Government Relations

Every April, as part of the Fraternal Government Relations Coalition (FGRC), selected student and alumni representatives of fraternities and sororities meet in Washington, D.C., to advocate for issues important to the Greek community, including eradicating hazing and protecting freedom of association. Two Gamma Phi Beta collegians are selected each year from a pool of applicants to represent the Sorority as student lobbyists. Fraternal lobbyists from all FGRC member organizations participate in two days of training before heading to Capitol Hill to meet with U.S. senators and representatives and their staff to educate policymakers about our organizations and support specific legislation.

About The Fraternal Government Relations Coalition

The Fraternal Government Relations Coalition (FGRC) is a collaborative effort between the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), Fraternity/Sorority Political Action Committee (FSPAC) and Fraternity and Sorority Action Fund (FSAF). The FGRC represents 92 single-gender fraternities and sororities nationwide with more than 800,000 undergraduate members at 9,500 chapters on 700 campuses, as well as more than 9.1 million alumni. The NIC and NPC set and execute the advocacy agenda for the FGRC and directly lobby Congress. 

CURRENT LEGISLATION AFFECTING FRATERNITIES AND SORORITIES

Eradicating Hazing on College Campuses

Hazing threatens the health and safety of students in high school and college and undermines an institution’s educational mission. At least 50 percent of high school students participating in extra-curricular clubs and organized sports in have been exposed to hazing activities, and 18 percent of all Americans report being victims of hazing in high school. In college, hazing may be combined with forced alcohol and drug consumption to create life-threatening, risky situations for students. As values-based organizations run by and for students, fraternities and sororities are the leading source of anti-hazing educational programming on college campuses nationwide, but we still see instances where our members violate our values by hazing fellow students. Fraternities and sororities must take the lead in upholding those values and eradicating hazing in every campus organization where it exists today.

The Anti-Hazing Coalition (AHC) is a collaboration of NPC, NIC and parents whose children were tragically killed by acts of hazing. The AHC is working to eradicate hazing through aggressive student educational outreach, new state-level efforts to strengthen criminal and civil penalties for hazing and federal advocacy to use transparency to make lasting cultural change in student organizations and on university campuses. Every student has the right to learn and thrive in a safe and healthy campus environment.

Federal policymakers can help educate parents and students about the dangers of hazing and how to prevent it by focusing on transparency and accountability inside all student organizations. Any federal solution on hazing must give institutions, organizations and students the latitude to address – rather than hide – the small-scale violations of the student code of conduct that, if not addressed, can grow into more dangerous hazing behaviors that threaten student safety. We ask Congress to amend the pending reauthorization of the Higher Education Act to include two bills that would help transform campus culture and demand accountability for collegiate hazing by requiring ongoing disclosure about hazing and other student conduct that threatens student health and safety on each campus.

• Educational Notification and Disclosure of Student Actions risking Loss of Life by (END ALL) Hazing Act. The END ALL Hazing Act requires each institution of higher education that receives federal student aid to maintain and update biannually a website page that discloses student organization violations of the institution’s code of conduct that threaten the safety of students. The report would detail the corrective measures imposed by the school on the student organization. This would allow students and parents to make more informed decisions about which student organizations are safe to join. States such as South Carolina and Pennsylvania have already adapted similar laws, but it would be more effective for federal law to include these disclosures to cover all schools.
• H.R. 662 – S. 706 -- The “Report and Educate About Campus Hazing” (REACH) Act. The REACH Act would require universities to include incidents of hazing in their Clery Act reporting and provide students with educational programming related to hazing.