Greek Pre-Recruitment Education Program Update

 

    The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs recently changed their pre-recruitment education program from Pregame to Greek PREP. Interested students who attended Pregame and did not join a Greek organization prior to Fall 2020 are not required to complete a Greek PREP session. Their Pregame attendance fulfills OFSA’s pre-recruitment education requirement. All students interested in participating in fraternity and sorority recruitment starting in Fall 2020 will be required to attend a Greek PREP session. Additionally, the program fulfills a 5x10 for freshmen through OFYE.

    The change of educational program name was intentional. Pregame was mostly alcohol-based with the presentation being based on statistics on Lehigh drinking culture. It largely encompassed educating freshmen and potential new members about what a standard drink is, rate of absorption of alcohol, and risk prevention measures to be taken while out drinking. The last part of the presentation went over the requirements to join Greek life which shows how the Pregame educational program focused mainly on the drinking aspect of joining Greek life. Because of this, OFSA made the change to Greek PREP which covers far more than alcohol safety and risk prevention. More specifically, Greek PREP goes over what membership in a Greek organization looks like, what recruitment looks like, and what the new member process looks like. It also goes in depth into the three different Greek councils on campus. There is still an included part about health, safety, and bystander intervention. However, this is more of a holistic approach to joining Greek life as it gives a more positive outlook on the community and better understanding of the process for potential new members.

    This change has been well received by the freshmen and potential new members attending Greek PREP with one stating that “Hearing directly from leaders about the process was really nice and put me at ease. This PREP helped to answer any initial questions I had.” Multiple members of each executive council attend the PREP sessions which allows them to field questions any new potential members might have after the presentation by OFSA. This addition has helped students get a better understanding of the entire greek community with a potential new member saying “I thought hearing directly from a member of the Panhellenic council as well as someone from OFSA gave me a really great overview of what greek life has to offer here at Lehigh.” Not originally a part of Pregame, this addition brings more insight as new members hear directly from people within the organizations they might be joining.  If you are interested in participating in Greek recruitment at Lehigh University and have not completed Greek PREP, visit go.lehigh.edu/gogreek to learn more. 

Sigma Phi Delta joins the Lehigh Interfraternity Council

 

Sigma Phi Delta has recently been recognized as part of Lehigh’s Interfraternity Council. Since their founding in Spring 2013, the Beta Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta (SPD) has had dual affiliation with the Professional Fraternity Association and the North American Interfraternity Council. They have struggled in the past to be recognized by Lehigh’s Interfraternity Council as both a professional and social fraternity. It is important to understand why SPD wanted to be a part of IFC as they continue to grow as a chapter and wanted the added support from the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs (OFSA). Over the last three years, SPD has seen tremendous growth in membership and struggled to find designated residences to fit over 50 brothers for meetings and events. Additionally, with membership growth, “the fraternity wanted to seek out resources and oversight that would allow for optimum function as a growing organization” according to Julian Tsang, the President of SPD. Their former executive board had been successful in creating the Professional Greek Coalition, but they did not find it was the solution for their growing problems. Being a part of IFC allows SPD to partake in the same events with other fraternities and sororities, recruit members in the same process, and receive guidance from OFSA. A general consensus from both new and current members of SPD is the priority of a residential living space for the entire brotherhood. From the side of the executive board of IFC, they were thrilled to add another fraternity to the community. Peter Jensen, the head of recruitment for IFC, explains that “The IFC average GPA last semester was higher than the all men’s average at Lehigh. Adding a fraternity that was based around academics will benefit our drive to strive academically.” An engineering fraternity like SPD was able to academically help IFC overall. For recruitment specifically, there is a declining IFC community population so it was mutually beneficial for IFC and SPD’s recruitment processes. SPD is going to be on a year long probationary period where the head of IFC’s judicial board, Josh Rutzick, will oversee a review of their standard board to make sure it is aligned with IFC’s. Overall, both IFC and SPD seem very excited about this addition to the Lehigh Greek community.