Greek Leadership Academy - Preview

Last year, Greek Leadership Academy was an exceptional tool to enrich the skills of many leaders in the Greek community at Washington State University, and this year will be no different according to leaders from the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life.
For the last 11 years, the three most influential officers from each Greek chapter at WSU have reserved the last week in January for this educational retreat. Greek Leadership Academy, or GLA, is a unique opportunity for Greeks that takes student leaders away from Pullman to Camp N-Sid-Sen on Lake Coeur d’Alene to build relationships, develop teamwork and foster growth within their community and chapter.
Greek Leadership Academy focuses on giving “chapter leaders the resources they need to succeed in our unique Greek Community at WSU,” Interfraternity Council President Ben Wagner said. “Not only is the information important, but the relationships they will build during this weekend will allow a more collaborative environment when they return to WSU.”
Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life Director Anita Cory has lead the Greek Leadership Academy since she and a past Panhellenic president had the idea, with help from other volunteer coaches from campus and the Greek Council. Among this year’s coaches are Chris Wuthrich from Student Conduct and Connan Campbell from Student Involvement and Leadership Development. Beyond the information and guidance provided by the leaders and coaches of this retreat, there will be a keynote speaker from Fierce Conversations.
The retreat will speak to members in a large group setting, small groups and individuals. Large group settings allow faculty leaders and chapter members to bounce relevant ideas off one another, and “from the small group sessions, they should learn how to lead and motivate other members,” Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life Graduate Assistant Paul Mencke said.
Though many Greek presidents are familiar with one another, they still do not have the time or a platform to connect personally with each other while in Pullman. GLA is an opportunity to remove chapter leaders from their life in Pullman and learn from other men and women who hold similar positions and consequently face many of the same challenges.
Last year, GLA concentrated on how to build a community that works together to battle unsafe alcohol use and hazing. Primarily, the new member educator representatives continued their focus on a zero-tolerance hazing policy and the presidents and standards officers of each chapter directed their attention to safe policies concerning alcohol.
“When I attended GLA last year as a standards chair, it was a great place for me to develop as a leader and to understand specific dynamics that are unique to our Greek Community here at WSU,” now Panhellenic Vice President of Policy and Procedure Sarah Goehri said. This year, Goehri will be leading the standards officers from the National Panhellenic Council sororities this year at GLA.
After GLA every year, the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life (CFSL) reviews the curriculum in order to maintain relevance for the following year. This year will have the same format as last year, except a few changes and updates, according to Mencke.







Contacts:
Paul Mencke, pmencke@wsu.edu
Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life Graduate Assistant
Ben Wagner, ifcpresident@wsu.edu
IFC President
Sarah Goehri
Panhellenic Vice President of Policy and Procedure
(all phone numbers available via email or in class, requested not posted on a public blog)