The Update | March 30, 2021

The Update

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March 30, 2021

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Published

March 30, 2021

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Lorie Land

Industry Update Provided by NPC

This week

Various outlets continued to report on the aftermath of recent hazing deaths, including reporting from The Columbus Dispatch about REACH Act legislation being reintroduced to the U.S. Senate to combat hazing in higher education. Additionally, ABC News offered coverage with Stone Foltz’s parents speaking out about their son’s death at Bowling Green State University.

The Chronicle of Higher Education (view PDF) previews a pending vote within the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) regarding Panhellenic recruitment eligibility, with implications for potential new members who identify as gender nonbinary. The reporter, Sarah Brown, spoke with several representatives from Delta Phi Epsilon, both national leaders and college members. NPC CEO Dani Weatherford spoke with the reporter on Friday and provided context to the upcoming vote and spoke about the Conference’s access and equity initiatives.

Last week

Outlets nationwide continue to report on the aftermath of recent hazing deaths on campus, including reporting from The Columbus Dispatch about the latest in the investigation of the death of Stone Foltz at Bowling Green State University. Additionally, regional outlets like WGNO-ABC offered coverage of the re-introduction of the End All Hazing Act by U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Bob Casey, D-Pa.

In Missouri, St. Louis Public Radio includes commentary from NPC CEO Dani Weatherford within coverage of the Abolish Greek Life Movement at Washington-St. Louis. The reporter writes: Some sororities were already having conversations about improving diversity, and even more have begun since last summer, said Dani Weatherford, CEO of the National Panhellenic Conference, one of two sorority umbrella organizations. “These national conversations have really put that work on fast forward. The modern sorority woman or the modern Panhellenic sorority woman is increasingly diverse,” Weatherford added.

Kappa Alpha Theta Style Guide for Workforce

Have you ever wondered why sometimes an office name is capitalized and other times it is not? Good news: a new two-page Style Guide for Workforce is available in Igloo > Files > Resources > Volunteer Resources. It covers numbers & symbols, Theta grammar, and Theta Portal terminology. We hope it is as helpful for you as it is for staff.

Theta Foundation Chapter & Individual Grants

Theta Foundation’s Quarter 4 Chapter & Individual Grant Applications (for programs beginning on or after June 1) are due by 3:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 14. Find application links and resources on the Apply for Scholarships & Grants page. Please contact Theta Foundation Programs Manager Mary Kate Smith with questions.

The Bulletin

The March issue of The Bulletin has been posted in Theta Portal > Chapter Portal > HQDocs > The Bulletin. The Bulletin is intended for all college and alumnae chapter officers and advisors, and they were notified by email. Workforce members always have access to The Bulletin via Igloo > Files > The Bulletin. The Bulletin is Theta’s main communication source for college chapter officers and advisors and alumnae chapter officers. The Update is Theta’s main communication source for the workforce and should not be shared or forwarded to non-workforce members. An article in this issue reminds officers that they are not allowed to “opt out” of emails sent from Theta headquarters. If you are a chapter officer or advisor, and you are NOT receiving The Bulletin emails, please email Lorie Land, manual coordinator, to have this problem resolved. It is possible you have mistakenly chosen to “opt out.”

Education & Training News

College Officer Training

From January to March, we have been hosting different training sessions for college officers to help orient them to their roles and connect to resources. The trainings were held at different times to help accommodate schedules. (For example, January and February are bad months for recruitment officers with deferred recruitment, and March is too late for our member orientation and ritual officers.) Sending a BIG thank-you to the staff and volunteers who helped us plan and execute these trainings. Since January, we have more than 1000 attendees at these sessions.

Advisor Training

Our winter session for the advisor onboarding program concluded last week with nearly 100 participants. Our spring session will start in mid-April and our registration link has already been sent to advisors. While this online program is designed for new advisors, it is open to any advisor.

StrengthsQuest

We have been offering StrengthsQuest sessions to officers and advisors since January. In that time, we have provided this training to 91 advisors and 523 college officers. We are opening our StrengthsQuest program to all undergraduate members this week, hosting 13 training sessions during the month of April. We will also send messages to advisors announcing another ten programs for them in May. Thank you to Theta Foundation for making these programs possible!

Leadership Summits

Our leadership development opportunities have moved online. Instead of the in-person Leadership Academy for one college officer a year, we are hosting three virtual summits open to ALL college officers. Our first summit was held on March 20 with 20 participants. Thank you to Lisa Combs and Melissa Rocco for their expert facilitation. We will be hosting a May session and a June session for college officers. As well, we will be sending a note to advisors in the coming weeks about an advisor summit in June. We continue to be incredibly thankful for Theta Foundation for making our leadership programs possible!