Emerging Leaders Retreat

A signature leadership experience for Fraternity and Sorority members, the emerging leader's retreat offers students the opportunity to learn from one another and challenge the status quo. Occurring in the fall, new members have the opportunity to participate in an experience that will focus on gaining a stronger understanding of the fraternal community at Temple and our 4 pillars. Attendees gain knowledge and tangible experiences in leadership development, goal setting, decision-making, and relationship building. As they leave the retreat, the students have shared that the experience has shaped their Temple career, and they are inspired to create positive change on Temple’s campus. Not only is the retreat a premier leadership program for over 30 emerging leaders, but it also provides our seasoned leaders and members of the fraternity and sorority community an opportunity to give back. A competitive application process provides the retreat with undergraduate mentors who are all graduates of the program and want to help shape the future leaders of the community. By having the mentors lead discussions, facilitate hard conversations, and build rapport with the emerging leaders, they build a bridge between “active” and “new” members and develop a stronger sense of community that is felt long after the attendees and mentors have left the retreat. The mentors can have difficult conversations and model the way in terms of self-governance and accountability, and this behavior sets the bar for our emerging leaders and how they want to impact the future of the community. This year's retreat was adapted from a camping retreat to a 5-week program to meet the virtual environment

Advisor Webinar Series

Continuing to rebrand our advisor programming, we implemented our first webinar Advisor Development Series. Through this series, advisors received training pertaining directly to the health and safety of the students they advise and having those difficult conversations. The topics included dealing with COVID, Sexual Violence Prevention, Mental Health, and Diversity and Inclusion. Through our inaugural advisor assessment, we learned advisors want more communication from our department. Based on this information, we enhanced our e-communication efforts continually through our Weekly Newsletter, provided consistent individual outreach for chapter support advising, and engaged our fraternity and sorority advisors in our one-on-one meetings with chapter presidents.

New Member 101, Anti-Hazing Initiatives, and Neophyte Academy

The New Member Education Training is designed to provide new member educators the tools necessary to create a safe and enjoyable new member education period. It offers them a space to discuss how to prevent hazing within new member programs. Student leaders processed university expectations of the new member period while learning the value of creating a positive new member experience. New member educators had the chance to have open and honest conversations about issues facing the Temple's campus and explored the power they have to initiate change. Approximately 600 students took part in this training. All four councils have held individual conversations with the council and chapter leadership about hazing prevention and healthy educational alternatives. Additionally MGC hosts a Neophyte academy to help new members adjust to full member status and chapter leadership.

Health and Safety Training

Twice a year, Fraternity and Sorority Life hosts training sessions for social chairs and risk managers for each of the chapters. These sessions educate students on the IFC and Panhellenic social event policies and procedures and university expectations for social events. MGC and NPHC have different sessions on the risks associated with cultural Greek letter organizations. Approximately 60 students have participated in this training in the past year. In addition to office-sponsored Risk Management Training, the Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council held Social Chair, Risk Manager, and Sober Liaison training and position-specific educational roundtables each semester. These programs educated the community on Council policies; Local, State, and Federal laws; and discussed accountability. Through the training and roundtables, chapter leadership enhanced relationships within the community that strengthened the understanding that everyone plays a role in advancing the mission and vision of the Fraternity & Sorority Community. These conversations were proactive approaches to address risk management concerns following the end of the pandemic and reintroduction of social events.

Diversity Lunch and Learn

Creating an inclusive organization requires leadership founded upon humility, vulnerability, courage, and accountability. In this lunch & learn session, students learn what diversity, equality, and inclusion mean in today’s society; how to identify and mitigate bias; what steps to take to create psychological safety; how to foster championship and allyship; and much more. The focus is not one fraternity and sorority, but truly self-reflection of the participants to grow and engage with peers from different backgrounds. This series hosts 3 seminars to engage students in conversation and was hosted virtually over the fall semester.

Critical Conversations

Critical Conversations is a programming series that was established in Spring 2019 to help fraternity and sorority life members to think critically on areas that highly affect college students. In Fall 2020, Charles Ardean spoke about mental health as a community of care conversation. He helped attendees focus on self-love and reflections of what and why we care about others. Additionally, Bonny Shade spoke about interpersonal violence during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. She helped the community understand consent, power dynamics, and supporting survivors of sexual violence. In Spring 2021, Lawrence Ross spoke about Racism on College Campus and how they have been addressed. Fraternities and Sororities were able to reflect on their national history to make a change in their organization. In March 2021, Vicky Nucci and Krystal Allen spoke about Alcohol and Drug Use and the Student Code of Conduct. The students were able to focus on their actions and how to properly hold others accountable. In April 2021, Tina Van Steenbergen spoke about conflict management resolution and fostering the culture of care that we kicked the series off with as a theme.

Officers Training

Before students jump into their positions, Fraternity and Sorority Life hosts transition meetings and training for incoming council officers and chapter officers. During these transition meetings, we work on providing a historical framework for the positions while building a structure for the year to come based on goals and learning objectives that the officers have developed for themselves. The following officers had specialized training: Risk Manager, Social Chair, Judicial Chair, Treasurer, Public Relations Chair, Service Chair, Recruitment Chair, New Member Educator, Academic Chair, Ritual Chair, and Programming Chair.

Chapter President and Council Officer Leadership Retreat

The Biannual Chapter President and Council Officer Leadership Retreat were hosted virtually. Students and advisors heard from Mark Denys and Krystal Allen to identify common violations of the Student Code of Conduct; describe characteristics of a good neighbor related to the Good Neighbor Policy; how to they live the 4 healthy behaviors as an organization; and explore ways to create a culture of care within their respective chapters, councils, and communities. Additionally, the retreat allowed for collaboration time between and across councils as leaders were learning how to navigate the upcoming Fall semester. In the Spring, the curriculum was focused on understanding their role grounded in the Leadership Practice Inventory and connecting to varying campus resources.

President's Roundtable

Once a month, Fraternity and Sorority Life hosts a roundtable for Chapter and Council Presidents to have a space for collaboration, critical thinking, and reflections. Each roundtable has a different focus and agenda. This year's presidents roundtables included: a past presidents panel for future success, putting your presidency on your resume, goals, and expectations of the positions, and letters to your future self.

Hazing Prevention Week

Established by HazingPrevention.Org, National Hazing Prevention Week now encompasses hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals. National Hazing Prevention Week (NHPW) is an opportunity for campuses, schools, communities, organizations, and individuals to come together to talk about hazing in their communities, raise awareness about the problem of hazing, educate others about hazing, and promote the prevention of hazing. This year we were able to host the following programs: Love Mom and Dad: Turning Tragedy into Progress, A faculty and staff training, a Parent Q&A, a stars workshop for student organizations, and collaboration with Residential Life for RAs.