Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, May 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 236-291).

Specialist degree in education, Eastern Illinois University. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 65).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of North Texas, May, 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Ninety-nine African-American undergraduates, at a historically Black college, completed the African American Acculturation Scale to compare fraternity/sorority members with independents' participation in Black cultural traditions versus dominant White society. Greek members were hypothesized to be more traditional, because these organizations represent ethnic enclaves, have duplicate institutions, and communicate ethnic socialization; findings did not support this, but reasons for joining did. They were more superstitious in their beliefs than nonmembers, likely related to pledgeship and initiation rituals. Validity data on the new measure were provided. Why participants join fraternities, why they like/dislike them, and what purposes they serve was also examined.

The purpose of this is study is to investigate the experiences of students in Latino/Latina fraternities and sororities. Five students were selected to take part of the study and were interviewed using a qualitative case study methodology grounded in critical race theory. Five themes were identified: the support system that Latino Greek Lettered Organizations (LGLO) offer, going Greek, challenges, differences from other Greeks, and shifting identify of the organizations from Latino to multicultural. Student affairs practitioners, educators, and researchers will be able to use the findings from this study to better support LGLO's and consequently the success of Latino students on college campuses. / Graduation date: 2012

The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate a primary and secondary prevention program for eating disorders. The intervention program in this study was adapted from a peer leader intervention similar to Kelly et al.'s (1992) AIDS prevention program. Four sorority houses comprised the sites used to test the effectiveness of the prevention program using a quasi-experimental wait-list control design. Participants in each house completed assessments of dieting behavior, dietary restraint, body image esteem, and health behavior self-efficacy on two occasions. Two sororities received the peer leader preventive intervention between these testing times while the other two sororities served as controls. The experimenter hypothesized the intervention would decrease dieting behavior and dietary restraint while increasing body image esteem and self-efficacy for health behavior. To improve upon a previous pilot study, sororities were selected over female dormitories. Several factors led to the selection of the sorority houses rather than the dormitories. First, the diffusion of innovations model from which the peer leader program was developed assumes a closed cohesive group of individuals so the intervention can diffuse throughout the community. Second, the experimenter hypothesized that members of sororities would report higher rates of dieting relative to females who live in dormitories. Thus, sororities were selected as intervention sites since their members are self-selected into a cohesive group and they are potentially at a higher risk for developing eating disorders. Peer leaders were selected from experimental sorority houses and trained to advocate no-dieting, healthy eating, and exercise for sorority members living in their house (i.e., primary prevention). These peer leaders were also trained to make effective treatment referrals for students with existing eating problems (i.e., secondary prevention). Manipulation checks suggested the training program for selected peer leaders was successful and that peer leaders effectively implemented the program via conversations in the experimental sorority houses. Community posttest analyses were conducted to determine intervention effectiveness after the pretest analyses showed the groups did not differ. Community analyses at posttest suggested peer leaders benefited slightly from their training program. However, no significant differences were found between experimental participants and control participants. However, there was a minimal dose-response relationship for the intervention. Participants who knew the meaning of the Don't Diet symbol used in the intervention at posttest (i.e., implying they received a stronger dose of the intervention) were dieting less according to some variables than participants who did not know the meaning of the symbol. Participants who knew the meaning of the symbol also reported significantly greater body image esteem and self-efficacy for exercise. In conclusion, although the effects of the intervention were not significant at the community level between experimental and control sororities for the hypothesized variables using the planned analyses, exploratory post-hoc analyses showed some positive effects for a subset of participants who were more knowledgeable about the intervention program. / Ph. D.

Since the birth of the United States in 1776, Greek-letter societies have been an integral part of American higher education. Research on the impact of Greek membership varies at best, and often is in conflict from study to study. This study surveyed students affiliated with Greek-letter organizations at the University of North Texas. The research examined the college adaptability of Greek students by gender in five areas: Overall adjustment, academic adjustment, personal-emotional adjustment, social adjustment, and attachment to the institution. The study, conducted in the spring of 2006 at the University of North Texas had 80 respondents. The Student Adaptability to College Questionnaire (SACQ) consisted of 67 items on a 9-point scale. The SACQ is designed to assess how well students adapt to the demands of the college experience. Raw scores and percentile rankings were determined by t-test calculations. Test scores were expressed through t-scores in relation to the standardized sample. Data show no statistical significance in any of the five areas studied: Overall adjustment, academic adjustment, personal-emotional adjustment, social adjustment, or attachment to the institution. Female participants scored higher on all scales than male participants, indicating a slightly higher level of adjustment, though not enough to be significant. Both males and females scored highest in attachment to the institution and social adjustment, while both scored lowest in personal-emotional adjustment.

Seven percent of the national four year college population is involved in Greek Life (Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, 2008, ~5) with over sixty percent on some campuses (Finkel, 201 0). An often unexamined aspect of collegiate learning pertaining to this context is students' spiritual development, yet this is a vital part of a student's life throughout college and critical to whole student learning (Love & Talbot, 2005). Students report a high level of interest in spiritual activities while struggling with existential questions on a regular basis (Higher Education Research Institute, 2003). Most social fraternities and sororities embrace Christian ideals, making the spiritual development of non-Christian students involved in Greek Life a unique challenge. Focusing on the spiritual development of Jewish students within these social organizations is important because until the mid-twentieth century, there were restrictive membership clauses barring Jewish students from becoming active members of multiple fraternities and sororities founded on Christian ideals (Callais, 2002). The purpose of this study was to examine the unique dichotomy created by students who do not participate in the systemic religious views of a majority of Greek Life organizations; specifically focusing on students of Jewish faith in primarily Christian based Greek letter organizations. The students interviewed show a richness of experiences and information finding that Jewish students (1) identification as spiritually or culturally Jewish defines college experiences, (2) find sanctuary and community with other Jewish students and in groups such as Hillel, (3) who interact with faculty and staff that identify with their heritage feel a sense of belonging on campus, (4) struggle with campus dining practices, (5) face academic penalties due to practice of faith traditions, (6) did not feel welcome or comfortable at the local places of worship, and (7) in Greek letter organizations felt · excluded or challenged because of the founding ideals.

The University of Arizona Yearbook is an annual publication that documents student activities, and campus life. The yearbook contains photographs and information about the university including: homecoming, graduating class, athletic events, student organizations and faculty.