Three Greek life staff members receive national acclaim

Three members of the office of fraternity and sorority affairs have received national recognition from their peers at the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors (AFA) annual conference in Jacksonville, Fla.

Veronica Hunter, a Greek life coordinator, received the Gayle Webb New Professional Award, named for AFA’s first executive director, which recognizes outstanding contributions to campus advising by an AFA member during the first two years of professional employment.

“Veronica has made quite an impact on Lehigh’s campus in a short period of time,” says Tom Dubreuil, associate dean of students. “She richly deserves this award.”

Lehigh’s Greek Emerging Leaders program (GEM), which is headed by Jessica Diehl, Greek life leadership coordinator, received AFA’s Excellence in Education Programming Award for an innovative, learning-based campus program.

GEM chooses 35 Greek freshmen to take part in its leadership development program during the fall of the students’ sophomore year. Participants receive mentoring from Greek juniors and seniors and complete six training sessions and an overnight retreat.

“Jess has worked continuously to improve the GEM program and create intentional leadership experiences for the students who participate as mentees and mentors,” says Jessica Manno, assistant dean of students for student leadership development. “GEM is creating a community of informed, engaged and dedicated student leaders, and Jess has been instrumental in the development of this program.”

Michelle Rebholz, a Greek life coordinator, was nominated by the editorial board of Perspectives, AFA’s quarterly publication, for the Perspectives Award for an article she co-wrote titled “Spirituality: The Forgotten Precept.”

“Day in and day out, Veronica Hunter, Jessica Diehl and Michelle Rebholz add so much to Lehigh,” says Tim Wilkinson, director of fraternity and sorority affairs. “It’s nice when outside organizations recognize what we already know—that we have staff members who are national leaders in their field.”

In addition to the three awards, Christa Wessels, a Greek life coordinator, gave a presentation on Lehigh’s Greek Allies Program at the AFA meeting. The presentation was titled “Inclusive Strategies for Creating a Fraternity/Sorority Ally Group.”

Also, Lehigh was selected by HazingPrevention.org to host the 2011 Novak Institute on Hazing Prevention in June 2011. The four-day event brings together professionals from all aspects of higher education to build campus coalitions to fight hazing on college campuses.

The invitation, says Wilkinson, recognizes Lehigh’s efforts over the past year to provide educational programs that promote bystander intervention as a means of preventing hazing.