UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — During a breakfast for Chapel Executive Interns last fall, Aditya Datta, a third-year Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar majoring in economics, pitched the idea of creating the Business Fraternity Diversity Council to Clarence Lang, Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts.
As a member and former director of diversity, inclusion and community engagement for the Delta Sigma Pi professional business fraternity, it was important to Datta that the business fraternities at Penn State provide an inclusive culture and reflect the school they serve, he said.
Datta, a Hatfield, Pennsylvania, native, said he knew that for this venture to be successful, he would need access to leaders in professional networks and a scalable idea. Lang put Datta in contact with Melissa Landrau Vega, the director of the Multicultural Resource Center, which opened pathways to communicate with Charles Whiteman, the dean of Smeal College of Business, and Olivia Lewis, the director of diversity enhancement in Smeal.
“When we came together as a council, we began having meetings with high-level executives at the school. We all recognized that the privileges offered only to certain groups need to change and that we need to equitably distribute the membership within our brotherhood,” Datta said. “The only way to do that is through outreach towards the communities and organizations, that in the past, we have ignored.”
The Business Fraternity Diversity Council aims to increase the participation and retention of minority members of each business fraternity. The council members want their respective fraternities to be accessible to anyone who wants to join. To be successful in their endeavors, the council discusses important issues circulating the Penn State community and their fraternity community.
“I think that by being able to have an open conversation with the people in your fraternity opens the door to being a more inclusive organization,” said Ekow Asomaning, a Business Fraternity Diversity Council member and a second-year student and Bunton-Waller Fellow majoring in economics and finance. Asomaning grew up in Royersford, Pennsylvania.
Eswar Chelliah, another council member and a third-year international student from Bengaluru, India, majoring in economics, said the idea of joining Greek life was intimidating because of preconceived notions and prejudices stemming from the portrayal through the media. These personal experiences encouraged Chelliah to join the Business Fraternity Diversity Council so that he could help create an environment where everyone feels welcomed and combat these prejudices he once had.
“Starting this council has allowed the five business fraternities to come together and has not only brought them all closer in a diversity spectrum but a wholistic one,” Chelliah said. “We have bounced ideas off each other, and ultimately the enthusiasm and energy we bring towards making a change allow us to get things done.”
In collaboration with the Liberal Arts Career Enrichment Network, the Business Fraternity Diversity Council is planning to host an outreach event to share the professional and social benefits of a business fraternity at Penn State. The council plans to offer professional headshots, a résumé and cover letter workshop, and information about the five official business fraternities at Penn State.
“The partnership with the College of the Liberal Arts is mutually beneficial,” Datta said. “The college has such a strong track record of success in the business world, and I think we, as business fraternities, offer a unique pipeline towards getting a lot of these coveted positions and building that network.”
Outside of his business fraternity, Datta is involved with the Presidential Leadership Academy, which he says prepared him to have conversations with University leaders while starting the diversity council. Asomaning’s involvement in Penn State THON and its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion also contributed to Asomaning’s contributions to the council.
Datta, Asomaning and Chelliah said they were able to use skills they learned from their time in the College of the Liberal Arts and the Smeal College of Business and apply them to the work they do with the diversity council to work effectively and efficiently.
Though Datta is studying abroad in Italy this semester, he said he remains confident that the diversity council is in good hands and looks forward to reconvening next fall.