Fraternity & Sorority Housing Assignments Plan Fall 2020

TO: Chapter and Council Presidents, Alumni Chapter Advisors, Faculty and Staff Advisors, Headquarters Staff, NIC VP of Campus Operations, NPC Area Advisor

FROM: Chloe Abshire, Assistant Dean and Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, Ozzie Breiner, Director of Housing Services

DATE: June 12, 2020

RE: Fraternity & Sorority Housing Assignments Plan Fall 2020

Housing Services and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs appreciate the efforts and patience exhibited by student chapter and alumni corporation leadership over the course of the past two weeks as we have worked to navigate logistics related to returning to campus this fall. We recognize that some of our fraternities and sororities are afforded the opportunity to experience on-campus chapter housing and that the members joining these organizations look forward to residing in their respective chapter houses during their membership. While we are still in the process of finalizing the Chapter House Lease Agreements, we continue to work with the Housing Corporations and Alumni Associations to finalize logistics related to assigning chapter members residing in the chapter house based on each house’s capacity. Below is the plan we will utilize to move forward with Fall 2020 Fraternity and Sorority Housing Assignments.

Fraternity and Sorority Residential Students

Alumni Presidents and House Corporation Presidents will assist the Housing Services Office in assigning spaces in the on-campus fraternity and sorority chapter houses. They will be provided guidance from Housing Services as to who receives priority and steps to take if there is insufficient space to accommodate all chapter members who want to live in the chapter house. Each chapter, as the Lessee under the Lease Agreement with the university, will make the final decisions as to who will be displaced based on chapter standards.

1. In order to ensure each chapter has in-house leadership for its members, priority for housing will be given to the President and House Manager regardless of their class year.
2. Rising second-year students will then be housed based on their survey responses. Students who requested a single room due to COVID-19 will be placed in a single room.
3. Any Rising Second-year student who has a medical accommodation through Disability Support Services will receive that accommodation.
4. The capacity of each chapter will be adjusted to comply with residence hall standards for square footage in individual rooms, resulting in an increased capacity for many houses.
5. Any remaining spaces will be available to rising juniors or seniors. If the remaining spaces are not enough  to accommodate everyone in the house, juniors and seniors who are displaced will be guaranteed a space on campus in Sayre Park Village.

On Monday, June 22, members of OFSA and Housing Services began meeting with Alumni and Chapter Leadership in F/S Coaching Meetings to inform them of new capacity information so they can make their housing decisions.

• Coaching meetings are being held June 22-June 30.
• Fraternity and sorority assignment lists are due to Housing Services by July 7.

Fraternity and sorority chapter houses will not need to set aside quarantine housing, as Housing Services is setting aside Isolation and Quarantine Housing options for students when necessary.

Sincerely,

 

Chloe Abshire
Assistant Dean and Director
Fraternity and Sorority Affairs
 

Ozzie Breiner
Director
Housing Services

We're All In This Together: #BlackLivesMatter Resources From OFSA

Please keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list and will continue to be updated as additional resources are identified.

OFSA recognizes that improvements are essential to ensuring education, understanding and accountability occurs surrounding racism within the Fraternity and Sorority community at Lehigh. It is our goal to create a space where voices are heard. OFSA is in the process of auditing our curriculum, programming and staff training as we collectively work towards a better community together. It is on all of us to ensure we are properly educating ourselves and each other during this time. Our hope is that these resources will serve as a starting point if you have not already begun. OFSA will continue to serve all students and advocate for a socially and equally just experience and environment both in the Fraternity and Sorority Community and Lehigh University Community..

Here are some resources we have found helpful as we work to become an anti-racist community. 

Media

• Netflix Launches Black Lives Matter Collection

• Movies that are streaming free in June 

How to Help

• How To Help Fight For Racial Justice and Equality Right Now

• Take Action: A List of Ways You Can Stand In Solidarity with the Black Community 

• Black Lives Matter - Ways to Help (Donate, Sign Petitions, Call/Text)

• Ways to Help the Black LGBTQ+ Community

Articles

• Anti-Racism Resources for White People

• Fighting For An Anti-Racist Future Together

• A Sociologist Examines the “White Fragility” That Prevents White Americans from Confronting Racism

• What’s My Complicity? Talking White Fragility With Robin DiAngelo

• Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They’re Okay — Chances Are They’re Not

• How Higher Ed Can Stop Racism: 'Speak Up When It's Hard'

• How Racism Lives in Modern Fraternity/Sorority Joining Processes 

• Anti-Racism resources from AFLV 

• Lawrence Ross Expert on Campus Racism

• Why White Silence is Deafening - And Deadly

Lehigh Resources

• Office of Multicultural Affairs 

• The Council for Equity and Community 

• Lehigh Black Student Union 

• MLK Speaker Ibram Kendi

• Black Live Matter online Library Resource

Mental Health

• Headspace

• 7 Virtual Mental Health Resources Supporting Black People Right Now

• Black Lives Matter: Mental Health Resources For and By People of Color

 

Books

• Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race on America’s Campuses by Lawrence Ross

• How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

• Stamped From The Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi

• White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

• Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum

Fall 2020 Fraternity and Sorority Housing Update

TO: Chapter and Council Presidents, Alumni Chapter Advisors, Faculty and Staff Advisors, Headquarters Staff, NIC VP of Campus Operations, NPC Area Advisor

FROM: Chloe Abshire, Assistant Dean and Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, Ozzie Breiner, Director of Housing Services

DATE: June 12, 2020

RE: Fall 2020 Fraternity and Sorority Housing Update

In the message from President Simon on Wednesday, June 10, he shared that Lehigh University is looking forward to welcoming our students, faculty and staff back to our campuses as we begin a phased return. The key focal points of the message included information about health and safety, the educational and on-campus residential experience, and information about how the semester will be different in light of the pandemic.

We are thrilled that Lehigh is working towards a plan for us to return to campus in the fall, and we want to recognize that the road ahead will require our community to exhibit patience and flexibility as we navigate the many moving pieces. As leaders of your chapter, it is our hope that you remain positive and hopeful in partnership with OFSA and Housing Services.

First and foremost, all of the decisions being made are focused on the best interests and safety of our community. As shared in the email sent on May 29 regarding Greek leases, chapters and residents should expect changes. As members of the fraternity and sorority community, you can be positive role models as we progress into this new normal; it will require patience, creativity and teamwork. OFSA and Housing Services remain supportive of the chapters as we navigate the road ahead.

At this point, there are likely more questions than answers. For the time being, we want to offer a step-by-step process for what the housing assignments rollout process will likely look like for the Greek houses. As outlined below, survey results from individual members will impact how steps 2-5 fall into place. Thank you for your patience as we work to make the best decisions possible for the safety of our community.

Step One
Members planning to live in the chapter house will need to complete the survey from Housing Services and indicate whether they desire to live in a single or double, or do not plan to return.

Step Two
Once Housing Services has received a response from each individual student, they will then gauge each house’s capacity given the results of the students’ self-selected preferences. We encourage individual members to communicate with their previously planned roommate(s) about whether they are comfortable remaining in a double room or prefer, due to personal concerns about COVID-19, to reside in a single room. Over-occupancy will not be permitted. Therefore, chapters planning to over-occupy must be prepared for some members to live elsewhere.
Please note: This will be a shuffling process based on the number of available spaces and the number of members selecting a single vs. a double room.

Step Three
House Managers will work with Housing Services to assign members to rooms based on individually completed survey results of their members.
Please note: Pending survey results, chapters may need to go “back to the drawing board” in consultation with Housing Services to reassign members given individual selected preferences.

Step Four
Housing Services will work to identify residential options to accommodate any members not able to reside in the chapter house based on capacity and survey results. If any chapter members need to move to different housing assignments, Housing Services will, to the extent possible, assign housing that allows proximate living among members.

Step Five
Housing Services will do their best to accommodate Chapter Officers, such as the House Manager, Chapter President, New Member Educator or Recruitment Chair in the chapter house, regardless of class standing. However, given the circumstances of the year ahead, students in those officer roles should indicate in their Housing Services survey if they prefer alternate housing. All chapters need to plan to elect those officer positions based upon members who will plan to reside in the chapter house effective Fall 2021.


What is to come from OFSA & Housing Services…

• Survey from Housing Services to individual students
• OFSA Chapter Coaching Calls with each chapter (6/18-6/30)
• Invitation will be extended to Chapter President, Recruitment Chair(s), New Member Educator, Risk Manager, House Manager (if applicable), Advisor and Headquarters Partner
• Reopening Resource Toolkit 
• Webinars for Advisors (6/18) & Parents (TBD, early July)

Sincerely,

Chloe Abshire
Assistant Dean and Director
Fraternity and Sorority Affairs


Ozzie Breiner
Director
Housing Services

A Message from OFSA on Confronting Racism

Silence is not an option. The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs at Lehigh University condemns racism in any and all forms. Our hearts are broken for the families of George Floyd, Ahmed Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and the endless list of Black people who have lost their lives to police brutality. Fraternities and sororities have a long and deep history of racism based upon power, privilege, and exclusion that have contributed to the collective trauma we are seeing across the country. It is our responsibility to be an active part of systemic change. As an office, we are committed to supporting all of our students, especially students of color, and join you in saying Black Lives Matter. Now is the time for action. We encourage all councils, chapters, and members to live out their personal and organizational values; use your platform for good, help one another, love one another, show kindness, listen. Whether it is protesting peacefully, donating, signing petitions, or uplifting the voices of Black people, we must confront racism together. Resources will be made available. We are here for you.

Chloe Abshire, Assistant Dean/Director
Andrew Dorriere, Assistant Director
Devore McIntosh, Assistant Director
Olivia Miller, Assistant Director
Ashley Strause, Coordinator

We see you. We hear you. We stand with you. #BlackLivesMatter

Instagram: @lehighofsa