{"id":16530,"date":"2024-01-24T19:46:27","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T19:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/?p=16530"},"modified":"2024-02-05T15:35:10","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T15:35:10","slug":"fiu-launches-first-of-its-kind-center-for-fraternity-and-sorority-enrichment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/2024\/01\/24\/fiu-launches-first-of-its-kind-center-for-fraternity-and-sorority-enrichment\/","title":{"rendered":"FIU launches first-of-its-kind Center for Fraternity and Sorority Enrichment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published on January 23, 2024 on news.fiu.edu.<\/a><\/p>\n

Written by Clara-Meretan Kiah<\/p>\n

Fraternities and sororities have a new home at FIU: the\u00a0Center for Fraternity and Sorority Enrichment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FIU\u2019s is the first center in Florida dedicated to enhancing fraternity and sorority members\u2019 collegiate experience on a holistic level while building affinity that persists long beyond graduation. Its staff strive to provide co-curricular activities that prepare students\u00a0in the areas of leadership development, social responsibility, service and philanthropy, community impact, and career readiness.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreek life prepares us for life skills of family, leadership, career, and service to others \u2013 it prepares us to make a positive impact on society with the best that is within us,\u201d said FIU President Kenneth Jessell at the center\u2019s ribbon-cutting ceremony last week. \u201cGreeks are setting the standard in many professional arenas \u2013 in higher ed, social service entities, athletics, business, government, and more. And on university campuses, vibrant, successful, and accountable Greek life programs contribute to the performance of our students and the success of our universities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"frat-soror-center.jpg\"
FIU President Kenneth Jessell (center), Director Stephen Dominy (center-right), and members of FIU’s center staff and Greek-letter community cut the ribbon and officially open the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Enrichment on Thursday, Jan. 18, in the Graham Center at MMC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The center embraces the belief that fraternity and sorority engagement should enrich not only the chapters and their members, but the campus and greater community, as well. Its launch responds to a demand across FIU\u2019s campuses to offer the swiftly growing fraternity and sorority population expanded opportunities and programming.<\/p>\n

FIU\u2019s membership has grown 30 percent since Fall 2021, reaching more than 1,300 students last semester. The number of active organizations represented on campus is also growing. Currently at 34 chapters spread among four national governing bodies \u2013 Panhellenic Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council, Multicultural Greek Council, and Interfraternity Council \u2013 center director Stephen Dominy expects there to be more than 50 chapters at FIU by 2028, and he aims for the Greek-letter community to eventually represent 10 percent of FIU\u2019s 56,000-strong student body.<\/p>\n

Dominy joined FIU in 2021 to lead efforts to reorganize and strengthen FIU\u2019s fraternity and sorority life. Since then, the university has brought on additional full-time staff to assist with event planning, chapter oversight, and creating structures that provide focused support to chapters and councils as well as leadership coaching.<\/p>\n

Programming continues to expand and evolve, as well. Workshops and other opportunities cover topics such as service learning, professional development, networking, unity, mental health awareness, sexual assault awareness and hazing prevention training, alcohol and drug awareness, and much more.<\/p>\n

\u201cOffices of fraternity and sorority life at our peer institutions across the nation are evolving to better support the experiences of their chapters and members.\u00a0FIU\u2019s center provides innovation, opportunities, exploration, and more for our alumni, students, and staff,\u201d Dominy explained.<\/p>\n

Fostering lasting affinity with alma mater<\/strong>
\nThe center\u2019s creation was guided in part by the consultation of alumni who have remained active members of the FIU community for years.<\/p>\n

Among them is Sigma Phi Epsilon alumnus Thomas Jelke, PhD, \u201990, who has long served on the FIU Alumni Board of Directors. Having remained actively involved in FIU\u2019s SigEp chapter (eventually joining the organization\u2019s national board and serving two years as president), Jelke has watched FIU\u2019s Greek-letter community blossom since its early days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can say without a doubt that [joining SigEp] is the main reason I am still closely affiliated to FIU. I attribute my development as a student outside the classroom, my persistence to graduation, the connection to my dearest lifelong friends, and my development as a young leader to my time with my fraternity,\u201d said Jelke, who is now founder and CEO of the higher education consulting firm t.jelke solutions.<\/p>\n

The center aims to prepare Panthers for life after college which includes affinity to the institution. The relationships and connections formed will sustain the efforts to enhance mentorship, career preparatory skills, and more. These efforts can be enhanced by creating an exceptional and memorable campus experience that graduates remember fondly for years to come.<\/p>\n

Alumna Bianka Gomez ’05, ’23 had such an experience, and it\u2019s why she has been a volunteer adviser for FIU\u2019s chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi (AOII) for the past 12 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoining a women’s fraternity has given me a local and national network I continue to connect with after 22 years,\u201d Gomez said. \u201cAOII elevated my confidence and leadership skills throughout my time at FIU. Volunteering as an advisor\u2026 has helped me fulfill my personal goal of helping others with their leadership development and has led to my career success in construction management.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the partnership of FIU\u2019s successful, dedicated alumni and the commitment of university staff, Dominy believes FIU can develop a national benchmark for effective resources and staffing for fraternity and sorority communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that this center will put FIU on the map for creating change and support for fraternity and sorority experiences,\u201d Dominy said. \u201cWe strive to be a trailblazer in higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally published on January 23, 2024 on news.fiu.edu. Written by Clara-Meretan Kiah Fraternities and sororities have a new home at FIU: the\u00a0Center for Fraternity and Sorority Enrichment. FIU\u2019s is the first center in Florida dedicated to enhancing fraternity and sorority members\u2019 collegiate experience on a holistic level while building affinity that persists long beyond graduation. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[369,22],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-16530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-spotlight","category-community","tag-fiu-alumni"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16530"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16532,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16530\/revisions\/16532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}