Shining Example of Panhellenic Excellence

Look no further than the University of Oklahoma to find one shining example of excellence in College Panhellenic operations. Last weekend I presented the NPC Excellence Award to the OU College Panhellenic. University officials, sorority chapter leaders and inter/national leaders representing the 11 NPC chapters on campus were in attendance for this special recognition event.

NPC recognized 11 campuses with this award for the 2013-14 academic year. Other Excellence Award recipients included the College of William and Mary, Georgia Institute of Technology, Indiana State University, Mississippi State University, Texas Christian University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Kentucky, University of South Carolina and University of Southern Mississippi. With 585 College Panhellenics in North America, you can imagine it is quite an honor to receive this level of recognition. Campuses range in size but the common thread among all of them is superior performance in seven areas identified as core functions of College Panhellenic operations. These include:

• Recruitment planning and execution
• Panhellenic structure
• Regular communication with the NPC area advisor
• Implementation of NPC judicial procedure
• Panhellenic programming
• Academics
• Panhellenic community impact and relations

NPC views these core functions as key factors in the success of any College Panhellenic. OU’s efforts truly represent and exemplify the values of the National Panhellenic Conference.

This event was part of a Panhellenic showcase weekend where we heard about the achievements as well as challenges the OU Panhellenic community has facec. The OU Panhellenic is banding together to heal and move forward following the recent fraternity incident that cast a negative light on fraternity and sorority life. Sorority women recognize opportunities to lead and offer solutions. There was agreement that good will come from what has happened as the community confronts the issues. This statement was profound: “We will all grow and improve.” As a blended group of inter/national and local chapter leaders, we held a roundtable discussion where we talked about the strengths and challenges that we face as sorority women. We drilled deep and discussed issues related to integrity versus image and accountability. We also talked about programming for seniors and how we can better use them as mentors and instill lifetime membership. Overall there was an unwavering commitment to advocate for the sorority experience. I walked away inspired by these young women as I listened to their hopes, their dreams and their convictions.

I look forward to watching OU “better its best,” as I do regard OU College Panhellenic as the gold standard. Here’s to OU!

UNITED VOICES ON CAPITOL HILL

As we consider the power of united voices on issues, we can point to our lobbying efforts in Washington. This marks the 10th consecutive year that sorority women have been involved in such endeavors. But lobbying is nothing new for the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC). In fact, we have history to prove that our united voices make a difference.

Panhellenic power was evident in the 1970s when sororities and fraternities learned that the government planned to eliminate all the membership restrictions based on gender in the proposed guidelines for Title IX of the Education Amendments. NPC acted promptly and issued a statement that the proposed regulations did not apply to private sororities with voluntary members. Letters and phone calls urged Congress to reconsider the position. As a result, Congress passed a bill providing exemption to social fraternities and sororities and certain youth organizations. President Gerald Ford signed the bill into law. This example illustrates positive outcomes from a united and concentrated interfraternity effort.

This year, more than 200 students and alumni will lobby on Capitol Hill in April to advocate on behalf of our sorority and fraternity community. 

The annual visits are sponsored by the Fraternal Government Relations Coalition, which is composed of NPC, the North-American Interfraternity Conference and the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee. Students will participate in two days of training to learn more about our public policy agenda. The participating alumni will join the students for an afternoon of training in preparation for our day on the Hill scheduled for April 29.

Here is our legislative agenda:

• Passing the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act 
• Protecting freedom of association rights under Title IX
• Focusing on campus sexual assault issues
• Ensuring every student’s right to due process
• Limiting alumni volunteer liability
•  Preserving charitable giving deductions

Why lobby?

This united lobbying effort raises our visibility among members of Congress and extends our reach, so we can continue to advocate for rights as single-sex private organizations.

For 10 years, these visits have allowed our sorority women to develop bipartisan relationships with members of Congress, paving the way for our voices to be heard on major issues that affect students. 

Lobbying teams meet with staff and members of Congress. These experiences provide learning opportunities for our students as they advocate alongside the inter/national leaders of sororities and fraternities.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. NPC and NIC are proposing a SAFE CAMPUS for all students and are dedicated to working with other parties to eradicate acts of sexual violence. Our joint statement reads: “The National Panhellenic Conference and North-American Interfraternity Conference organizations believe that one assault is too many. We fully understand and support campuses acting swiftly on behalf of a victim, and we are dedicated to supporting the victim’s rights -- whether he or she is our member or not. We also fully support the victim’s right to choose his or her course of justice.”

Watch for postings later this month, and learn more about our legislative agenda.

Will you join us in our crusade? We encourage our College Panhellenic leaders to launch sexual assault awareness campaigns on campuses and promote bystander empowerment. Sororities are a caring community that can provide emotional support to courageous women who step forward and report. 

Our march continues this month to advocate for many issues affecting the sorority movement. With our voices in unison, we can achieve our vision to advance sorority together. 

Stand strong. Stand united.