Northwestern wants 'social justice education' for frats, sororities

Northwestern University is seeking a new director to promote “social justice education” among fraternity and sorority members, according to a job listing on Chronicle Vitae.

The new “Assistant Director, Fraternity and Sorority Life” will be responsible not only for advising fraternity and sororities, responding to emergency situations, and ensuring adherence to university policies, but also for assisting in the coordination of “social justice education” programming.

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Minimum qualifications for the position include at least three years of experience working with fraternities and sororities, understanding of the educational environment at “highly selective institutions like Northwestern,” and “demonstrated experience” in the field of “social justice.”

While the new assistant director should also ideally hold a Master’s Degree from an accredited college or university, according to the listing, Northwestern will also consider applicants with an “appropriate combination” of work and educational experience.

In particular, the university is seeking applicants capable of creating “an environment of understanding” and challenging “organizational practices and policies that may be exclusionary” based on “input from a wide variety of people and functions.”

Those skills will likely come into play when the new assistant director begins to “assist in the coordination of thematic programmatic/educational initiatives,” which can include leadership/community development, harm reduction/risk management, or social justice education.

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While there is no mention of social justice programming on Northwestern’s Fraternity and Sorority Life website, Northwestern does offer a variety of social-justice themed programming through its Student Affairs office, including a program on “deconstructing whiteness” and another to “deconstruct masculinity.”

Northwestern did not respond to multiple requests for more information from Campus Reform, such as why fraternity directors are tasked with pushing social justice, and whether fraternity and sorority members are required to undergo social justice training.

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