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Rho Phi Lambda National Honorary Fraternity

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The George Williams College Parks and Recreation department is a proud member of the Rho Phi Lambda National Honorary Fraternity as the Alpha Nu Chapter. Our Alpha Nu Chapter and first members were inducted in October 2002. Following, is information regarding the purpose, history and member criteria of Rho Phi Lambda. If you have any questions or need additional information about Rho Phi Lambda, please contact Professor Chris Wells at cwells@aurora.edu.

Purpose

Rho Phi Lambda is an honorary fraternity for recreation/park/leisure services students. Each unit of the fraternity is a chapter. The purposes of the Rho Phi Lambda National Honorary Fraternity are:

• To recognize superior recreation/park/leisure services major students
• To encourage the development of professional standards for the leisure field
• To stimulate personal development of individual members and their professional growth in the leisure field
• To cultivate, foster, and promote a sentiment of amity among the students of the leisure profession
• To recognize those persons who have made outstanding contributions to the field of recreation/parks/leisure services.

History

During the early 1980s, members of the SPRE Board of the National Recreation and Park Association discussed the possibility of merging two fraternities — Sigma Lambda Sigma and Rho Phi Alpha. The first merger meeting took place during the 1983 NRPA Congress in Kansas City. The following agreements were reached: the fraternity would be named Rho Phi Lambda, since it would be a fraternity for Recreation/Park/Leisure Services students. Chapters would be named according to the date the chapter was initiated.

A draft constitution and bylaws were discussed at the second merger meeting which took place in October, 1984. All chapters that were represented were very positive about the merger.

Following the meeting, a final draft was sent to all chapters for their approval. The merger vote was held during the spring of 1985 with no dissenting votes. The first meeting of Rho Phi Lambda National Honorary Fraternity for Recreation/Park/Leisure Services was held in October 1985. Rho Phi Lambda was incorporated in the state of Florida on December 23, 1985.

Member Criteria

In order to become a member of Rho Phi Lambda, students must fill out an application and be invited to join based upon the following criteria:

For parks and recreation undergraduate students

• Have an overall G.P.A. of 3.0 on a 4 point system or be in the upper 15% of recreation/park/leisure students at the institution
• Have a major G.P.A. of 3.2 or be in the top 15% of recreation/park/leisure services students at the institution (whichever is higher)
• Have completed 45 semester hours or 67 quarter hours of which 12 hours are required professional courses.
• Demonstrated outstanding leadership
• Demonstrated service to the community

For recreation administration graduate students

• A minimum G.P.A. of 3.5 and who have completed nine semester hours or 12 quarter hours of professional courses are also eligible
• Demonstrated outstanding leadership
• Demonstrated service to the community

For honorary professional members

• Demonstrated outstanding contributions to the field of recreation/park/leisure services