Lehigh University: Alumni

History 

• The Greek system at Lehigh dates back to the early days of university history. Since Chi Phi opened in 1872, just seven years after Lehigh was founded, the Greek experience has played a significant role in campus life.  More than 40 chapters have existed at Lehigh, and 19 of these have histories over 100 years.  For founding dates of individual chapters, click here. Through the years, fraternities and sororities have instilled in many Lehigh graduates the core values of scholarship, leadership, service, and friendship, and have created bonds that last a lifetime.
• The Greek Alumni Council, having operated as a less formal organization, was constituted as part of the Lehigh University Alumni Association in the late 1980s and operated under the initial by-laws until the time of the Strengthening Greek Life Task Force.
• In recent years, Lehigh’s Greek community—mirroring problems at college campuses across the country—has faced major challenges, and several organizations have been removed from campus, either by their national headquarters, by their alumni organizations, or by the university.
• By 2002, 200 beds in the Greek system were empty as a result of poor living conditions, concerns about fraternities and sororities being a poor influence on grades, and complaints from parents.  The number of empty beds is now down to about 50 as a result of adjustments to capacity to make the houses more attractive to upperclassmen, and due to outstanding recruitment conducted by chapters over the past two years.  
• The University had to decide between the following choices: retain the current system intact; terminate the Greek system on campus; or invest people, time, money, and resources to fix the system.  They chose to invest. "Be great or be gone" became the motto, along with the University's promise to “help you either way.”  
• In the 2002-2003 academic year, the Greek Alumni Council was reestablished to get alumni more involved; leadership training was provided for incoming fraternity and sorority presidents; Greek national organizations were contacted to contribute to the plan; and the consultant group NP:ower was brought in to speak directly with constituents and identify emerging themes as well as make recommendations for change. Reports were prepared by Npower (Related Resource AA and BB), the GAC (Related Resource CC), and the IFC (DD), and a Greek Life Survey was conducted by the Office of Student Affairs (EE).
• That same year, a task force was assembled that consisted of administrators, students, faculty, and alumni. They issued a report in January of 2004, which was adopted by the Board of Trustees in February of 2004.  The report contained comprehensive and integrated objectives.  
• A group called the Greek Life Implementation Group (GLIG) implemented the recommendations during 2004-2005.  This group was comprised of actives, administrators, and alumni (AAA).  
• 2005-2006 saw the complete transformation of the Greek system, along with a continuing effort to improve policies and processes. The GLIG became the GPC (Greek Partnership Council), with the addition of a representative from the provost’s office.  The addition of the provost's office provided the academic voice — the fourth A —to make the GPC representation AAAA.  
• From 2006 and into the future, everyone who is involved continues to be dedicated to implementing all Task Force recommendations, while ensuring that the system will continue to remain strong and maintain a standard of excellence.  
• There are now 19 fraternities and eight sororities on campus. Thirty-three percent of Lehigh’s undergraduate men are fraternity members, and 43 percent of undergraduate women belong to sororities.
• In 2008, Lehigh was named the recipient of the Oustanding Change Initiative Award by the Association of Fraternity Advisors, the professional association dedicated to the national fraternity and sorority community. Click here to read more.