The fraternity and sorority
community is an important part of the campus experience for many students at
Lehigh University and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs (OFSA)
strives to create a distinctive learning-centered experience. We also take, very seriously, our obligation
to inform students about all of their options within the fraternity and
sorority community to assist them in making educated decisions about their
choices to affiliate with Greek-letter organizations. To that end, we provide many information
sessions for students, and also provide opportunities for parents to learn
about the options. This letter is
another initiative to provide you with important information that we encourage
you to review.
Lehigh University currently has
20 officially recognized international fraternities. We also want to make you aware that some
fraternities may exist off campus that are not recognized by the University. It is important that you are aware of some
potential issues if you choose to affiliate with one of the unrecognized off
campus chapters rather than one of Lehigh’s 20 recognized fraternities.
To
provide some context, over the years, several fraternities have lost
recognition from the University and/or from their international headquarters. In most cases, these fraternities lost
recognition because they failed to comply with University and/or international headquarters
policies or guidelines. To view a list
of formerly recognized (currently not recognized) chapters from Lehigh
University, please refer to the attached enclosure. You may also refer to the Lehigh Greeks BlogSpot
at www.lehighgreeks.blogspot.com to learn more detailed information
about specific chapters that have lost recognition in recent years.
We
have come to learn that some of these formerly recognized chapters have
continued to operate without University recognition, oversight, or approval and
are considered unrecognized chapters. Unrecognized
chapters are not permitted to use Lehigh University's name or image, reserve
University spaces, secure University group housing, or represent themselves as
an official part of the University community.
This situation concerns us because we do not have confidence that
unrecognized chapters operate with the same diligence to promote student growth
and development; provide proactive and preventative measures to foster wellness
and safety; nor abide by University guidelines with regard to recruitment, new
member education, academic support, and other areas vital to the successful management
of a chapter. Additionally, unrecognized
chapters operate in the absence of reasonable and prudent oversight by the OFSA
professional staff and therefore lack resources and support provided to other
student organizations.
While we cannot predict the
outcome of membership in an unrecognized fraternity, it is important to alert
you to the possible concerns and consequences regarding the well-being of students that
choose to affiliate with or join an unrecognized fraternity. There exists no meaningful partnership
between the University and students, alumni volunteers, and international
headquarters staff associated with unrecognized fraternities. These unrecognized fraternities will not
receive an invitation to regain University recognition in the near future or in
subsequent academic years while they continue to exist in direct violation of
University policy.
We
also invite you to review our website at www.lehigh.edu/ofsa to learn more about Lehigh’s recognized chapters. These chapters
have rich and lengthy history at Lehigh and many have been recognized for
excellence by Lehigh University and/or their respective international headquarters
in the areas of membership development, academic excellence, leadership, and
community service efforts. The content of the OFSA website is robust and
you will find a number of resources, including Accreditation reports, grade
reports, membership statistics, and conduct history for our recognized groups. All of these resources are valuable tools to
you as you consider membership in a fraternity and if you choose to participate
in recruitment in January 2016. The
current recognized Lehigh University fraternities are:
Alpha
Epsilon Pi
Alpha Phi
Alpha
Alpha Tau
Omega
Chi Phi
Chi Psi
Delta Chi
Delta
Upsilon
Kappa
Alpha
Kappa
Alpha Psi
Kappa
Sigma
Lambda
Sigma Upsilon
Phi Delta
Theta
Phi Kappa
Theta
Phi Sigma
Kappa
Pi Kappa
Alpha
Psi
Upsilon
Sigma Chi
Sigma Phi
Epsilon
Theta Chi
Theta Xi
If
you have questions regarding any this information please contact the Office of
Fraternity and Sorority Affairs at (610) 758-4157 or by e-mailing Infrasor@lehigh.edu.
Thank you,
The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs