The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs recently changed their pre-recruitment education program from Pregame to Greek PREP. Interested students who attended Pregame and did not join a Greek organization prior to Fall 2020 are not required to complete a Greek PREP session. Their Pregame attendance fulfills OFSA’s pre-recruitment education requirement. All students interested in participating in fraternity and sorority recruitment starting in Fall 2020 will be required to attend a Greek PREP session. Additionally, the program fulfills a 5x10 for freshmen through OFYE.
The change of educational program name was intentional. Pregame was mostly alcohol-based with the presentation being based on statistics on Lehigh drinking culture. It largely encompassed educating freshmen and potential new members about what a standard drink is, rate of absorption of alcohol, and risk prevention measures to be taken while out drinking. The last part of the presentation went over the requirements to join Greek life which shows how the Pregame educational program focused mainly on the drinking aspect of joining Greek life. Because of this, OFSA made the change to Greek PREP which covers far more than alcohol safety and risk prevention. More specifically, Greek PREP goes over what membership in a Greek organization looks like, what recruitment looks like, and what the new member process looks like. It also goes in depth into the three different Greek councils on campus. There is still an included part about health, safety, and bystander intervention. However, this is more of a holistic approach to joining Greek life as it gives a more positive outlook on the community and better understanding of the process for potential new members.
This change has been well received by the freshmen and potential new members attending Greek PREP with one stating that “Hearing directly from leaders about the process was really nice and put me at ease. This PREP helped to answer any initial questions I had.” Multiple members of each executive council attend the PREP sessions which allows them to field questions any new potential members might have after the presentation by OFSA. This addition has helped students get a better understanding of the entire greek community with a potential new member saying “I thought hearing directly from a member of the Panhellenic council as well as someone from OFSA gave me a really great overview of what greek life has to offer here at Lehigh.” Not originally a part of Pregame, this addition brings more insight as new members hear directly from people within the organizations they might be joining. If you are interested in participating in Greek recruitment at Lehigh University and have not completed Greek PREP, visit go.lehigh.edu/gogreek to learn more.