Fraternity Leadership Position - Risk Manager

[MatasTK]

From the other threads about including fraternity membership in your AMCAS app, it seems clear that listing a fraternity leadership position can be a good idea. I was the rush chair one year and had a great experience with that so I am definitely including it.

I was also "Risk Manager" (officially VP of Health & Safety which sounds way better imo) and I am less certain if I should include this. It was a position on our executive board and involved a lot of responsibility/organization which makes me think I should. However, aside from the administrative duties a lot of it was just being the one to take care of people that drank too much at a party. The pro of that is it goes along with the taking care of people motif. The con is it leads to the assumption that I drank alcohol a decent amount during undergrad or that my fraternity partied a lot.

I'm sure admissions committees know that a decent amount of undergrads party or drink alcohol but I doubt it gets asked about in interviews unless there is reason to do so.

Should I include this leadership position? If so, should I address the helping of people that drank too much explicitly or leave that part out and just mention the administrative side of the position?

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[drmantistobbogan]

Yes, but you should articulate your position in a better way

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

As a general rule of thumb a leadership position of a college orginization needs to do something and you need to be able to communicate it clearly in writing and during your interviews.
If you can do that then, by all means list it.
If someone is just an "on paper" officer of a club or frat it's not going to help them and might hurt them (adcoms might question your decision making skills for listing it)

 

[DrivebyTrucker]

Health and safety sounds a lot better than risk manager for a fraternity. The former seems related to overall wellness, whereas the latter seems like the guy who helps cover up all of the weird fraternity shenanigans people like to imagine.

 

[drmantistobbogan]

Health and safety sounds a lot better than risk manager for a fraternity. The former seems related to overall wellness, whereas the latter seems like the guy who helps cover up all of the weird fraternity shenanigans people like to imagine.

"Risk Management Officer" is the official title for this position, that is what they should use.

 

[strider144]

It doesn't make me think you drank/partied a lot, it makes me think you moderated your own intake to be available to assist other people at parties. Write it up nicely and include it. It's not like admissions committees don't know that college students drink! I would frankly worry more about anything regarding hazing, so be sure to articulate what involvement you had with pledges, if any, and do so in a careful manner.

 

[Toutie]

I don't have an answer for you, but I am happy to see your frat has a position like this to look after those who are consuming too much. Your brethren at Penn St could learn a thing or two from your frat.

 

[DokterMom]

To me, the Health & Safety title sounds like a load of BS, and Risk Manager is exactly what you'd assume it is. Sure, folks will assume your frat drank and partied a lot. They do, don't they? They kinda all do, right?

But as risk manager, it would be your responsibility to keep the situation and/or bring things back 'inside the line' and reasonable without being a buzzkill. That can be a fine line to walk and is a valuable skill to have with widespread life applicability.

I'd agree with the sentiment that the taint of hazing as rush chair could be the bigger risk. The two actually work fairly well together, so I'd expect questions about what was and was not permissible and how you handled situations that appeared to be escalating. Could make for some interesting challenge essays.

 

[drmantistobbogan]

It doesn't make me think you drank/partied a lot, it makes me think you moderated your own intake to be available to assist other people at parties. Write it up nicely and include it. It's not like admissions committees don't know that college students drink! I would frankly worry more about anything regarding hazing, so be sure to articulate what involvement you had with pledges, if any, and do so in a careful manner.

There is so much more to the Risk Management position than monitoring alcohol usage. In most fraternities, this person is in charge of making sure that members adhere to all rules and regulations of the fraternity, coordinating the safety of members outside of fraternity events, and formally educating members on creating an inclusive environment for members that follows the guidelines of nationals.

 

[strider144]

There is so much more to the Risk Management position than monitoring alcohol usage. In most fraternities, this person is in charge of making sure that members adhere to all rules and regulations of the fraternity, coordinating the safety of members outside of fraternity events, and formally educating members on creating an inclusive environment for members that follows the guidelines of nationals.

The school where I heard the details of the creation of a safety position created it as a required position in response to a case of extreme medical damage from a pledge hazing event. As the OP said, his formal title is VP of Health & Safety and thus may be different from the risk management positions you are describing. Either way, it is not unreasonable to think that the safety guy would be involved in designing or approving pledge events, and that may be a larger source of concern than drinking at parties.

 

[drmantistobbogan]

The school where I heard the details of the creation of a safety position created it as a required position in response to a case of extreme medical damage from a pledge hazing event. As the OP said, his formal title is VP of Health & Safety and thus may be different from the risk management positions you are describing. Either way, it is not unreasonable to think that the safety guy would be involved in designing or approving pledge events, and that may be a larger source of concern than drinking at parties.

I must have missed the official title in OPs post. Seems weird, I have been involved in Greek life my entire undergrad and have never heard the position called anything different than Risk Management. Alcohol monitoring is a facet of this position, but there is so much more to it than that. If I were OP, I would focus on the other aspects of the position since it is obvious that people not involved in Greek organizations have judgments about how they operate.

 

[Ampharos]

I included a position similar to yours and did fine: VP Standards - PM if you have more questions about including Greek life. I don't think I received a single question about my fraternity during any of my interviews.


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[Tenk]

Risk manager for a frat will not bring warm fuzzy doctor feelings to anyone particularly physicians who have to deal with the consequences of the sheer stupidity you were "managing." Tread carefully.

 

[drmantistobbogan]

Risk manager for a frat will not bring warm fuzzy doctor feelings to anyone particularly physicians who have to deal with the consequences of the sheer stupidity you were "managing." Tread carefully.

I'm sorry that you view an executive board position of a national organization so negatively because of your own biases against Greek life. It is a valuable experience, despite what you think you know about fraternities and OP would be doing a disservice to himself by omitting it.

 

[Tenk]

I'm sorry that you view an executive board position of a national organization so negatively because of your own biases against Greek life. It is a valuable experience, despite what you think you know about fraternities and OP would be doing a disservice to himself by omitting it.

Don't be sorry. This is America. I'm entitled to my opinion and you're entitled to yours. OP can do whatever the hell he wants. I'm just saying "risk manager" for a frat does not give the same heart felt warm compassionate feeling as "risk manager" for a homeless shelter or "risk manager" for a health clinic. I think that is fairly obvious otherwise he wouldn't have asked the question to begin with.

 

[akuko2]

I'm sorry that you view an executive board position of a national organization so negatively because of your own biases against Greek life. It is a valuable experience, despite what you think you know about fraternities and OP would be doing a disservice to himself by omitting it.

I feel the same way as @Tenk. And whether or not the experience was 'valuable' is neither here nor there in relation to this question, its how ADCOMS will percieve it. Some people see frats in a negative light, and y'all need to bear that in mind when crafting your applications.