Psi Upsilon Pride

By Dan Grande, ’11, Psi Upsilon

The Psi Upsilon Fraternity’s 167th convention took place at the University of Illinois (Omicron Chapter) in Champaign, Illinois from June 25th through June 28th. Overall there were 141 brothers in attendance representing 30 different chapters. But what really stood out was the fact that there were 66 active delegates compared to 75 alumni delegates ranging from age 22 to 75. Immediately I understood that these brothers held the phrase “lifelong friendship” as highly as we at the Eta do.

I was joined by my fellow brothers Dan Coviello ’13, Ian Smyth ’12, Todd Jenkins ’12 and alumni Jeremy McKeon ’08 and Alexander Senchak ’06 over the three day trip. Our schedule included a Leadership Institute for undergraduates and alumni, committees on Awards, Budget & Development, Nominations and Credentials, and a special memorial service for those brothers who had recently passed. I found the Leadership Institute to be particularly helpful as we learned how other chapters deal with different situations. Through a three hour session we explored ways we can better ourselves as well as help the new chapters shape their futures. In typical fashion Psi U fashion, we also managed to fit in a few social events such as a cookout at the Omicron chapter house, a banquet and awards ceremony, and a special Centennial Dinner honoring the Omicron for its 100th year. It was at these events that delegates from different chapters really got to interact with one another and share stories and experiences with one another. In particular, I liked to hear stories from brothers whose chapters were located outside of the northeast, as they often had very different fraternity experiences than I have had.

But perhaps the highlight of the entire ordeal was recognition of the Eta via two awards, the Clasped Hands Award and the Award of Distinction. The Clasped Hands award is “presented to chapters that have devoted significant time and effort to philanthropic efforts and community service” while the Award of Distinction “recognizes a chapter when they perform in an extraordinary manner [in philanthropic service] which merits special recognition.” Being recognized at this high of a level with such prestigious awards has made me really value what I have here at Lehigh- a great brotherhood. After attending convention this summer I can say with conviction and absolute certainty that I am a proud member of the Eta and a proud member of Psi Upsilon as an international fraternity.

Gamma Phi Beta Convention Memories

By Katie Beattie, '12, Gamma Phi Beta

The Gamma Phi Beta Convention was held this summer in Orlando, Florida. Over 850 collegiate members, alumni and advisors gathered in Disney World to reconnect, participate in ritual and business sessions, and share best practices to bring back to their respective chapters. I attended the convention in the company of Kate McCarthy, our Financial Vice President. We both found the days to be informative, helpful and an interesting insight into the international aspects of Gamma Phi Beta.

During Convention, we elected the new International Council members and conducted the business of the sorority. Every International Council member went through their officer reports, detailing the news in their respective departments over the past two years. Kate and I also had the opportunity to attend workshops during the afternoons; the collegiate workshops covered everything from recruitment advice, standards board procedures and positive public relations practices. We are excited to bring this information back to Lehigh and start the academic year on the right foot. This was the first year that the Delta Kappa chapter had applied for awards at an International Convention; though we didn’t win anything, we were proud of our accomplishments over the past few years and took note of the impressive things other chapters were doing on their campuses.

Gamma Phi Beta Convention was also a wonderful opportunity to connect with sisters from around the country and our alumni base. Kate and I traveled with Denise Vollert-Parrotto, our chapter’s long-standing Financial Advisor and Debra Dalrymple-Kleinfeldt, a new addition to our House Corporation Board. It was great to spend time with Gamma Phi alumni who contribute a great deal to our chapter. The Gamma Phi Beta Convention was a fulfilling experience and a great leadership opportunity for all who attended.

Awards & Achievement with AGD

By Taylor Kite, '12, Alpha Gamma Delta

When I found out that I was going to be attending this summer’s Alpha Gamma Delta Convention a few months ago, I was not sure what to expect. Would it be fun? Overwhelming? Informative? Exhausting? Well, I can honestly say that my experience at Convention this June in Tampa, Florida was all of these things, but all in a good way. I was fortunate enough to have Gwen Hauck ‘12, Ari Stillman ‘13, and our advisor Montana Clelland ’09, accompany me on this adventure. It was fun getting to know sisters from all over the country, including two special alums from our Zeta Beta chapter here at Lehigh University. One of these women, Mary Beth Morabito ’85, currently serves on International Council. It was such an honor to be able to sit down and talk with her about both Lehigh and Alpha Gamma Delta memories. Another sister I connected with was a woman who was 80 years old and had been to many Conventions. After talking with her for a little while, I asked where she went to college. As it turns out, she grew up just down the street from my home in Cincinnati, Ohio. We talked more about her college and high school experiences, and by the end of the conversation we determined that she graduated with my grandfather and remembered him quite vividly. This remarkable encounter touched me in ways that I cannot articulate in words, but I am positive it will stick with me forever. It is moments like this one that Convention was all about.

The Leadership Institute sponsored the break out meetings and discussions, which were enlightening, engaging, and spirited from start to finish. We learned everything from the best way to handle conflict to how to better relate to alums, from recruitment ideas to how to make each chapter dollar spread even further. All the attendees were eager to share their respective best practices and ideas with everyone else, which reflected the general atmosphere of sisterly bonding and encouragement that surrounded Convention. It was rewarding to see how your own ideas really helped one chapter, and to in turn learn some things from them.

At the awards ceremony, our chapter was honored to receive several awards including Strive for Pi, which awards chapters with an overall GPA of 3.14 or higher; a Quota and Total award; the Myra Vedder Foxworthy Panhellenic Honor Roll; Rose Bowl Honor Roll; and Annulet Honor Roll, the highest honor for an Alpha Gamma Delta chapter. To be able to accept these awards on behalf of my Zeta Beta sisters and the hard work and dedication they put into the chapter helped me realize how incredible my sisters really are. It also inspired the four of us to work over the next year as leaders in our chapter to ensure that we continue to maintain this high standard and even raise the bar. While it is always nice to see when your hard work pays off, there is always room for growth. Keeping this in mind, we look forward to incorporating everything we learned at this summer’s Convention into our daily chapter functions back at Lehigh, and it never hurts to work towards these awards for the 2012 Convention!

Convention Connections

By Adam Pittenger, '11, Theta Chi

Incredibly, with over 500 brothers in attendance, the central region of Florida was more appropriately named “Brolando” from June 30th-July 3rd. Though this is seemingly only a small inside joke from the 154th Anniversary Convention of Theta Chi Fraternity, the nickname proved to be true. It seemed everywhere you turned you were running into a brother. Men from all across the nation (and Canada) traveled to the home of Disney World in order to take part in this spectacular event. I, along with Jon Pribis ‘12, Jason Raschiatore ‘12, Todd Ferreira ‘13, and Alex Lass ‘13, represented Lehigh University’s Beta Sigma chapter.


Our first night at the Rosen Plaza was one to remember. The five of us were honored to receive awards for Chapter Excellence for New Member and Member Education Programming, The Ritual, Community Service & Philanthropy Programming, Alumni Programming, Chapter Finances, Chapter Operations, Internal Cooperation, Campus Involvement, Risk Management Practices, and Social Programming. While that served as great recognition for our past achievements, we realized that convention is about meeting new people and learning for the betterment of our chapter.


Throughout the next three days, the five of us took part in numerous challenges, team-building exercises, and listened to a variety of speakers. Personally, I felt the breakout sessions were the most valuable learning tool in regards to the future growth of our chapter. Also, having never been to a national event before, it was great to meet brothers from different chapters and learn about the changes taking place within our international headquarters. Not only were we able to take part in the election of a new Grand Chapter, but Beta Sigma got to take pictures with the group during our formal banquet. Finally, the brothers of Theta Chi spent Saturday night out on the town as we all went and explored City Walk in Orlando. In all, the experience was invaluable and the lessons we learned will certainly carry over to our chapter in the 2010-2011 school year. And since the 2012 Convention is in sunny Palm Springs, California, I’ve already told our younger members that if they need an alumni delegate… I’m their man.

Leading with Integrity

By Jennifer McCusker, '12, Delta Gamma

I learned a lot about myself as a leader during my time at The LeaderShape Institute in June. I appreciated learning how to develop my vision for the future and planning action steps to reach my vision. The vision I developed at LeaderShape is very broad, but I plan on using my experience from the program to create and act upon visions for Delta Gamma and teach other chapter management team members how to do the same. My favorite part of LeaderShape was taking the DiSC leadership style assessment. I found that learning about my leadership style and those of my peers helped me work better in groups, and I think taking this assessment would also benefit DG’s chapter management team.

The most important thing I learned at LeaderShape is to lead with integrity and have a healthy disregard for the impossible.

Novak Institute for Hazing Prevention

By Tim Wilkinson, Director, Office of Fraternity & Sorority Affairs

From June 9th through June 13th, I had the opportunity to attend the Novak Institute for Hazing Prevention, hosted by Hazingprevention.org and held at The State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo. The Institute is an annual educational opportunity that brings together college campuses to discuss all aspects of hazing. Some of the discussion points included the perceived intent and psychology behind hazing, ways to educate students on the effects and dangers of hazing, and tips for building campus coalitions to eradicate hazing from an entire institution. Some of the interesting takeaways from the Institute included…

• The problem of hazing begins well before college. Nearly half (47%) of college students reported being hazed in high school, according to the National Student on Student Hazing.
• Over half (55%) of college students involved in clubs, teams, and organizations experience hazing.
• In 95% of the cases where students identified their experience as hazing, they did not report the events to campus officials.
• 69% of students who belonged to a student activity reported they were aware of hazing activities occurring in student organizations other than their own.

One of the things that most impacted me was the way we can all take a new approach on recognizing hazing. As students and staff, we are always arguing about what is hazing. How often when we debate hazing do we hear the following statement?

“According to the definition, everything’s hazing!”

We need to stop thinking of hazing in terms of a list of activities. Think of hazing the way it has been reframed at Florida State University.

“Students should not be demeaned or exposed to harm when pursuing involvement in campus life.”

If you are on a sports team, a member of a fraternity or sorority, or in a club or campus organization, and you can’t answer that statement, then you know it is hazing! OFSA is continuing to lead the charge in understanding and eradicating hazing at Lehigh. We are continuing the Bystander Initiative, Peer Values Educators, 888-NOT-HAZE, the on-line hazing reporting system, as well as all of the educational programming we do with chapters. Look for OFSA to continue to build campus coalitions in 2010-11 with faculty, athletics, student organizations and university alumni. This is the number one way to make hazing prevention the priority that it needs to be.

Lehigh will continue to take the lead in hazing prevention, as we have been chosen as the host site for the 2011 Novak Institute for Hazing Prevention. When we come together as a Lehigh community, it can be a very powerful thing. Isn’t eradicating hazing worth coming together for?

2009-2010 Accreditation Results

The 2009-2010 Accreditation reports for each of Lehigh's fraternities and sororities are now available on the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Affairs website, under the "Reports and Statistics" page.


GOLD:

Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Omicron Pi
Alpha Phi
Delta Gamma
Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Theta
Phi Sigma Kappa
Pi Beta Phi
Sigma Phi Epsilon

SILVER:

Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Tau Omega
Chi Psi
Delta Phi

Delta Upsilon
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Alpha
Kappa Sigma

Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Sigma Upsilon

Lambda Theta Alpha

Phi Kappa Theta

Psi Upsilon
Sigma Chi

Theta Chi

BRONZE:

Delta Chi

Phi Gamma Delta
Pi Kappa Alpha
Theta Xi

POOR:

Delta Tau Delta