Harold (Hal) White was initiated as a faculty member of Alpha Kappa Psi 61 years ago. He was instrumental in the founding of Arizona State University’s Iota Xi chapter, and has made an impact on countless students, faculty members, and friends across the country. This article is about Hal’s professional life in academia and his involvement with AKPsi.
It’s also a love story.
Whether you’ve personally experienced hazing or not, the reality is, it’s a very real problem that still happens today in all different types of groups and organizations.
Hazing is especially prevalent on college campuses, most specifically, in student organizations like fraternities and sororities. A 2008 study at the University of Maine found that over half (55%) of college students involved in clubs, teams, and organizations experience hazing at some point.
To address the realities and dangers of hazing, we decided to bust a few common myths. We hope this helps educate you and your peers on what hazing looks like, so you can recognize it, help prevent it, and stop it in its tracks.
During the fall of 2020, we launched an anonymous survey regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to better understand how well our fraternity fosters a culture in which all members can be their true authentic selves.
In this survey, we found that over 80% of our student members and 65% of our alumni members believe that Alpha Kappa Psi has a responsibility to provide DEI training.
Some of that foundational work has already begun, so to learn more, we sat down with Amanda Belcher, AKPsi’s Fraternity Manager of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to learn more.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil and a tragic day for our nation. At 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 collided into the World Trade Center’s north tower in New York City, killing hundreds of people and trapping hundreds more. Just 17 minutes later, a second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, flew into the south tower. About 30 minutes later, a third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the west side of the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., while a fourth plane, United Flight 93, crash-landed into a field in Pennsylvania killing all 40 souls on board.
So many innocent lives were lost during this attack, including three of our own Alpha Kappa Psi brothers: Thomas E. Burnett, Minnesota ’85, David H. Winton, Fordham ’91, and Jayceryll M. de Chavez, Rutgers ’98-Life.
An Employee Resource Group (ERG) is a voluntary, employee-led group that aligns with a company’s mission and helps foster a safe and supportive working environment and professional development opportunities for specific groups of employees. ERGs are important to the creation of more inclusive workplace cultures.
As Aiko Bethea writes in the Harvard Business Review: “Typically organized around a shared identity, such as race, gender, age, or mental health, they serve as a haven of belonging, offering a space for underrepresented employees to find one another, stave off a sense of isolation, and experience a reprieve from the daily aggressions they’ve endured at work.”
Many companies today have active ERGs, but since they’re employee-led groups, it’s not a given that your company has any, or, that they cater to your specific demographic or interest. If you’d like to be part of a group that doesn’t currently exist in your organization, why not start one!
Here are four steps along with some handy tips from the experts for getting your ERG off the ground.
