Sorority & Fraternity Life News & Updates |
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A Note from Kara
Greetings! I write this message as spring approaches Ithaca. I know we all mutually feel the need to get outside a little more and are hoping to see increased sunshine! I was pleased to be on campus last week to visit with students during one of two Wellness Days. The weather cooperated beautifully as we even saw 70 degrees one day last week. Since I've been working from home for one full year, I always enjoy the occasions when I am on campus. There's nothing like the atmosphere of a college campus-even in these unusual times.
I'm pleased to share the Office of Sorority & Fraternity Life's (OSFL) most recent updates with you today. Our newsletter is a twice-a-semester opportunity to highlight bright spots and news regarding our Sorority & Fraternity community at Cornell. We are home to 53 sororities and fraternities and over 3,000 undergraduate student members. I consider it a privilege and a passion to work with undergraduate students while they participate in sororities and fraternities. My own sorority experience was an important part of my undergraduate development, and I enjoy the opportunity to engage with and contribute to the sorority and fraternity experience of today's undergraduate members at Cornell through the work of OSFL.
There's a lot that happens in Sorority & Fraternity Life on a daily basis. We have been incredibly grateful to our students for their cooperation and commitment during three semesters of higher education in a global pandemic. Now, 40 days into spring 2021, we'll call attention to the following:
- Virtual Recruitment and Intake
- Community Service Opportunities
- Cornell Health Resources
- Leadership Programming Opportunities
- Chapter and Student Spotlights
- New OSFL Staff Announcement
- Housing and Billing Updates
Please feel free to share this newsletter. In addition, visit our website for many relevant resources and more information regarding the Sorority & Fraternity experience at Cornell.
Happy Spring!
Kara Miller McCarty (she/her)
Robert G. Engel Director, Sorority & Fraternity Life
ksm39@cornell.edu
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Virtual Recruitment & Intake |
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Spring is usually the time sororities and fraternities welcome the largest number of new members. Due to COVID-19, recruitment looked completely different this year. And yet, the end result is the addition of 831 new members this spring and 252 new members this fall. That's a total of 1,083 new brothers and sisters this academic year!
We welcome you and wish you a transformational experience in both your own sorority and fraternity as well as the larger Cornell Sorority & Fraternity community.
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Bystander intervention: COVID-19 edition
Body Positive spring groups
Body Positive Cornell (BPC) is still welcoming enrollees for their spring groups! These peer-led weekly discussion groups focus on body appreciation, self-compassion, and intuitive self-care, and teach evidence-based, weight-neutral approaches to health. BPC groups will meet by Zoom beginning in mid-March. Learn more and enroll in a group at health.cornell.edu/bodypositive.
Weekly information to support
your well-being
Sign up for Cornell Health’s Cornell Quaranzine newsletter to get inspiration, tips, and resources to support your well-being delivered to your inbox each week. Find more wellness resources on
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Campus Activities
Leadership Programs
This semester, Campus Activities launched a Leadership Workshop Series with many relevant topics for sororities and fraternities. Please encourage officers in your chapter to attend. There are also programs for advisors. Find more details on the Campus Activities website.
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Changes Regarding Bursar Billing |
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As we have previously shared, sororities and fraternities at Cornell will no longer be able to use the Bursar bill to charge room, board, and dues. This is effective starting fall 2021. The one exception is that university-owned sorority and fraternity houses will be able to bill for housing only. OSFL will help with the transition. There are great resources national organizations use to help their chapters on many campuses. Please be in touch with your national organization to discuss resources. Additionally, OSFL will host a virtual training on Thursday, April 15, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. for chapter treasurers (presidents and advisors welcome, too) to further discuss tools and tips to be an effective treasurer without Bursar billing.
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Allen Chen
SHA ’22
Pi Delta Psi – Kappa Chapter
This past year was unexpected for all of us. In my situation, I had to leave the United States entirely to reunite with my family last March. I spent March to November of 2020 in Vancouver and then flew to Beijing where I still am today.
It was difficult saying abrupt goodbyes to all the seniors. However, as soon as most people started leaving Ithaca, we were already making plans to all meet up again once the pandemic was over. Being away from Ithaca for so long also posed challenges in terms of still feeling connected with my friends and brothers at Cornell. What has helped me feel closer are our class/year video calls, playing video games together (especially Animal Crossing last April), and some Netflix watch parties. Recently, my chapter also completed a successful fully virtual Spring Recruitment. Though I can see that an in-person recruitment would be more ideal, doing it in a virtual format allowed me to “hang out” with my brothers again and at the same time get to know some of the guys participating in recruitment.
Compared to the difficulties of keeping up socially, adapting to online school felt more natural. My professors at the Hotel School were very understanding in our initial transition, and since then they have been very accommodating for my difference in time zone. My extracurriculars have also managed to adapt well to an online setting. Our Multicultural Greek and Fraternal Council (MGFC) executive board managed to plan multiple community and unity events over the past year, and my pre-professional clubs continued to consult, recruit, and interview as usual. This spring, being my third semester online, I’m already well adjusted to an online curriculum. Thanksgiving and Winter breaks were very helpful for avoiding burnout, and now I am making sure to take breaks and stay healthy, both physically and mentally.
The past few online semesters were definitely a surprise, but I don’t feel like I have wasted my time. I’m looking forward to finishing this semester strong and getting back to campus for the fall semester.
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Chapter Highlights: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. |
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Ricky Boche, Assistant Director and MGFC advisor shared: "The Mu Gamma Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. returned strong last semester. They have done a number of virtual events, but the one most prominent seems to be their Redz Table Talk. Similar to Red Table Talk on TV, they take the time to use their virtual platform to talk about many different topics that affect the community. Episode 1 dealt with the strength of faith, and Episode 2 was based on financial wellness, both extremely important topics. They bring in alumnae of their organization as experts to make an impact on the community they serve. I know many people look forward to their Table Talks, and we look forward to seeing what their new episodes bring." |
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Chapter Highlights: Chi Psi Fraternity |
Members of Chi Psi Fraternity volunteered to help with on-campus housing move-in. Housing and Residence Life was thrilled with the support. Move-in required many more days this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the help was appreciated! Sororities and fraternities should always be thinking about how they can positively contribute to their campus. Job well done! |
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Chapter Highlights: Alpha Phi International Women’s Fraternity |
We'd like to highlight a program Alpha Phi held for members last fall: "We invited Christina Parle to virtually present to Cornell Alpha Phi to further our understanding, both personally and chapter-wide, about diversity, equity, and inclusion. She equipped each of us with the skills and tools to interact, empathize, and respect others who do not share our same individual backgrounds. Christina helped us become more knowledgeable and cognizant of identity, power, privilege, implicit bias, and the impact of our language and helped us apply what we learned to relevant situations, like sorority recruitment. Meeting with Christina Parle has helped our sisterhood become more educated and more aware of the foundational concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we will continue finding ways to educate ourselves and enhance our understanding of these areas. Check out Social Responsibility Speaks, to contact Christina about presenting or conversing with your chapter." (This photo was taken prior to COVID-19).
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Welcome New OSFL Staff Member |
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OSFL is excited to share that on April 5, 2021, Adriana Levy will begin her new role as our program assistant. Learn a little more about Adriana in her own words:
"For the past two years and three months, I have been working as the program assistant for the Cornell-Tsinghua FMBA Program at S.C. Johnson College of Business. I helped the director put together student residential sessions and events for over 100 students, including putting together faculty teaching schedules, while at the same time, helped manage the admissions process and actively participated in recruiting students for the new class. Prior to working in higher education at Cornell University, I worked for the Department of Homeland Security in human resources. My first full-time job was working for New York Community Bank as a financial services associate managing client accounts.
This is a very exciting opportunity for me to serve as the new program assistant for the Office of Sorority & Fraternity Life and get to work with Kara, her whole department, and the partners. I am looking forward to immersing myself in learning all that I can from my team about Cornell’s sororities and fraternities. I am also looking forward to contributing my own professional experience since I have been working with Cornell MBA students for over two years. I can’t wait to represent Cornell’s Sorority & Fraternity community as the new program assistant."
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Save the Date for Upcoming Program
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Antonio Tsialas National Hazing Prevention Week September 20-24, 2021
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Planning Ahead for Sophomore Housing |
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Effective fall 2022, all Ithaca campus first- and second-year
full-time students will be required to live on campus through the spring semester of their second academic year of enrollment.
University-recognized sororities and fraternities and university-owned co-ops will be allowed to house second-year students as long as those individual students inform the housing office and the organization remains recognized.
All recognized fraternities and sororities will be automatically approved if they meet all current Recognition Policy requirements, and have a live-in advisor and four upper-class officers who live in the facility, by January 1, annually. Stay tuned: OSFL will host future virtual meetings to discuss implementation.
(Chi Phi Fraternity house is pictured. The house is named Craigielea. It was designed by William Henry Miller who attended Cornell University from 1868-1870. He left without graduating one year before the College of Architecture was created. Cornell refers to Miller as "Cornell's first student of architecture." Miller designed a few other fraternity houses on campus as well as McGraw Tower and Risley Residential College for the Creative and Performing Arts).
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Our newsletter is distributed to current members, alumni advisors, house corporation presidents, live-in advisors, Fraternity/Sorority Advisory Council members, parents of our newest members as well as other colleagues and administrators on campus. If you'd like to submit content for consideration, please email greeks@cornell.edu. |
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