Advisor Newsletter

October 2016
UPCOMING GREEK LIFE EVENTS

Recruitment Recap:
Greek Life gains 292 new members following recruitment:
Now that IFC and Panhellenic formal recruitment has come to an end, we
are proud to welcome new men and women into our Greek community. Through all
of the planning and hard work from our chapter members, we added many eager
and engaged students that we know will make a difference.
Our sorority women held their formal recruitment on Friday, September 9 th
through Monday, September 12th. Two hundred and thirty-eight potential new
members (PNMs) participated in the Open House round of recruitment, and 199
women received a bid. In 2015, 229 PNMs received bids. This year, sororities took
a new approach to recruiting women. All chapters moved towards a values-based
recruitment which is a new policy from the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC).
According to NPC, the purpose of values-based recruitment is to ensure the future
of chapters, to make connections and build relationships between chapter members
and PNMs, to discover shared interests and values among chapter members and
PNMs, and to display the high standards held by all NPC member organizations.
Our fraternity men held their recruitment shortly after, starting on Monday,
September 12th through Friday, September 16th. One hundred and seventy-eight
PNMs registered for recruitment, but 156 PNMs were eligible to participate in our
recruitment process due to IFCs 2.50 GPA recruitment. Ninety-three men accepted
bids. In 2015, 109 men accepted bids. This year IFC added two new events to their
pre- recruitment process which were Fraternity Mingle and Rec Night. Our fraternity
chapters also decided to provide university transportation this year to all the chapter
houses during their Open House event. The intent was to increase participation and
relieve the concerns of PNMS who may not have transportation. This year the Greek
Life Office asked chapters to take attendance at their events during recruitment
week. This information is being used to track PNM trends and aid in future IFC
recruitment planning processes.
National Pan-Hellenic Council hosted their Black Greek Forum event during
the first week of the semester. Forty-four students attended the event. Members
talked about their experiences in an NPHC chapter, their organizations commitment
to service, and membership expectations. The event concluded with each chapter
strolling.
At this time, all IFC chapters have closed their recruitment process for the
semester. Some Panhellenic chapters are able to participate in Continuous Open

October

Greek Visit Day

Greeks Do Green Dot
Presidents Meeting
Midterm Week
Homecoming

10. 1
10.3-10.7
10.4
10.10-10.14
10.24-10.29

November

Presidents Meeting
11.1
Scholarship Ceremony
11.10
Greek Speaker
11.16
Panhellenic/IFC Elections
11.17
Thanksgiving Break
11.23-11.27

December/January

No Programming Dates 12.10-12.16

Finals Week
12.10-12.16
Commencement
12.16
Winter Break
12.17-1.8
Classes Resume
1.9
MLK Day (No Classes)
1.16

Black Greek Forum

This forum focused on increasing awareness of the
intake process for National Pan-Hellenic Council
chapters and discussing their Greek experiences.

Greeks for a Greater Good

During Family Weekend, Greek Life hosted its annual Greeks
for a Greater Good event. This event involves Greek
members volunteering to stay in a car all weekend long until
their organization donates enough supplies to release them.
This year, all donations went to the Nodaway Humane
Society and the Maryville Ministry Center.

Recruitment. NPHC chapters partake in an intake process. For NPHC chapters

wishing to participate in intake, please remember to fill out the Notice of
Intention to Conduct Membership Intake Process form in the Greek Life Office.
Look for information in December about our spring recruitment/intake
processes.
We are off to a great start with our new members and are excited to
see what roles they will play in the future of Greek Life at Northwest.

Homecoming 2016: Its time to Make Your Move

With Homecoming quickly approaching, our Greek chapters are hard
at work. From building and pomping for Big Float to collecting cans for Canned

National Hazing Prevention Week

Art, Homecoming is a perfect time for Greeks to come together and support a

Order of Omega members showcase the National Hazing

Prevention Week Banner, which displays signatures of Greek
members that take a stand against hazing. This week raises
awareness and educates students about hazing.

long-standing Northwest tradition.

Homecoming is a week-long celebration that highlights athletics,
student organizations and entertainment. The week of Homecoming serves as
a time for all Northwest students to unite and show their Bearcat pride. All

Elections: Ways to prepare your chapter...

Homecoming events are open to students, alumni, faculty, staff, families,

friends and community members; we hope you will join us! The events for

Drive interest: Highlight all of the benefits of

holding an executive board position, both
personally and professionally.
Identify potential next-in-line members: Look
for members who have the experience and
skills to take on positions but also reach out to
members that may need extra
encouragement to run.
Set a date & time: Make sure your chapter has
set a date and time for elections as well as
made the chapter aware of elections.
Develop an application: If your chapter
doesnt have one, form an application or
Letter of Intent for the open positions. The
application could include experience, skills,
ideas and interest for the position.
Review your bylaws: Be aware of what your
chapter bylaws state regarding elections.
Make your members aware of any bylaws that
could potentially affect them during elections.
Prepare for transitions: Start preparing your
current executive board for transitions.
Encourage them to organize all files and
documents in the upcoming weeks.

Homecoming week include:

Hanging of the Banners

October 23

Canned Art

October 24

Variety Show

October 27/28

Royalty Crowning

October 27

Walkout Day Celebration October 28

Parade

October 29

Bearcat Football

October 29

Awards

October 20

Our Greek students are heavily involved in Homecoming with a

number of events and activities. Members will participate in making banners,
preparing skits, building floats, jalopies, and clowns for the parade. Usually,
two Greek organizations will pair up for these events, which is a great way to
get to know other chapters. We are excited to announce 8 out of the 11
Homecoming Royalty Candidates are Greek.
If you have any additional questions or would like more information,
feel free to email homecmg@nwmissouri.edu or call 660-562-1226.

My culture is not a costume

Avoid stereotypical costumes this Halloween:
The month of October is notoriously known for Halloween. On
college campuses around the country, students are creating and planning the
next best costume for the upcoming year. In recent years, Halloween
costumes have been brought to the forefront. Somehow along the way, ethnic
and racial stereotypes have become the go-to Halloween costumes for
college students to wear. Though most students may not realize the
implications of these costumes, it is time to take a stand against racially
offensive costumes as a Greek community.
In 2011, Students Teaching About Racism in Society, an
organization at Ohio University started a campaign Were a Culture, Not a
Costume and it went viral. This campaign was created to make people
think twice before creating a questionable costume and potentially reducing
a culture to something much smaller. It is important to understand the
takebacks of dressing up as a culture for Halloween and how that could be
offensive not only to our members in the Greek community, but also those on
our Northwest campus. The bottom line is, the themes and costumes you
choose directly reflect your chapter and Greek Life as a whole.
Not only are these costumes offensive, but they can also have
serious consequences and implications. On a National level, our office
reached out to one fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon Headquarters, to gain more
insight on what could happen if our chapters are displaying offensive
costumes during Halloween. The Member Safety Director from Sigma Phi
Epsilon, Kathy Johnston, let our office know that each of their chapters are
provided with an educational resource guide that discusses themed parties
and themed costumes that are not acceptable. They also provide their
chapters with a list of themes to avoid as well as a list of 30 alternative themes
for their chapters. If a chapter was to host a culturally offensive themed party,
Johnston said, The national organization would take immediate action to
address the situation. Working alongside the university, the consequences
would depend on the chapter history. But some potential consequences
could include: cease and desist of operations, a membership review,
education programming and closure. As advisors, we expect you to help
enforce the policies of your organization and to hold your chapters
accountable.
By avoiding racially and culturally offensive themes and costumes,
our Greek community can show respect and acceptance of the campus we
are a part of. Northwest is committed to supporting diversity through our
Strategic Objective 3: Enhancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Raising
awareness for this issue shows our community that diminishing an entire
culture to a costume is not acceptable. We invite you all to make your chapter
aware of this issue and encourage them to realize that a culture is more than
a costume.

2015-2016
Panhellenic Council
Executive Board

Were A Culture, Not A Costume Campaign

THANKS FOR READING!

Next Month: November
In the November newsletter, we reflect back on all
Homecoming awards and winners. We will also
discuss chapter elections as well as information for
effective Executive Board transitions and the
importance of those transitions.

Contact Us:
Lauren Stehlik
Greek Life Coordinator
STEHLIK@nwmissouri.edu
660.562.1226
Works with Advisors, Presidents,
Administration, Judicial, Interfraternity
Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council
Alex Taylor
Greek Life Graduate Assistant
GREEKGA@nwmissouri.edu
660.562.1226
Works with Greek Life website, Rosters,
Grades, Greek Week, and Panhellenic
Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council