The uniting thread of membership in Alpha Chi Rho is Brotherhood among those who wear the Badge of our Order.
Brotherhood has so many facets - love, honesty, friendship, understanding - that it defies adequate definition. None the less, Brotherhood can be widely experienced though ill-defined. The Landmarks of Alpha Chi Rho are excellent guides for the practice of Brotherhood both within and without the Chapter House.
What is a Brother? He is one with whom you dare to be yourself. Your soul may be bared to him. He seems to ask of you to do nothing - only to be just what you are.
When you are with him you feel as a prisoner feels who has been declared innocent. You do not have to be on your guard. You can say what you want as long as it is genuinely you. He understands perfectly. You do not have to explain that in your nature which leads others to misjudge you.
With him you can breathe freely. You can take off your coast and loosen your collar. You can avow your little vanities and envies, your hates and vicious sparks, your meanesses and absurdities, and in opening them up to him they are lost on the white ocean of his loyalty. He understands. You do not have to be careful.
You can abuse him, tolerate him, neglect him. Best of all you can keep silent with him. It makes no matter because he likes you. He is like fire that purges all that you say. He is like water that cleanses all that you do. He is like wine that warms you to the bone. He understands. You can weep with him, laugh with him, but through and underneath it all he sees, knows, and loves you. He is a person with whom you dare to be yourself.
Alpha Chi Rho, nor other fraternity for that matter, neither invented Brotherhood nor have a monopoly on its exercise. But with members who are drawn together by sharing goals and common experiences, and who live in close association with other members of diverse background, fraternities foster Brotherhood in a special way. The manner in which the Chapters of Alpha Chi Rho operate is conducive to the development of Brotherhood. For in the day to day function of a Chapter House, Brothers come together to contribute their individual talents towards the solution of a common problem. When accompanied by a feeling of Brotherhood among the participants, living, working, playing, studying and partying take on a new dimension.
Each Brother, with the Landmarks as a guide, must reach out and find Brotherhood. Those who have found it have reached the highest happiness; those still searching must continue with diligence until they too reach that highest plane. In the struggle to find the true meaning of Brotherhood, the qualities which insure success are: energy, industry, intellectual capacity, diligence, and, at least, as much sympathy as is necessary to make a man understand the feelings of his fellow man. And in searching for the true meaning of Brotherhood, we will understand the essence of our Order, and the honor of Alpha Chi Rho.