The Interfraternity Council (IFC) won three awards at the annual Southeastern Interfraternity Conference (SEIFC) last month, earning recognition for recruitment, risk management and community outreach.
SEIFC is a collaboration between more than 100 fraternity governing councils in the Southeast that aims to “bring together institutions and individuals with a commitment to fraternity life on college and university campuses,” according to the organization’s website. The conference was from Feb. 21 to 23 in Atlanta, and four IFC executive board members attended.
College junior and IFC President Jason Stern wrote in an email to the Wheel that Emory IFC won awards for Best Risk Management and Judicial Procedures, Excellence in Community Outreach and honorable mention for Best Recruitment Practices.
Member institutions may apply for awards in three broad categories: outstanding overall achievement, outstanding achievement in specific programming areas and individual recognition, according to the website.
SEIFC Achievement Awards recognize fraternity governing councils in 11 different categories.
“The IFC executive board puts in a lot of time and effort to keep this community strong, and it was nice to receive recognition from our peer institutions across the Southeast,” Stern wrote.
Stern wrote that in terms of recruitment, IFC expanded its Sunday Night Dinner program this year, allowing each fraternity to host an extra dinner during last semester. This program allows freshmen interested in Greek life to have dinner at a fraternity house of their choice and learn more about the organization.
In addition, Director of the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life Megan Janasiewicz gave presentations about Greek life to freshmen at Pre-Major Advising Connections (PACE) at Emory sessions in the fall. Stern explained that the PACE presentations “helped inform students about upcoming events and the recruitment process.”
IFC also improved its risk management policies this year, Stern said, now requiring fraternities to register to hold mixers and date parties through the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life.
“This allowed us to communicate better with [the] Emory Police [Department (EPD)] about what events would be occurring on the Row each night,” Stern wrote. “It also required that fraternities take similar precautions for these events as they would for large registered parties.”
Stern attributed IFC’s community outreach award to the organization’s work with EPD in the past year, specifically “making sure the row is safe for students.” In addition, he said IFC aimed to improve its relationship with the Emory community this year, as was demonstrated in the high participation from Greek organizations at Emory Cares Day, an annual service event in which students volunteer at various locations across Atlanta, and the recognition IFC received for its Greek Wonderful Wednesdays.
This year was not the first time IFC won awards at the conference. Last year, Emory IFC earned recognition for recruitment, risk management and the IFC website.
– By Jordan Friedman
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