Ohio State’s Interfraternity Council is spearheading the transformation of its educational program topics under Greek Life’s standards of excellence to focus more on men’s health and wellness.
The council’s standards of excellence initiative — a program established in 2001 to improve Greek Life’s development and growth — will be altered to include presentations on more complex topics like male privilege, Mitch Howard, the Interfraternity Council’s director of diversity, equity and inclusion, said.
“Previously, those sessions were kind of base level [and] not very engaging,” Howard said. “A lot of the content was specific to general [topics like] drinking less or liquor hazing.”
Under the standards of excellence, 85% of every chapter must attend at least one program for each of the three goal categories: member development, inclusive excellence and harm reduction, according to Sorority and Fraternity Life’s website.
Attending multiple programs that fall under the same goal category can be combined for a chapter’s total 85% required attendance, or a chapter can design its own program about a specific topic for its members.
Howard said he is working with Kim Monteaux De Freitas, director of Sorority and Fraternity Life, to develop a new standard for presentations, independent of the standards of excellence’s three goal categories, but following its purpose and intent of improving Greek Life.
“We’re focusing on mental health, particularly men’s mental health, and that intersection between manhood and toxic masculinity,” Howard said.
Howard said these presentations formerly focused on topics of hazing, leadership and sexual misconduct.
