Fraternity and Sorority Life Blog

MSU Leaders Take on IMPACT

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During the weekend of January 19, seventy student leaders including IFC, NPHC, and PHA chapter presidents and council executive boards headed to Windermere Conference Center for a beginning of the year leadership retreat called IMPACT. IMPACT is a program from the North American Interfraternity Conference and is a campus-based leadership institute designed to foster improved relationships among campus leaders through an intensive interactive program. The program also emphasizes problem solving, leadership and community development, effective communication, and values-based decision making. During the weekend, leaders also identified and confronted issues facing their chapters and the Fraternity and Sorority Life community as a whole.

Many of the participants commented on their favorite part of the weekend. Brittany Buchannon, NPHC Chapter President and member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. said “my favorite part about impact would have to be our break away sessions. This gave us the opportunity to speak freely and more candidly without much pressure from the entire retreat population. We were able to specify strategies to improve our councils as well as build more personal comfort and relationships with one another.” Alpha Chi Omega Chapter President, Alyssa Kohrs said, “I enjoyed the networking opportunities that I gained while I was at IMPACT. Getting to know all the other amazing people from the PHA, IFC, and NPHC community was so beneficial and making those connections will be useful for this upcoming year.”

The attendees gained lots of tools to help them conquer the upcoming year and make an impact on the community. Morgan Drury, Gamma Phi Beta Chapter President said, “I am most excited to make effective changes in our community this year. After having time to collaborate as leaders, we have talked about a few different things that we would like to accomplish together. I can’t wait to help improve not only my chapter but the FSL community as a whole!” Carter William, IFC President and member of Sigma Nu Fraternity said he learned a great deal about “creating cohesion across all of FSL.” He also commented about one of the sessions they attended saying, “we as FSL members truly dove into what our image is as a community[…] also addressing the harsh realities that our FSL community is encountering and working with others to plan strategies to address those realities.” Elliot McComas, Theta Chi Chapter President, shared, “I’m excited for the chance to put my chapter in a place where they can flourish into the best version of themselves. I want to use my position to empower our members to make an impact on campus and in the Springfield community and turn our culture into one that is built on service.”

We are so proud of the impact these leaders will make not only in their chapters, or in their councils, but across our campus and Springfield community this next year!

What is UIFI and Why You Should Apply!

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What is UIFI?

The Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute, otherwise known as UIFI, is a five day institute held in Bloomington, Indiana on Indiana University’s campus where students from all over the United States come to learn with and from peers who belong to various organizations and councils. Through exploration of critical issues in thought-provoking activities, the program is intended to help you identify the leader you want to be and where you can make the most impact in your chapter, council or community.

Brandon McCoy of Theta Chi, reflects on his experience this past summer at UIFI, “My favorite part of UIFI was getting to work with a variety of students and FSL professionals to create a tangible plan of action for our chapters and communities. We didn’t just discuss problems; we brainstormed solutions and created step-by-step plans to tackle the challenges we identified.”

Megan Asbury of Alpha Chi Omega says, “My favorite part of UIFI was getting to meet and interact with fraternity men and sorority women from all over the United States. During UIFI, you get put into a small group with approximately seven other individuals from different councils and schools. You spend so much time with them throughout the session and get to share goals and bounce ideas off of one another. I still talk to the individuals in my small group on a regular basis. I got to make friends out of some extremely inspiring individuals. Since UIFI, one girl in my group now serves as the Texas State Panhellenic President, a guy in my group is now in charge of underwriting his fraternity’s petition to charter, and another is serving as the IFC President at University of Nebraska-Omaha. It’s awesome to see these people succeed in their communities.”

Brandon McCoy shares, “The biggest takeaway for me was an exercise where the fraternity and sorority system as a whole was examined and put on trial. Students had to present benefits and consequences of the system, and it was eye-opening to experience the debate that college and state decision-makers have been going through for years. It was motivating to make our experience in FSL as positive as it can be, and share that with others to sell the value of having fraternities and sororities on campus. It’s up to our actions if we want to see fraternities and sororities to continue to exist on college campuses.”

 

Megan shares, “My biggest takeaway was learning how to turn our “big R” (ritual ceremonies) into a “little r” (living the lesson of my ritual in my everyday life). An overall theme of UIFI is centered around using our values, which typically align with our organizations, to live out our lives authentically. Leaving UIFI, I felt inspired to teach this lesson to my chapter. Additionally, we were taught to discover the purpose of leadership: not what we do (chapter meetings, recruitment, etc), but the why behind these activities (sisterhood, professional development, networking, personal growth, etc).”

Why Should You Apply?

Brandon shares, “UIFI is a great learning experience that I would encourage others to attend. It’s an uplifting environment of others who deeply care about fraternity and sorority life. I now have friends I keep in contact with from around the country who I can go to for advice about my chapter and our campus.” 

Megan shares, “If you are a collegiate leader or aspire to be one, I encourage you to attend UIFI. You get to examine not only your leadership abilities, but your role in Fraternity and Sorority Life as a whole. You dig deep into issues our communities are faced with, while learning how to combat the stigma that we as sorority/fraternity members are often confronted by.”

How to Apply:

Register online!

Missouri State FSL is offering a scholarship for UIFI for the 2018 summer. You can find it online here, on the right side of the page under Applications. If you have any questions, contact the FSL Advisor, Kate Roessler at KRoessler@missouristate.edu.

Make sure to check out and see if your national organization offers scholarships to help ease or pay for the cost of attending!