When Things Get Tragically Real

As many people nationwide celebrate the wedding of William and Kate, others mourn the loss of loved ones caused by a devastating tornado in Alabama. In all, six states were hit by a series of storms and tornadoes that as of Friday morning had killed approximately 300 people.

One of the hardest hit cities was Tuscaloosa, where 38 people have already been announced dead. In case you didn't know, Tuscaloosa is home of the University of Alabama. As of Friday morning, two Alabama students were announced dead with various students still missing. What makes this tragedy even worse is that two students who have been confirmed dead are members of the Greek community. One woman, a member of Gamma Phi Beta and the other, a member of Phi Mu sorority.

I write this blog today because this is a tragedy that any one of us could have faced. For me personally, a tragedy like this is my biggest fear in the profession I work in. On any given day, I could receive a call telling me that one of my Greek students had passed away. The thought of having to tell the family, to console other students, to address the media and manage the day-to-day operations along with the various other elements that come with a tragedy are astounding to think about. On top of that, can you imagine trying to re-build a city like Tuscaloosa where blocks and blocks of the city have been obliterated?

I try to watch how every institution handles every crisis situation. While painful, I'm trying to learn. I'm trying to ensure that if the time comes and I need to act, I am ready to respond. This is my job. Along with all the fun in my job also comes the reality that tragedies happen. I need to be ready. No one can anticipate every scenario but we can do our best to prepare and learn from previous experiences. Do you feel prepared and ready to handle a crisis situation or tragedy?

In closing, I hope you will send good thoughts and prayers to the University of Alabama. My blog highlighted those that have passed away and doesn't even begin to mention those that have lost homes, life belongings, etc. So, any help you can provide would go a long way in restoring Bama's institution as well as the city of Tuscaloosa. Lastly, this provides another opportunity to showcase the true power of the Greek community in a national context as our Bama Greeks mourn the loss of their own members. Will you help?

Below is a link to the University of Alabama that you can check for updated information. Thank you for reading and my thoughts go out to the Tuscaloosa and Alabama community.

http://www.ua.edu/

Seniors! No Excuses - Time to Seize the Moment

Seniors, it’s time to seize the moment. You've had 4-5 (some 6) years to prepare for the real world and now the moment has come for you to move on with your lives. Whether you believe me or not, the transition will be as easy or as hard as you want to make it. The difference will be determined by two simple things – your confidence and your persistence.

Let’s start with the former, confidence. One thing that has bothered me as of late is the excuse by graduating seniors or other professionals that the, “Economy is terrible and that you won’t get a job.” FALSE! Sure the economy has seen better days but as a Greek student, we have trained you for this moment. As a member of a fraternity or sorority, we've trained you to hold yourself to a higher standard. We've asked you to be a leader who strives in the environment of the unknown. We've encouraged you to lead others, to face challenges, and to balance work and play. If we have done our job correctly, we have built you to face adversity head on rather than run from it. So, don’t use excuses as you look for a job, be confident in your skill set. Sure the competition is a little deeper than in years past but would you want it any other way? Maybe I’m one of the few that enjoys competition but if you aren't willing to fight and/or compete for a job, why would a company want to hire you?

This leads to my next point and the difference to you getting a job – persistence. There are people who have been un-employed for over a year who will be applying for the job you are applying for soon. There are people that will be overqualified for the same position you apply for next week. If I must be the one to tell you, you will more than likely be rejected from or turned down for a job during your search. This is the reality of any job search.

The difference in getting over this reality and standing out above those other candidates is persistence. If you want to be ahead of the game, you HAVE to be persistent in your efforts. Are you applying for a marketing position? If so, identify your strengths, identify and understand marketing trends, contact people you know in the field, do your research on the company you are applying for, build and/or hone your portfolio, and get out there and DO WORK! If a job is asking for two years of experience and you just graduated, argue that the body of work you did in college is equivalent to that of someone who has worked for two years. Employers want to see some fight in their future employees, not one that just accepts no for an answer. I’m not saying be rude or disrespectful but don’t roll over and quit at the sheer sign of adversity.

Seniors, it’s time to start walking the walk and talking the talk. Know what you want out of the position you are applying for soon. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Know the area and environment you will be living and working in. Know your worth! Invest in a nice suit. Review your résumé constantly. Practice interview questions. Are you prepared for a formal dinner setting? Will you order a drink if the employer interviewing you takes you out for dinner and orders a drink? What questions will you ask your future employer? Where do you see yourself in 2-3 years?

When it’s all said and done, it comes down to confidence and persistence seniors. You are ready and you are capable. Being a fraternity man or sorority woman has prepped you for this moment your whole collegiate experience and now is your time to shine. Just remember, be confident in YOUR abilities and be persistent in all that you do. Be true to yourself and don’t settle for anything less than what you want. I can’t promise you a job but I firmly believe a confident and persistent candidate is one that I want to interview, one that I want to be around, and possibly one that I want to hire. Seize the moment.

Was Biggie Smalls Foreshadowing NPC organizations issues?

Is it possible that the rapper Christopher Wallace, aka the “Notorious B.I.G.” or “Biggie Smalls” infamous rap song, “Mo Money, Mo Problems” was a foreshadowing of NPC organizations chapter size? Let me explain…

Statistics will show that more women are joining sororities than ever before nationwide. The following data, taken from the NPC’s 2008-2010 Annual Reports indicate both the number of total undergraduate members and number of new members have increased.

Total Number of Undergraduate Members:

2010 – 268, 938
2009 – 259, 910
2008 – 248,120

Number of New Members:

2010 – 95,401
2009 – 90, 704
2008 – 88,776

This is obviously positive news for NPC organizations as more women are participating in the sorority experience. Yet, one must ask whether or not NPC organizations were prepared for this continued growth. Specifically, has Biggie Smalls well-known song “Mo Money, Mo Problems” turned into “Mo Members, Mo Problems” for NPC organizations?

I say that because it seems to me more and more NPC organizations are struggling with issues of apathy and ballooned chapter sizes. To my knowledge, no data is available to back up this theory of mine. However, informal conversations with professional colleagues and students would indicate that as the average chapter size has continued to grow, more sororities are struggling to manage the increase in membership. In addition, other concerns must be considered when thinking about the increase in NPC organizations membership:

1. Experience – As new member classes continue to grow, are women truly getting the sorority experience when, in some instances, chapter sizes are hovering around 200-300 members?

2. Retention - It would be interesting to see the retention rate of NPC organizations as they get larger and larger. Are the maintaining or are they starting to fall?

3. Accountability – As the Notorious BIG song suggests, are we having more social/risk management problems because of more members?

4. Facilities – Larger chapter sizes are putting a burden on chapters to find a large enough space to hold chapter meetings, ritual ceremonies, etc.

Add those three concerns onto the potential apathy issues that can rear its head as chapter sizes increase and we have a serious issue on our hands.

I want to be clear that my intention for this blog is not to say that we should restrict membership sizes to a certain number or complain about women wanting to join a sorority.

I simply think we (professionals, NPC advisors, alumnae) need to do a better job of helping our NPC organizations at our institutions manage their chapters better. We need to help ensure that every woman who joins a sorority is still being provided the same level of sorority experience we did before the rapid growth. I don’t know if this is occurring.

We need to ensure that the chapter leaders of our sororities are willing and able to distribute and delegate work amongst chapter members is done in an efficient, high-quality and timely fashion. I’m finding that chapters haven’t been provided (or very little) a framework to do this.

We need to ensure social policy understanding and enforcement is a priority for our sorority women. It is evident that social issues are no longer just about the men. Sorority women need to be taught better methods of enforcing risk management policies and accountability measures to ensure a safe and fun social environment.

While most people think it but never say it, I’ll say it…I think we need to seriously consider recruitment tactics and methods of NPC organizations. Specifically, chapters should not have to recruit a certain number of members. If we preach quality over quantity, why should chapters be “encouraged” to meet quota if they really don’t want a new member class of 60, 70, or 80? Some would argue that this could be the root of the “mo members, mo problems” issue.

Finally, we need more dialogue and conversation with our students. They are the front line and they are our consumers. We need to ensure we are tailoring our education and our changes to them. Most of all, they need to be at the table as those conversations are discussed.

What do you think? Was Biggie Smalls foreshadowing NPC organization issues? Feel free to leave a comment.