Last weekend, the Fraternity and Sorority Life office hosted a weekend of leadership for fraternity and sorority members that sit on chapter and council executive boards.
LAUNCH was hosted on Saturday, November 11th, on Lehigh’s Mountaintop campus and facilitated by a representative from the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC). The primary focus of this day-long workshop was to build community within the chapters and councils. The beginning of the day was focused on self-assessment and reflection both for leaders to access themselves and their chapters or councils as a whole. Incoming leaders were provided with workbooks in order to complete assessments, which they would later use to engage in self-reflection. As the day went on, the focus shifted to team-oriented activities. These included discussions and reflection on Fraternity and Sorority Life at Lehigh and how to help it flourish. Everyone was split into teams made up of individuals from different chapters and councils in order to encourage diverse discussion and ideas. Kyla Branco, the incoming president of Kappa Alpha Theta, explained, “There aren’t a lot of times that leadership from different sororities and especially different councils can come together and share ideas. It was really rewarding to have conversations with people that had different backgrounds and life experiences in order to make Fraternity and Sorority life the best it can be for all of us.”
The following Sunday, November 12th, the Fraternity and Sorority Life office held the annual Summit for Greek Excellence. At this event, all chapter and council leadership positions were invited to connect with other offices on campus, topics related to their specific programming area, and a refresher on university policies and medical amnesty. There were five informational sessions that focused on topics ranging from engaging chapter alumni to fostering an inclusive environment. Incoming and ongoing leaders learned about resources their chapter could utilize in different situations and ideas for specific programs they could put on within their chapter to encourage member development. This was also an opportunity for students to meet with other chapter and council leaders that hold similar roles and responsibilities.
The weekend of leadership was a huge success, and we can’t wait to see what these incoming leaders will accomplish! A special thanks to all of the staff and program leaders that made it possible!