Our Commitment to Creating a Supportive Campus Environment
Fraternity & Sorority Life holds dear the values of intellectual growth, friendship, social responsibility, well-being and leadership. These shared values, along with the Colorado Creed, help us create a welcoming campus environment where all students can thrive. As Buffs and members of the fraternity and sorority community, it is crucial that we uphold these values in both our in-person and virtual conversations. It is important for all of us to understand the role we play in creating a supportive atmosphere both in our organizations and in our communities.
The fraternal movement is one that starts as an undergraduate experience that evolves over a lifetime. Councils and chapters are led by students, and we believe the leaders from the fraternity and sorority community will determine innovative and action-oriented ways to engage our members, and hold them accountable, in upholding our values. Fraternity & Sorority Life is committed to working actively with student leaders to ensure our community is supportive of students from all backgrounds.
Fraternity & Sorority Life staff will prioritize the following:
- Continue to work with the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) and individual councils and chapters to address reports of harmful behavior within our community.
- Work with each council to identify steps to create a more accessible recruitment process that includes but is not limited to marketing membership opportunities to students from all backgrounds, encouraging chapters to reduce dues and/or provide assistance to members who may not be able to afford the experience, and ensure potential new members have access to technology for virtual recruitment purposes.
- Facilitate dialogues between chapter presidents and council leaders to identify meaningful educational opportunities to help members explore ways to learn about their brothers and sisters and how they can support members from all backgrounds.
- Create a guide to help councils, chapters and members understand the systems in place to make policy and programmatic changes in their respective councils in a way that encourages leadership to set norms and expectations that are consistent with our goal of fostering a welcoming community.
- Gather resources from key campus and community stakeholders that can be educational resources for chapters and members.
- Outline a new process for citywide National Pan-Hellenic Chapters (NPHC), historically Black fraternities and sororities, chartered at CU to activate more quickly.
We have created a Frequently Asked Questions resource to provide additional information on student accountability and the roles various entities play in facilitating change. Additionally, there are many campus departments, including Fraternity & Sorority Life, that can support chapter leaders and members. We encourage students to reach out to these resources and share them with their peers: