To the AFA Community and the broader fraternity/sorority life community –Â
I want to recognize the gravity of the moment, as we collectively react to the multiple recent incidents of organizational misconduct involving serious allegations of hazing, sexual violence, and substance-related harm in fraternities across the country. These are instances where not only has harm been done to individuals in our spheres or seeking to join our organizations, but where we also have deep questions about our accountability structures for these behaviors. For the people committed to the work of supporting students in fraternities and sororities, these moments shake our foundations and test our resolve about where accountability went wrong.
First, I want to recognize that we have talented, committed members of the AFA community who call these campus communities and these fraternities their professional home. I am consistently energized by the talent in our industry and how the often unsung fraternity/sorority professionals at the center of these conflicts navigate them with care and concern for student safety and wellbeing.
Many of these instances have elevated a larger discussion about the relationship between campus recognition, accountability, and prevention, and how accountability structures are impacted when campus recognition is lost. Accountability exists at the center of partnership and prevention.
Partnership starts with a shared commitment to fraternity affiliation and recognition with the host campus. AFA believes that it is a best practice that chapters and governing councils should maintain an affiliation with their host institutions, as it is in the best interest of students, professionals, and volunteers. (AFA’s Position Statement on The Value and Benefit of the Fraternity/Sorority Experience). Accountability is a shared responsibility. Fraternities operating in environments outside of campus recognition and affiliation challenge our collective ability to build effective support and accountability structures. Simply put, campus recognition is a critical accountability mechanism. Instances where campuses and fraternities cannot partner on recognition and affiliation make meaningful accountability exponentially more difficult for all involved.
Accountability is also grounded in, and deeply connected to, the work we do in prevention, whether that is alcohol use, drug use, hazing, or sexual violence. Prevention work is accountability work, and remaining partners in prevention across all invested parties – campus professionals, fraternity/sorority headquarters professionals, local/regional/national volunteers – increases the likelihood that our members can intervene in moments of harm. We can’t eliminate risk, but we can partner to collectively build the needed capacity with members of fraternities and sororities that helps them to prevent harm. (AFA’s Position Statement on Hazing and the Fraternity/Sorority Experience, AFA’s Position Statement on Sexual Assault and Power-based, Gender-based, Interpersonal Violence)
We also cannot engage in this larger discussion without recognizing the investments we must make in the people who support our fraternity and sorority experiences at all levels. The accountability, support, and prevention structures necessary for members of fraternities to thrive don’t happen by accident. They happen through intentional, strategic resourcing of our time, talent, and treasure. This includes people at all levels supporting fraternities and sororities, from our campus-based professionals, to our headquarters professionals, to our local volunteers. Accountability is best reached when we invest in the people and programs that build and strengthen those practices.
Moments like this provide fraternity/sorority life professionals the opportunity to come together and wrestle with these larger questions that will ultimately drive the future of our work. I encourage you to leverage your AFA communities at all levels to drive those discussions — it is a large part of why they exist. This includes convening our Community Collectives and our Communities of Practice. It includes the communities that build around our professional development programs. It also includes the community that convenes at our upcoming Annual Meeting in December. As AFA turns 50 and celebrates a major milestone, we get to decide how we will move forward into the next 50 years of our work, and we get to make that decision under the generous guidance of talented fraternity/sorority life professionals, content experts, fraternity/sorority leaders, and all those who are committed to student success and student well-being in fraternities and sororities.
These moments test our resolve, but they do not define us. What defines us is our response: together, with unwavering care for students, and with a shared commitment to accountability that no single campus, organization, or individual can carry alone. I am grateful for your commitment to this work, and I look forward to continuing the conversation with many of you in Chicago this December.
Sincerely,
Jason T. Bergeron, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors