By Robert Malys, '11
When I heard back from Psi Upsilon's International Office in Indianapolis about my summer internship, I became eager and excited over what the next two weeks would bring. The fraternity had just contacted me about an application I sent in about a month before for an opportunity to serve as an intern and help with the daily duties in the International Office. I soon received the information on my plane ticket and was told that I would be living upstairs in the office in a section furnished as an apartment.
Upon arrival in Indiana, Tom Fox, Psi Upsilon's Director of Chapter Services, gave me a quick tour of some of the different offices for Greek organizations operating in Indianapolis. The city passed legislation offering tax breaks to non-profit organizations, which drew many fraternities and sororities to relocate to Indiana years ago. I felt welcomed at Psi Upsilon's office immediately when I walked in and looked up to see a painting modeled after our membership badge on the wall. I slowly took a tour of the office, trying to take it all in. I was surrounded by the original constitution laying down the structure and values of Psi Upsilon, membership badges of our fraternity's founders, and other interesting artifacts that played an integral role in some portion of Psi Upsilon's history.
It soon came time to begin the work I came to Psi Upsilon to complete so I moved to my office. During the course of my two weeks there, I worked on several different projects. Nearly every Greek organization has booklets to advise the appropriate chapter officers concerning new member education, finances, academics, etc. It was my task to read through the different literature Psi Upsilon has produced on the subject and to edit the texts while making new additions and restructuring it. I also worked hard to make sure that all of the documents necessary for our annual convention were flawless and presentable for the brothers who would be in attendance. I worked on several other tasks, one of which included researching universities according to different criteria to evaluate the possibility of founding colonies and expanding. Along with this I offered a report on changes to be made to Psi Upsilon's website to make it more accessible and relevant to undergrads who are members or those who may be looking for the right fraternity to sponsor the new colony they wish to create. During my free time I searched through the archives and recovered some interesting histories, documents, and correspondence from the earliest years of Eta, Lehigh University's Psi Upsilon chapter.
I gained more than just work experience while at Psi Upsilon; I earned an appreciation for the hours of hard work on the corporate level which makes Greek life possible for undergrads across the globe. On my various projects I had the opportunity to work with Executive Director Mark Williams, Mariann Williams, the Director of the Psi Upsilon Foundation and Alumni Services, and Tom Fox, Director of Chapter Services. It is important to understand that some organizations have many more employees while Psi Upsilon's daily business is executed by three people. Working in the office side by side with them taught me what true dedication to the fraternity meant and has inspired me to stay involved as an alumni in the years ahead.