March 27, 2023

Dear Gaucho,

As we continue to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, I feel as though it is best to approach any challenges that come our way with an open mind and a willingness to put the work in. During my term as president there are many initiatives that I want to tackle related to member safety and well-being as well as equity, inclusion, and diversity (EID)..

Having served on the Interfraternity Council this past school year as the Vice President of Health and Safety, member safety is something that is definitely one of my strong suits. In terms of keeping fraternity members (and guests) safe, I want to empower the community with the knowledge and skills to have the ability to save someone's life. Specifically, I want to offer CPR certification and Narcan training to members so in the unlikely event that a situation arises, folks will have the skills to help. To accomplish this, I want to work with my council, and the greater fraternity & sorority community, to make sure these resources are offered to our community in hopes that they will never need to be used. 

Additionally, by the end of my term I want to see that each of the IFC chapters have mental health resources available to all of their members. UCSB offers lots of fantastic resources to its students (such as CAPS), but I hope that chapters will have programming for their members that is hosted by their members. Given how stressful and hectic college can be at times, it is important that we lean into our community for support, and for the fraternity community that means leaning on the siblings within our organizations.

Another big issue I want to tackle as IFC President is in regards to equity, inclusion, and diversity in our community. I have phrased it as EID rather than the traditional DEI acronym because this type of social change is structured like a pyramid. This means that in order to foster a more diverse environment, the playing field has to be leveled so that equity can exist. As we are able to become more equitable, we can focus on inclusivity, or in other words a space where everyone feels as though there is a place for them. Only then do we have hopes of achieving a more diverse community. Some steps that can be taken by community members to help further EID include: 

• Ensuring that there is a concerted effort across chapters/councils/community,

• Creating space for feedback by members, and 

• Replacing statements with actions.

As President of IFC, I vow that I will lead this council to the best of my ability and will hold my fellow council members to that same standard. Furthermore, as the community needs change, the goals for the council will also change, but I have no doubt that whatever we set our mind to can be achieved.

All the best,

Ryan Weiglein, Interfraternity Council President