Grand High Zeta Profile: Fletcher McElreath, Grand High Alpha
The young man stood starstruck, eyes wide, arm extended to shake the hand of Grand High Alpha Fletcher McElreath. To that undergraduate member, as with so many others, McElreath was the picture of success: one of the most respected men in Lambda Chi Alpha and a partner with a large New York City law firm.
But what most fail to realize is the long path that McElreath took to become that success members now see today.
McElreath’s story begins in the shoes of a consultant. After many visits with consultants during his own undergraduate experience, McElreath knew this would be his next step. Despite his father thinking the job to be too “fluffy”, a young McElreath needed the new experience to refuel himself after a demanding college career.
And so he traveled the country for a year as a consultant, learning invaluable life lessons, meeting brothers from across the country.
Once he had traveled for a year, though, McElreath decided to leave the consultant life and entered into law school. Despite taking a year away from the world of higher education, the Mercer graduate affirms that his time as a consultant helped him immensely with the transition to law school.
Now, McElreath is a partner at Alston & Bird LLP where he practices corporate financial law. Though there is no such thing as a typical day, McElreath can usually be found counseling clients with any questions that surface.
Away from the office, McElreath is an advocate for the arts and an avid theater-goer. He can also be found socializing with friends around the city and enjoys traveling the world.
As for his involvement with Lambda Chi Alpha, McElreath continues to do whatever he can for the good of the fraternity. Following law school, McElreath served as the High Pi for his local Mercer chapter for about 10 years and facilitated for a number of different conferences.
When the time came to choose a new Grand High Alpha, McElreath’s name was entered into the conversation about what was needed for the fraternity. For McElreath, the decision to accept the position was another wonderful opportunity to serve his fraternity.
“It was my time to give back,” stated McElreath.
Since the time of his acceptance of the position, McElreath has worked tirelessly with the fraternity to provide a one-of-a-kind experience for undergraduates, while grappling with the challenge of remaining a top choice for young men’s development offered on college campuses.
“The fraternal world is at a crossroads, in the sense of remaining relevant,” said McElreath. “Students these days have so many other opportunities to broaden themselves and be part of a group, without the duties, responsibilities and obligations that our organization places on them in order to do that.”
In the fight to remain relevant in the ever-changing college scene, McElreath remembers his own experience and implores undergraduates to realize the immense number of benefits to joining such an organization.
“Law firms and business firms are very similar to a fraternity in the way they operate, recruit, the way they retain and train, and the way they interact with each other,” said McElreath. “It’s been a huge help to me and my profession to be a part of this whole experience.
“I think that they [undergraduates] need to think in those terms, that they can actually take their skills that they have learned here and move to a number of different professional opportunities.”
From humble beginnings, McElreath has left his mark on not only New York City, but also so many members of Lambda Chi Alpha. Through his efforts, McElreath has left Lambda Chi Alpha a better fraternity and secured its place among the top choices for young men to become true gentlemen.
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