Virtual Concern Gathering: Fraternity and Sorority Life

Ever find yourself holding back from engaging in conversation regarding a controversial issue on your campus, or even among those closest to you? With research indicating a nation evermore divided by political differences, it’s no wonder why.

To assist higher education stakeholders in having conversations across difference, NASPA is partnering with the Kettering Foundation to develop campus-based resources for dialogue and deliberation within and outside of the curriculum. We are seeking your input related to the topic of Fraternity and Sorority Life. In the months of April through June, NASPA is offering an opportunity for you to tell us what you really think are the concerns and solutions for campuses to consider regarding challenging issues in higher education today. We are looking to gather data representative of the student affairs profession as a whole.

Based on thoughts shared during these sessions and at a few NASPA events a team of NASPA staff and volunteers will be creating a resource to assist campuses in facilitating dialogues on campus based on the topic of fraternity and sorority life. This resource is to release in Spring 2021.

Dialogue and Deliberation are innovative processes that help people come together across differences to tackle challenging problems and conversations. In a time of extreme political partisanship and increased conflict between religious and ethnic groups, teaching, spreading, and supporting the skills of Dialogue and Deliberation are vital (National Coalition of Dialogue and Deliberation).

NASPA’s Project Page "Issue Guides for Deliberative Dialogue" includes our first and second issue guides in partnership with the Kettering Foundation, on Free Speech and the Inclusive Campus and Fraternity and Sorority Life along with resources to train moderators on how to conduct a forum so that every sector across the higher education community may participate. NASPA’s issue guide can be used for dialogue between students and practitioners, and cross-functionally across different departments and levels of leadership as well. Institutions that conduct a forum with the guide should make sure to fill out a program evaluation to ensure proper assessment of the tool and to inform future research. Please visit the project page linked above for more!

The Kettering Foundation is a research institution invested in developing thought leadership through learning exchanges, to help answer the Foundation’s primary question: What does it take to make democracy work as it should?