Writing and Retreating

Our Perspective on the AFA Oracle Writers Retreat 2019

We started the second annual AFA writers’ retreat in the dark and spooky foyer of a large, historic home in an unfamiliar space. The room was lit only by candlelight. We remained silent, standing in a semi-circle until someone in all white came to the front of the room to greet us. We weren’t taking part in a fraternal ritual ceremony, but rather starting our retreat time on a ghost tour through Colonial Williamsburg, widely known as one of America’s most haunted places. Whether or not you believe in the hauntings and mysteries of eyewitness accounts throughout the historic homes of the Colonial era, we walked away from the tour with a shared experience and one of the cornerstones of quality writing: the art of storytelling.

When we think about our stories from the retreat, the most impactful narrative from our time at William & Mary is one of community. The connections between researchers were purposeful. Dr. Jim Barber, associate professor of higher education at William & Mary, editor of Oracle, and one of the primary retreat organizers designed this networking time with intentionality. “I think the two most productive aspects of the retreat are (1) the time reserved for writing and (2) the community of researchers that come together for the retreat,” Barber said. “It is such a great opportunity to have so many colleagues who are interested in fraternity and sorority research come together in the same place. The conversations that happen at the retreat not only affirm the work that we’re doing, but generate new ideas for research, partnerships, and writing projects.”

The new ideas generated during the retreat are as much a part of our story as the writing. Among the vast resources in the Earl Gregg Swem Library on the historic campus of W&M, several researchers in attendance chatted about ways to combine their interests in whiteness and masculinity into a future collaboration. Over a cup of coffee from nearby Aromas coffeehouse, they conceptualized the framework for important and critical issues in the field, and following the retreat, have discussed co-authoring a piece going more in-depth on how these issues affect student leaders.

The small cohort and idea generation aspect of the retreat allowed for critical moments of reflection for scholars. Dr. Pietro Sasso, assistant professor of college student personnel and program director at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, stated, “this opportunity helped me reflect on my future contributions to the profession of fraternity and sorority advising as a researcher who supports our undergraduate student leaders.”

Ideas about the profession and the future of research in the field were plentiful. After an afternoon of guided brainstorming, the group generated a varied list of topics thought to be critical areas of exploration for future research. The group brainstormed everything from membership development in online spaces to an economic impact study of the fraternity and sorority community on both a campus and its surrounding community. Jason Bergeron, director of the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life at the University of Houston, commented this aspect of the retreat was perhaps the most meaningful. Bergeron said, “the idea generation with other attendees I think will have the most long-term impact as it helps to create multi-disciplinary teams of people who can brainstorm potential studies.”

Of course, there was also plenty of writing. Bergeron pointed out he primarily “spent time working on completing my candidacy paper, which was the most immediate project in front of me.” Sasso indicated he “was able to work on my own scholarship to complete my two volumes on the forthcoming fraternity/sorority texts, as well as begin conceptualizing an article on sense of belonging among fraternity members.”

The setting is an important piece of any story. When talking about the importance of the retreat, Barber reiterated the significance of the space. “The retreat offers not just time and community to help the participants advance their research, but also resources to do so,” Barber said. “We’re supported at the retreat by a fantastic team of research librarians at William & Mary Libraries who are there to help move our work forward. We have access to historical archives, article databases, and librarian expertise that many professionals do not have at their home campuses or organizations. William & Mary is the birthplace of the American college fraternity, and our research is very much valued and supported by our partners at the library.”

Every good story needs a villain, and in this story, the enemy is time, or lack thereof. Sasso mentioned, “the most productive part of the retreat was allowing myself isolated time to focus on my scholarship.” Barber discussed the difficulty of finding time to write in our day to day lives. He says, “it is a luxury to have hours in a day blocked off to work on a writing project, and I’m very protective of that writing time in the retreat.”

The luxury of time is not often replicated in other professional travel experiences. For example, the experience of being in a library all day entirely focused on the topic at hand was quite different than a conference experience. At conferences, we often check email, meet up with colleagues, and consider practical ways to improve our jobs when we return home. In other words, a conference is an extension of work, and work does not shut off in that space.

One of the reasons the AFA writing retreat is special is because it is an opportunity to disconnect. While at the retreat, we did not think about what waited for us after - or the immediate pressures of the office. Instead, we were able to connect deeply with our writing. By engaging completely with research and writing, it enabled us to shut off the daily minutiae and think broadly about the fraternity and sorority field. What is next? What do we need to know to redefine the fraternity and sorority field? Perhaps most importantly, how can we work together to accomplish these ideas? Bergeron commented many researchers might be “part of a cohort of people who may not have complementary research interests. The retreat attempts to change those conditions by providing access to people who have a passion for and interest in empirical research within fraternities and sororities.”

Like many good stories, this one had a happy ending. As many educators are well aware, there is intangible benefit and development that occurs in a residential undergraduate experience. The researchers stayed in a fraternity house on William & Mary’s campus, reminding many of us of our days as full-time students. Our last night at the retreat felt oddly comforting, as though we had known each other for years, even though many of us met just a couple of days before. As Bergeron stated, “I just straight up enjoyed the company of other attendees and exploring W&M and Williamsburg with them.”

Us too, Jason.

In the end, it was the community of scholars that had the biggest impact. Being surrounded by colleagues who challenged and supported us through this intense writing experience is the main reason this experience is one that will stay with us long after our time spent together.

Brian Joyce currently serves as the director of Greek Life at Dartmouth College. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Eastern Kentucky University, a Master of Education in college student affairs from the University of South Florida, and a Ph.D. in educational leadership with a higher education emphasis from Clemson University. Brian is an active volunteer with AFA, currently serving on the peer review board of Oracle: The Research Journal of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors and as a member of the AFA research team.

Wonder what a room full of practitioners could derive for the field of fraternity and sorority advising? At the Oracle Writers Retreat, participants engaged in a structured brainstorming activity that harvested a series of potential research topics. If you are interested in one or more of these, consider attending the Oracle Writers Retreat in July of 2020!

• Curriculum-based housing

• Efficacy of live-in advisors

• Relevance of single-gender organizations (or rather, experience of co-ed organizations)

• Positive displays of masculinities

• Economic impact of fraternity and sorority on campus (or in the community in which it is situated)

• Member development through online learning

• Structural and organizational characteristics of FSL departments, campuses, or headquarters

• Is self-governance still relevant?

• Demographics of members

• Alcohol use in various settings (or in different settings

• Local or regional fraternity and sorority organizations; entire local chapter communities

• Sophomore presidents

• Relationships between fraternity and sorority staff and upper-level administrators

• Changing qualifications of organizational-based professionals; impact of professionalization

• Long-term effects (affects) of campus change initiatives

• Gender inclusivity, specifically policies and procedures

• Pros and cons of deferred (or prolonged) recruitment

• Role of fraternity or sorority in social mobility

• Implications of membership on patterns of giving (philanthropy)

• The high school pipeline - learned behaviors in high school and their impact in college (i.e., hazing, alcohol use)

• Membership expectations versus reality