NIC Blog
DC Internship Opportunity
Tags: internship, patton boggs, greek policy agenda
We want to announce an internship opportunity in Washington, DC for summer 2010 that will allow you to participate in the development of the Greek policy agenda.
Summer Internship Opportunity in Washington, DC
Patton Boggs LLP has represented the Greek world pro bono on public policy issues since 2001. For the last few years, the firm has had an unpaid summer internship for Greek students to learn more about the public policy process by focusing on the passage of the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act.
The Patton Boggs internship is open to Greek students who:
- Have time remaining in their undergraduate education
(rising sophomores, juniors and seniors). - Will be receiving academic credit for this unpaid internship.
The internship will run for 12-15 weeks, ending in early August. Starts mid-May or June (depending on the student's school schedule).
The internship will focus on developing grassroots support for the passage of the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act, a bill pending in Congress that will help Greeks provide safer and more modern housing for their student members. The interns will conduct research, develop written materials for the grassroots campaign, coordinate and attend events for the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee (including organizing an event during the summer for Greek students interning in Washington , DC ), maintain the campaign's website, and participate in lobbying meetings with Congress about the bill. In addition, the interns will also participate in similar public policy research and client service activities as opportunities arise. Patton Boggs LLP is the nation's largest public policy law firm and one of the 100 largest law firms in the country.
To apply for the internship, students need to send a resume and cover letter to Jessica Pung at jpung@pattonboggs.com. Materials should be sent by January 29, 2010. You do not need to be participating in the April Congressional visits to apply for this internship so feel free to give this information to other students who might be interested in applying.
Questions can be directed to Jessica Pung, Public Policy Specialist at Patton Boggs, at jpung@pattonboggs.com or 202.457.6302.
MOVEMBER!
Tags: movember, philanthropy, men's health
This November the NIC challenges each of you to help spread the word for prostate and testicular cancer awareness by growing a MOUSTACHE (or supporting a man that’s growing one, for you ladies)! Why?? It’s the Movember Movement!
What is Movember?
Movember is an annual, month-long awareness campaign for men's health issues - specifically prostate and testicular cancer. The tool for this campaign is none other than the moustache. Movember challenges men to grow out their moustaches during the month of November, all the while raising money and awareness for men's health issues.
Is it silly? Absolutely. But what isn't silly is the 47 million dollars that Movember has raised globally (funds benefiting The Prostate Cancer Foundation and The Lance Armstrong Foundation)-- making it the world's largest charity event for men. Not to mention the awareness and education that has been done regarding prostate and testicular cancer!!
Why does the NIC support Movember?
Movember is an organization that raises awareness and funds for men's health issues, something many of our individual organizations already support. In fact, a few NIC organizations are already participating in Movember! If done right, Movember can show undergraduates how simple it is to raise awareness for a cause- which can be a great structure to use for their chapter philanthropy.
If your organization wants to get involved as well check out the detailed marketing plan attached with a clear message of how to get involved and what to do once you do get involved. There are ideas for raising awareness on their website, not to mention videos and facts to use as well. For more information visit: http://us.movember.com/about/ or contact Katie Thiele: katie@movember.com.au
Deferred Madness
Tags: recruitment, deferred recruitment
Thoughts regarding Deferred Recruitment by a former NIC staff member, John Shertzer.
Deferred Madness
Clearly, some colleges/universities just get it, and others don't. The enlightened institutions among us have realized that the choice to join a fraternity is so profound, so complicated (and possibly so hazardous), that young and impressionable freshmen students should not be rushed into that decision. In fact, the smartest colleges/universities also realize that freshmen students are incapable of critical thinking and decision making, and thus need to be told when they can join a fraternity or sorority. I'm sure these institutions have conducted studies that confirm that a young man or woman's decision-making skills are only effective and useful starting in the second semester. However, there must be some debate to this question - since some institutions do not allow this decision to be made until the sophomore year. The students they enroll must struggle to even know what kind of cereal to have in the morning!
The smartest of the enlightened institutions of higher education often realize that not only should freshmen wait to join a fraternity or sorority, they should be prevented from even having contact with a fraternity or sorority member until told otherwise. This is obviously because their students have the thinking skills of a gnat who allows itself to be drawn into the scorching death of a bug zapper.
It is most noble of these colleges/universities to look after their young neophytes with care and compassion. They've obviously discovered a truth that has been elusive for so many of us - first-semester college freshmen are pretty dumb. They need to be protected from their own stupidity. They cannot make a wise decision, especially when allowed to move at their own pace. So instead, let's help them by adding structure. Yes - help them - that sounds nice! Let's give them two weeks of quick meetings, funny slide shows, and fancy brochures. That will clearly allow for more controlled - er - I mean better decision-making.
By the way, this doesn't apply to other student organizations. Students are free to join them at any time, since they are the kinds of decisions students can make quickly and without any thought.
I'm sure that there is research that proves that deferred recruitment results in greater recruitment numbers, fewer incidents of alcohol and hazing, greater alumni engagement, better academics for the members, and a greater commitment to founding values and principles. Just because I couldn't find this research anywhere doesn't mean it's not there.
I want to thank these enlightened institutions for challenging all of our intuitive ideas and notions of common sense by proving that deferred recruitment is the way to go. Because of the inspiration of their example, I want to challenge them in kind. Since these colleges and universities have the best interests of students in mind, I'm sure they wouldn't care if we prevented them from making contact with or actively recruiting high school students until the second semester of their senior years. In fact, we'll just give them two weeks in August to make their case. After all, it's such a big decision.
This post was pulled from a great blog called: Fraternal Thoughts: Thoughtful conversation on the future of collegiate Greek-letter organizations, written by John Shertzer a former NIC staff member. To read more please visit: http://fraternalthoughts.blogspot.com
