[nabs-l] Joining local chapters

[David Andrews]

I don't think anyone who knows you would question your commitment to 
the Federation.  And ... this isn't a matter of being right or wrong 
for anyone -- or it shouldn't be.

Can you talk to your State President, maybe he can get the difficult 
local President to back down a little, and accept things as they are.

Dave

At 02:40 AM 9/18/2015, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>I realize this thread may very well spark some debate, but I'm
>prepared for that.  For the past two years I've had a dilemma and I'm
>trying to explain it to a chapter president in my affiliate.  I live
>in one city and attend school in another, so there off the bat is no
>way I'd be able to attend either chapter's meetings on a monthly basis
>as I would like to do.  Chapter presidents in both cities at different
>times have told me I should join and even consider running for a board
>position, which I will not do because of my inability to faithfully
>attend the meetings.  One of the two chapters gets this a little
>better than the other now, and has pretty much given me a "come when
>you can, we'd love to have you when we can get you here," reception.
>The other chapter is near where I go to school, but the chapter
>president doesn't seem to get the student thing.  I try to go to
>things when I can, but I partially dread it because every time I
>attend some social function the floodgates for this conversation are
>opened again.  I'm told again that I am needed in the chapter, that I
>can really make a difference, and if I join more students will join
>and the chapter is not by any means comprised of young people.
>
>This has been happening for two years at least, and I feel a little
>confused and pressured to join.  I know he is doing his job as a
>chapter president, especially because he knows I'm active and
>dedicated to the student division, the affiliate, and other projects
>in the NFB, but being in that older crowd I don't think he understands
>what it is like for students anymore.  In my sophomore year I had
>difficulty attending chapter meetings for a few reasons.  One was that
>they are on the first Saturday or the month, which conflicts with
>nearly every break from school I have including the two midterm breaks
>and the Christmas break.  The Christmas spaghetti dinner is also
>something the chapter tries to get me to come to, but it is always
>scheduled durring my finals week.  When I worked on Saturdays at a
>part time job my sophomore year they wanted me to take off work to
>attend chapter meetings.  At the time that was my grocery money, so
>giving work wasn't something I was willing to do; I wanted to pick up
>extra hours, not throw them away.  I also have been in a professional
>music fraternity since the spring semester of my Freshman year, and a
>lot of our major events (recruitment events, initiations and pledging
>ceremonies, etc) happen on Saturdays.  With the chapter meetings
>scheduled from 1:00-3:00 PM, not to mention the location is subject to
>change from place to place so students can't plan for consistency, I
>have had difficulty in getting there.
>
>I've emailed the chapter president a few times about how there is a
>double-standard here.  He wants new blood in the chapter, but when I
>tell him it is very difficult to add in chapter meetings when the time
>isn't very accessible to me he thumbs his nose and tells me I should
>cancel work or do what it takes to come to chapter meetings because it
>would benefit the chapter.  I try to explain to him that while I do
>understand personal sacrifices can and should be made to an extent,
>students do not have as much flexibility as working people to move
>classes around in the week, and there are only so many hours in the
>weekend.  Not to mention extracurriculars are a good thing for blind
>students to be involved in because it shows peers that we can be
>engaged and active in the same ways as they are.  It also creates
>networking opportunities and even job prospects after graduation as
>long as the extracurriculars are not merely social in nature, which
>mine are not.  I want to join the local chapter nearby, but I also
>want to experience life as a student too in the year or so I have left
>of undergrad.
>
>I don't think this makes me a lazy Federationist as I have found ways
>to be active in divisions and in the affiliate outside of chapters,
>and I would venture to guess that 1:00-3:00 PM on a Saturday probably
>isn't great for most students since it's right in the middle of the
>day.  I did not send the email I drafted, but I feel like if the
>chapter needs and wants students to join as badly as they say they do,
>they need to make the meeting time more accessible to that group of
>people.  Right now I know it is not for me, and I think that is also
>the case for other highly-involved and motivated students who the
>president would like to see join the chapter.
>
>Thoughts?  I personally don't think I'm fully in the wrong here, but I
>am open to anything at this point. I really would join the local
>chapter if it were held at times that I could consistently attend.
>Right now I'm able to make it to a scattered couple of social events
>outside of the regular meeting times, but that's about it.  I've
>prooven to be involved in the affiliate on committees and in other
>projects including BELL, but right now I feel like joining either of
>these chapters isn't a possibility for me and I'm not appreciating the
>push-back for my reasons why.  It's not that I'm making excuses or
>because I don't want to go; I think work conflicts and required
>fraternity events which I will only be able to have for a year longer
>tops are acceptable reasons to be absent, not to mention that when I'm
>home traveling an hour to the meeting and then another hour back home
>2 hours later is a bit much to ask.  I suppose my logic is that I am
>already a Federationist and I can join a chapter when the time is
>right for me to do so, and by that I mean when I can actively
>contribute in a stable and dedicated way.  That will most likely come
>when I have a 40 hour work week like the rest of the current chapter
>if they don't take their desire for student members and what is
>accessible to them into consideration.
>--
>Kaiti Shelton
>University of Dayton-Music Therapy
>President, Ohio Association of Blind Students 2013-Present
>Secretary, The National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts
>Division 2015-2016
>
>"You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back!"

         David Andrews and long white cane Harry.
E-Mail:  dandrews at visi.com or david.andrews at nfbnet.org