Academic Courses | Fraternity and Sorority Life

The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life offers several classes throughout the year. Brief descriptions of each of these courses as well as who to contact with interest can be found below.

FSL academic courses provide fraternity & sorority members the opportunity to receive academic credit while exploring leadership, inclusion, and/or their role in addressing interpersonal violence within a fraternity/sorority context. All FSL courses are discussion-based, allowing students to reflect on their ability to create positive and lasting change within their individual organizations and our entire community. If you know students that would benefit from any o FSL courses, recommend them by completing the Course Recommendation Form.

Leadership Techniques for Emerging Fraternity and Sorority Leaders

IU 273
Spring – Full Semester
2 credits

This class is designed as an introductory leadership development course aimed at examining leadership within the context of fraternity and sorority life and is geared specifically towards first-year and sophomore students who are newly initiated members within their organization. Our course begins with an exploration of the unique aspects of fraternity and sorority, specifically: organizational ritual and values, organizational identity and culture, and a shared commitment to growth and development. Emphasis is placed on understanding personal leadership identity and style. Values, characteristics, and developmental tasks as a foundation for continued leadership development are also examined. The purpose of this course is to reflect on one’s ability to create positive and lasting change within a fraternity or sorority.

Advanced Leadership Techniques for Fraternity and Sorority Members

IU 273
Spring – Full Semester
2 Credits

This class is designed as an advanced leadership development course aimed at examining leadership specifically within the context of fraternity and sorority life, and is geared specifically towards sophomores, juniors, and seniors who currently hold (or have held) officer positions within their organization. Emphasis is placed on understanding how common purpose, organizational culture and dynamics, and ethical decision-making influence leadership in the fraternity and sorority context. A focus on understanding how leaders can continue to make fraternities and sororities relevant into the future by building coalitions and becoming change agents is examined as a foundation for the course.

Inclusive Leadership for Fraternity and Sorority Members

WS 397
Fall – Full Semester
3 Credits

This course is designed to provide students an opportunity to explore and discuss the complexity of human difference in today’s society through class readings, class discussion and activities, and reflection. This class is also designed as a leadership development course and will provide opportunities to examine leadership in the context of inclusion, diversity and social justice. Emphasis is placed on understanding personal identity, as well as understanding how to lead with a sense of responsibility toward and with different others. Strategies for allyship and interdependently leading within a global community will also be examined.

Fraternity And Sorority Members Against Sexual Assault

WS 495
Spring – First Eight Weeks
1 credit

This class exists to deepen and enliven the conversation related to interpersonal violence in our society, and most specifically, in fraternity and sorority life. One in four women, one in six men and one in two transgender people, will be the victim of an attempted or completed sexual assault in their lifetime, and research also indicates that rape supportive culture and sexual assault take on unique shapes in the fraternity and sorority context. This includes the reality that sorority women are more likely to experience sexual assault than unaffiliated women. Fraternity and Sorority Members Against Sexual Assault aims to:

Dispel myths surrounding rape, sexual assault, and relationship violence
Consider how a rape supportive culture is established and unique ways this culture is perpetuated in the fraternity and sorority community
Discuss gender socialization, gender specific programs, and healthy relationships, all relating to being a member of a fraternity or sorority
Develop a firm understanding of the resources available for survivors of rape, sexual assault, and other forms of interpersonal violence
Foster collaboration among members of the fraternity and sorority community concerned with the health and well-being of CSU students and deconstructing rape supportive culture