Medical Amnesty

 As colleges around the country are struggling with their students falling victim to alcohol poisoning and overdoses, Lehigh University is stressing medical amnesty on campus. The medical amnesty policy provides impunity to students who call services for help when in a dangerous situation. Lehigh University does not want any barrier to be the reason that would deter a student from calling for help in any situation. 

 On Wednesday night the University held 'Sips with Safety' where students could interact with the Lehigh University Police Department. The event was sponsored by Peer Health Advisors, Lehigh University Police Department and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs. A large amount of Greek Life attended the event in order to show support and help raise awareness for medical amnesty. Below is the link where you can find further information on the law.

  https://studentaffairs.lehigh.edu/content/lehigh-university-medical-amnesty-policy 

Alpha Phi and Chi Phi Health Week Events

This past Wednesday on October 26th, the Lehigh Alpha Phi sorority and Chi Phi Fraternity partnered together to host a local blood drive with the Miller-Keystone Blood Center. The Miller-Keystone Blood Center comes to Lehigh University annually to hold a blood drive open to the public as well as Lehigh Students. Members of the Alpha Phi sorority either donated blood or worked a table where gift cards were handed out to donors. Collette Kissell, a member of Alpha Phi, donated blood for the first time at this blood drive and was elated to be able to help someone else. Collette said that the staff were very kind and made the process a great experience. 

In addition to hosting the Blood Drive, Alpha Phi and Chi Phi hosted a CPR training certification course. Autumn Hill, the Vice President of Health, Wellness, and Accountability, said that the instruction course was very interactive and informative. The instructor was a junior in Chi Phi and as Autumn put it, "he was super knowledgeable with answering questions and covering all topics. The participants of the course were able to get into groups while practicing with mannequins, they were also able to practice with an AED replica. Alpha Phi and Chi Phi had a successful week of educating students and giving back to the community and are looking forward to upcoming collaborations involving philanthropy. 

National Hazing Prevention Week at Lehigh University

    This week is National Hazing Prevention Week and campuses across the nation are holding events to educate their students and raise awareness. National Hazing Prevention Week started in 2007 and was founded by HazingPrevention.org. Every year the website has a new theme and this year's theme is, “Stronger Together”. The website wanted to focus on the importance of mental health issues related to hazing. The Office of Sorority and Fraternity Affairs hosted a lecture given by Michelle Guobadia. Michelle Guobodia is the director of Sorority and Fraternity Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Guobadia titled her lecture, “Hazing makes you a better greek, and other stupid myths.” 

     Guobadia, a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. at the University of Delaware, explained how, during her time as an undergraduate at the University of Delaware, she had not only experienced hazing during her pledging period, but she also became a perpetrator  (Chierchio). “No one joined my chapter for two years because people were literally afraid of my organization,” Guobadia said. “Hazing doesn’t eliminate the bad apples, it actually keeps the bad apples in,” Guobadia said. “When you pit one class against another, you aren’t unifying them, but you’re creating cliques and cracks in your organization.” Guobadia discussed ten myths about hazing as an attempt to educate students (Chierchio).

    Other campuses such as Cornell are also taking action to educate their students. Cornell also hosted speaker Michelle Guobodia. This year’s National Hazing Prevention Week at Cornell was in honor of Antonio Tsialas, who died during an unofficial rush event for Phi Kappa Psi in 2019. Tsialas was found at the bottom of Fall Creek Gorge with a fractured skull, broken ribs and an alarmingly high blood-alcohol level. (Chierchio) On Wednesday, The three councils, (Panhellenic, Inter Fraternity Council and the Cultural Greek Council) had students take an oath not to haze. They held a table at the flagpole on the front lawn where students painted their hands and left their mark on a poster. The three councils continue to educate students on and around campus this week in hopes of making a difference.