ROOTS DENNIS WIESE, PH.D. & MICHELLE GUOBADIA, M.ED
R E T U R N I N G
T O
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M E N T O R S H I P I N T H E F R AT E R N A L M O V E M E N T
Within fraternity and sorority life, the current state of new member education runs the gamut from undergraduate student-controlled processes to inter/national headquarters-managed programs. Depending on organizational structure, a 19 year old student may be responsible for creating and executing a new member program, or a graduate chapter can be charged with ensuring adherence to a tightly-managed national intake program. Within new member education, though, what has been lost over generations is the basic understanding that at their core, fraternities and sororities were founded to advance mentorship. What is often unknown to those outside the leadership of fraternal organizations is that mentorship remains a foundational principle of the fraternity and sorority experience. The process whereby members are socialized into an organization presents one of the best opportunities for creating a mentoring relationship that can enhance, and be a central part of, the student experience. The onboarding model for students joining an organization is generally the same for all fraternities and sororities. Ideally, current members identify potential new members and provide some fashion of membership development by means of educational activities. The desired outcome is that members go on to become great alumni that pay their experiences forward.
