Basic Stuff:
1. Your name, as you would prefer it to be stated?
James McBride
2. Your current location?
Runnemede, NJ
Fraternity Stuff:
3. Badge Number?
41
4. Pledge Class Name?
Delta
5. Fraternity Nickname, if you remember it?
Official - “Freestyle 26”
Unofficial – “The Ghost”
6. Story behind how you got your nickname, if you remember it?
"Freestyle 26" - I used to get drunk and think I was Eminem. This actually started well before anyone knew who that was. My big’s nickname was something 52 – and he said I was ½ the man he was, hence the 26. j/k
"The Ghost" - No one ever knew when or where I would appear and I had a tendency to vanish quickly and sometimes for lengthy periods of time.
7. Your fondest memory of being a Phi Psi?
Pledging hands down. I remember they gave us each a camera, to this day I still bust out those pictures on occasion and it still brings a smile to my face. A couple highlights included –
- Certain people attempting to get a sandwich named after them at the grease trucks and vomiting profusely.
- Paco taking his first drinks straight from the bottle – vodka I believe – shitty vodka to be precise
8. Your most embarrassing moment as a Phi Psi?
“Lola” – seriously me and Pratz (and???) in dresses on stage dancing and being videotaped. I really hope that video has been lost and/or destroyed.
9. Your proudest moment as a Phi Psi?
Gonna say pissing off the greek community by winning Greek Week. Us and some no name sorority came out of nowhere to shock the world and win the week pretty decidedly. It almost made the above mentioned “Lola” embarrassment worth it.
10. Any unique memories from your time as a Phi Psi?
I had the benefit of attending Rowan and participating with Phi Psi on 2 separate occasions almost a decade apart. Being able to first come into Phi Psi when the fraternity had very little notoriety or respect from the greek community and then participating again when Phi Psi appeared to be one of the strongest and most well respected fraternities on campus offered quite unique perspectives.
It was very good to see how far the fraternity had come while still maintaining the mantras of service and brotherhood. However, it was very upsetting seeing how far backwards the wall of class photos I had to go before I saw my class. Made me feel old but not too old to do some beer bongs with the newest members, and like true Phi Psi’s they kept to their word and I have yet to see any of those photos on social media.
11. When was the last time you visited Rowan or the chapter?
I think the last time I visited Rowan was the career fair in 9/14 were I helped collect resumes and recruit for my accounting firm. I will actually be taking a couple classes on campus this fall so I may pop in and make sure the chapter is on the up and up. By up and up I mean a clean place to sit and a cold beverage to drink.
12. What is favorite event the chapter holds?
I’ve always been partial to the big/little ceremony. Like seeing the thought that a lot of bigs put into the nicknames and a lot of the effort the littles put into the paddles.
My second favorite was the 5 hour pin-a-athons we used to do. Thank heavens I believed we stopped having every brother speak.
13. Who's the 1 brother you want to reconnect with / see interviewed here?
I’m confident that you are going to interview everyone Rick or die trying. But when you’re done with these interviews, you should send out links to each brothers pic and name and then we can all post stories about that brother in comments. That might be a good time.
14. Name 1 friend you made in NJE you still keep in touch with...
I really on talk to one brother with any consistency and that would be the one conducting this interview. On the other hand, I still have contact with many of the sorority sisters (it’s a lot harder to dodge child support payments than brother’s phone calls).
Career Stuff:
15. Year you graduated from Rowan?
12/11
16. Degree(s) you graduated Rowan with?
BS Accounting
17. Any advanced degrees or certifications you have?
CPA – PA and pursuing MBA - Rowan
18. Your current occupation?
Tax accountant and it is even more glamorous than it sounds.
19. Number of years in that occupation?
Although only doing this for 2.5 years, it has decade at least a decade off of my life expectancy.
20. Any career advice you would give to an undergraduate Phi Psi today?
In my sector companies are looking to develop people from as early as their sophomore year in college. So you should already be looking to land an internship. Most companies hire a very large % of their interns which leaves very little openings for non-interned graduates.
Considering that most of the larger companies still do not recruit heavily from Rowan that means you have to try even harder. This means meeting as many people as possible and leveraging every angle you have available. In other words, I should be receiving accounting resumes from all Phi Psi in the accounting program. Keep up a stellar GPA and I might be able to help a brother out.
21. What's one piece of advice you'd give every undergraduate about networking?
Everyone I work with got their job one of 2 ways.
- Right place at right time – i.e. went to a school that we heavily recruit from
- They knew somebody – like many large firms we don’t heavily recruit from Rowan so you better be working on getting to know someone.
22. Are you currently in a relationship? If so, with who and for how long?
Yes, with my wife Christine. Married for 7 years or so now.
23. Do you have kids? If so, how old and their names?
2 they are behind me driving me crazy as I type. 8 & 5, Emma and Connor.
24. Hobbies that you are currently into? What do you like to do in your spare time?
I enjoy beating my 5 year olds ass in video games and beating Rick’s ass in fantasy football (even easier than beating my 5 year old).
Spare time – didn’t you hear me? I’m married with 2 kids, going for my MBA and work in Public Accounting as a corporate tax accountant. WTF is spare time.
25. Anything you would like to share with other brothers through the blog regarding your relationship/family/personal life?
Not gonna get on a soap box so I’ll make it short.
- Communication is the key to a successful relationship whether personal or professional.
- Accountability – do what you say your gonna do and if you make a mistake own up to it. People are quick to forgive mistakes if you own up to them, but if you try to push the blame or make excuses people will not be so forgiving.
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