Feature Friday: Cyrus Johannes, Psi Upsilon

Our final AFLV reflection is from Cyrus Johannes, Psi U

What made AFLV so interesting was the breadth of Greek life related topics that were covered. I learned about the history of cultural organizations, ways in which racism manifests itself within Greek life, how much we as organizations can change the culture around sexual assault, and how I as a leader can more effectively motivate others while taking care of myself. Some of the discussions were on very concrete matters, such as who to contact and how during a crisis, but other talks were more abstract in that the speakers discussed issues for which there is no simple solution or agreed upon method of acting, such as changing the culture around drinking on campuses. What I enjoyed most about the trip was how united 3,700 students from different organizations and councils were. Everyone I interacted with wanted to make change at their own universities, and many I talked to specifically wanted to create greater campus unity. It was both reassuring and worrying that campuses across the country struggle with bringing different Greek and non-Greek organizations together. At Lehigh IFC and Panhellenic organizations rarely stray from having events between each other which creates divides that are difficult to overcome.

AFLV came at an interesting time for me in that it validated some of the work my chapter was already doing and encouraged me to continue down the same path. The Connector party that Psi U hosted that same weekend was a small step towards greater campus unity, but it was a step nonetheless. We are hoping to begin making strides in the near future by co-hosting more events, both social and non-social, with CGC and non-Greek groups. In addition, AFLV taught me that making change on campus is best achieved by working with students rather than a top-down approach. Going forward, I hope to work with my chapter and other chapters on campus to improve our community and move away from unhealthy cultures. The work I can do alone is nothing compared to what we can achieve as a community, and I hope to help motivate some of those achievements.

Feature Friday: Tom Hyndman, Delta Chi

Delta Chi's Tom Hyndman describes his AFLV experience this week!

Happy Friday! My name is Tom Hyndman and I was fortunate in being selected to go to the 2018 Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values (AFLV) Central Conference, along with over 3,000 other leaders from across the country. Previously, I have served as the President of Delta Chi, and currently fill the role as New Member Educator for the Spring 2018 semester. Before I share what I learned from this experience, I wanted to thank Lehigh University, OFSA, and IFC for generously sponsoring my trip.

From listening to Vice President Joe Biden passionately speak about sexual harassment and assault to personally meeting fellow-fraternity man Jay Harris from ESPN, AFLV brought a lot of excitement to this not-so-average leadership conference. These types of engagements were matched with just as meaningful lessons and pieces of advice. My most memorable lesson from the weekend was that “there’s a difference between fraternity men and men in a fraternity”, meaning that just because you wear the letters, doesn’t necessarily mean you are fully embodying their values. This reminded me of a similar quote from Delta Chi’s Retiring International President, Miles Washburn. At the Delta Chi Region IX’s Leadership Conference, the weekend before AFLV, he stated “Being a Delta Chi is not an oath you take once. It’s an oath you live every day.”

Narrowing the gap between what it means to be fraternity men and just men in a fraternity should be a main focus of the Greek system, especially ours here at Lehigh. Similarly, but more specifically related to new member education, was the ideology that our founders don’t care if we remember their names, but care that we remember their values. We should hold ourselves to a higher standard than education through rote learning of names and dates, and definitely a higher standard than just wearing our letters. The values of Delta Chi are promoting friendship, developing character, advancing justice, and assisting in the acquisition of a sound education. However, all of our values are intrinsically similar, surrounding scholarship, leadership, and service. It should be obvious that if we spent more time embodying our values, rather than violating them, we, as individual groups and as a community, would be stronger, safer, and more successful.

IFC Executive Board Application Information

Applications for the 2018-2019 IFC Executive Board are now open. We will be accepting applications until the close of business on Friday, March 30th. We are looking for folks that are excited to continue some of the great work started by this year's Exec. In order to be on Exec, you must have a cumulative GPA over a 2.5, be at least a second year full-time student, and cannot be a current fraternity president during any point of the term.

The application as well as information on the various Exec roles can be found on the IFC website. Please be sure to submit your application materials by Friday, March 30th by bringing them to the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs or emailing them to Corey Gant (jcg216).

Feel free to share this opportunity with any members of the IFC community that you think would excel at helping to lead our community forward.

Feature Friday: Isabel Standbridge, Zeta Tau Alpha

ZTA's Isabel Standbridge shares her perspective on AFLV in this week's guest blog.

Being surrounded by 3,600 people that have similar interests to you is bound to be powerful, especially when all 3,600 people are students in the Greek community who are passionate about making a change. Through this conference, I had the opportunity to meet and spend time with other Lehigh students, connect with sisters from other schools, and talk to other people who want to help make a positive impact on the Greek community.

One of the sessions I attended was about conversations around consent led by Tim Mousseau. I knew that he would be coming to speak at Lehigh so I was excited to see what he had to say. I also thought that it seemed like an interesting take on sexual assault conversations. It was about how to prevent it from happening, and changing the way we talk about sex. He talked about how in order to work towards stopping sexual assault, we have to have conversations about our sexual values. By sexual values he means when people feel comfortable hooking up. Different people are comfortable with different things and in order to protect those we’re with we have to know what they’re okay with. Another aspect of this is framing the way we talk about sex and not making it seem like something that everybody has to do. You don’t have to have sex all the time to be masculine and as a woman you’re not a slut for having too much sex or a prude for not doing it. Everybody has a different normal.

I plan to bring these conversations back to my chapter and the greater Lehigh community. I hope to bring more events with BTS to my chapter to spark these talks and make everybody more comfortable with who they are and what they believe in. AFLV made me feel empowered and like we as Greek students can really make a difference in the community.

Alpha Chi Omega Sorority: Loss of Recognition

Update 3/13/18: The Disciplinary Appeals Committee met on March 13, 2018 to make a determination and denied the appeal.  The Committee provided the following rationale:

The panel denies the appeal that the sanction is unduly harsh because the sanction imposed was less than what is outlined in the sanctioning guidelines for hazing that caused actual emotional distress or created a situation in which emotional distress was likely to occur. While the committee appreciated the plan put forward by the chapter to remediate these concerns, considering the severity of the hazing in conjunction with the other charges in this case, the sanction was judged as appropriate.

The decision by the Disciplinary Appeals Committee is final and with it the disciplinary process is completed for this incident.  All sanctions imposed go into effect immediately.

Original Post: On December 8th, 2017, the Theta Chi chapter of Alpha Chi Omega Sorority planned and executed a scavenger hunt (Road Rally) that involved the use of drugs and alcohol, sexual activity, and other activities that violate Lehigh University policy.

Lehigh University placed the chapter on interim suspension on December 12, 2017 following reports of the incident, including supporting evidence of the partial scavenger hunt list. Alpha Chi Omega Headquarters also directed the chapter to cease and desist all activities on December 12, 2017. The chapter proceeded to cooperate and turn over additional evidence, including the remainder of the scavenger hunt list and documented examples of members’ completed tasks. Alpha Chi Omega Headquarters visited Lehigh University’s campus to conduct their own investigation process over the course of December 13-14, 2017 resulting in probationary terms for the entire chapter and additional individual consequences.

The University's Title IX Coordinator conducted an investigation and the University Committee on Discipline (UCOD) convened on March 5th, 2018 to resolve the charges listed below:     

Respect for Others D1 (Hazing) Hazing as defined in the Lehigh University Code of Conduct.
Respect for Others (General) Lehigh University expects that all students will act in a civil manner that reflects maturity, social responsibility, and respect towards others and the Lehigh Community.
Respect for Community (General) As members of the Lehigh University Community, students are expected to serve as ethical representatives. They are expected to know and follow the Code of Conduct, and show respect for the faculty, staff, community members and administrative processes that are in place to maintain and support our community standards. Students are expected to hold themselves and others accountable and report violations of the Code of Conduct or other violations to the University.
Respect for Community J1 (Encouraging Others)
Encouraging or facilitating others in actions that violate the Code of Conduct.
Respect for Self A1 (Unauthorized Consumption, Distribution, or Possession) The unauthorized or illegal consumption, distribution, or possession of alcohol.
Respect for Community L1 (Failure to Report / Being in the Presence of a violation) Failure to report and/or knowingly being in the presence of violations of the Lehigh University Code of Conduct or other University Policies.

After reviewing the information related to incident, the Committee came to the following conclusions:

1.Respect for Others D1 (Hazing) -- Responsible
2.Respect for Others (General) -- Responsible
3.Respect for Community (General) -- Responsible
4.Respect for Community J1 (Encouraging Others) -- Responsible
5.Respect for Self A1 (Unauthorized Consumption, Distribution, or Possession) -- Responsible
6.Respect for Community L1 (Failure to Report / Being in the Presence of a violation) -- Responsible

The organization's status is hereby dissolved effective March 5, 2018  through May 31, 2020.  Dissolution is the loss of university recognition for a period of time not to exceed 5 years. Dissolution is the loss of privilege to use the University's name or represent it in any capacity. In addition, the group or organization will lose all privileges to use University equipment or facilities. At the end of the dissolution period, the organization shall contact the Dean of Students Office and be required to follow any recognition processes in place at the time.

The Committee provided the following rationale for the findings and sanctions:

Hazing charge rationale: AXO created a situation that occurred on and off campus involving morally questionable quests such as a scavenger hunt, treasure hunts, etc. The acts described may not have been required for affiliation into the organization, but are clearly considered a rite of passage and a consistent part of membership in AXO. The willingness of members to participate in these activities does not preclude them from being considered hazing according to the Lehigh code of conduct.

Rationale charges 2-6: The panel found AXO responsible of violations 2-6. AXO pled responsible for all of these charges and the panel agreed that the chapter's actions constituted responsibility for these charges.

Rationale for Sanction: This incident was a significant, reprehensible event that the entire chapter was aware of and leadership endorsed. This event did not only take place this year, but there is credible information that this event has been going on for years. The panel is deeply concerned about the escalated nature of the content of this year’s list and we are unconvinced that this escalation wouldn’t continue. This sanction that is imposed is slightly less than outlined in the sanctioning guidelines for hazing that involves emotional distress in the Code of Conduct. This length of time was chosen to ensure that nearly all members party to, and aware of the event are no longer on campus when they recolonize. Additionally the current conduct history of AXO does not lead the panel to have confidence in the chapter’s ability to act and demonstrate care and concern for its members, particularly related to health and safety concerns. This type of behavior is simply unacceptable considering the current climate on college campuses.

Alpha Chi Omega retains the right to appeal the decision, and the Office of Student Conduct & Community informed the chapter leadership of the deadlines and process for appeals as outlined in the Lehigh University Code of Conduct.

The sorority will lose University recognition and access to group housing immediately upon conclusion of the University’s disciplinary process.  Details regarding housing will be shared once the appeal process has concluded.

Spring Break Tips

OFSA wishes you a happy, healthy, and safe spring break!

Feature Friday: Gaby Montes, Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc.

Gaby Montes gets a second guest blog as she shares about her AFLV experience!


The Association of Fraternal and Sorority Values Conference was an amazing, re-energizing, eye-opening, and transformative experience. I am so grateful that I received the oppurtunity to attend! Honestly, this experience reminded me of why I decided to become a member of Greek Life in the first place. I was greatly energized after meeting many sorority sisters and brothers from all over the country who shared similar passions and with whom I instantly connected. It was also re-energizing to be surrounded by and have conversations with various Greek leaders that represented many different organizations, campuses, and states. These leaders shared unique experiences, but we all connected through our similar yearning to bring positive change onto our campuses. Not only did this experience introduce me to individuals from around the country, but it brought me closer to the fellow AFLV attendees from Lehigh that represented all three Greek councils. We greatly bonded through the experience in a way we would not have had the opportunity to otherwise. This is true Greek unity in my eyes.

Aside from the networking and bonding aspect of the conference, I learned a large amount about myself, more effective ways to lead, creating change in the world, unifying the councils, and helping my organization to succeed and accomplish its mission. I already find myself implementing many of these lessons into my chapter and daily leadership. GEM taught me to view leadership as a process rather than a title/role and I believe that AFLV contributed a lot to my leadership development and process as a whole. I attended workshops that ranged from being a high achiever and preventing burning out, motivating members, delegating, calling people out properly, feeling one does not deserve the opportunities they earned, and being a cultural Greek at a predominately white institution.

I found myself fully awake and engaged in each workshop and felt myself growing as a result of it. Since the conference, I have been delegating more, trying to take more time for myself to prevent burn out, and utilizing strategies I learned to make my chapter, council, and campus as strong as it can be. Overall, AFLV truly empowered me and filled me with the energy I felt I was running low on. Afterword, I was ready to continue to motivate positive social change. Who knew that one weekend conference could have such a large impact?