Fraternity Alumni Consortium aids Greek Life
The alumni held an Academic Achievement Ceremony for eight fraternities.
Published April 27, 2010
The Fraternity Alumni Consortium is more than a year old this month and is beginning to take shape at MU through fraternity development.
"It was founded on April 10, 2009, by alumni from 11 fraternities who represent the alumni housing corporations that own the houses," Chairman Ted Hellman said. "There are alumni from 26 fraternities that are members of the consortium. That includes fraternities that are off campus, and we work to help them regain their university recognition."
Greek Life Coordinator Julie Drury said there are a variety of alumni who come back and work with students.
"We have a variety of alumni that work together from all four councils to help with the guidance and development of chapters," Drury said in an e-mail. "They might work individually with their chapter or with the university and office on special projects and issues."
Hellman said the organization aims to enhance the growth of the fraternity system.
"We're working on several areas," Hellman said. "Academic achievement, recruitment, governance, housing, behaviors, best practices and homecoming."
"Best practices" is a common term used in the business and organization world. In the instance of the fraternities, it is typical for one fraternity to be exceptional in one area of development, such as recruitment or academic achievement, and perhaps not do so well in another category. The exchange of best practices allows the fraternities to exchange information for the things they typically do well to improve the state of others.
Hellman said his organization follows the M Book guidelines and the code of conduct that each national fraternity has when addressing behavior.
"We take the key points and put it into our standards," Hellman said. "Each fraternity has alumni that works with them in advisory capacity, and in addition to that, the Office of Greek Life has staff that addresses the behavior."
The Fraternity Alumni Consortium has also established academic goals for the fraternities to meet.
"We have established a goal for every fraternity to consistently achieve a GPA that is greater than or equal to the university," Hellman said.
Former Interfraternity Council President Danny Jonas said this semester is the first semester that the Fraternity Alumni Consortium has really began reaching out.
The Fraternity Alumni Consortium held an Academic Achievement Recognition Ceremony on April 12 in the Jesse Hall Rotunda. Beta Theta Pi, Acacia, Phi Kappa Theta, Sigma Chi, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Delta Tau Delta, Alpha Gamma Sigma and Delta Upsilon were the eight fraternities recognized for their cumulative academic excellence last semester. Hellman said the Office of Greek Life provides them with the GPA and academic information about the fraternities.
The organization holds monthly board meetings with its members to discuss progress in academic achievement, behavior audits, Greek Life and other topics pertinent to the organization. The alumni are spread out between Columbia and St. Louis, and the meetings utilize the video conference capabilities at the library to stay connected, Hellman said.
"This is the only formalized group of alumni that get together on their own," Drury said. "It only applies to fraternities that are a part of the Interfraternity Council. The Office of Greek Life from the university calls regular meetings with alumni advisors from all Greek organizations two to four times per year."