afa The First 30 Years – Dan Bureau
THE FORMATIVE YEARS (1972-1981) “What made AFA so strong so quickly was the support FEA [Fraternity Executives Association], particularly George Spasyk, T. J. Schmitz, and Durwood Owen, and NIC [North-American Interfraternity Conference], namely Jack Anson, gave to us in the beginning. Through their help the AFA/NIC annual conference became the best venue for communicating about problem chapters or making recommendations for national awards. You knew the ‘right people’ would be available at the conference to solve issues or to bring praise for a campus chapter. In later years, I remember NPC [National Panhellenic Conference] chair Lissa Bradford saying that a strong commitment to communication would bring NPC leaders to the annual meetings as well – and she was right, they did come. The early struggles for AFA were not about vision. We had a compelling vision. It was how fast did AFA want to go or should we go.” – Doug Lange, 1980 and 1981 President “With little money, AFA hosted a breakfast meeting with interfraternal constituents. The only agenda item was initiatives and issues and how we can work together. All the players were in the room together for the first time. Breakfast evolved into lunch and then we had committees. The most amazing thing is that in 1977 we had the NIC and FEA but no one was working together on common issues. As a young advisor, I thought to myself ‘How come these people can’t work together?’ AFA enabled this to happen.” – Shelly Sutherland, 1983 President While the Association of Fraternity Advisors was founded in 1976, efforts to connect the interfraternal world had been previously initiated by representatives of the NIC and FEA. The Fraternity Advisors Association (FAA), a loose confederation of individuals coordinated by James Brooks of the University of Kansas, provided opportunities to share information and create a network of colleagues; however, “no particular form or structure” would be “imposed upon the association…until more concrete purposes are suggested by various professionals in the field” (Lilly, September 1974). In addition, the Fraternity Newsletter was created as a cooperative effort of several individuals in 1974. It was distributed several times a year to a small list of subscribers for $12 annually. The newsletter provided a forum for colleagues to answer questions and share ideas, much as a listserv would function in the year 2006. The FAA was an association in name only and met infrequently throughout the early 1970s (Lilly, March 1976). Lilly wrote in the September 1974 newsletter, “There should be an association of fraternity professionals fulfilling the primary purpose of continuing education…such an association can provide an identity within the student personnel fields for the men and women who function as fraternity advisors/deans throughout the country” (p. 1). In the December 1974 Fraternity Newsletter Lilly declared “there is no reason that the NIC, FEA, and FAA should always meet at separate times and in separate locations.” Out of a joint meeting of all these fraternal organizations in 1976 AFA was born. 10
Perspectives / Spring 2006
This is the second installment in a four-part series about the evolution of the Association of Fraternity Advisors. An organizational meeting, hosted in June 1977 in Williamsburg, Virginia, coincided with the bicentennial of the formation of Phi Beta Kappa at William and Mary. Attendees determined the FAA would be abolished (Lilly, December 1976). John Mohr of DePauw University was elected as the first AFA President and would hold office until December 1977 at the first Annual Meeting of the Association. That December, AFA accepted the task of editing and distributing the Fraternity Newsletter. The June 1977 Fraternity Newsletter described the following purposes for the association: • to provide a forum through publications, meetings, and informal interaction for the regular sharing of ideas among student personnel administrators with responsibilities or interest in fraternity advising; • to offer informational services to campuses and individuals with questions or problems related to Greek-letter organizations; • to raise the visibility of and support for fraternity advising on college and university campuses; • to encourage interested and qualified individuals to seek college and university staff positions which include job responsibilities related to Greek-letter organizations; • to assist in maintaining positive, supportive relationships among student personnel administrators, fraternity executives and staff, the NIC, and related organizations; • to stimulate educational programming and student development concepts among fraternity chapters; and to promote research related to Greek-letter organizations (p. 2). The Fraternity Newsletter (Lilly, September 1977) promoted the first joint meeting between the AFA and the NIC. It was hosted in Indianapolis, Indiana. Eight educational sessions were held with 70 participants in attendance. The December 1977 Fraternity Newsletter provides a listing of all participants and offered the following prophetic statement: “Please note the enclosed attendance list... will provide a good historical record” (p. 1). Early newsletters also offered abstracts for workshops and included excerpts from the president’s address. Early growth in the Association is evident by looking at membership lists and conference attendance. AFA’s second president, Barbie Tootle, stated in her address, “We have come from a dozen advisors sitting in Williamsburg to 185 interested professionals” (Lilly, December 1978, p. 9). Tootle’s speech, as well as that of AFA’s third president Larry Lunsford, offered pleas for patience as the growth of the Association had gone so well that the leadership may have underestimated the work ahead of them (Lilly, April 1979).