Cross & Crescent

Over the past few years, Lambda Chi Alpha has initiated a significant movement to act as a co-curricular partner in the college experience, which the Fraternity began in 2007 with the rollout of the True Brother Initiative.

This effort was the result of significant planning and research that included national leaders in higher education, clinical and developmental psychology, non-profit program management, fraternity administration, and many more.

The objectives we set were to develop a process, through a series of programs, that facilitate maturational development along critical developmental competencies for students in their late teens and early 20s.

Lambda Chi Alpha’s results prove that students participating in its programs are scoring higher marks in self awareness and self esteem (correlates to a potentiated reduction of alcohol and substance abuse), as well as capacity for authentic intimacy, empathy and altruism. Additionally, Lambda Chi Alpha chapters implementing these programs are scoring higher on academics, retention, campus involvement, and community service. As a result of Lambda Chi Alpha’s work, both the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) chose the Fraternity to present at their annual conferences.

““We are honored to be asked to present at two of the top conferences in higher education,” said Bill Farkas, executive vice president, Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. “The results of our True Brother Initiative prove that our educational programming is making a significant impact on the leadership and maturational development of our nearly 11,000 undergraduate. As a guest on almost 200 college and university campuses across North America, we are 100 percent committed to our mission and belief that we need to serve as co-curricular partners with our host institutions.”

NASPA

NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education is the leading voice for student affairs administration, policy, and practice, and affirms the commitment of the student affairs profession to educating the whole student and integrating student life and learning. With over 11,000 members at 1,400 campuses, and representing 29 countries, NASPA is the foremost professional association for student affairs administrators, faculty, and graduate and undergraduate students. NASPA members serve a variety of functions and roles, including the vice president and dean for student life, as well as professionals working within housing and residence life, student unions, student activities, counseling, career development, orientation, enrollment management, racial and ethnic minority support services, and retention and assessment.

Lambda Chi Presentations:

Values Based Student Development Initiative: An Empirical Study

3:45-5:00 p.m., Monday, March 8 Superior – B – Sheraton

Lambda Chi Alpha has introduced innovative programming as part of its co-curricular mission to facilitate the maturational development of undergraduate members along five core pathways: self awareness, self esteem, intimacy, empathy, and altruism. This program will describe the related conceptual frame, curriculum, and learning model designed to implement this initiative. In addition, the empirical results evaluating the impact of this initiative at both organizational and individual levels from the first two years of implementation will be presented.

A New Fraternity Legacy: Movement to Combat Hegemonic Masculinity

2:00-3:15 p.m., Tuesday, March 9 McHenry – Marriott

Few organizations on university campuses are as closely associated with stereotypic masculinity as men’s fraternities. Lambda Chi Alpha’s True Brother Initiative emphasizes a developmental approach to facilitate identity maturation within its members and includes components that naturally combat the hegemonic elements, including an emphasis on self awareness and reflection, enhanced comfort and competence in dealing with emotions, a range of diversity programming, the nurturance of the discovery of individuality, personal accountability, supportive intimacy, and the availability of positive masculine role models.

ACPA

American College Personnel Association (ACPA), headquartered in Washington, D.C., at the National Center for Higher Education, is the leading comprehensive student affairs association that advances student affairs and engages students for a lifetime of learning and discovery. ACPA, founded in 1924 by May L. Cheney, has nearly 8,500 members representing 1,500 private and public institutions from across the U.S. and around the world. Members include organizations and companies that are engaged in the campus marketplace. Members also include graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in student affairs/higher education administration programs, faculty, and student affairs professionals, from entry level to senior student affairs officers.

Lambda Chi Presentations:

Combating Hegemonic Masculinity in the College Fraternity

2:45-4:00 p.m., Monday, March 22, 2010 Boston Marriott Copley Place, Arlington

Few organizations on university campuses are as closely associated with stereotypic masculinity as men’s fraternities. Lambda Chi Alpha’s True Brother Initiative emphasizes a developmental approach to facilitate identity maturation within its members and includes components which naturally combat hegemonic elements, including an emphasis on self awareness and reflection, enhanced comfort and competence in dealing with emotions, a range of diversity programming, the nurturance of the discovery of individuality, personal accountability, supportive intimacy, and the availability of positive, masculine role models.

An Empirical Investigation of a Values Based Student Development Initiative

8:45 AM – 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Boston Marriott Copley Place, Arlington

Lambda Chi Alpha has introduced innovative programming as part of its co-curricular mission to facilitate the maturational development of undergraduate members along five core pathways of personal competency: self awareness, self esteem, intimacy, empathy, and altruism. This program will describe the related conceptual frame, curriculum, and learning model designed to implement this initiative. In addition, the empirical results evaluating the impact of this initiative at both organizational and individual levels from the first two years of implementation will be presented.

Conference Presenters

• Master Steward and High Pi Dr. Elgan Baker, Clinical Psychologist, Psychiatry Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine
• Grand High Beta, High Pi, and Master Steward Drew Hunter, President/CEO, The BACCHUS Network
• Master Steward Dr. Scott Reikofski, Director, Fraternity Sorority Affairs at University of Pennsylvania
• Master Steward Tim Reuter, Director of Education, Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity
• Dr. Margaret Henry, Senior Research Analyst/Clinical Psychologist (NASPA Only)

As a co-curricular partner, Lambda Chi Alpha hopes many college representatives will attend these sessions to understand how the Fraternity is working to create a healthy fraternity experience that not only develops undergraduate brothers but further prepares and compels them to find success in the classroom and after graduation.