Boise State’s Interfraternity Council (IFC) is being featured at the national level.
Members of the council recently attended a conference in Anaheim, California, where they took home several prestigious national awards.
The group won Council Compass Awards for Collaboration, Innovation, Education and Accountability, as well as the Dr. Will Keim Change Making Experience Award.
“The stuff that we’re actively doing … is unseen at a national level, no other university is accomplishing it, and no other university is accomplishing these things in the little bit of time that we have,” said Dominic Mancini, president of Boise State’s Interfraternity Council.
Mancini received the Marilyn Fordham Undergraduate Award for his work as IFC’s Chief Justice Officer, the position he held before becoming president. The award is given to a council member who has made a significant systemic change in their fraternal program.
Boise State’s sudden surge in awards was unexpected, as the school has historically never taken home an award, according to Mancini.
“We basically ran that conference, in a way. Everyone knew Boise State,” Mancini said.
Dustin Fisher, IFC’s Chief Public Relations Officer, also attended the conference, describing the council’s wins as “incredible” for the university.
“It’s really awesome to show a little presence of ‘Blue Turf thinking’ [on a national level],” Fisher said.
This recognition is no coincidence. Before he was elected president, Mancini served as IFC’s Chief Justice Officer and said he pushed that position to the next level.
“Around two years [ago], when I stepped into the role, [previous leadership] did absolutely nothing with it. They just threw it on their LinkedIn,” Mancini said. “I knew that I needed to change that.”
After he stepped into the position, he began setting up meetings with university administrators to ask how he could best hold chapters accountable and improve relationships between IFC, the Dean of Students and local law enforcement.
During his time as Chief Justice Officer, Mancini restructured the judicial process and changed over 200 bylaws while also building a strong relationship with the Dean of Students’ office. This allowed the IFC judicial system to deal with cases that in the past had been taken care of by either local law enforcement or the Dean of Students’ office.
Mancini has spearheaded a push to increase visibility for Greek life on campus, leading to significant growth in Boise State’s chapters, according to Fisher. The growth is so large IFC believes Greek Life is outgrowing the Student Union Building and is looking for alternative meeting places in the future.
“[A Greek Lodge, I call it. It’s a big Greek building for our university that’s designated to Greeks, because trying to rent [a] room in the Student Union Building is impossible,” Mancini said.
The lodge is still in the brainstorming phase, but Mancini hopes it will open in the next five years.
During his time as president, Mancini hopes to tackle men’s mental health, address sexual assault on campus and continue facilitating Greek life’s growth on campus.
“At Boise State University, our Greek life is absolutely blowing up,” Mancini said. “Everyone’s coming here. Everyone wants to be a part of it, and we’re the ones that are setting the precedent for that.”
