Success in New Model Implementation
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n fall 2022, Phi Gamma Delta began implementation of the New Model to Build Courageous Leaders. This followed the vote of the 174th Ekklesia in August 2022 to eliminate pledging effective July 1, 2024, and immediately allow chapters to initiate new members without a pledging probationary period. This proposal and decision came after the Ekklesia delegates understood the decades-long challenges related to hazing, higher education enrollment trends which are
Embracing Change Male undergraduate enrollment has been declining for several years and is expected to continue to decline through the next decade. Broadly, less than 10% of undergraduate men join fraternities. • 35% of men consider joining but do not because they have a poor impression (related to hazing and alcohol use). • 26% of men do not even consider joining due to concerns of hazing. Of men who considered but did not join, 9% cited they “didn’t know how to sign up,” indicating a gap in our current recruitment processes.
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expected to continue significant declines through the next decade, and new research which identifies hazing concerns as a significant reason that men do not join fraternities.
“As soon as I opened the door to the recruitment event, I felt the brotherhood and I have never felt it leave since. When we continued through the process of our Built to Lead events, I could tell I really fit in. It was a great bonding experience.”- Evan Robbins (Embry-Riddle 2026)
While it may seem that the focus of the New Model is the elimination of pledging, in fact the most substantial shifts are in the way our undergraduate chapters recruit and evaluate men before inviting them to join, and the continuous development and educational opportunities for undergraduate members. The New Model puts a greater emphasis on quality, values-based recruitment, reduces the power dynamic inherent in the pledging model and at the heart of fraternity hazing, and aims to provide a more fulfilling undergraduate experience which will positively impact retention through graduation.
Early Adopters - Early Success The decisions of the 174th Ekklesia mean that all undergraduate chapters must adopt a no-pledging joining process by July 1, 2024. But the Ekklesia also allowed
THE PHI GAMMA DELTA FALL 2023
chapters to adopt this process before 2024, paving the way for Early Adopters of the New Model. Early Adopters are supported by staff and one of thirty-eight trained Chapter Coaches who work with a chapter to develop their implementation plan and support the chapter in its first 12-18 months of implementation. In the first year (the 2022-23 academic year) more than 40% of undergraduate chapters began implementation. Results and feedback from 2022-2023 Early Adopters have been generally positive. It can, and does, take chapters time to plan and adjust their recruitment and member development techniques. However, once they do, chapters are seeing success. Preliminary data suggests two significant themes: 1. Early Adopters are initiating more men and retaining them at a greater rate than
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