IFC Wins Impact Award for Student-Led Consultant Initiative
The MIT Interfraternity Council was recognized with an Amy Vojta Impact Award for their risk management efforts at the 2018 Northeast Greek Leadership Association (NGLA) Annual Conference over the weekend of February 24.
“The conference brings together student leaders in fraternities and sororities for an opportunity to learn from one another by attending educational learning sessions,” said Liz Jason, assistant director of FSILGs. “NGLA’s mission is to educate leaders from a variety of fraternal experiences to transform and empower their community and align actions with values.”
Each year, the conference awards seven Impact Awards in seven different categories- Academic Achievement, Chapter Development and Leadership, Membership Recruitment/Intake, Multicultural Initiatives/Programming, Civic Engagement, Public Relations, and Risk Management. Of the 250 organizations in attendance, the IFC was awarded with the Risk Management award for their Risk Management Consultant (RMC) program- a student-led initiative.
The fact that the RMC program is student-led is its biggest strength and reason behind its success. The RMC program trains fraternity members to give risk management consultations and to perform inspections at every fraternity social event on campus. These events are registered with the FSILG office and are then brought to the attention of MIT Police Department, who does nightly inspections. The RMCs add another layer of protection. The RMCs tour the event and label it a success or a success with reservations, in which case they give tips on how to fix minor issues that may become policy violations.
Trinh also believes this program has been so successful because it is so beneficial to everyone involved. “The RMC’s are happy to give advice to their peers. At the end of the day, we’re all MIT students. None of us want to get another fraternity in trouble, none of us want to see somebody fail.”
When asked about the IFC’s win, Trinh says that it was an honor to be recognized by the NGLA, but seeing the impact it has had on campus has been even better. “The most satisfying thing, by far, wasn’t getting recognition from the conference, but getting recognition from Suzy Nelson, from Cindy Barnhart, from our counterparts in the alumni association and from MITPD for the good work we’ve been doing.”
Written by Isabel Stewart
