Phi Gamma Delta’s New Model supports our efforts to eliminate hazing by reducing the power dynamic associated with traditional pledging. It strengthens our values-based recruitment model to identify and attract good fraternity men – including those who would not typically avail themselves during formal rush – and fully evaluate prospective members before inviting them to join. And it extends learning beyond the first 6-8 weeks of membership, teaching all brothers the skills necessary for Courageous Leadership and giving them an edge in their lives and careers.
New Model Programs
Growth System
The Growth System is is a continuous, values-based recruitment system allowing a chapter to make a full, honest evaluation of a prospect before extending him an invitation to join. (Continuous means recruitment happens year-round and is not limited to the formal recruitment setting typically organized by an IFC.)
Certified Recruiter Training
Certified Recruiter Training through PhiredUp provides brothers with a baseline understanding of critical recruitment concepts and is the foundation of Phi Gamma Delta’s Growth System. This fully virtual, go-at-your-own-pace classroom includes videos and links to helpful resources assisting chapters with implementation.
Leveraging Technology: ChapterBuilder
ChapterBuilder is a customer relations management (CRM) tool designed for fraternity recruitment. It helps chapters organize and manage their relationships with prospects, including evaluating and sharing comments among brothers.
Built to Lead
Built to Lead is a multi-level development experience that begins on day one of affiliation and extends throughout the undergraduate experience, focused on building and strengthening skills necessary for Courageous Leadership.
Foundation of Courage
- Discover the power of brotherhood.
- Forge bonds with brothers through shared experiences.
- Acclimate to fraternal life and its responsibilities.
Courageous Leadership
- Where the brother spends most of his undergraduate experience.
- Assuming leadership roles inside and outside the chapter.
- Engage in deeper learning about the Fraternity’s values, Ritual and curriculum.
Perge!
- Brothers reflect and pass on knowledge gained during their undergraduate experience.
- Sharpen skills in project management, public speaking and developing mature adult relationships.
- Learn about the benefits of graduate membership.
Not for College Days Alone
- Brothers learn to appreciate the lifelong aspect of membership and opportunities to engage with Phi Gamma Delta in new ways.
New Model Implementation & Program Resources
To view the New Model Implementation Guide and additional New Model programming resources, click the button below:
Amendments to Fraternity Laws
At the 174th Ekklesia, important changes were made to move the Fraternity away from the pledging model of joining.
Those amendments mean:
- Pledging will be eliminated at all chapters by July 1, 2024.
- Chapters may choose to initiate members without pledging beginning fall 2022. Chapters which continue to pledge members until 2024 must limit the new member period to a maximum of four weeks and utilize Foundation of Courage as their new member education program.
Early Adopters
Early Adopters are chapters taking the initiative to implement the New Model before July 1, 2024. To help with implementation, Early Adopter Chapters are provided with a trained Coach to assist undergraduates and graduate advisors with creating an plan that best fits their chapter. Coaches also:
- Collaborate with campus partners and the IFC to navigate campus policies and procedures
- Provide support in execution
- Give and receive feedback
- Familiarize and prepare chapter advisors
Benefits of Early Adoption
Chapters can benefit from becoming an Early Adopter by earning up to a 50% reduction on liability insurance fees and receiving more targeted support as they ease into the New Model at a pace that best suits their chapter and campus culture. These chapters are not implementing the New Model overnight but with transitions they are able to plan themselves. Benefits also include:
Scholarships & Grants
The Phi Gamma Delta Educational Foundation is proud to support chapters with their Built to Lead implementation. The Foundation will provide grants up to $5,000/chapter to participate in, or sponsor, educational, leadership development and service-learning programs to assist with implementation. Grants are awarded on a fiscal year schedule (July 1 – June 30).
New Model Chapters must complete the Built to Lead Grant Application to receive a grant. Chapters are responsible for reading, understanding and adhering to instructions outlined in the application. The application link also outlines due dates, notification dates and funding disbursement/crediting.
Courageous Leaders Scholarship
New Model chapters can earn up to $5,000 in Courageous Leader Scholarships.
Those who want to set-up their Courageous Leader Scholarship, please review the Courageous Leader Scholarship Manual. This will guide you through the process. Reviewing this now will allow you to develop your timeline for implementing your scholarship.
Training Opportunities
Phi Gamma Delta has named Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) a strategic priority, meaning all levels of the Fraternity need to take opportunities to learn and grow. Staff, Archons and Appointed Volunteer Leaders (AVL) have led the way by participating in the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI).
As an Early Adopter, your chapter can join Fraternity leadership by having your cabinet and DEIB Chairman (if applicable) participate in the IDI: The IDI® assesses intercultural competence – the capability to shift cultural perspective and appropriately adapt behavior to cultural differences and commonalties. Intercultural competence has been identified as a critical capability in several studies focusing on overseas effectiveness of international sojourners, international business adaptation and job performance, international student adjustment, international transfer of technology and information, international study abroad, and inter-ethnic relations within nations. To learn more, visit the IDI website.
Participation in the IDI means all cabinet members and the DEIB Chairman will participate in an assessment that usually takes 15-20 minutes to complete and participate in a debrief to review their assessment. During the debrief, you will discuss next steps for learning and growth based on your results. Individual IDI results are private and will not be shared with anyone other than the trained facilitator conducting your debrief. If you have questions about confidentiality, please contact the Abby McCollom.
Participation is free for cabinet member who sign-up and fully participate in the IDI. If a member does not fully participate, the chapter will be billed for the cost of their participation. Full participation means:
- Completion of the pre-IDI training course on Phi Gamma Delta’s LMS.
- Completion of the IDI Assessment.
- Participation in individual debrief within three weeks of completing IDI Assessment.
Complete the IDI Sign-Up Form to register your chapter. Once the form is received, a chapter leader will meet with the Director of Education to confirm and get the details needed.
If you have questions, you can email the Director of Education Abby McCollom. If chapters want to use the IDI as their chapters DEIB program, they should email Abby McCollom to discuss using the Built to Lead Grant money to have their entire chapter participate.
Early Adopter chapters can have three members register for The Leadership Institute for free. Visit www.phigam.org/LeadershipInstitute for more information and to register, or contact Director of Education Abby McCollom if you have any questions.
UIFI (Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute) is a four-day, three-night, immersive leadership experience hosted by AFLV. During UIFI, fraternity/sorority students come together to challenge conventional wisdom, discover new solutions to critical problems and accelerate progress in their communities.
Phi Gamma Delta offers scholarships for 25 brothers to attend UIFI. These scholarships will be awarded on a first come, first-serve basis, and they cover the cost of registration for the Institute. However, the chapter/individual is responsible for the cost of travel to Bloomington, Indiana (many IFCs, Greek life offices and student governments offer assistance for educational travel).
Contact Senior Director of Education Lauren Tanner-Leif if you have questions or to claim a scholarship.
Become an Early Adopter
Chapter leaders who are interested in making their chapter an Early Adopter should discuss first this with their chapter officers and graduate advisors, and then complete the Early Adopter Chapter Sign-Up Form. If you have any questions, contact Senior Director of Chapter Services Noah McHale.
New Model Implementation Success
Click the button below to see our results from our chapters which have implemented the New Model since fall 2022:
Advisor Support
The Board of Chapter Advisor’s support is integral to a chapter’s success by advising undergraduate chairmen as they plan, help educate undergraduate brothers and work closely with other advisors to assist in successful implementation of the New Model.
Interested in providing direct support to an undergraduate chapter as a BCA Built to Lead, Foundation of Courage or Recruitment advisor? Contact us to learn more.
FAQs
Why is Phi Gamma Delta implementing the New Model?
The Fraternity recognized the need to find, pilot and deploy innovative ways of becoming a Phi Gam to bolster our efforts to eliminate hazing, strengthen the Fraternity with a Smart-Growth philosophy and enhance the undergraduate experience. This process resulted in development of the New Model.
Among the benefits, the New Model:
- Puts a greater emphasis on quality, values-based recruitment to identify and attract good fraternity men, including those who would not typically avail themselves during formal rush
- Shifts the mindset so that initiation is the beginning of a man’s PGD journey, not a goal that comes at the end of pledgeship
- Better assimilates and engages brothers throughout their undergraduate experience
- Reduces the power dynamic associated with traditional pledging and at the heart of hazing activities
With the decline of male college enrollment and a significant portion of college men holding a negative perception of fraternities, Phi Gamma Delta’s future success hinges on providing a hazing-free joining experience and retaining members with meaningful development throughout their college years.
When will all chapters be required to implement the New Model? What happens before that time?
On August 13, 2022, the 174th Ekklesia amended the Laws of the Fraternity to immediately allow for initiation without pledging and to eliminate the pledge status and pledging process at all chapters no later than July 1, 2024.
A two-year implementation window was provided to allow chapters time to plan their own transitions. Chapters that continue to pledge members until July 2024 must limit the new member period to a maximum of four weeks and utilize Foundation of Courage as its new member education program.
When are chapters expected to initiate members under the New Model?
When joining without first pledging, new members will be initiated within four days of accepting an invitation to join. Or if acceptance occurs prior to an academic term, then within four days after the beginning of the next academic term.
Will chapters be expected to initiate members without evaluating them?
Just the opposite. The New Model helps a chapter to make a full, honest evaluation of a man before he is invited to join. Through quality recruitment efforts, chapters will often take a much longer period to get to know a prospective member and determine if he is a good fit based upon the particular chapter’s joining criteria and the values of the Fraternity.
Do other fraternities operate with a no-pledging joining model?
Phi Gamma Delta becomes the seventh men’s fraternity to adopt a no-pledging joining model. The other organizations are Alpha Gamma Rho, Alpha Kappa Lambda, Lambda Chi Alpha, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Zeta Beta Tau.
Will the New Model eliminate hazing?
Hazing is a problem that extends well beyond fraternities. Research suggests that 50% of men have experienced hazing before coming to college. We recognize that the elimination of pledging is not a complete solution. However, combined with continuing efforts in education and accountability, it is a significant step to prevent hazing by changing the power dynamic inherent in the pledging/probationary model.
How does the New Model work with campus/IFC policies and rules related to recruitment?
While many campuses and/or IFCs have policies around recruitment, few have such strict rules that chapters cannot choose to get to know men better over an extended period. In fact, our experience thus far is that many barriers chapters perceive do not actually exist, and no campus or IFC policy prohibits implementation of our Growth System or recruitment strategies.
A benefit of being an Early Adopter is that the chapter Coach will work with the chapter and campus to navigate these policies and develop a customized implementation plan.
Simply put, by not solely relying on the campus formal recruitment period to attract new members, the New Model helps chapters to identify new recruitment pipelines rather than a “rushed” process where time to learn about men is limited. Recruitment of members becomes a more natural process of building friendships, learning backgrounds and then inviting them to join – regardless of time of year.
Where chapters continue to participate in the campus formal recruitment, they will make efforts to get to know prospects before the period begins or wait to invite them to join until they are comfortable and have made a full evaluation for membership. Also, new recruitment education will help our members develop more meaningful relationships in a shorter amount of time.
Yes. The New Model does not abandon education and learning – it embraces it and makes it a significant part of how a chapter operates. The Built to Lead member development framework extends learning about the Fraternity beyond the first 6-8 weeks of membership, as typically occurs in the pledging model. It is also more intentional when engaging brothers throughout their undergraduate experience.
Built to Lead focuses on the whole chapter, not just the pledge class, and provides brothers opportunities and skills that fit them where they are in their undergraduate careers, providing value throughout their fraternity experience.
How will new members bond without pledging?
The New Model seeks to help chapters have better, stronger bonding experiences for all members. A primary focus of the first level of Built to Lead is helping our newest members forge bonds not only with each other, but with older brothers, through shared experiences. This early assimilation into the full chapter will improve retention and engagement of new members.
How will chapters evaluate academic performance without getting grades prior to initiation?
The best predictor of future performance is past performance. In recruitment, chapters will set standards to evaluate a man’s commitment to our foundational value, Knowledge. Without over-programmed pledge activities, brothers should have plenty of time to focus on their academics. Additionally, they can draw upon the experiences of mentors and upperclassmen and will be held to the same academic expectations of all members of the chapter.
What does it mean to be an Early Adopter?
Early Adopters are chapters which choose to implement the New Model prior to July 1, 2024. In doing so, they agree to fully implement the two programs that the New Model is built upon – the Growth System and Built to Lead to:
- Initiate men immediately after accepting an invitation to join
- Work with a Coach to develop a customized implementation plan
- Provide feedback that will benefit chapters that implement later
How are Early Adopter chapters supported in their transition to the New Model?
Early Adopters are assigned a Coach who:
- Works with them to create a customized implementation plan
- Helps them identify Fraternity and local resources to implement programming for all members
- Provides education and training to undergraduates and graduate advisors
- Provides support throughout implementation
- Collects and provides feedback
In addition, Early Adopters are eligible for scholarship funds to attract and recruit quality men, grants to assist in implementation, travel costs to attend the Fraternity’s recruitment and leadership training events and discounts on their insurance assessment.
There are many ways graduates and friends of the Fraternity can assist Phi Gamma Delta and its chapters with implementing the New Model.
- Make your support known to your chapter and the graduates advising it. If your chapter is not already an Early Adopter, contact its officers and encourage them to consider it.
- Provide direct support to an undergraduate chapter as a BCA Built to Lead, Foundation of Courage or Recruitment advisor. The support of advisors, beyond the Purple Legionnaire, is important to our chapters’ success in implementing the New Model. Contact us to learn more.
- Make a gift to support implementation of the New Model. Your gift will help Phi Gamma Delta best equip the next generation of Courageous Leaders and implement the New Model at all undergraduate chapters.
