The Interfraternity Council is forming a mental health committee, the first of its kind for the IFC in IU history, this semester.
The goal of this committee is to educate members of the chapters about mental health and depression, Committee Chairman and Director of Mental Health Andrew Haffner said.
The committee will also bring awareness to substance abuse.
Haffner said he has seen numerous people from his hometown in Fort Wayne, Indiana, suffer from life-altering events because of substance abuse.
“I want to be able look back on my college experience and know that I tried to make a difference,” he said.
One of the activities Vice President of Development Dan Cummins said he plans for the committee to get involved with the Greek Leadership Academy.
The Academy is a monthly program put on by the Department of Student Life and Learning for greek life presidents. It gives leadership training and discussion-based courses.
Also, Haffner said he is planning to look into different private organizations that offer device-based mental health screenings to patients in doctors’ offices.
Though the IFC did appoint its first mental health director in December 2015, Cummins said this is the first committee ever made by IFC at IU regarding mental health.
Inspired by the panhellenic mental health committee formed last semester, he said he decided to expand upon the idea of the mental health director and form an IFC mental health committee.
“I think it’s an issue that’s important to talk about and important to realize,” he said.
Additionally, Cummins said he was motivated by the sheer growth of the sexual assault awareness campaign that took place in the greek life system last semester.
Though he said he will still bring awareness to the issues behind sexual assaults on campus, he would like to reach that level on enthusiasm and cooperation for the committee.
“My goal for the committee is to have at least one member per chapter represented in the committee,” he said.
By emailing applications to each of the chapter presidents on campus, who then forward them to chapter members, Cummins said he has been trying to get all chapters involved.
The committee plans to have its first official meeting within the next couple of weeks, Cummins said.
He said he is working with Haffner to review applications for membership.
More than 20 applications have been submitted, and Cummins said he would like to reduce that number to between 12 and 15.
“I wanted to identify specific issue areas that are directly related to membership development and personal growth,” Cummins said.
Another benefit Haffner said he hopes will come from the committee is the restructuring of a better reputation for greek life.
“The greek community as a whole has been suffering to get positive publicity for many years,” he said. “It is important for IFC to adopt such a committee because we need to continue to shed light on the good that greek chapters bring to a university and community.”
Cummins said he believes bringing awareness to grave issues like mental health, substance abuse and sexual assault are what greek life is all about, and will help make a significant difference in the community.
“We join these organizations that hold these values very dear to our hearts,” he said. “And I think it’s really important that we continue to strive to find ways to develop ourselves personally to make sure we’re providing resources, education and support for our members in any way possible.”
