A number of other professions create “predictions” or up and
coming “trends” for the upcoming year. Unless I missed them, I noticed that the
fraternal world does not. In most circumstances, these predictions are nothing
more than an educated guess. Yet, every now and then one hits the nail on the
head. I figured why not make some predictions for the fraternal world. Who
knows maybe one will hit the nail on the head! So with that being said, here
are my six bold predictions for 2013:
Service Becomes THE
Thing To Do
In 2013, we will see a record number of service hours
completed by Greek organizations. Students will embrace the dirt and sweat of
doing community service and start to do it on a more frequent basis. “Forget
the once a month service event, let’s do it once a week” said the upbeat, newly
elected Community Service Chair. Partnerships with local agencies and National
service trips will lead the way in this awesome initiative.
A Record Hazing
Lawsuit Will Occur
Each year, there are positive predictions and some that are
not so pleasant predictions. This prediction unfortunately fits the latter.
With the lack of patience from University administrators, National
Headquarters, parents and alumni, 2013 will be the year where a record hazing
lawsuit will occur. “Enough is enough” will be the headlines from the lead
attorney of the family who loses a child due to reckless, immature and illegal
hazing. $150-200 million is the number that pops in my head.
Larger Staffs on
Campus and at National Headquarters
“We need more support. We need more bodies. We need more
money” shouts the Executive Director and Director of Greek Life respectively.
Surprisingly, National Headquarter Foundations and University Administrators
finally agree with this sentiment. In return, we see a growth of Risk
Reduction, Digital/Social Media and Expansion/Extension National staff support.
One might argue a need for more Associate/Assistant Exec. Director positions as
well.
On the campus side, we will see more Coordinator and
Assistant Director positions’ open up. At the very least, more graduate
assistantships will become available to help fill a much needed void in student
to staff ratio.
Greater Digital
Presence from National Headquarters
Social Media is here to stay and with that will become a
need to reach students via various social media platforms. This will result in
National Headquarter staffs hiring more Social Media Community
Managers/Strategist/Specialist. Facebook engagements will increase. Twitter
chats will become a weekly thing. Pinterest parties will be the new “it”
social. Organizations who embrace LinkedIn will see a tremendous growth in
alumni networking and help recent graduates find a job. Most of all, blogging
from the National Headquarter staff perspective will become a great way for
their undergraduate students to see the “behind the scenes” stuff. I wouldn’t
be surprised to see more webinars, podcasts and SlideSharing occurring to
engage more undergraduate members, volunteers and alumni.
A Campus Will Close
Their Greek Community
Dartmouth had such a brutal year in 2012 that I’m sure
people considered the option of closing their Greek community. Trinity College
is forcing Greek organizations to go co-ed or risk their existence on campus.
These are just two examples of Greek communities on thin ice. They aren’t the
only campuses under the microscope. I predict there will be one campus with two
different large scale risk management issues that push the Board of Trustees to
close their Greek community. Students will be outraged but in the end, their
own lack of accountability will be the demise of the community they loved.
A New, Disruptive
Program Will Be a Game Changer
In the business world, being disruptive is embraced. It is a
development/program/philosophy that disrupts the status quo and allows for a
positive shift in the game. Remember when that thing called the “iPhone” came
out. Yeah, that was a game changer. That website called “Facebook” – another game
changer.
In the fraternal world, game changers come every 4-5 years
it seems. I’d love to see more game changing and I think 2013 brings a game
changer to the fraternal world. My gut says that it will be in the
philanthropy/service arena but realistically, I think it will come in the risk
management arena. Ritual education is the golden egg waiting to be found and
used as a game changer. Bystander behavior had its moment but has fizzled out a
bit. A disruptive academic program would be awesome as would a real challenge
in recruiting in the sorority and multi-cultural environments. Regardless,
there will be a disruption in the fraternal world and it will be a game
changer. The question is who will create it?
Those are my six predictions. What predictions do you have
for the fraternal world?
