PRESS RELEASE: Fraternity and Sorority Affairs to End Official Relationship with Health Advocate Program

June 9, 2006

In an effort to reassess office priorities given limited staffing, Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, a department in the Office of the Dean of Students, has decided to end its involvement in the Health Advocates program. The program, which has been operating as a partnership between McKinley Health Center, the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, Fraternity and Sorority Affairs and Community Health for over eight years, is notably one of the only programs nationally to provide peer education to both fraternity and sorority members as well as athletes in the same course.

"This is a difficult decision for our office," Dan Bureau, Assistant Dean of Students said. "We believe in the Health Advocate program. We know it has impacted students and it addresses the need for fraternity and sorority members to serve as aids in making good decision regarding health and wellness issues; however, given the circumstances that have arisen regarding the program and looking at how our office uses the little funds we have, the decision had to be made."

The circumstances Bureau refers to include a decision by the Department of Community Health to no longer assist in the funding of a McKinley Health Center professional to facilitate the course. "Community Health is making its own difficult decisions regarding their budget. We respect such decisions and know it was not easy for them, but such decisions must be made during the difficult financial times of our institution," Bureau said.

In addition, Michelle Green, a graduate student in Educational Organization and Leadership who has served as the graduate assistant for the Health Advocate program since 2003 decided to not return this fall. "Michelle's decision to not return, coupled with the decision of Community Health gave us the opportunity to think about using the funds we provide for a graduate assistant in other ways," Bureau said. "We can do some different things now that will best prepare the new Assistant Dean for Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, Ashley Dye, who will start August 2nd, to be most successful."

It is believed that Community Health will continue to offer the class, but the format will not include a graduate student provided by Greek Affairs. In addition, the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics may still support the course in other ways. Bureau states, "We hope students will continue to see value in the program and take the class; however, Fraternity and Sorority Affairs will no longer identify it as an expectation of the fraternity and sorority community."

Fraternity and Sorority Affairs will provide a report to the governing councils of the fraternity and sorority community as to next steps. "The Health Advocate course not only empowered representatives from fraternities and sororities to be educated on important issues," Bureau states, "but also provided a forum for us to demonstrate to the campus that we are concerned about issues such as alcohol misuse and abuse, gender relations, diversity and other topics. We now need to find other ways to get this education into the fraternity and sorority community, for their own education and betterment as essential organizations on this campus."

For more information, please contact Dan Bureau at dbureau@uiuc.edu or Ruth McCauley, Acting Dean of Students, at rmccaule@uiuc.edu.