In the spring and summer of 2020, Phi Delta Theta committed to promoting diversity and inclusion (D&I) organization-wide. The General Council prioritized establishing working groups and creating the Fraternity’s first commissioner of diversity and inclusion and the Diversity and Inclusion Commission to achieve this goal.
During the pandemic, our members’ mental health and well-being came to the forefront of the many issues caused by COVID-19. The Fraternity reacted by creating resources to help members deal with the challenging times they faced. While those resources are helpful, the General Council wanted to do more to promote mental health among chapters.
These two topics, diversity and inclusion and mental wellbeing, come together at the chapter level through the chaplain’s position. Therefore, the General Council has designated the chaplain as the officer responsible for encouraging the holistic wellness of chapter members and promoting active engagement with the topics of D&I.
The General Council and Education Committee have created a track at the 2022 Kleberg Emerging Leaders Institute solely for chaplains to support them in these important tasks. Each chapter and emerging chapter needs to send a representative to attend the program. Qualities of an ideal chaplain include someone who:
- is respected by members of the chapter
- has the ability to have and facilitate challenging conversations
- is willing to help brothers who are in need
- has the capacity to find campus and community resources to promote mental health and diversity and inclusion within the chapter
Those who go through the chaplain track at Kleberg will participate in large and small group educational sessions to gain knowledge and build strategies to be effective and impactful in their role. Expert small group facilitators will help guide participants through small group meetings to process and apply the learnings from general and education sessions.
Chapters can send one member to participate in the chaplain’s track, in addition to the three delegates required for the traditional Kleberg track, for a total of four undergraduate attendees. Outside of travel costs, there is no additional charge to the chapter for sending the chaplain.
Chaplains should plan to arrive with the other Kleberg delegates during the early afternoon of Saturday, July 30, 2022, as programming will begin Saturday evening. Departure will be the morning of Tuesday, August 2, 2022.
You can register an individual for the chaplain’s track through Kleberg registration in myPhiDelt. The registration deadline is April 30, 2022, at midnight.
