CONNECTIONS the MAGAZINE
of AFLV
RECRUITMENT HAS CHANGED. Have You? The 2012 Recruitment Issue
VOL. 5 / ISSUE 017 / WINTER 2012
Being different is hard work. But we want you to be great at it.
Participating in The Gathering is an opportunity for professionals in the fraternity/sorority community to be part of something special. The Gathering isn’t a think tank - it’s an action tank; you’ll be a part of discussions that ask compelling questions, provoke powerful thinking, and invoke revolutionary action to transform and bring relevance to the fraternal movement.
We will teach you, support you, and help you unleash the power of real action on your desire to change the fraternity & sorority movement. $5,000 is a great start to anything. How about putting it toward changing our world? Each year, a grant of $5000 of startup capital is awarded to an idea brewed by an attendee to kick start their path to changing the world we know. This year’s Gathering will be held June 3rd - 6th in Waycross, Indiana. You can choose to be there. You can choose to change our world. The Gathering has been developed by AFLV with the support of COMPASS and is officially endorsed by the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors (AFA) Go to AFLV.org and click on The Gathering. Be a part of our future.
Connections is the official publication of the Association of Fraternal Leadership and Values. The views expressed by contributors, authors and advertisers are not necessarily those of the Association. // AFLV encourages the submission of content to: Director of Marketing & Communication Lea Hanson connections@aflv.org Submit advertising queries to: Lea Hanson • Director of M & C lea@aflv.org 970/372.1174 888/855.8670 info@aflv.org Connections Magazine is published by AFLV for our member subscribers four times each year. Submission Deadlines: Spring ‘12 • New Member Development: 02/20 Summer ‘12 • The Flip Side: What do others really think?: 06/25 Send address corrections to: Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values 420 South Howes Bldg B; Suite 200 Fort Collins, CO 80524 970/372.1174 888/855.8670 info@aflv.org Creative Director • Layout & Design Steve Whitby / CAMPUSPEAK, Inc. steve.whitby@gmail.com Editorial Board Andrea Battaglia • Drury University Ryan Hilperts • AFLV Andrew Hohn • Illinois, Urbana-Chapaign Carol Preston • Wittenberg University Teniell Trolian • University of Iowa Viancca Williams • University of South Florida
Member / Fraternity Communications Association
the inside starts here FIVE Biggest Recruitment 06 THE Mistakes THAT Chapters Make David Stollman • Laurel Peffer • Tom Healy
These three have teamed up to provide you with a straightforward look at the most common mistakes chapters in make in recruitment. Even better, they’re telling us what we can do to stop perpetuating them. As known experts in fraternity and sorority recruitment, this means a lot. Which of these mistakes is your chapter making?
Tips for Ensuring relevance 10 NPHC: michelle guobadia
Guobadia starts by offering her perspective on the history of NPHC organizations and concludes that we’ve lost sight of our purpose. Boom! This article might hit hard from the beginning, but Guobadia will help you pull yourself off the floor by offering four tips for making Intake more relevant, less harmful, and a whole lot more successful.
& sorority Advising: 12 Fraternity can Coaching & Technology help? Terry Hogan • Mark Koepsell • Chuck Eberly
This article was recently published in NASPA’s magazine, The Leadership Exchange, and we couldn’t help but ask to reprint an edited version. Team advising? Coaching students to promote student and leader development? This may not be breaking news to fraternity/sorority advisors, but perhaps this article will provide further fuel campus professionals need to obtain more support and resources.
COLUMNS 002 // letter from the executive director 002 // letter from the editor 015 // social excellence 016 // #whatif 018 // facilitation 411 020 // ask the experts 023 // 15 techniques 024 // sorry, we’re not sorry 025 // from the road: baylor university 026 // busted! 029 // one more thing
AFLV // 001
I joined the Alpha Pi Chapter of Alpha Chi Omega in the spring of my freshman year. I didn’t even consider - for one second - the concept of sorority during formal fall recruitment. Quite frankly, the whole debacle kind of made me want to throw up in my mouth. While I was home for Thanksgiving, my aunt, an Alpha Phi, asked if I was considering Greek Life. I actually said, “No, I can get my friends for free.” I know! Rude. But truly, I was not - and, frankly, am still not - attracted to the pomp and circumstance of formal recruitment. It weirds me out and [gasp!] feels fake. The thing is, I think a lot of people agree. Think of other communities we join: churches, the Rotary, even the Freemasons. I can’t think of any other comparable community that holds a multi-day grandiose bazaar to gain membership. And, it’s not just the immensity of it all, but also the deadlines and no-turning-back expectations of decision making that make me wonder. To me, it’s like the tax code. It probably started really simply and with good intentions. But, since then, there have been so many rules and statutes created that even some experts can’t figure it out.
Letter from the Editor
Why doesn’t 365 recruitment get more props? It makes perfect sense to me. On one hand, we talk about how our fraternal affiliations are lifetime commitments and, therefore, very personal and serious decisions. On the other hand, formal recruitment - especially for NPC chapters - requires potential members to choose on our timeline, not theirs. Sure, you get the new member period to actually commit to being initiated, but not many people really leave one chapter and join another by the time they get to that point - do they? So, yes, I’m biased. I own it. I like the idea of 365 recruitment. It makes me feel relaxed. It makes me feel more powerful in my ability to make a very important life decision. More importantly, it more often than not doesn’t require me to buy a new black preference dress. But, I can’t help but wonder: what would happen if a fraternity/ sorority community just stopped participating in formal recruitment? There probably wouldn’t be a zombie apocalypse. Actually, there most certainly wouldn’t be. Either way, this issue of Connections is exploring just that. #WHATIF everyone did 365 recruitment... and did it well?
Editor Connections Magazine @leahanson 002 // connections // 2012 • WINTER
STEVE WHITBY is a storyteller. Yes, he’s a speaker on leadership, but in a world full of leadership speakers, Steve is something truly unique. Old, entrenched issues don’t stand a chance around him. Steve gets students thinking about defining their visions, empowering their members and the risks that come with change. He pushes them to question assumptions, explore their flexibilities and communicate their special story—whatever that may be. Pretty thoughtful stuff, and perfect for those who are looking for a speaker/ facilitator who brings depth to a day of leadership training. Oh, and his programs have weird titles, but once you hire Steve and experience his intensely cool style, you won’t mind that at all. SHAVING THE YAK Sometimes, our leaders and our groups get stuck on things that simply aren’t important. Steve’s keynote helps to adjust our focus, rediscover our purpose and make those critical first steps toward something new and meaningful. GRAVITY IS BROKEN Steve imparts that the things we hold to be the most constant—our ritual, our social interactions, our values, our campus culture—are completely misunderstood. Unless we understand the real depth of how broken our gravity is, we can never create change that lasts.
Contact us today and find out how Steve can impact your students, staff, professionals and anyone who could stand to hear a story that will completely change their perspective on the staus quo.
For more information about Steve, please contact us at (303) 745-5545, or e-mail info@campuspeak.com. You may also visit campuspeak.com/whitby.
C
3,360,000
STUDENTS BETWEEN THE AGES OF 18-24 DRIVE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL*
2,000,000+ STUDENTS HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY MARK STERNER’S POWERFUL STORY
Just months from graduation, Mark Sterner and four best friends (and fraternity brothers) headed to Spring Break. On the final night, they decided the least drunk would drive home. The next morning, three of the men were dead, and Mark lay in the hospital critically injured, facing three counts of DUI manslaughter. Instead of being the first in his family to graduate college, he would be the first to go to prison.
MARK STERNER DUI: A POWERFUL LESSON For more information about Mark and his keynote, please contact us at (303) 745-5545, or e-mail info@campuspeak.com. You may also see a promotional video of Mark at campuspeak.com/sterner. *Source: http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/statssummaries/ snapshot.asp.
©
Fraternities and sororities, college undergraduates, high school students, military service men and women—Mark has made an impact on more than two million young people with his DUI: A Powerful Lesson© keynote. He encourages smarter choices and preventing countless tragedies. Quite simply, he teaches audiences that it only takes a moment to change a friend’s life forever. In his moving, memorable keynote, Mark etches a real story into students’ minds, making them realize that a simple choice, like drinking and driving, can cause an everlasting impact on everyone they know.
CONTRIBUTORS Michelle Guobadia Michelle is the Director for Fraternity and Sorority Life at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. A member of the Association of Fraternity and Sorority Advisors (AFA), she graduated from North Carolina State University in May 2005 with a Masters in Higher Education Administration. Michelle received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware in the Spring of 2003 and is an active alum. Additionally, Michelle is a member of the AFA Foundation Board and is a facilitator and speaker for CAMPUSPEAK, Inc. where she facilitates RBC (Recruitment Boot Camp), Crossing the Line Anti-Hazing Program, LINK and S.A.L.A.D (Seeking Alliances through Leadership and Diversity). Michelle is also the writer and creator of the INTAKE EQUATION, the recruitment program for black and culturally based greek-lettered organizations. Michelle’s speaking topics are hazing and embracing the values fraternities and sororities. A Fall 2000 initiate of the Chi Theta chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc, and an active and financial member of the Delta Zeta Graduate Chapter, Michelle is a regular presenter at student and professional conferences.
David Stollman After serving on the staff of the North-American Interfraternity Conference for two years, David Stollman continued his work in Fraternity and Sorority Life by speaking on campuses around the country. He has facilitated workshops and given keynotes on more than 2,000 campuses, and has also served on the faculties of numerous university and fraternal leadership conferences. David completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland. He is a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon and served in many volunteer roles but is now an Assistant Chapter Advisor for the Alpha Sigma Tau sorority chapter at New York University. He lives in New York City with his wife, Melissa, and their son, Ari. He spends enormous energy cheering on the Maryland Terps and his hometown Philadelphia professional sports teams.
Laurel Peffer Laurel is a native Hoosier who completed her undergraduate degree in Public Relations at Ball State University where she joined Alpha Chi Omega. She spent two years working and traveling for Alpha Chi Omega. Laurel received her master’s degree at Bowling Green State University. Most recently she was the Assistant Director of Residence /Advisor to Fraternities & Sororities at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. Laurel has served as a volunteer for Alpha Chi Omega, Delta Upsilon, Phi Kappa Tau, the Circle of Sisterhood, the NIC, the NPC, and the Humane Society. In her free time, Laurel enjoys playing golf, gardening, reading, traveling, cheering on the Indianapolis Colts and hanging out with her sassy cat, Jag.
Tom Healy Tom is a graduate of Ohio University, where he was an active leader of the fraternity and sorority community and his fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He remains actively involved with SAE in a number of volunteer roles. Tom has spoken at colleges across the country, published multiple books for students, and advised student organizations on marketing/ branding themselves through social media. Tom lives in Scottsdale, AZ and enjoys playing golf, volunteering as a youth basketball coach, serving as President of the Ohio University Arizona Alumni Association and being a huge fan of his hometown Pittsburgh sports teams.
THE FIVE Biggest Recruitment Mistakes THAT Chapters Make
David StollmaN • CAMPUSPEAK, Inc. Tom Healy • CAMPUSPEAK, Inc. Laurel Peffer • CAMPUSPEAK, Inc.
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Over the past decade we’ve helped thousands of chapters on hundreds of campuses install the year-round, networking based, recruitment system taught in our Recruitment Boot Camp program. Chapters have tripled their entire membership in just one semester and entire communities have witnessed drastic growth in members joining. While we would love to take full credit for these successes, implementing our system that makes year-round recruitment a chapter habit is what makes all the difference. The hard work is done by the members; our system simply keeps their efforts going and moving in the right direction. Think of how many crash diets have been popular and then faded. There are lots of ways to look at recruitment. People can get excited about new gimmicks and shortcuts but deep down we all know that the smart habits of a good diet and exercise are the best path – and they aren’t sexy. One might even call them boring because they take consistent effort over time. But we all know what’s right.
There’s a few things to keep in mind with recruitment: First, values-based recruitment doesn’t mean talking about your organization’s values during recruitment events. Anyone can learn how to say hollow phrases. It means LIVING our values as an organization and using that lifestyle to recruit people who want to live them with us. Lots of people can teach you how to “talk the talk” but we all know that smart potential members see through that quickly. Chapters that “walk the walk” and actually LIVE their values are actually believed when they stop to talk about them. Second, recruitment is about people we know. “Rush” is about people we don’t. Real recruiting is about expanding our networks naturally and exploring other members’ network of friends. Our founders met men and women through their friends, classes, and other activities. They didn’t wander around campus reaching out their hand and saying, “Hi stranger! Want to join my organization for the rest of your life?” They didn’t put flyers up around campus asking for people to sign up for rounds of events through which a match could be made. We could stand to recruit a little more like our founders. Heck, we could stand to actually RECRUIT a little. Most chapters don’t actually recruit. They just select. There is a difference between selecting among people that show up, and actually recruiting people to be there. Putting up flyers or planning the events isn’t recruiting.
AFLV // 007
As we have been out and about, we see the same mistakes made over and over again. We want to share these mistakes with you so you can learn from others. Read them and examine the practices of your chapter or chapters in your community. We want to end this habit of failure.
1
MISTAKE NUMBER
Choosing Between Quality and Quantity
People think they can only have one. One of the most common things we hear repeatedly is “we need better members, but have to get our numbers up” or “We’ll build them up to be better through our membership program”. These are excuses used to take chances on questionable candidates and examples of the battle between quality and quantity. The assumption that you can’t have both is the biggest problem! This misconception causes organizations to end up in one of two really bad places: weak members hurting the chapter or a group that is simply too small to accomplish what it wants. Both quality and quantity are not only important but also possible. How? Determine the characteristics of your ideal member and make that the standard by which you recruit. Don’t recruit or accept people lacking those expectations. PERIOD. Then, use those standards to communicate to the best and brightest that you are worth their consideration. Build the core of your organization around top quality people and immediately teach them how to recruit other high quality individuals. Remember, Quality drives Quantity, not the other way around. Don’t just throw a bunch of names against the wall and see what sticks. This isn’t a numbers game of X number of calls means Y number of sales (increase X and get more Y). NO! That’s not what our founders did. And, that isn’t who we really are. Why is it so hard to get our members to do this cold call style of recruiting? Because it is fake, awkward, and unnatural. “People join people, and the organization follows.” Better members will ultimately recruit people even better than they are if you teach them how. Make it such that by the time you graduate, it would be difficult for you to get in. Now, THAT’S building a legacy for your organization.
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2 MISTAKE NUMBER
Recruiting Only the First Few Weeks of Each Semester
In order to build strong and consistent recruitment practices in a chapter, it is essential to view recruitment as a year-round responsibility. The start of one semester must be viewed as the end of the last one. Keep potential members fresh in the minds of your members, discuss them at each chapter meeting and continually add new recruits to your Wish List. Doing this takes so much pressure off of the first few weeks of each semester and you won’t feel like you are cramming for finals as the year starts. Doing so allows time to evaluate if these people align with your values and will be the type of member you really want. Taking time to do this also allows those people who never thought they would join (and often become our best members) to learn what you are REALLY about. Time breaks down those negative stereotypes and allows potential members to see what our organizations are truly about by seeing how we normally act. When they do, they want to join, even with a formal recruitment period at the start of the year. We can stack the deck with sophomores who we have been recruiting to be a part of that process from the prior semester. This is legal, not dirty. It should be encouraged, not discouraged, by your community’s rules and norms.
Avoid these five mistakes and you’ll recruit men and women who will make your chapter great. And you’ll never have to say, “Oops” about a member again!
3
Lacking an Action Plan
4
Delegating Recruitment to JUST One Member
MISTAKE NUMBER
Your chapter should have a list of goals, due dates, intermediary steps necessary to accomplish those goals, and finally… who will be held responsible for each goal. Without a plan of action in place, we see chapters flounder around hoping someone will get things done. One member expects another will do it, then right before it’s too late, someone throws something together. A well-developed action plan guides chapter efforts and lays out each step necessary to get you where you want to be. It is also a great tool allowing advisors and volunteers to hold you accountable and even provide you with support in critical ways.
MISTAKE NUMBER
For you to be successful, you must have the majority of the chapter bought into your recruitment efforts. This doesn’t mean everyone is involved in all details. It just means that each member has clear responsibility for basic participation. We can’t delegate recruitment to just one person and expect them to succeed. Does the academic chair take all of your tests? Does the treasurer pay everyone’s dues? No! Again, “People join people and the organization follows.” We need for our members to be the reason why someone joins. Lots of people networking throughout the entire year is more realistic and natural than a bum rush mentality by a few; it’s like the difference between cramming for finals and studying along the way. The best performers in the classroom are the ones that do a little work each week and don’t just cram. If we can have more of our members doing a little work each week we can reach more potential members in natural and meaningful ways where we actually get to know each other. When one member convinces people to join a chapter full of others whom they don’t really know, retention drops. People don’t like a bait and switch, “like me, but join them.” Getting more members involved spreads out our network and allows us to recruit a wider range of people, more effectively. Because they are friends of friends, it isn’t so fake and superficial as many recruitment events tend to be.
5 MISTAKE NUMBER
Recruiting Only Freshmen Students Which year of school fails out at the highest rate? Which is involved in the most judicial cases? Most alcohol violations? Worst grades? Perfect! Let’s target THAT group and no other!
Not all first year students are bad people who will get drunk and fail out but, statistically they are more likely to do so. Therefore, we shouldn’t be so dependent upon just that population. Plus, everyone else targets first year students. The market is saturated with those efforts. The growth market for any community is the sophomore class. With the strong negative stereotypes out there about fraternal organizations, can we blame someone for taking a year to watch us to figure out they aren’t really true? You might be thinking that only freshmen are interested in fraternity or sorority membership because older students already have an established group of friends. Even if that were true, we can still succeed at recruiting older students if what we offer is more than just friendship. Good chapters offer much more and many older students figured that out. They will join if we ask them. Some chapters only target first year students because they are the ones on campus gullible enough to believe them! You can find these groups by their terrible retention rates. Chapters that have a quality fraternal product, and know how to network never have to depend on tricking people into joining and hoping they will stay. Yes, of course you should recruit freshman students. But, you should also actively target, and not just passively accept, other students as well. We need to recruit all students who can improve a chapter through their membership regardless of their age. The lifetime commitment to your organization will allow them to contribute for years to come, even if some of those years of contribution are after they graduate.
Recruitment Boot Camp provides chapters, campuses and national organizations with a systematic, resultsdriven approach to recruitment. To learn more about how RBC can help your organization/community succeed with recruitment, please contact Laurel Peffer at Peffer@CAMPUSPEAK.com or Tom Healy at Healy@CAMPUSPEAK.com (303-745-5545).
AFLV // 009
NPHC:
Tips for Ensuring Relevance
by Michelle Guobadia • University of North Carolina - Charlotte
Students, especially African Americans, initially joined fraternities and sororities to belong. There were political fights to be fought, struggles to overcome, and injustices to correct. Whether is it was the turn of the century, the roaring 20s, or the post-civil rights era, National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) organizations had a unique purpose and students were joining…and in astronomical numbers! Who wouldn’t want to join such a revolution? Who wouldn’t want to change lives in the community and on campus? But, we used to be more transparent. Hazing was not yet an issue, our missions were clear, and our organizations were household names. Mom, dads, aunts, and uncles encouraged students to discover us when they got to campus. They told them to join when the opportunity arose. Collegiate members stood ready to return the call and happily brought in the newest generation of revolutionaries year after year.
What happened? Where did it all go wrong? We lost sight of our purpose. Many chapters became irrelevant. Other organizations and options existed. Moreover, we began to do things that had NOTHING to do with what it meant to be Greek. Luckily, some students today still want to join. And, if chapters are willing to buckle down and refocus, they will once again lure quality students into their organizations.
Are We Still Relevant? First things first….we recruit! Let’s stop lying to ourselves. Sure, all the programs, wearing of letters, showing up at events, service projects, and so forth add to the social scene of campus. But, these types of actions and activities are also our way of letting people know we are here and what we are about. These activities may not be direct, in-your-face, “won’t you join my organization?” recruiting, but they’re still good recruitment tactics. But, do we really matter? While student groups stress and overstretch themselves doing several programs a month, many can’t help but wonder -what is it all for? What’s the result? Are potential members attracted to these busy schedules and fancy shows? Do we really inspire others? Are we moving ordinary people to want to be extraordinary? How are we unique? If your chapter went away tomorrow, would anyone really care? While the relevance of NPHC fraternities and sororities was clear in the infancy of our organizations, today, in 2012, it’s uncertain.
How is your chapter considering these questions? Have you discussed them? How do the answers impact how you conduct Intake?
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Consider these five tips: Intake Tip #1: Determine the Why
Determine why your chapter is on campus and what it provides to potential members. Ask yourself, “how does my chapter inspire others?” Use those answers to guide the how and why of your intake. Start with mentorship. People join people, not organizations. No longer can we ride the coattails of the organizations’ legacies. Here’s the reality: new college students know nothing about us. First generation college students are becoming more prevalent. New students, especially first generation students, are likely to have no understanding of the difference between the blue and white or the pink and green. They will forget your calls and hand signs and couldn’t care less about who came first or last. Initially, it’s all irrelevant. What actually matters is how your sorority or fraternity made them feel.
Intake Tip #2: Embrace Mentorship
As the premier involvement option for students of color, it is important that we start with mentorship. We need to start by letting students know that NPHC organizations are the hub for support and relationships that will sustain students throughout their college years. They may or may not join, but remember this: the cornerstone of all of our groups is to elevate, help, and better our communities. Make friends, check-in on students, and form genuine connections. Your chapter should become synonymous with mentorship. You need to know the campus community you serve. When students attend your chapter’s events, the conversations should not be basic; they should be advanced in nature because this is not the first interaction you have had with them. Mentorship does not happen overnight. It is a tedious process that enriches everyone involved. Imagine the possibilities! Active, consistent, and sustainable mentorship will yield the result you want for intake. Students will gravitate to groups that helped and shaped them in hopes of paying it forward.
Intake Tip #3: Determine the Who Get back to the basics. Who do we say we are?
Examine your values. Now look at your chapter’s actions. Now, revert to your values….do they align? The more congruent your chapter is with its organizational values, the easier it will be to attract potential members to your chapter. Put your standards and values in front of you. Live them. You disappoint yourself and your chapter’s founders when you ignore them. How ridiculous does it appear when you say your chapter focuses on academics and philanthropy when in reality your GPA is lower than the school’s average and your service is minimal? If the flyer for your next party or new member presentation is better than your advertisement for your bone marrow program, there may be a problem. We only attract what we appear to be. If your efforts are half-hearted and your values are abandoned, you will attract members with lackluster abilities and a skewed vision of what your chapter should be. Return to the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of your organization. The authenticity of your values and basic tenets will, alone, draw students who want to enhance their lives. Your chapter is a local franchise of a larger corporation. Adhere to its prescribed standards from the official logo to established programming. The consistency of our chapters makes us more visible to potential members.
Intake Tip #4: Stop Doing Stupid Stuff
Make sure your members are accurately displaying your organizational values. This ought to be easy since your fraternal values should align with your own personal values. Values congruence is a natural draw for people looking to affiliate! We must stop the illegal, damaging, and destructive behavior that many of our chapters still engage in. You know that we are talking about: hazing, giving wood, late night sessions in basements and on rooftops, mental and emotional bullying, etc. There is no place for hazing in fraternity and sorority life. Be honest! If you say you don’t haze, don’t haze! And, stop tolerating any [any] member who does. Qualities like loyalty, commitment, and passion are advertised before you join and membership should only enhance that. We do not need to test the limits of potential members to assess their worthiness. The aforementioned mentoring and sharing of values should already tell you everything you need to know about a potential member. Imagine the number of members we miss because they are smart enough to avoid our recklessness. Imagine what we could accomplish if we stop trying to ‘make people right’. Imagine what the lives of those who have died because of hazing could have been. We have injured and hurt people in the name of our organizations. Organizations that claim to be of honor and the highest ideals should not debase themselves to the lowest behaviors. If we continue hazing in our community, all the other steps for improvement will not matter. Our organizations will continue to be mistrusted, drive away membership, and die an untimely, slow, painful, and public death.
Intake Tip #5: Advertise It’s not a dirty word.
Making the decision to join a NPHC organization is a personal choice. With that said, gathering information should not be. Remember transparency? Being transparent also applies to how we tell others about the options to join our organizations. It’s best for students to make well-educated selections. Hiding flyers, secretive meetings, and not being willing to talk about intake in a mature manner is counterproductive to building our membership. This is the era of the consumer. If I walk into Best Buy and tell the sales associate, “I have $1,000, tell me about the best camera you have,” and her response is “do your research,” I’m leaving the store. The same applies to our organizations. Do not be afraid to share about your fraternity/ sorority. You do not have to be a salesperson to share the joys of what makes your chapter special. A well-informed potential member will respect your organization and value what you share with them. Stop hiding from your audience! Intake isn’t a scavenger hunt. Make information readily available, advertise your interest meetings like you would any other program. Then, be ready to have meaningful conversations about your organization with potential members. Don’t avoid talking about what the organization means to you, why you joined, and what you look for in members. Your openness to questions makes your chapter safer and open to those seeking to know more. The recruitment and intake of new members is key to our longevity. There needs to be intentional, ongoing work and dedication to ensure our viability in the 21st century. Campus professionals, IHQ, and volunteers are ready to assist, but the most important work comes from within the chapter. The antiquated ways of recruiting are over. Step into the future, dream big, and provide the opportunity for future students to enjoy and embrace what it means to be a part of something bigger than themselves. AFLV // 011
Fraternities and sororities remain a dominant feature on college and university campuses across the country. Nearly 200 national organizations sponsor some 9,000 chapters with over 700,000 undergraduate members. Most often, the campus fraternity/sorority advisor is charged to make the most of this value-added opportunity for its students. Often entry-level professionals in one-person shops, these staff members are called upon to support multiple levels of governance structure, oversee individual chapters, provide leadership training, manage campuswide recruitment processes, support Greek-related honoraries, limit risk by monitoring events, and provide a comprehensive, timely response to incidents that might occur at any given moment – a set of expectations that has grown slowly but steadily over the last forty years.
Student affairs and fraternity/ sorority leaders participating in last spring’s Greek Summit at the NASPA National Conference explored this question and developed a possible improved approach for consideration by stakeholders.
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Is this one-person effort the best way to support fraternity/ sorority members and is it the best use of the capabilities of the fraternity/sorority advisor? What could be gained if fraternity/sorority advisors (and chapter consultants who work for the national organizations) spent more time cultivating a team of volunteer “coaches” rather than focusing most of their effort on working directly with student leaders?
The current state of affairs Fraternity/sorority advisors generally “advise” the entire fraternal community as opposed to advising individual chapters. They meet with community-level student leaders and have less contact with chapter leaders/members or volunteer advisors of individual chapters. Their interactions with chapters are more often reactive to a particular problem. Chapter consultants visit their chapters, meet with student officers and volunteer chapter advisors, and visit the campus fraternity/sorority advisor to discuss chapter progress. They supplement the local support provided by the campus advisor and their local volunteer chapter advisor, but are limited in their impact since they visit infrequently.
Local volunteers who serve as chapter advisors take a wide range of approaches to their duties. Often one-person operations, they juggle a myriad of administrative, advising, managing and counseling tasks and work to meet the needs of national offices, campus administrators, chapter leaders, chapter members and volunteers in state/regional roles. These three support systems face a common set of tensions. How is “putting out fires” balanced with student learning? How is growing vibrant organizations balanced with liability reduction? How is student leadership nurtured while minding the bottom line? Persons serving in these advising roles often have in common their personal experience in a fraternity/sorority, limited professional experience in student development, and limited training. And, though often desirous of working collaboratively, the number of moving parts makes the ability to do so difficult.
Fraternity and Sorority Advising: Can Coaching & Technology Help? by Terry Hogan • University of Northern Iowa // Mark Koepsell • AFLV // Chuck Eberly • Eastern Illinois University
AFLV // 013
Coaching of student leaders?
Experience tells us that the chapter with engaged alumni/ae or an active advisor is almost always better performing. Might the current central campus advising model be refined, and efforts focused on developing an expanded cohort of certified volunteers to “coach” individual student leaders that employs technology to support the effort? Such an approach would broaden the active support system for undergraduates and, by extension, supplement the work of campus fraternity/sorority advisors.
Six specifics emerged from the Greek Summit dialogue. Shift focus to leadership coaching. Though group-level activity is an explicit part of the overall venture and will never go away, how might chapter performance improve if individual student leaders were mentored by trained coaches whose sole purpose was to help the given student leader excel in his or her role? Coaches provide private, honest feedback and advice in an attempt to improve the performance of an individual within a team context. Premised on the development of trusting relationships, the potential for student leaders (and thus their organizations) to benefit from coaching appears meaningful. Enabling student leaders to visualize a clear path toward their goals, identifying markers to measure progress, and performing daily leadership activities without encroaching on individual scholastic performance are worthy coaching outcomes. Take a team approach. Implicit in this concept is the idea of team advising. Used with great success in many organizations that are members of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), a key feature is sharing the workload across a group of trained volunteers. One volunteer advises the president, another the treasurer, another the new member chair, and so on. With campus-supported, headquartersapproved individual volunteer coaches assigned to each student leader, might not other faculty and/or alumni volunteers be more willing to serve as overall chapter advisors? Current chapter advisors would continue to play a key role and would undoubtedly welcome the help of a coaching staff. 014 // CONNECTIONS // 2012 • WINTER
Expand volunteer alumni/ae involvement as coach/advisors. As inter/ national fraternities and sororities seek to positively engage more alumni/ae in the activities of their respective organizations, coaching student leaders could provide an appealing opportunity to those wishing a more personal connection to their alma mater. With a more narrowly-defined job description, a smaller piece of the overall pie to manage, and without the constraints associated with a regularly-scheduled face-to-face group meeting, more interested alumni/ae could be persuaded to get involved.
Add to the mix the potential to use a readily-available, virtually-free technology like Skype and potential new coaches could meet weekly with their student leader without traveling to a distant college campus. Reshape roles of fraternity/sorority advisor & chapter consultant. Implementing a coaching model of this sort would require reframing the roles of campus fraternity/ sorority advisors and chapter consultants, and perhaps suggest changes in curriculum for graduate professional preparation programs. Most campus fraternity/sorority advisors and chapter consultants come to their work through their positive, personal fraternity/sorority experiences in college. Many then pursue master’s level graduate education in order to transition to an entrylevel professional position on a campus or with an inter/national fraternity or sorority headquarters’ staff. Both current professional practice and graduate education focus on student development and seek to provide staff with knowledge of developmental theory that informs their work advising, counseling, guiding and/or assisting students. Support in this context is provided directly to students and intended to foster growth and development of students. The given activity or organization, in this case fraternities and sororities, serves as a vehicle for the individual student development that one hopes ensues. As such, volunteer development, organizational development, and leadership coaching are less evident in the current toolbox of emerging student affairs or fraternity/sorority life professionals.
Provide uniform training to certify coaches and advisors. One of the many challenges is the lack of consistent volunteer training for campus personnel or alumni/ae who assist chapters. Training offered at leadership meetings helps as does the provision of resources online, but neither has turned any tide relative to the overall effectiveness of volunteers in these roles. Using technology to extend training to geographically-dispersed individuals is growing. “AlcoholEdu for College” and “Student Success” have demonstrated the viability
of technology to not only deliver training online, but to assess learning through online testing and to document successful completion of training by a defined set of participants. The proven utility of on-line technology opens the door to the development of a common curriculum (that can be customized with organization-specific content) for training all leadership coaches and advisors. Encourage preparation programs to view volunteer development as a needed professional skill. Current graduate preparation program curricula devote scant attention to recruiting and training volunteers for any purpose, or training volunteer coaches to carry out leadership education. Volunteer and organizational development have a theoretical and practical framework that would be a positive addition to graduate preparation program curricula.
Further consideration
The current reality for most front-line fraternity/sorority professionals is a combination of work with council and chapter leaders supporting their individual growth and development as officers, balanced with the inevitable task of reacting to the risk management “issue of the week.” Although expected to manage this tight rope with precision and poise, most campus advisors work in an environment where the cards are stacked against them. Shifting to a coaching model has the potential to greatly improve the experience
Using Social Excellence for 365 Recruitment
The concept of Social Excellence focuses on being a positive and generous person who is curious about and wants to understand others. Individuals who are socially excellent find ways to intentionally connect with others and can be seen engaging in deep, meaningful conversations. They are also confident but willing to be vulnerable and exhibit a commitment to integrity, responsibility and compassion. They are role models for how to contribute and participate in society. Sounds like what our founders wanted fraternity and sorority members to be like, right? Here are some ways to you can be socially excellent in everyday situations: > Remember names after you’ve been introduced to people > Give a genuine smile to strangers you pass by > Have a conversation in an elevator
of students and the success of fraternal communities, but many questions remain. Does volunteer coaching really differ from student group advising? Would a larger and perhaps different set of alumni/ae find coaching opportunities appealing? Who could or would organize such a venture? Is there enough commonality of interest – among different inter/national organizations and between inter/national organizations and campuses – to support the development of a common online training platform for student leadership coaches and/or chapter advisors? Would fraternity/ sorority advisors and chapter consultants view their work differently (and perhaps as less meaningful) if they were called upon to spend more time educating volunteers and less time interacting directly with students? Might the concept of volunteer coaching for individual student leaders work on your campus?
Terry Hogan is Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Northern Iowa and former national chair of the Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Knowledge Community. Mark Koepsell is Executive Director of the Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values. Chuck Eberly is recently retired Professor of Counseling and Student Development at Eastern Illinois University.
> Be the first to volunteer for something > Have the courage to stop gossiping (and ask others not to) > Give up your seat for someone else > Praise in public and criticize in private > Write thank you notes (not emails or Facebook posts) > Return voicemails and emails > Say “I’m sorry” first > Focus on service to others > Be on time > Be interesting AND interested > Give firm handshakes > Remember people’s birthdays > Gather others together for fellowship > Share great news! > Learn about those different than you > Seek first to understand, then be understood > Make great first impressions > Live your beliefs with passion and appreciate others’ > Give without expecting to get back > Have deep, powerful, life-changing conversations
Thanks to the Phired Up Team for these great ideas! Find more at www.phiredup.com.
Following is an excerpt from the acceptance speech given by Mark Koepsell at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors in December 2011. Mark was this year’s recipient of the Jack L. Anson Award, one of the Association’s highest honors. The Anson Award is presented annually to a wellrespected individual not in the field of higher education, who has demonstrated a long-term commitment to the fraternity/sorority community beyond just his/her respective organization. The recipient is congratulated for his/ her partnerships with higher education and the interfraternal community, fostered positive change to advance the fraternal movement, and served as a role model for students.
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#What If
It’s the collective world that inspires me. This huge network of individuals and organizations that provides my fuel. And, it’s from here I have gained the viewpoints and perspective that I have. Many of you have heard me speak on strategic planning, change management, and other general leadership topics. One thing that is always consistent in those presentations is my transparency about my love of a little place I like to call ‘The Land of What If.’ Just ask the AFLV staff and Board, I speak enthusiastically about visiting there in almost every conversation. Tonight I welcome you to join me in a quick journey to The Land of What If.
20 years ago, at my first AFA meeting, I sat in awe as I listened to Chuck Loring accept the Anson award. He articulated, “We’re rearranging the chairs on the Titanic” implying that doing what we’ve always done by simply tweaking it a bit isn’t going to change anything. We fundamentally need to start thinking and doing things differently. Mike McRee pointed this out in his awardwinning article, “The House is on fire and You’re Mowing the Lawn.” So, I submit to you, let’s spend a little time thinking about a different way of doing. These comments are presented in the form of tweets. 140 characters or less providing a glimpse into The Land of What If. Sometimes there is as much power in the right question as there is in the answer. I’m not pretending to have all these answers, but I do believe the questions will at least get us thinking about where we need to go. And, we think we can speak for everyone in thanking Mark for working to make our fraternal world a better place.
#WHATIF we spent our undergraduate years preparing for a lifetime of membership in the org & didn’t get initiated until we graduated? #WHATIF there actually was a minimum standard for members & chapters and real consequences for falling short? #greekchat #WHATIF all campus F/S award programs actually measured meaningful outcomes instead of rewarding the most creative writers? #WHATIF Fraternity/Sorority advisors weren’t so often the youngest directors in the division of student affairs? #sachat #WHATIF the staff to student ratio for Greeks looked more like we find in most residence life programs on campuses? #sachat #WHATIF we didn’t need an org like the @FraternalValuesSociety in our communities because 100% values alignment was already achieved? #WHATIF every chapter had the conviction, motivation, talent, and drive that we find in most colonies? #WHATIF new member education truly prepared men & women for a life of values based action? @preventhazing #WHATIF all F/S members valued making a positive global impact as much as they do the fun of brotherhood and sisterhood? #ServiceImmersion
#WHATIF the money raised through F/S philanthropy all actually made its way to the advertised beneficiaries? #greekchat #WHATIF philanthropy wasn’t so often a sorry excuse for another social event and members actually believed in the cause more than the path? #WHATIF we had a better vehicle for grass roots fundraising and support of causes within the fraternal market? @GreeksForGood #WHATIF the behavioral expectations & enforcement were the same at the #AFA2011AM as they are at undergrad conferences? #CFLNBGLC #WFLNCGLC #WHATIF F/S professionals stopped prioritizing their largest efforts into Greek Week, Homecoming, and Formal Recruitment? #greekchat #WHATIF Headquarters and campuses agreed that what matters most is building an environment that supports the + development of our students? #WHATIF there were grants available to help individuals & orgs focus on efforts that can make a real difference in the fraternal world? #WHATIF we built a system that allowed House Directors to play a valuable role as support mechanisms and paraprofessionals? #WHATIF all our chapters could prove that membership would positively impact retention and GPA? #GammaSigmaAlpha #OrderofOmega #WHATIF professionals didn’t see F/S advising as an entry level job or stepping stone to something “more important”? #WHATIF universities valued the profession at a level where there was upward movement available without leaving the field? #WHATIF F/S professionals spent more time creating sustainable change & less time in stupid meetings talking about it? #WHATIF we worried less about who is “taking over the world” and focused more on who is “getting good things done”? #WHATIF Fraternities/Sororities could PROVE their worth to higher education at a level where they were begging for more? #FraternalRelevance #WHATIF F/S professionals were more actively engaged in the higher education arena? (That means IN ADDITION to fraternal matters) #sachat
#WHATIF F/S professionals were conducting more research and assessment to better illustrate the validity and worth of the experience? #WHATIF our chapters were known as places of tolerance & acceptance as opposed to exclusivity & petri dishes for the ‘isms’ that plague us? #WHATIF we had less fewer silos & more orgs working collaboratively to create F/S that are the most trusted orgs of integrity and ethics? #WHATIFI actually felt comfortable that my daughters could join ANY sorority chapter & enjoy a developmentally rewarding experience? #WHATIF all of our members understood that true leadership exists in doing the right thing and isn’t related to power or position? #WHATIF we spent more time figuring out how to effectively recruit & support alum volunteers as coaches & mentors? #WHATIF we provided tools to every member to step up in the face of controversy & ridicule for the pursuit of values? #FraternalValues #WHATIF it were nearly impossible to win the Shaffer or Anson Award until the twilight of your career? #dontthinkimnotgrateful #WHATIF every F/S community & office was inclusive & supportive of EVERY org that we represent? #NALFO #NAPA #NPHC #NMGC #WHATIF all fraternities created a culture of respect for women instead of a den of hyper-masculine attitudes & behaviors? #WHATIF alcohol didn’t have a place in our houses were a majority of members are underage anyway? @PhiDelt #substancefreehousing #WHATIF the only thing synonymous with ‘frat move’ equaled actions that are the highest in character and values? @Combat_Frat My quest is not only to dream of the land of #WHATIF but to find the path to get there. Do you want to be part of that journey? #LandOfWhatIf Thank you again for bestowing this incredible honor onto me. Thank you for providing me the opportunity to work in a field where I find such passion, commitment, and dedication by those around me. Thank you for allowing me to do what I love every day.
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FACILITATION 411:
A Primer in Fraternity Recruitment
by Michael Smoll, Director of Expansion, Sigma Tau Gamma Addison Schopp, Director of Chapter Development, Sigma Tau Gamma
There are many advantages for students to use social media technology that can include the ability to send out a mass text message or communicate within a Facebook group to multiple people at one time. Unfortunately, this technology has also allowed students to have an invisible technology barrier from which they can communicate behind. The recruitment of potential new members is successful when conducted in a face-to-face small group setting. The invisible technology barrier can limit face-to-face conversation and make conversation awkward and unproductive with potential new members.
Facilitator Considerations 1. It takes time. Discussing fraternal values and 365 recruitment can be a difficult conversation to have. Students may be resistant to change. Understand that change may take time but that the conversation can begin with basic activities. 2. Participation. Face-to-face conversation can be challenging and difficult. Some students may be unwilling to attend or participate in the activity. Do your best to encourage their attendance and participation, but refrain from making it a mandatory activity. 3. Maintain control of the activity. Often times, answers to certain questions will provoke responses that are longer than the allotted question time limit. Be sure to give a one minute time warning before time is called. If students continue discussing the question after the time limit, allow for thirty more seconds of discussion before calling time again. 4. Be considerate of a student’s openness to share. Depending on the nature of the question asked, some students may not feel comfortable sharing their response with the entire group. Always ask the student first if they are willing to share their response with the entire group. If the student does not feel comfortable in sharing, do not challenge them but rather move to a student who is willing to share.
how to get started Invite members from each chapter represented on campus to attend a recruitment conversation activity. Be sure to put special emphasis on having each chapter’s recruitment chair and executive officers attend. The activity should be held on campus during a time that does not conflict with classes or other campus or community wide events. If possible have outside facilitators conduct the activity.
Definition of Terms: 365 recruitment: The continual process of recruiting potential new members throughout the year.
Room Set-Up Depending on the size of the room, chairs for each participant should be arranged in a semi-circle shape. Room size should be medium to large. Facilitators should stand.
Conversation: Being able to communicate and share information in a one-on-one or group setting.
Group Size Conversation Activity: Between 10 to 75 members that are comprised of members from each chapter represented on campus.
Learning Objectives Students will be able to express their organization’s values.
Recruitment System Activity: Recruitment Chairs and Executive Officers
Students will be able to have a face-to-face conversation with somebody they don’t know.
Supplies Needed Computer with Internet access
Students will be able to develop a recruitment system for keeping track of potential new members.
Activity Timing The total time for the activity is three hours divided into two one and a half hour sessions.
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What to do Session #1: Conversation Exercise:
Session #2: Recruitment System:
Begin the session with a short icebreaker such as a rock-paper-scissors tournament. After the icebreaker has concluded, direct each fraternity/sorority member to sit in a chair next to a person who is not a member of his/her chapter. Once each student is seated, have every other student rearrange their chair so they are sitting face-to-face with the student next to them.
Following the conversation session, the facilitator will work with the chapter’s recruitment chairs and other executive officers in building a names list. The facilitator and students should both use their computers to accomplish this task. A names list is a simple and easy way to keep track of potential new members. Names lists can be kept in an Excel spreadsheet or online through a Google Docs spreadsheet. The advantage to using an online document over an Excel spreadsheet is that each member of the chapter (and advisors) can access the document to add and view names. A typical spreadsheet will have categories for the potential new members that include their first and last name, phone number, GPA, hometown, who has contacted the potential new member, etc., (Examples of a Google Docs spreadsheet can found at www.phiredup.com).
The facilitator begins the activity by asking the group a generic question (see below). The facilitator then allows the students to discuss the question with the student that is sitting in front of them for three minutes. At the end of three minutes time is called. The facilitator can then ask various students to discuss the question with the group. After the group discussion, each student rotates one chair to the right. The facilitator will then ask a second question that is, again, generic in nature. The facilitator will repeat this process for a total of 15 questions. As the number of questions that are asked increases, the subject matter of the questions becomes more challenging. On the 15th question, the facilitator will ask the group “what do the values of your fraternity/sorority mean to you?” Allow more time for discussion on later questions. Here are a set of 15 sample questions to get started: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
What is your major and why did you choose it? Who is your favorite professional athlete? If you had to eat one food everyday for the rest of your life, what would it be? What is the most embarrassing song on your iPod? Tell me about your family. What has happened in the past year that has changed your life? Share a significant moment from your childhood. Who is a person whom you admire? Share an embarrassing story. What would you like to accomplish this school year? What is your definition of leadership? What is brotherhood/sisterhood? What is service? What is your definition of family? What do the values of your fraternity/sorority mean to you?
Plan for Success Be prepared for some students to be resistant to participating in the conversation activity. Remember, you are challenging students to step outside of their traditional communication methods. By being prepared and acknowledging the possibility for resistance, you can have a successful activity. It is also important to acknowledge that some students may become more involved than others in the activity. Assessment Assessment is important to gauge the effectiveness of the activity. Follow up by a facilitator or advisor is important to the long term recruitment success of a chapter. This follow up could include periodically reviewing the chapter’s names list to see when the last updates were made and then having a conversation with the recruitment chairs and executive officers on how their recruitment progress is proceeding. Michael Smoll is the Director of Expansion for Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity. He has been with the Headquarters Staff since 2007. Addison Schopp is the Director of Chapter Development for Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity. He has been with the Headquarters Staff since 2008.
NOTES:
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Ask the Experts
A Question One:
It’s hard to think of activities to do outside of the formal recruitment week that are fun and cool enough to get people to the house (members and potential members)... it’s like there’s not enough momentum and excitement within the community to get folks interested. Ideas?
alex snowden
Coordinator of Student Engagement & Greek Affairs University of Texas San Marcos
The first thing to understand is that people join people. You’ll always get people out to parties, mixers, and events but few will actually join. If they join, it might be for the wrong reasons. Real brothers joined your organization because they connected to individuals within your organization. If you want to attract men to your organization, you need to get out on campus and make friends; friends tend to do things they have in common. Challenge your brothers to meet five people a day and make one friend a day. Not everyone will be a potential member, but think of how many more people you’ll meet with this approach. Then, do smaller events such as Frisbee, eating a meal, or playing video games. All are low cost and things you would normally do with friends. Once new people feel comfortable with a few members, invite them to the house and introduce them to more members. This approach may be a little more work, but in the end you spend less money recruiting and more time on building relationships. Also, if this is done right, retention can also increase. Try putting aside 1/4 to 1/5 of your recruitment budget to be used for an incentive to reimburse the brothers who went out to make friends. Next, do an assessment of your recruitment and see which method recruited the most men. This will show you which way works the best for your group. The model I used above aligns with the Five Step Recruiting Model by the North American Interfraternity Conference. For more information on this model, visit www.nicindy.org.
Andy Morgan
Coordinator of Fraternity & Sorority Life Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Ask your members why they aren’t coming to the house. Ask what they want to do. What are they doing away from the house? Can these activities be done at the house on a larger scale? Can the chapter and/or alumni put funds towards these activities, such as money for food? If your members are not coming to the house because they are too busy playing video games or watching the game, have these activities at the house. Have a video game tournament and have the chapter give out prizes. Rent a big screen TV (if you don’t already have one) and watch a game. Invite potential members to these events to get them interested in fraternity and sorority life. Then, as you get to know them, maybe they’ll join your organization.
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Question TWO:
I’m a member of a NPHC chapter and frustrated with people constantly confusing intake with “informal recruitment.” Our processes are not informal. How can we teach other fraternity and sorority members about what we do without having to constantly compare it to what they do? First, ask yourself, “what are the differences between the types of organizations?” In essence, all recruitment is the same. Now before you stop reading, hear me out. All organizations start by marketing themselves. Each one has some sort of recruitment presentation, recruitment meeting, or event to attract and meet people. The organization shows what they have to offer. Organizations also have a set of requirements for membership which often include a minimum grade point average, enrollment at the university, and additional chapter-specific requirements. The process of being a new member is different for everyone, but all of it is based on teaching someone about your fraternity/sorority, how to be a member, and (most importantly) illustrating the values of the organization. Maybe, when you look at it from this perspective, the various organizations are not so different.
Educate them! They’re saying this because, simply, they don’t know your process. Talk to the IFC and Panhellenic about co-sponsoring a program on educating the community on the differences and similarities between Intake and Recruitment. Have the community write anonymous questions down on pieces of paper, have an emcee read these questions, and a representative from each of the Councils answers it. Making these questions anonymous might better encourage people to ask. Invite residence life, fraternity & sorority life, and other student affairs staff members to this program. Once they know more they can educate their colleagues and students. Snowball effect!
Question Three:
I’m a member of a NPC affiliated sorority and one of the women we’ve been trying to get to join is Latina and also considering a NALFO organization. I feel like I’m always having to compare and contrast the organizations and it’s hard - first, we’re so different yet so similar and second, while our organization might not offer her the cultural aspect I really feel we have a lot for her. What do I do? Both organizations pride themselves on the values on which they were founded. In most cases, these include scholarship, brotherhood/sisterhood, service, and the overall betterment of the members. I think the biggest difference is that a culturallybased organization, in this case, a NALFO organization, includes the Latina culture as part of their core values and foundation. The key is not to recruit this woman based on everything that makes you different, but - rather - based on understanding what she is looking for in a sorority. First, become a friend. People join people. Once you’re friends, tell her what your sorority has to offer. She will make the decision based on what is best for her, which (unfortunately) may not be your organization. Point out that all organizations, including cultural organizations, have a mix of races, creeds, religions, and more. Each group should attract those who fit best with the fraternity/sorority values. If this woman’s heritage and roots is something she feels strongly about finding in a sorority, then she may be drawn to the cultural organization - and that’s okay!
Be honest with her, as you should be with all potential new members! She will appreciate it. The main goal is that she is able to find the organization that provides the best fit. You’re already friends, so encourage her to join the organization that feels right. If it’s your organization, great. If not, that’s okay, too. If she doesn’t choose your chapter, take the opportunity to reflect on where your chapter is in terms of appreciating diversity, especially within the Latina community. Either way, take this as opportunity for your chapter to collaborate with other organizations, NALFO, NPHC, or any other cultural Greeks. Your members would learn something and the new relationships might also show others that your chapter is a modern, accepting, and relevant organization versus one that is living in the past.
If you are a professional who has great advice, email publications@aflv.org and let us know that you are interested in being one of our future Experts.
FIFTEEN IDEAS & Techniques for 365 Recruiting
1
Have your entire chapter attend an event that supports another student organization outside of the fraternity and sorority community.
5
Host a campuswide educational workshop or lecture.
9
Serve as helpers during your University’s move-in.
13
Use social media to advertise personal development tips, leadership opportunities on campus, and ways to give back to the community.
2
Have members join organizations outside of the fraternity and sorority community who are active and committed to those outside organizations.
6
Create a scholarship for those who are not members of fraternities or sororities.
10
Host a faculty and staff appreciation event.
14
Invite non-members to your next community service event.
3
Ask Resident Assistants, faculty and university staff for referrals.
7
Create a partnership with high schools in the area to have your members serve as mentors to graduating seniors.
11
Sit next to someone you don’t know in class, introduce yourself, and start a conversation with them.
15
Recognize in the student newspaper milestones your chapter has reached AS WELL AS those of other chapters.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING TODAY TO MAKE YOUR CHAPTER THRIVE TOMORROW?
4 8 12
Have your brothers and sisters make 5 new friends in 5 days – and compile a names list of individuals for chapter members to get to know throughout the entire year.
During finals week, give out study supplies or snacks (and don’t forget to put your organization’s name on them somewhere).
Invite non-members to eat lunch or dinner with members of your organization at an on-campus dining hall or at your fraternity or sorority house.
Sorry,
We’re Not Sorry
This is a shout out to fraternal members, chapters, councils, or communities that have opted to do the right (albeit unpopular) thing. These people have stood for what they believe in - their fraternal values - despite the fear or reality of being ostracized or ridiculed. You’ve heard the saying “what’s popular is not always right and what’s right is not always popular.” It’s the truth. These people have got guts; they’ve owned their values.
Nice work.
Being openly inclusive of LGBT students isn’t easy when you’re a single-sex organization. We wish it were easy, but it isn’t. From where we sit, many fraternities and sororities at UCLA are saying, “Anyone can join, sorry we’re not sorry.” And we like it. Sure, when our founders created our organizations, the diversity of sexuality of future members probably wasn’t on their radar. But, we think they’d be talking about it if they were alive today. Here’s
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why: being a member of a fraternal organization is about leadership. And leadership is about being inclusive and being aware of and valuing the diverse experiences members contribute. Being a member of a fraternal organization is about teamwork and being a part of a community. Guess what, there are gay people in your community. Being a member of a fraternal organization is about serving and helping others - most frequently underrepresented groups. Guess what... you know.
ALLIES IN THE SYSTEM
The LGBT and Greek Communities Work to Challenge Perceptions and Increase Acceptance The Greek system and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities can seem incompatible in college. With single-gender housing and predominantly heterosexual traditions such as date parties and raids, the Greek system could be perceived as a space that excludes the LGBT community. But students with a foot in both communities say such stereotypes are unfair. Greek life is more open to the LGBT community than people give it credit for, some students say, and the interests of LGBT people do not clash with Greek interests nearly as much as one would think. With efforts to increase acceptance in both communities, students – both gay and straight – are working to challenge perceptions. *** Entering college, Nick Rojas said he didn’t think very highly of the Greek system. “Popular culture gave me this impression that frat guys were all a bunch of jerks without any real drive, just drinking, partying and disrespecting women.” Once he met people in the system, he said he realized most fraternity guys were down-to-earth. For many, the bonds of brotherhood overcame most differences, he said. Now a member of Pi Kappa Phi, Rojas said coming out to friends in the Greek system turned out to be easier than coming out to friends in other communities. Kendall Chase, a fourth-year Design | Media Arts student, also did not consider Greek life to be her “scene,” but she rushed Delta Gamma her first year after befriending a fourth-year in the sorority. During the rush process, she never mentioned her sexuality, although she later found out she was known as “the (bisexual) girl” of her pledge class because of her behavior during that time, she said.
It took her until her second year to come out as a lesbian because she was still figuring out her sexuality, she said. When she came out in fall of her second year, her sorority sisters were accepting, if not supportive, of her sexuality, Chase said. Her sorority sister and current roommate Stephanie Lee said she used to be indifferent to gay rights issues. Since knowing Chase, she’s more willing to go to the polls and mobilize voters on issues such as gay marriage, said the fourthyear communication studies student. Matt Gilbert, a fifth-year history student, came out to his fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha, after confronting what he considered to be an insensitive comment from his fellow fraternity brother, Evan Laveman. “After that, I definitely realized there was a fine line between humor and homophobia,” said Laveman, a third-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student. Both say the experience strengthened their brotherhood – the two are now close friends. Cyrus Sinai said he is the first gay man a lot of his fraternity brothers have ever befriended. Those within the system say the culture is slowly becoming more gay-friendly. Members have found ways to work around embedded, traditionally heterosexual events like date parties and raids. Gilbert pointed out that chapter emails about inviting dates to parties have become more inclusive, adding addenda like “invite your girlfriend … or boyfriend, in those special circumstances.” A few weeks ago, Rojas brought a guy to a date party. He said his brothers complimented him on his courage. “It was so refreshing to just take who I wanted to take, to have fun without worrying about what people around me would think,” Rojas said. REFERENCE: Parkinson-Morgan, K. (2011, November 16). Allies in the system: The LGBT and Greek communities work to challenge perceptions and increase acceptance. The Daily Bruin. Retrieved December 6, 2011 from: http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/ article/2011/11/allies_in_the_system.
FROM THE ROAD
Baylor University IFC Fall Festival In order to increase fraternal relations, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) at Baylor University hosted an all IFC recruitment event. Because the council has struggled getting fraternity chapters to work together for programming, it created an opportunity that would be a recruitment tool while also raising money for the IFC’s adopted philanthropy, Santa’s Workshop, an event that provides uplifting Christmas experience for children from the Waco community. Children receive a gift and visit with g o o d ol’ Saint Nick and range in age from 3 to 5 years old. For many of them, this will be the only gift they receive for Christmas. The event was a Fall Festival - boys only style! The council rented out a popular pizza parlor near campus one Friday night and served free pizzas and appetizers to over 150 potential and current fraternity men. Men spent the evening watching sports, playing darts and ladder ball, and meeting other current and potential fraternity members. The council ended the night with a wing eating contest between fraternities that was a messy success! Donations were taken throughout the night for Santa’s Workshop.
This issue’s theme is drug busts. People, don’t use your fraternal affiliation as a resource for being a drug dealer. It’s illegal. More importantly, it’s Just. So. Tacky. Okay, so the tacky part of it isn’t really the more important thing, but nonetheless.... you know. All of these cases have to do with marijuana. Which, sure, lots of people have used. And, we get that medical use of it is even legal in some states. But, guess what? Three states where it’s not are Texas, New Hampshire, and North Dakota.
Drug Bust Nets 11 at Suspended UNH Frat Eleven brothers of the suspended Alpha Tau Omega fraternity at the University of New Hampshire were arrested Sunday in a police raid that allegedly recovered evidence of a significant drug operation at the off-campus frat house. The raid began around 6 a.m. and resulted in the recovery of marijuana, prescription pills and other drugs that police are sending to a lab to identify, UNH Police Executive Director Paul Dean said Sunday afternoon. Eight fraternity brothers were arrested on drug charges. [Three other men were] Also arrested [on counts of]... prohibited sales of alcohol... [and] disorderly conduct. Dean called the raid “just the tip of the iceberg” and said police will make more arrests this week to stop activity that is “not conducive” to the educational mission of the school. “The university is committed to eliminating illegal drug activity on its campus,” Dean said. “It reflects poorly on a great institution, and we will continue to search out those who bring these dangerous and illegal substances into our community.”
Fraternities and sororities often provide a great base for professional networks upon graduation, but this type of business networking probably isn’t what the rest of us had in mind.
Marked and unmarked police vehicles swarmed the streets around the fraternity throughout Sunday morning as officers confiscated many large bins of evidence from the residence. Several officers were seen carrying drug paraphernalia, including smoking apparatuses, from the house. Police said officers observed what they believed were life safety violations, and the house was declared unsafe and uninhabitable. It was immediately closed for fire, health, electrical, building and life safety code violations and will not reopen until those are repaired, police said. Less than a month ago, the ATO fraternity was issued a five-year suspension for numerous incidents. According to university spokeswoman Erika Mantz, the UNH chapter of ATO was found responsible at a judicial board hearing for violating student rights, rules and responsibilities, including underage alcohol possession, excessive alcohol consumption, hosting a gathering where prohibited drinking has occurred and conduct that threatened or endangered the health of a person.
First of all, it’s fraternity; but that’s the only bone we’re going to throw these guys. Like many of the stories we feature in Busted!, there are so many problems going on. It’s never just the one thing. In our opinion, here is the overarching question: WHY DO CHAPTERS CONTINUE TO EXIST AFTER A LONG HISTORY OF POOR BEHAVIOR? This group has been in trouble before - and not for an unregistered party. What are Alpha Tau Omega and the University of New Hampshire thinking allowing this chapter to continue to exist? Okay, they were on suspension, but if that’s true, why were at least 27 of the members still living in the chapter house? Which, by the way, has been determined to not even be suitable for living? Gross. What does suspension even mean? We thought it meant that the chapter wasn’t allowed to operate as a chapter... having a chapter house kind of looks ‘chapter-ish’ to us. Just sayin’. Did you notice the Dean stated, “The university is committed to eliminating illegal drug activity on its campus,” and called the raid “just the tip of the iceberg.” What iceberg is he referring to? Is drug use so prevalent at UNH that a chapter wide drug ring is really only the tip? We’re exhausted. Shame on everyone.
UND Fraternity Could go on Probation or be Shut Down After Drug Bust
Phi Delt Suspended Following Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force Raid
Phi Delta Theta, UND’s oldest fraternal order, is under investigation by its parent organization and the university after a drug bust led to the arrest of two members and citations for six other members. The university considers it an anomaly, but the police chief said drug use is on the rise on campus as it is at campuses around the nation.
According to an affidavit, the Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force found multiple scales, grinders, a payment sheet and over 40 different containers of marijuana. [One of the arrested members] and [the] chapter president... were arrested, and six other Phi Delta Thetas were cited for drug-related offences.
The Phi Delta Theta fraternity at UND could face serious sanctions after the Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force arrested two of its members, including the chapter president, and cited six other members on drug charges Tuesday. “Certain members have been suspended from membership, which means they are no longer in Phi Delta Theta,” said [an] executive vice president with the fraternity’s international headquarters. “The chapter could be placed on probation with conditions. It could be, ultimately, the suspension of the charter where the chapter is closed.” “We’re conducting our own investigation with alumni and volunteers,” [the fraternity executive] said. “It’s very serious. Drugs are illegal. That is why we have acted so swiftly to get to the bottom of this as well as suspending members.” The international headquarters issues charters to individual chapters, while universities can either recognize a fraternity as a student organization or remove that recognition in the case of a chapter being closed.
A police informant, referred to only as “112977” in the affidavit, was sent to the Phi Delta Theta chapter house twice to purchase marijuana. On the first occasion, the afternoon of October 25, the informant was brought to [one member’s] room, where he allegedly purchased an eighth of an ounce of marijuana for $60. Later that week, the informant returned to [that same member’s] room, where he allegedly purchased one ounce of marijuana for $345. [The arrested member] will face two charges from the Grand Forks State Attorney’s Office. Possession of marijuana with intent to deliver is a class B felony and carries a maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine and 10 years in prison. Possession of drug paraphernalia is a class A misdemeanor and carries a maximum of a $2,000 fine and one year in prison.
Busted! Stupid Things That You Have Done Lately
Oh, North Dakota. It’s so cold there. We had to include two articles on this one, just because we can. The full version of the first article goes on to give a fairly detailed description of the “bust.” How awkward. It seems as though the University of North Dakota is having some of the same issues the University of New Hampshire is having. They’re both indicating that student culture is getting more and more lax with drug and use and - dag nabbit - they’re going to nip this in the bud. Sure, sometimes drug use is an individual choice. But when you affiliate with a fraternity - and move into the house - you sacrifice some of that individuality. Whether eight of your 80 members of eight of your 20 members are involved, the same problem exists, in our opinion. The fact that everyone else seems to be okay with it. It’s not like the only eight members who got busted were sitting in their rooms doing bong hits with nobody else having any idea. We don’t buy it. Even if your chapter isn’t weighing out quarter ounces together at chapter meeting, it’s still not okay.
The goal of Busted! is to call attention to an event, situation, or practice that has actually occurred and utilize it as an experience that others can learn from. Actions such as these do nothing but reinforce the negative stereotypes of today’s fraternities and sororities. Embarrassed? Then knock it off.
Members of UT Fraternity Suspected of Drug Trafficking In February, Austin Police received information that members of Omega Phi Gamma were trafficking large amounts of marijuana from California to Austin. On Nov. 2, two search warrants were conducted; One in a West Campus Apartment and the other at a home in southwest Austin. Officers found marijuana at both locations, vacuum sealed bags with marijuana residue, money counters, cash, tally sheets and FedEx shipping labels. They also found boxes that were being mailed to a home on Quinton Drive in southeast Austin.
References
Police conducted surveillance at the home on Quinton and determined that a 19-year-old member of Omega Phi Gamma lived there. When police searched the home they found: a digital scale, several cell phones and $1283 in cash. Police also seized computers at all the locations. One of the suspects told police he had been instructed to send $26,000 to California.
Investigators found out that a large package of pot was sent through FedEx from California to a home off Lamar in south Austin. The package was flagged due to a suspicious odor. Inside, Investigators found 29 pounds of marijuana.
Okay, at least this crew wasn’t doing their drug mailing from the chapter house. But, to be fair, it doesn’t seem as though they have a chapter house. We can just imagine: making the pledges work an assembly line: “Okay, brothers, you pack the vacuum sealed bags - and MAKE SURE they’re sealed really good, FedEx drivers are super good smellers! And you! You put the bags into the boxes. Make sure to pack some other stuff in there so it doesn’t look like a box of weed. And you, you tape up the boxes and stick on the address labels. Probably don’t write our motto, “Bound by Honor, Rise Above All” on the outside of the box.”
Bieri, C. (2011, November 11). UND fraternity could go on probation or be shut down after drug bust. Grand Forks Herald. Retrieved December 5, 2011 from: http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/221039/. Cresta, J. (2011, November 7). Drug bust nets 11 at suspended UNH frat. Portsmouth Herald. Retrieved December 5, 2011 from: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20111107-NEWS-111070335 Members of UT Fraternity Suspected of Drug Trafficking. (2011, November 14). My Fox Austin News. Retrieved December 5 from: http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/video/Members-of-UT-Fraternity-Suspected-of-Drug-Trafficking20111114-ktbcw#axzz1dmRBO74F Phi Delt suspended: Fraternity suspended following Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force raid. (2011, November 21). The Dakota Student. Retrieved December 5, 2011 from: http://www.dakotastudent.com/news/phi-delt-suspended-1.2714186#.Tt0DlNW3OU9
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one Simple Steps more { thing we know you’re near the end, but we’d love to tell you
to recruiting in the classroom.
before you go and look at the back cover of the mag.
1
Show up to class – on time. While you’re at it, also pay attention (put your cell phone away) and look presentable.
2
Identify and interact with the smartest students (the ones that enthusiastically partake in discussions, answer questions correctly, and genuinely appreciate the class). Then, pick one of these smart people who are of the same gender as you and introduce yourself to him/ her.
3
Start a study group with your new smart friend to review key concepts and prepare for tests and quizzes. It’s as easy as going up to that person and saying, “I’d like to have someone to dig deeper into our class with, want to help?”
4
Seek out additional members for your study group by finding a few more bright individuals in your class that could enhance your chapter (remember, the most successful study groups have 4-6 individuals).
5
Meet as a group at least once a week. Use this time to improve your academic performance – no need to discuss your fraternity or sorority. Your actions should show your group mates what a true member of a fraternity or sorority is like…
Become friends with your study group members. There’s a natural progression in study groups who meet regularly and do things right – you start off as study group acquaintances who progress to casual friendships in due time.
6
As you get to know these individuals, determine whether to recruit them – but only do this when and if it’s appropriate. As a result of your ability to connect to these individuals, they know you are a member of a fraternity or sorority and because they are committed to their academics, you know they value a core principle of your organization: scholarship! To determine whether to recruit them or not consider the following: Are they a good fit for your organization? Are they committed to personal growth and development? Will they enhance your organization?
7
If recruiting someone new doesn’t work out, at least you’ve improved your academic performance AND helped someone understand that fraternity and sorority members value their education!
8
Thanks to Jesse Koch, Associate Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at Bradley University, for the great ideas!
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