Illinois State University Fraternity & Sorority Life
New Year, New Programming Initiatives By: Allison Murray, Graduate Assistant
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Jan.-Feb. 2018 Inside this issue:
t this year’s annual leadership retreat for chapter presidents and council executive officers, the fraternity and sorority life office announced several new programming initiatives to further the education of the community in topics such as risk reduction, hazing prevention, bystander intervention, and mental health awareness. As leaders of their respective councils, the chapter presidents and executive officers worked together to identify areas of improvement, as well as areas of strength, within their councils. Several representatives from the Dean of Student’s Office, including the Dean of Students, Dr. John Davenport, attended the retreat on the second day to work with the students through conversations surrounding current trends in the fraternal community at ISU. The students also worked with campus partners to identify plans of action they can take to not only improve their individual councils, but the community overall.
What’s up in the Community?
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United Greek Council
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College Panhellenic Council
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Interfraternity Council 13
Greek Snapshots
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Calendar
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Contact Us Fraternity & Sorority Life (309)-438-2151 Alex Snowden Coordinator adsnowd@ilstu.edu
Caitlin Dobson Senior Specialist cpdobso@ilstu.edu
Shantira Norris Specialist sdnorri@ilstu.edu
Allison Murray Graduate Assistant: IFC Advisor vpsaamurra2@ilstu.edu
Mike Nave Graduate Assistant: CPC Advisor vpsamlnave@ilstu.edu
Follow us on social media! ILSTUFSL
@ILSTUFSL
ILSTUFSL
Lauren Neitzel Graduate Assistant: Programming vpsalmneit1@ilstu.edu
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AFLV Central 2018 Council Executive Officers Learn to Enable Change and Accelerate Progress in the ISU Greek Community By: Allison Murray, Graduate Assistant
In February, the executive officers of our Black Greek Leadership, College Panhellenic, Interfraternity, and United Greek Councils traveled to Indianapolis, IN to attend the Association of Fraternal Leadership and Values (AFLV ) conference. The students attended a variety of educational programs, as well as heard from keynote speakers including Vice President Joe Biden on Sexual Assault Prevention, and Lawrence Ross on Campus Racism within Fraternity and Sorority communities. When asked about their experience at AFLV this year, our students had this to say:
“AFLV was a very interactive experience. There was very few dull moments but a lot of excitement. I learned so much from the sessions and the people teaching the sessions were so informative, professional and fun.” - Philip Goens, Vice President of Accountability, BGLC
“I attended AFLV in Indianapolis on February 8th-11th with individuals from CPC, IFC, UGLC, and BGLC. I was joined by about 3,000 other sorority women and fraternity men from all across the country at this leadership council. While at the conference, I had the opportunity to hear Joe Biden speak out against sexual assault on college campuses. I also learned how to lead the Panhellenic community by attending workshops on important issues in the Greek community such as mental health, racism, and other problems prone to college campuses. I met women from Delta Delta Delta chapters all across the country, and I got to collaborate with a variety of chapters on the topic of Recruitment. Overall, it was an amazing weekend that was filled with a ton of new ideas. I could not be more thankful for this opportunity to lead such an amazing group of women!” - Erin Vormezeele, Vice President of Rho Gammas, CPC
Page 3 “AFLV is a national conference in which Greek leaders from all over the country come to Indianapolis to network and discuss issues within their Greek Community. This was a great experience for myself as I got to hear from many great leaders from all over the country. It was amazing to hear some amazing speakers such as former Vice-President of the United States Joe Biden who spoke on sexual violence across the country. This was very important to me because as President of IFC it is up to me and my board to ensure that our chapters are being responsible and being advocates for men and women who are affected by sexual violence. It was also amazing to hear from Lawrence Ross talk on issues about diversity and racism within the country and the Greek community. Walking away from these phenomenal speakers left me motivated and ignited inspiration for me to be the change on my campus.” - Ramiro Jimenez, President, IFC
“AFLV was a great experience. Listening to presentations about all types of skills, that will help me become a better leader and that will help me better organization, was very inspiring. AFLV gave me the drive to educate and help individuals understand topics such as mental health, healthy relationships, recruitment skills, and many more everyday topics, that Greek Life may come across. The bonding with other councils on campus was great too, making new connections and friendships is always a plus when attending the leadership conferences that ISU provides.” - Alena Puruncajas, President, UGC
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Joe Biden Speaks on Sexual Assault at AFLV Central: It’s On Us to Take Action and Make Change By: Liv Richardson, Vice President of Administration, CPC
When I went to the Association of Fraternal Leadership and Values’ Central conference, I knew I was hearing Vice President Joe Biden speak, but I didn’t know just how much his speech would impact me. I was extremely excited to see him speak (ask anyone I was with) and as we were lining up to get seats, I saw the email that I had priority seating which ended up putting me in the dead center section in the seventh row. VP Biden came to speak about an extremely important issue on college campuses – sexual assault. He partnered with the It’s On Us campaign during his time as Vice President, which is a campaign to stop sexual assault. Let me tell you, he is VERY passionate about this. One quote that he said during his speech was “If you don’t intervene, you are a coward.” To this day, this is what has stuck with me the most. On our campus, sexual assault exists and is not talked about as much as it needs to be. People are educated on the topic and know what it looks like but rarely step in to help, especially when needing to step in for a stranger or acquaintance. I had never thought of bystanders who are not active being cowards, but Vice President Biden helped me open my eyes to this concept. Students who do nothing and stand by watching while sexual assault happens are indeed cowards. These cowards are being selfish and putting their discomfort before others health and safety, which to me is absolutely horrifying.
Page 5 I wish that every student on our campus had the opportunity to hear Vice President Biden speak. His tone was convincing, and he was very serious about sexual assault. Any time we, as an audience, would agree with him, we would try to applaud. He would immediately stop us to tell us that this is not a topic we should be applauding him for speaking about because it is a topic that we shouldn’t be proud of someone for speaking about. His thought process on such a simple action of clapping shows just how serious he was. Having a speaker like him would truly wake up our community because of the way that he showed the seriousness. As my executive board and I are working to create a safer environment on campus, this was the motivation that we needed. He gave the eight of us, along with 3,700 others, the motivation to stand up and educate our community. We have so much potential and he showed us that he sees the potential that members of the Greek community nationwide has, while others spend time doubting us. He said that, “[He was] here with [us] today because fraternities are a significant source of the solution, and the problem,” and I feel that this is the most relevant statement in our community right now. We are the problem but we have the potential to be the solution, and hearing that from Vice President Joe Biden is what continues to drive my passion to change this community. Ever since I had the opportunity to hear him speak, knowing that Vice President Biden’s sees our potential to make change is what now helps me get out of bed with the desire to change my community more than ever. The Vice President of the United States of America knows that we can change the sexual assault culture on this campus, and it is time for us to take action.
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Students Create Banners for “Greek Night” at ISU Men’s Basketball Game By:: Allison Murray, Graduate Assistant
Over the past few years, the Fraternity and Sorority Life Office has developed a partnership with Illinois State Athletics in an effort to get Greek students out and engaged with the University through supporting the athletic teams at different events. One of the student’s favorite events is the Greek Banner Competition during “Greek Night” at the Men’s Basketball Game. This year’s Greek Night took place on February 17th, and the students were asked to create banners that fit a retro theme. Chapters had the opportunity to create a banner for themselves, or to partner with another chapter in the community to compete for a prize awarded by ISU Athletics.
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Sigma Lambda Beta excels in Community Service! By: Clyde Troche, Member of Sigma Lambda Beta
During the month of January, the gentlemen of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc. – Gamma Chapter kept living up to their pillars and reached a high of 70 service hours in one month! The Betas volunteer at various of places which include: Habitat for Humanity, Vista Maria, YWCA, Ashby House, and the American Red Cross Association. During the past Winter Break, Clyde Troche went on a leadership development trip, Leaders of Social Change. Clyde did community service at Habitat for Humanity: Detroit. He assisted in breaking apart wood pallets and constructing tables and benches for future donations to families in need! During his time in Detroit, he also did service at Vista Maria. Clyde took inventory of all the donations from the community and sorted the donations by category. However, Clyde did not stop there. When he returned from the trip, Quinn Madarang and himself participated in the Martin Luther King Day of Service. Clyde and Quin painted the interior building walls of the Young Women Christian Association. Last but not least, we would like to shout out Sal Delgado on achieving one of our pillars during Winter break as well. Sal did service for the Ashby House a non-for-profit organization in Salina, Kansas. Sal and his crew are renovating/ transitioning homes for women recovering from addictions and domestic/sexual abuse. Also, they worked at a free store for the community and renovating any other space they need assistance in.
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Omega Phi Beta kicks off the New Year Celebrating Empowerment and Sisterhood By: Arielle Steward, Member Omega Phi Beta To kick off the beginning of 2018, the ISU Collective of Omega Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated hosted their regional retreat for the Midwest Region of OPBSI. During the weekend of January 19-21st, six entities and over 30+ sisters were in attendance on the campus of Illinois State University. This regional retreat catered to the theme of Empowered Sisters Empower Sisters with various workshops and activities held throughout the weekend to promote this concept that the women of Omega Phi Beta are passionately dedicated to. With workshops such as resume reviews, financial organizing and budgeting and activities that promoted building sisterhood and confidence, the weekend was nothing short of radiant, empowering and uplifting. To continue the celebration of empowerment, the ISU Collective collaborated with the Vidette Newspaper and the Eta Tau chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated to create Valentines Day Cards for the children in Advocate Bromenn Hospital. With messages like “Stay strong Valentine”, “We believe in you” and “Don’t give up”, these cards were set to brighten any child’s Valentines Day. The Radiant Betas then continued the month of February with their first ever Galentines Day celebration. This day was dedicated towards celebrating and honoring women of color throughout history and present day and discussing how women of color can empower themselves, others and those who come after them. Plenty of sweets and dishes were brought and letters of empowerment were written to teenage girls in Bloomington-Normal elementary and high schools, to encourage them to be the best versions of themselves and feel empowered at all times. The sisters of Omega Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated hope to continue the year empowering themselves, others and the future leaders of the world with more celebrations, workshops and programming. Don’t miss their highly anticipated week of events titled, “Week of Illumination: Breaking Barriers” March 19th-23rd where they will host programming and fundraisers geared towards breaking the stereotypes around relevant topics in our communities.
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Alpha Gamma Delta Gives Back Through A Week of Community Service By: Jillian Hardt, member of Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Gamma Delta has just finished their Week of Service. Throughout the week of Feb. 12 the women of AGD have been collecting canned goods that have been donated to East View Church. Also, the women made Valentine’s Day cards and sent them to Evergreen Village Assisted Living. Vice President of Event Planning Emma White organized a basketball sisterhood to support Illinois State Redbirds men’s basketball team. Director of Sisterhood, Skylar Quad, is excited for the upcoming ice skating sisterhood at the Pepsi Ice Center. Also, AGD is excited about the progress of their new philanthropy, The Hunger Games.
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Girl’s Night In with Phi Sigma Sigma! By: Annie Vogel, Scribe for Phi Sigma Sigma
On Friday, March 2nd the sisters of Phi Sigma Sigma volunteered at Evans Junior High School for their annual “Girls Night In.” Girl’s Night In is an after-school event for middle school girls where they can do various activities such as create glitter jars, learn self-defense moves, and hear from live speakers. As a sorority whose philanthropy revolves around supporting school and college readiness, it was an excellent way for Phi Sigma Sigma to be role models and create a positive environment for young girls. Kelsi Hodge, the Community Service Chair for Phi Sigma Sigma, described the event as “a great way for our sorority to connect with and be role models for the younger generation of girls.” She also said that she thinks “the experience enriched the character of Phi Sigma Sigma while also benefiting the community.”
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Zeta Tau Alpha and ISU Women’s Basketball Team Partner to Raise Breast Cancer Awareness By: Josephine Starwalt, President of Zeta Tau Alpha
Zeta Tau Alpha's national philanthropy is Breast Cancer Education and Awareness to help with the cause this past weekend ZTA partnered with the Women's Basketball Team at Illinois State to help them with the annual Play 4 Kay game on February 18. Play 4Kay game efforts were started by the lay Kay Yow, former North Carolina State University Head Women's Basketball Coach. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 and fought the disease three times until her death in 2009. While courageously battling cancer, Coach Yow started the Kay Yow Cancer Fund which serves to raise money for scientific research and to assist the efforts to fight against women's cancers. To date the fund has grown nationwide and contributed over $5.3 million to support cancer research.
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IFC Recruitment: Spring 2018 By: Albert Lucenti, Vice President Operations, IFC
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his spring, we had the privilege of having our thirteen recognized chapters participate in IFC’s Rush Week. The first event was held on Sunday, February 11th at the Brown Ballroom. This was an open tabling event where each chapter set up their own tables and any student interested in joining Greek Life had the opportunity to come out and meet which ever chapter they wanted. For the spring, there were a little over 100 men that came out for the formal recruitment process. Once the tabling session was over, the chapters and the prospective new members were able to get acquainted with one another. The rest of IFC’s Rush Week consisted of 2 open houses, 1 event night, and an Invite Dinner. These events were held by each individual chapter at their own houses, and this is where the guys who attended the tabling event narrow down which chapters they are interested in. The Executive Board of the IFC was in charge of stopping in to check on the events to make sure all IFC and ISU regulations were being followed. For the event night, chapters had the freedom to choose what they wanted to do. Some chapters stayed at their houses and did things such as a Casino Night or Epic Meal Time whereas other chapters decided to go off campus to places like Swinger’s Driving Range. The event night concluded the open events for chapters. On Thursday is the Invite Dinner. This is where chapters decide on which potential new members they would like to get to know on a more personal level. Chapters have the ability to invite as many guys as they would like out to the dinner. After the Invite Dinner, the chapters make their final decisions on who they would like to extend bids out to and they finalize their roster for new members at this time. Once they extend their bids to their potential new members, the new members have to officially sign their bid with the school on Bid Day which is the day after the invite dinner. After their grades are cleared with the school and they fill out the forms for ISU at Bid Day, then they are officially new members with their respective chapter. The cool thing about IFC Rush Week is that each chapter has the ability to take as many new members as they’d like, or none at all if the chapter decides on it. Even after rush week, IFC has a 365 day recruitment policy which means that if a chapter would like to add more members after rush week has ended they have the ability to do so. This gives chapters the flexibility to add new members at any point in the year. It puts the control of recruitment in the hands of each individual chapter, rather than the governing body of IFC. Overall, this was a highly successful spring rush and IFC is looking forward to its continued growth as the semester progresses.
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Kappa Sigma Fraternity Joins the ISU Community By: Daniel Kogan, Member of Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma is the newest social fraternity to join Illinois State University. What started as a group of nine close friends turned into a brotherhood dedicated to bettering themselves, and life at Illinois State University. Their humble roots began during Fall semester in 2017 when the friends decided they wanted to create a brotherhood based on respecting one another, while having the best college experience possible. A representative from the group contacted Kappa Sigma Headquarters, and Mason McNally, lead recruiter for the Illinois region, was sent on a mission to turn this interest group into a fraternity. Before Mason had even met with the group, the men independently sought out area volunteer opportunities in the Bloomington-Normal community, and had become involved with the Special Olympics Headquarters.
The brothers succeeded in their mission, and Kappa Sigma has grown tremendously since its founding. The men pride themselves on being one of the fastest growing fraternities in Illinois State University history- no small feat by any means. After being on campus for only one semester, the colony has become recognized by the department of FSL, and the school community. Since the group is new, the brothers that make up the fraternity have the opportunity to create their own destiny. All the members who have joined and will join before the group plans on chartering are considered Founding Fathers, and as such have equal power in decision making and structuring the organization. Our goal is to create brotherhood based on mutual respect for one another, while being able to enjoy our college lifestyle by looking after one another, and the entire community.
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Pawsitively GoΩΔ By: Eric Cruz, Member of Omega Delta As their first full semester, here on campus comes to an end, the founding members and new members volunteered at the Central Illinois Small Animal Rescue (CISAR) shelter on Friday December 1. The members even furthered their participation beyond campus and volunteered earlier this semester at Home Sweet Ministries, and prepared food for the less fortunate.
So far, this semester the brothers of Omega Delta have participated in several events around campus from tabling at Festival ISU, to playing in the Omega Phi Beta’s Annual Goals for Hope! Vice President Alberto Gonzalez said, “Although it is only our first semester here on campus we plan to make a big impact here on campus and continue to build our brotherhood.” Participating in other organization’s philanthropies and events are one way in which the members of Omega Delta are making an impact here on campus. Collaborating and getting to know other organizations help we get the chance to meet people from all walks of life, and this is something that the organization relates to because of the diversity of the organization. The members also held a Krispy Kreme Fundraiser on Dec. 6th and raised $50 to benefit Leukemia and Lymphoma Research. Volunteering at CISAR also proved to be a very fun and interesting volunteering opportunity for the members. They learned about the organization, history of some of the animals, and got to play and interact with animals.
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FarmHouse Fraternity Recruits New Members during 2018 Recruitment By: Levi Isham, Member of FarmHouse
During Rush week Farmhouse was happy to take its new potentials to the Rec Center on campus. While we were there we had a great time playing dodge-ball and some basket ball, with a little Rock Climbing at the end. Then, on Thursday our chapter took the new pledges out to get some BBQ.
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FIJI Welcomes a 26 New Men After Spring 2018 Recruitment By: Colin O’Brien, Member of FIJI
This semester, our chapter of Phi Gamma Delta has taken another step forward. We expanded tremendously with this year’s spring rush class. We welcomed 26 young men to take the journey into being the next class of Fiji’s. For a spring rush, this is a good size class. We know that they were all fine choices and excitement is in the air for us to see what this semester has in store for us and all of ISU Greek Life.
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Illinois State Welcomes Sigma Alpha Mu to the Fraternity and Sorority Life Community! By: Sam Friday, Consultant for Sigma Alpha Mu What does it mean to leave your legacy? For Sigma Alpha Mu it means being an organization that prides itself on academic achievement and reinforcing those values through our engaged alumni and donors. The Sigma Alpha Mu Foundation gave out over $220,000 in scholarships last year to help further academic success of its members. We also award a $500 scholarship to every new member initiated with a 3.75 GPA or higher. We are investing in leaders at Illinois State University by developing a new fraternity on campus. You can build your legacy as a Founding Father of Sigma Alpha Mu.
Being a founding father (or advisor) is a unique opportunity that allows you to shape an organization. This is an opportunity to start something from the ground up and really influence how this fraternity impacts campus life and the community. It is our belief that this organization should be committed to not only making a change in the Greek community but the ISU and Bloomington/Normal community as well. We are looking for leaders interested in serving Feeding America or raising money to fund research to find a cure Alzheimer's by raising money for The Judy Fund. Our vision for this fraternity is to be diverse and inclusive for men from all aspects of campus life. If you know a student who wants to build their skills, experience and legacy please reach out to Sam Friday (850-417-3630; samuel@sam.org), Austin Anderson (360-305-7241; austina@sam.org), or fill out our interest form (https://goo.gl/1zgCYV) to find out more about this opportunity at ISU!
Page 19 Right: Sisters of Omega Phi Beta Sorority Inc. at sisterhood retreat
Above: Brothers of Kappa Sigma tabling at Winterfest
Above: Sisters of Phi Sigma Sigma at Girls Night In!
Left: Sisters of Zeta Tau Alpha at ISU Women’s Basketball Game
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FSL Office Reminders Hazing Prevention Modules MUST be completed - March 9
Council Events
University Events SPRING BREAK:
CPC
March 12-16
IFC MGC
Want to be featured? Please email a headline, article, and 1-3 pictures to:
Allison Murray Graduate Assistant
vpsaamurra2@.ilstu.edu All Submissions are due by Friday, March 26 at 4:00pm!
Please inform FSL of any dietary restrictions or accommodations necessary to fully participate in any of our events.