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From the North American Interfraternity Conference:

Long-time prominent higher education researcher Dr. Gary R. Pike of Indiana University recently presented conclusions of a study on fraternity and sorority membership at the Foundation for Fraternal Excellence Seminar in advance of publishing these results. The study finds fraternity and sorority members are significantly more engaged than non-members, report greater gains in learning and are more satisfied with their college experiences.

Dr. Pike finds that fraternity and sorority membership is associated with significantly higher levels of engagement on a number of measures including high impact practices, collaborative learning, student-faculty interactions, perception of a supportive campus environment and discussions with diverse others.

Some specific conclusions found in Dr. Pike’s study included:

• Fraternity/sorority membership also indirectly improved learning gains, acting through higher levels of student engagement.
• Despite being less diverse than students in general, fraternity/sorority members reported higher levels of interaction with people different from themselves than did other students.
• Membership in a fraternity or sorority is associated with greater involvement in curricular and co-curricular activities, promotes student learning and development, and promotes satisfaction with the college experiences.
• The largest positive effects were generally found for first-year students, arguing against deferring recruitment until the second semester or second year.
• The findings of this study indicate that fraternities and sororities are not antithetical to the values of American higher education.
• Problems found throughout higher education including alcohol use and abuse, hazing, sexual assault and academic achievement (i.e., grades) remain in Greek-letter organizations as well. Effectively addressing these issues will better allow fraternities and sororities to contribute to the academic and social life of American colleges and universities.

Read the Full Press Release from the North American Interfraternity Conference Here.

Resources:

• Full Study: The Greek Experience Revisited: The Relationships between Fraternity/Sorority Membership and Student Engagement, Learning Outcomes, Grades, and Satisfaction with College by Dr. Gary E. Pike
• Items Comprising NSSE Engagement Indicators, High-Impact Practices, Learning Gains, and Satisfaction Scales
• Video: Dr. Pike’s presentation for Foundation for Fraternal Excellence

On Saturday, July 25th, Jeremy McKeon, Eta ’08 (Lehigh) became the 25th president of the Executive Council at its Annual Meeting of the Directors. Jeremy joined the Council in 2011 and has served as secretary and vice-president previously. He was also a past president of the Goodale Literary Association, the alumni association of the Eta Chapter.

Jeremy’s predecessor, Evan Terry, Epsilon Phi ’93 (McGill University) now joins his fellow past presidents as a Life Member of the Executive Council after over 20 years of service on both the Foundation and Executive Council.

Jeremy graduated from Lehigh University with a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering and continued his studies at Columbia University and received his Master’s degree in 2011. He is currently the CEO of Azimuth Engineering Group, an engineering services firm he founded in 2018. He currently lives in Northern New Jersey with his wife, Vanessa, and son Caspian.

The other elected officers of the Executive Council are:

Vice President – Christian Brydges, Nu ’95 (Toronto)

Secretary – David Hollis, Gamma Tau ’11 (Georgia Tech)

Treasurer – Timothy Zepp, Chi Delta ’08 (Duke University)

On July 1st Ashley Stein is being promoted from Administrative Assistant to Director of Member Services for Psi Upsilon Fraternity. Her role will now include working with alumni and undergraduate officers as they utilize MemberPlanet, our online database, to facilitate communication within chapters.

Ashley joined our staff in October of 2019 and prior to that worked in administration, working with animals, and taught English in South Korea. Originally from Fishers, IN, Ashley graduated from Purdue University and also took classes at the University of Rennes in France.

June 1, 2020

Psi Upsilon Fraternity extends its deepest condolences to the family of George Floyd, the greater Minneapolis Community, and all those affected by this reprehensible act of violence which resulted in his untimely death. It has been a difficult and emotional week, particularly for Black Americans and we hope that all our members are safe at this time.

Psi Upsilon’s values are lifelong friendship, moral leadership, intellectual engagement, responsible social conduct, and service to society. Racism, xenophobia, violence, and any form of discrimination is not congruent with our values in any way. To truly live the mission of Psi Upsilon all members must condemn any and all acts of bigotry and hatred wherever they may come across it.

But making statements to this effect are not enough and we can, and must, do more. We will be working on opportunities to support our members and provide resources on inclusion in our communities and develop the courage to speak up when they see discrimination in any form – whether on their campus, workplace or elsewhere. We do not have answers currently and want to be thoughtful about this serious issue. If you would like to be directly involved, or have suggestions to pass along, please reach out to Executive Director, Thomas Fox, at tfox@psiu.org.

In addition, we encourage chapters and alumni associations to reach out to your local ACLU or similar organizations for ways to support your local communities.

Psi Upsilon’s Policy on Diversity and Inclusion: https://psiu.org/diversity-and-inclusion/

On Sunday, May 3^rd, the Executive Council of Psi Upsilon decided to postpone the 177^th Convention and cancel the 2020 Leadership Institute in Atlanta, GA – originally planned for July 24^th through 27^th. In 1841 Psi Upsilon became the first fraternity to hold a convention, and since that time the annual event has grown to become a wonderful celebration of our great fraternity. In addition, the Leadership Institute provides unique educational experiences relevant to our brothers and those that support them, and it is a highlight of our calendar.

The wellbeing of our brothers was our greatest concern, and we did not feel we could provide a safe and responsible environment given the current environment and uncertainty of the future. Today, months after COVID-19 began affecting the United States and Canada, so much is still unknown about the disease, including how long it will be around, if it will come back, and how our day-to-day lives will be affected moving forward. The Executive Council had hoped that by this time, there would be more answers and that we would still be able to host Convention as scheduled. However, we do not feel we can risk our brothers’ health or gamble that the ability to travel and convene in large groups will be safe and allowed by the end of July.

We are committed to hosting a quality virtual event in its place and holding a remote experience to report on the activities of the Fraternity, Foundation and Executive Council and all brothers of the fraternity will be invited to attend. In addition, unique educational opportunities will be provided to our members over the course of the summer to replace the leadership institute experience and help them prepare for the Fall. The dates, times and logistics for these meetings will be shared in the coming weeks.

Those who have already registered and paid for the Convention will be receiving a full refund.

We’d like to thank the Gamma Tau Chapter at Georgia Tech and the Psi Upsilon Society of Georgia for all the work they’ve done to help prepare for this event. While we are disappointed about the cancelation, we look forward to celebrating the 50^th anniversary of Psi Upsilon at Georgia Tech in person when it becomes safe to do so.

While we know that this news is disappointing, we know that when we meet in person again, the reunion will be even more special. In 2021 we plan to convene the 177^th Convention in Madison, Wisconsin and hope you will be able to join us then. We plan to return to Atlanta in 2023 for the 179th Psi Upsilon Convention.