For those interested in learning about fraternities and sororities at Miami University, we have developed a course that will introduce you to the community and our shared expectations. If you would like to be added to the course, please email FSLL@miamioh.edu. 

All those who anticipate joining a fraternity or sorority are required to complete the course and will be added to it in order to fulfill their eligibility requirements for receiving and accepting a bid. 

Completion of this course is required for all interested in joining the community. However, completion of this course does not guarantee an invitation to membership.

New Member Convocation in an opportunity for all new members of the Miami Panhellenic and IFC Community to come together and learn about the meaning of brotherhood and sisterhood.

• Convocation 2023 with Rae Ann Gruver and Evelyn Piazza sharing their stories and the legacy of their sons, Max and Timothy
• Thursday, February 23, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.
• Location: Fraternity Members will be in the Pavilion of Amstrong Student Center | Sorority members will be in the JDOL Ballroom in Shriver Center

Greeks Step Up is a bystander intervention program that looks at the topics of Hazing, Sexual Violence, and Drug and Alcohol Abuse. Each New Member who has joined since the last Greeks Step Up program is required to attend. Sessions will be held from Mid-February to Early March. Your chapter will be assigned a specific date to attend the program. These dates will be communicated to chapters at a later date.

If for some reason you are not able to attend the date selected for your chapter, please contact your chapter's new member educator for next steps in ensuring you attend a Greeks Step Up session.

Information now available on IFC's website.

The Vision

In an effort to increase internal accountability, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) at Miami University has developed the Enhanced Membership Experience (EME), an initiative in which each IFC-recognized chapter will restructure their new member program to focus extensively on scholarship, service, values-based leadership, brotherhood, and a stronger sense of fraternal-community. The Interfraternity Council believes that by undertaking such a serious initiative, we will better provide every new member with the most foundationally-true fraternity experience while reducing high-risk activities such as hazing and alcohol or drug abuse.

The initiative was born out of a greater need within our community for communication, transparency, and accountability. The Enhanced Membership Experience consists of three components:

• New Member Education Plan outlining every chapter policy regarding new members, as well as dates and descriptions of all new member activities;
• Letter to Parents outlining the chapter’s member education process and including important contact information for chapter officers and advisors;
• Calendar of Events outlining new member events day-by-day for the entire education period. Fraternities are required to submit this plan for approval before they are permitted to participate in formal recruitment. All of these documents are made public on the IFC website.

The first year of this initiative saw an 83% decrease in hazing violations for IFC-recognized chapters according to the Miami University Office of Community Standards. We firmly believe that each new member should be given the commitment of a lifelong experience cultivating personal and fraternal values through the bonds of brotherhood. Hazing and alcohol abuse have no place in this experience. Through the Enhanced Membership Experience, the Interfraternity Council is committed to ensuring the longevity of the fraternal experience and to fully realigning the Greek community’s values with those of Miami University and Oxford.

The Program

Expectations

• Each chapter will select two representatives to manage and revise the Enhanced Membership Experience.
• Each chapter must submit their Enhanced Membership Experience to the Interfraternity Council prior to being allowed to participate in formal recruitment.
• The EME will be reviewed (as it is revised) by the IFC Vice President of Member Education with the consultation of the IFC Executive Board. Each chapter will receive feedback during the revision process.
• The chapter representatives, along with the chapter executive board, will present the EME to the chapter on at least two separate occasions during the revision process.
• The chapter’s executive board will present the finalized plan to the IFC Executive Board for approval. If the chapter’s plan is denied, they will have time to edit and submit it again for approval. Failure to do so will result in the chapter being unable to participate in the next formal recruitment period.

Required Preliminary Action

• Each chapter will choose two representatives who will oversee the creation and revision of the plan. These representatives can be elected, delegated by the chapter’s executive board, or selected in any way.
  • Good candidates might include: past executive board members, member educators, new members who want to become leaders in the chapter, general members interested in taking on an executive role, members with a passion for holistic development in the chapter.
• The representatives will design a program to communicate the EME to the entire chapter in an effective way.
  • Chapter officers and representatives will go over the EME with the chapter. 70% of the chapter is required to be in attendance at the presentation.

Components of the Enhanced Membership Experience

• New Member Education Plan: A document including information regarding the chapter’s new member process. These plans will be published on the Interfraternity Council Website. Each chapter’s New Member Education Plan must include but is not limited to:
  • Values Based Selection Process/Recruitment of New Members
  • Statement on Alcohol Free Recruitment
  • Statement on Alcohol Free Bid Distribution
  • Statement on Hazing
  • Financial Obligations for New Members
  • Required Projects
  • New Member Requirements for Initiation (including Academic)
  • Purposes/Goals of Chapter Program
  • Process Evaluation by New Members or New Initiates
  • Weekly Schedule/Overall Calendar
  • Rules/Code of Conduct (i.e. attendance, dress code, interaction with other organizations, etc)
  • Chapter/Big Brother/Mentor Rules/Code of Conduct
  • List of chapter advisors/faculty advisors responsible for oversight of the new member program
• Calendar of Events: Includes a day-by-day calendar that details the New Member activities. All New Member activities should be clearly stated and described, and ambiguities such as “Brotherhood Event” will not suffice.
  • Calendars will be published on the IFC website.
  • Chapters should use the EME Calendar Template to construct the Calendar of Events.
• Letter to Parents/Guardians: Lists all points of contact within the chapter executive board as well as advisors and relevant contacts within the national organization and IFC. The letter should outline the chapter’s mission, accomplishments, and goals. The letter should be sent to the parents/guardians of all new members within the first week of new member education. This letter must include but is not limited to:
  • Copy of the Miami University Code of Student Conduct hazing policy
  • The national organization’s statement on hazing
  • The name & phone number of each chapter executive board member, new member educator, chapter advisor
  • The name and email address of the IFC President and IFC VP of Member Education
  • Notice that all new member education materials can be found on the IFC website.

Important Dates for 2020-2021

• To be determined

Sanctions related to the Enhanced Membership Experience

• If the above milestones are missed, possible sanctions (decided by the VPs of Conduct) can include but are not limited to: missing fall recruitment events, social probation.
• The Interfraternity Council holds the right to ban chapters who do not submit the EME from formal recruitment activities during both the Fall and Spring semesters. The final possible date for EME approval is January of the Spring semester.
• The Interfraternity Council has the right to suspend the New Member process of any and all chapters that are not in regulation with the EME program.