University in 1865, a time when the president of the university was a guy named Robert E. Lee. KA used to hold "Old South" celebrations to which members would dress in replicas of Confederate uniforms.

I don't want to pick on them. Sig Ep was founded in Richmond, Va., in 1901, and has grown into one of the biggest fraternities of all. We outlawed hazing decades ago, and I've been told we don't even serve alcohol at undergraduate functions.

Animal House it isn't.

If someone asked me how I could defend my fraternity if three young members did something like this, I'd say this:

The act is indefensibile ...but look how quickly and how decisively we dealt with it.

I am very proud of that, and I am also very proud we were the first national fraternity to fully integrate -- in 1959. We integrated our fraternity before Ole Miss integrated its university.

That's a legacy worth defending.