University Heights fraternity honored for work with autism

Pop culture gives us its version of what life is like for frat boys. It almost always shows a group of self-centered guys who think only about partying. Unfortunately it rarely spotlights the kind of men who make up Beta Theta Pi—and more specifically, Eta Epsilon—the John Carroll chapter of this fraternity.

The brothers of John Carroll’s Beta Theta Pi chapter were honored with the Milestones Volunteer of the Year Award at 9th annual Milestones Conference. Milestones Autism Organization was created in 2003 to help fill the void of education about autism and Asperger’s in Cleveland.

The fraternity adopted Milestones as its philanthropic focus this past year, and its members have done a lot more than just raise money. They have been active volunteers at events, joined Milestones team for the Cleveland Autism Speaks walk, created over 200 mobiles for a kids’ craft table, and have made themselves available to help Milestones in any way they can. Beta Theta Pi chose Milestones because its members were looking for an organization that was in Northeast Ohio, that assisted children, and that would give the members of the fraternity the opportunity to engage in a service partnership.

The Milestones 9th annual conference took place on Tuesday, June 21 at Landerhaven. More than 900 people attended, a record. The conference offered 30 different workshops and 13 specialized tracks to provide parents, educators, social workers, doctors, and others with detailed information about local resources, and to help partcipants continue learning the best practices for home, school, community, and the workplace.

For more information about Milestones, visit www.milestones.org, email deena@milestones.org, or call 216-464-7600.