FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
Logistics & Procedures
Maintenance / Repair Request
Computing Support / Request
Locked Out of Room
Party Registration
Moving In & Out
Facilities Management Fee
Program Fee
I was charged a fee in error - how do I have the fee removed?
Who do I contact at the OFSL Office?
Joining / Recruitment
Why Join a Fraternity or Sorority?
When is Recruitment and how does it work?
How does the New Member/Pledging Process work? Are there time limits? What type of supervision is there for Chapters?
How much of a financial commitment is membership?
What kind of time commitment does membership require? What types of activities do chapters plan or participate in regularly?
What about the negative things that one hears/reads about in Greek Life? What is the University’s Alcohol Policy? Enforcement? What is hazing and the University’s stand regarding it?
Parents
What type of support does OSA/FSL offer? Who do I contact with questions or concerns?
My son or daughter needs to develop skills outside of the classroom. Are there opportunities for this?
Letting Go: A developmental task for students and parents
Joining / Recruitment
What kind of time commitment does membership require? What types of activities do chapters plan or participate in regularly?
At Penn, chapters realize that students are typically involved in multiple activities and provide the flexibility to encourage that involvement. Time commitment for new member education/recruitment is described here. Once a member, individuals may choose to devote significant amounts of time to the chapter, particularly those involved in leadership positions, but academics should never be superseded by chapter involvement. Chapter programming in any given chapter would include academic and personal development programs, community service/philanthropy projects, scholastic and career development opportunities, alumni networking, leadership training, intramural sports, and programs of some personal interest (technology, sports, fashion, travel, recreation, etc.). Chapters are also encouraged to co-sponsor programs with each other as well as other student organizations and offices at Penn.
What about the negative things that one hears/reads about in Greek Life? What is the University’s Alcohol Policy? Enforcement? What is hazing and the University’s stand regarding it?
Typically, the negative things that people hear about fraternities include alcohol, drugs and hazing. Alcohol and drugs are unfortunately a fact of life and a growing issue across our society. Your student has already had to deal with these issues many times before they even come to Penn and may many times here and after. The University of Pennsylvania Police Department readily acknowledges that the registered fraternity parties at Penn are run according to policy and are among the safest parties with which they must deal. The University policy teaches responsibility and moderation, and provides for a sound social registration and management process, University monitors that work with chapter leaders to improve and enhance their management of social situations, and common sense guidelines for social hosting. The full text of the policy as well as much more information about alcohol education and related initiatives may be found at http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/alcohol.
Hazing is defined as any action or situation (1) which recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student or (2) which willfully destroys or removes public or private property for the purpose of initiation or admission into or affiliation with an organization. The University of Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and all national fraternities and sororities have strict codes and regulations against such activities and they will not be tolerated. Any and all information received about the potential of such activities is immediately and fully investigated. If there is any credible evidence of such activities, national headquarters and alumni advisors are also immediately advised and typically independent investigations begin on many levels. Any and all information, tips or questions about specific activities should immediately be directed to OSA/FSL at ofsa@pobox.upenn.edu or 215.898.5263. The full text of the University of Pennsylvania Anti-hazing policy may be found at http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/ofsa/Hazing.PDF.
Parents
What type of support does OSA/FSL offer? Who do I contact with questions or concerns?
The Office of Student Affairs/Fraternity Sorority Life offers support and guidance to all fraternity and sorority chapters in the form of regular advisement, leadership training, personal and group counseling and referral, educational disciplinary procedures and strong advocacy. We work with the philosophy that effective fraternity/sorority life is managed through a four way partnership: the students, the alumni/ae, the national headquarters, and the University, primarily through the work of OSA/FSL. A positive fraternity experience is a superlative compliment and support for a rigorous academic experience, providing a family and home away from home, lifelong brother/sisterhood and friendship, and amazing career networking. Any chapter that is not living up to that expectation will be brought back into consonance with their espoused values and the mission of the University. Should you have any questions, concerns or issues relative to any of Penn’s chapters or the experience that your son or daughter is having related to a chapter at Penn, you are encouraged to immediately contact any of the staff of the Office of Student Affairs/Fraternity Sorority Life at 215.898.5263 or ofsa@pobox.upenn.edu.
We greatly value the encouragement and involvement of parents in the higher education of their children, and encourage you to talk candidly and often with your son or daughter about their fraternity/sorority experience, their classes and other avenues of involvement in the Penn community and the City of Philadelphia.
My son or daughter needs to develop skills outside of the classroom. Are there opportunities for this?
ABSOLUTELY!!! Honestly, involvement in fraternities and sororities is among the best opportunity for such skills to be developed. In addition to the support for a rigorous academic experience, providing a family and home away from home, lifelong brother/sisterhood and friendship, and amazing career networking mentioned above, the self governance of fraternities provides an excellent laboratory to develop such skills. Interpersonal skills, values clarification and enhancement, leadership and personal management skills, self-governance, positive role modeling and small group living are all integral parts of active participation in fraternity/sorority life. The close living situation, the value-based organizational programming, and the interaction with brothers and sisters of all classes and alumni of many generations all contribute to these activities and the personal development of every member. This is not to say that individual skills are not developed through involvement in activities other than fraternities or sororities, but for overall experience, there are very few activities that compare to the experience of fraternity/sorority membership.
Letting Go: A developmental task for students and parents.
For today’s students, research is showing that students and parents are even closer and more involved in each other’s lives than in past generations—sometimes too much so. Moving away to college is an opportunity for students to take those all-important first steps into adulthood, self-management, and independence, as well as getting the opportunity to experience new things all within the relative safety of the college or university community. It also presents the opportunity for parents to begin to gently let go and allow students to begin to care and fen for themselves, to explore and make decisions for themselves becoming more self-sufficient, and for sons or daughters to examine and apply the values with which they were raised and to really adopt them as their own.
This same research is showing that students will continue to stay in close contact with parents, consult them on meaningful decisions and feedback, and to include parents in their everyday lives. Letting go does not mean that parents are turning their back on their daughters or sons, but it does mean that parents trust students to make the right decisions, to take that next step into independent adulthood, and to have faith in the values that parents have instilled and their children’s ability to know right from wrong.
Fraternities and sororities are the perfect environment for this safe “letting go”. The chapters are advised by the University and the Office of Student Affairs/Fraternity Sorority Life, by alumni/ae that work regularly with the Chapters, and by national headquarters that provide staff and programs that supplement the Chapter programming to facilitate continued personal growth. The Office of Student Affairs/Fraternity Sorority Life also encourages parents to be involved with the Chapter and the fraternity/sorority system in general. Ask Chapters if there is a parents’ group, or if there are opportunities for the parents to give and support the Chapter and its house and programs. The OSA/FSL staff is happy to answer any questions that parents might have, and have developed a parents’ listserv (membership optional for parents of fraternity/sorority members) that can/will receive occasional updates on what is going on in Penn’s fraternity sorority system.
Watching children grow up is a bittersweet, exciting and anxiety-provoking time. But it’s also a very necessary step as students step into the “real world” of adulthood and begin to take responsibility for themselves, their decisions and their actions. A parent’s ability to balance “letting go” with their continued interest, support and love for their children is an equally important element of a student’s maturation process.
