FALL OPEN HOUSES

Interested in joining a Fraternity at Lehigh? The Interfraternity Council (IFC) and Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) will be hosting their Fall Open House events next week for all interested men. Events will run from 5-8pm at individual chapter houses or the Ulrich Student Center. This is an awesome opportunity to get to know the many different chapters that Lehigh has to offer!

The schedule is as follows:

Monday October 24:
Psi Upsilon
Delta Upsilon

Chi Psi
Kappa Alpha
Delta Phi
Delta Chi (Ulrich Student Center)

Tuesday October 25:
Lambda Chi Alpha

Phi Gamma Delta
Theta Xi
Theta Chi
Alpha Tau Omega
Sigma Phi Epsilon
Pi Kappa Alpha (Ulrich Student Center)

Wednesday October 26:
Kappa Sigma
Phi Kappa Theta
Phi Sigma Kappa
Chi Phi
Sigma Chi

Lambda Sigma Upsilon (Ulrich Student Center)

If you have questions please contact: 
IFC- John LeDuff-jpl312@lehigh 
MGC- ArmandoBerdiel - arb512@lehigh.edu

Order of Omega: Now accepting applications

Written by Kimberly Preusse, Kappa Alpha Theta

The Zeta Lambda Chapter of the Order of Omega was re-activated in spring 2011 with 12 new members. One honorary membership was also given to Professor Terry Hart, faculty advisor of Delta Upsilon, for his overall commitment to the fraternity and sorority community at Lehigh University. The current active membership is planning for a great year, but we need you! Applications for this junior and senior class standing Greek leadership honor society are now available and due by 12:00 noon on Friday, October 14^th.

Zeta Lambda’s Chapter goals are based off the results of a survey that was given to juniors and seniors at Greek Council Meetings at the end of the spring 2011 semester. These goals include providing networking opportunities with Greek alumni in terms of mentoring and career aspirations; bridging the gap with faculty and administration; providing a service to chapter presidents; engaging in service; and programming related to transitioning out of Lehigh University. Exciting possibilities related to these goals are already being discussed for the fall and spring semesters. Leadership positions are available within the organization!

Throughout the year, Order of Omega Headquarters awards members with scholarships. Since 1985, Order of Omega has awarded $721,850 in undergraduate scholarships, including $63,150 during the 2010-2011 academic year. Graduate fellowships are also available! Zeta Lambda is currently in the process of nominating two active members to apply for scholarships ranging from $300 to $1,000.

We are very excited for the future of the Zeta Lambda Chapter of the Order of Omega!

For more information, please see the below timeline. Applications for membership can be found on the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs website under “Policies and Forms.”

Timeline:

-Completed applications are to be submitted by 12:00pm on Friday, October 14th, 2011.

-Notification of membership will be communicated by email on Tuesday, October 18th, 2011.

-If accepting membership into the Zeta Lambda Chapter of the Order of Omega Greek Honor

Society at Lehigh University, two separate payments are due. A check in the amount of $50 to

Order of Omega and a $25 check to the Lehigh University Chapter of Order of Omega is to be

submitted to the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs (Warren Square E.) by 5:00pm on

Monday, October 24th, 2011.

-An Order of Omega Initiation ceremony and program will take place at 5:00pm on Monday,

November 7th, 2011.

Novak Institute for Hazing Prevention: Erin Wildeman

I attended the Novak Institute for Hazing Prevention this summer. I feel as though my experience at the institute was pretty unique compared to most of the people who went. I come from a chapter that has recently gotten in trouble for hazing, so before last semester, hazing prevention was not something that was even on my radar. I always equated hazing to the stereotypical events such as forced alcohol consumption or paddling, but beyond that I feel as though my definition of hazing was very narrow. Because of this, the biggest thing I took away from the institute was a whole new definition of hazing. I learned that hazing isn’t about the task you are being made to do, but it is an attitude. The attitude stems from the hierarchical structure that can be found in most our organizations, as well as that mindset of dominance or power.  

As an undergraduate student, I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve heard that “hazing is a grey area.” When we think about our new member education plans, whether they are our official or unofficial plans, we tend to look at each activity individually. For some of the activities it’s simply hard to understand why OFSA thinks its hazing. The institute taught that we need to take a step back and truly think about the major goals of our member plans.  If we keep in mind “attitude” and then reflect on the member plan as a whole, rather than trying to analyze each activity individually, much of the “grey area” surrounding hazing is eliminated.

My chapter has been presented with a difficult challenge, to stop hazing. One of the hardest parts has been gaining universal chapter support. Hazing is part of our tradition as a chapter, and it is fueled by the fact that hazing has been so normalized across all of Greek life at Lehigh. It is hard to go from chapter that hazes, to one that does nothing over night, but when it really came down to it last semester, everyone chose to keep our charter over continuing with these traditions. I am proud to tell you that physically, my chapter has stopped hazing, but mentally, not all of our members have fully grasped it yet. They are willing to stop hazing because they could see how critical our situation was, but it is hard to understand why we are not just channeling our efforts into brainstorming better and more clever ways to hide what we are doing from OFSA, because that would definitely be easier.

I would say that the biggest thing that has helped our chapter move forward has simply been to have a more open dialog about hazing. I know that several members, as well as myself now feel comfortable having these discussions with people in OFSA or conduct officers at Lehigh. Furthermore, I learned that it only takes a couple of members who are willing to lead their chapter to turn the attitude of hazing around. We now have the unique opportunity to be an example for the other chapters on campus. I think that we are on our way to proving that we can be just as close and have just as much fun without hazing in our chapter. 

-Erin Wildeman