News from the Industry

A trial date has been set for 21 members of Penn State’s Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, after the death of new member Tim Piazza last year. The defendants are accused of hazing, reckless endangerment, and other charges. The trial has been set for early next year, with a preliminary hearing for 10 of the defendants on August 21, as reported by NBC 10.

Zeta Xi/Harvard

As Theta CEO Betsy Corridan announced yesterday, Grand Council has, with great regret, accepted the relinquishment of the charter of the Zeta Xi Chapter at Harvard. You can learn more in Fraternity President Mandy Wusinske’s blog post and in an article in yesterday’s online edition of The Harvard Crimson.

Grand Council Meeting

Committee Assignments

At its meeting last week Grand Council made the following assignments for the 2018 – 2020 biennium.

• Audit Committee: Chairman Jane Dick, Michelle Geiger

• Enterprise Risk Management Committee: Chairman Heather Granato, Cynthea Yestal, Kellie Dickerson, and TJ Condon

• Personnel Committee: Chairman Mandy Wushinske, Jane Dick, Mary Jane Beach, and Leah Hartman

• FHC Director & Vice President: Cate Bibb

• Theta Foundation Trustee: Erica Ochs

NPC Changes

Laura Doerre has been appointed National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) delegate effective August 1, 2018. Under the proposed governance structure for NPC, delegations (delegate and three alternate delegates) will no longer exist after October 2019. Beginning next fall, NPC will be governed by an elected board of seven, eliminating the need for each member group to assign a delegate to the board. Operational volunteers, primarily our current alternate delegates, will continue to serve NPC as area advisors and subject matter experts. Instead of appointing alternate delegates to serve just one year, Kappa Alpha Theta is proud to have EIGHT volunteers serving as area advisors and/or subject matter experts: Kelley Hurst, Debbie Ilchak, Joan Kreiger, Lindsay Sell, Christa Sobon, Jennifer Strimaitis, Kara Van Duzee, and Rebecca Whitney. 

During this transition year, Christa Sobon will serve as team leader for Theta’s NPC volunteers, allowing Laura to focus solely on governing the Conference. Since much of NPC operations is recruitment-related and the administrative oversight of campus Panhellenic issues already falls to Assistant Director of Collegiate Services Ansley Howze, Ansley will serve as staff liaison to this team. 

Emerging Leaders Institute (ELI) Session 2

Kappa Alpha Theta held ELI Session 2 July 19-22 at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. ELI provides leadership education and development to undergraduate members, with an emphasis on emerging leaders. The curriculum focuses on increasing skill development and understanding leadership as a relational process. Any undergraduate Theta who considers herself an emerging leader was encouraged to apply. Emerging leadership is defined not by age, but rather by experience with leadership education and development. Forty-two students attended Session 2 and represented 30 college chapters. We would like to acknowledge and thank the facilitators and Theta volunteers who joined us for Session 2 of ELI.

• Jason H. Nolen-Doerr, Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity, director for the center of student involvement for Northeastern University
• Chris Hager, Sigma Nu Fraternity, assistant director of fraternity and sorority life for IUPUI
• Andrea Kleekamp, Delta Eta/Kansas State, director of health & wellness for Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity
• Kim Lewis, Kappa Delta Sorority, senior project manager 
• Ben Nelson, Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity, leadership development coordinator
• Natalie Padron, Zeta Eta/Wofford, administrative advisor for Beta Gamma/Colorado State, assistant director of fraternity and sorority life at Colorado State University

Search #ThetaELI18 on Theta’s social media outlets to see pictures from the weekend! If you have any questions regarding ELI, please contact Victoria Stankus, assistant director of education and leadership. 

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