Indiana Zeta Melissa Kish emerges from the training room at Pi Phi Headquarters excitedly talking with several people. The group, on a quick break from their daylong meeting, just learned about alcohol-related behaviors from Dr. Jason Kilmer, an expert on college substance abuse. Melissa is one of more than 30 men and women attending Critical Conversations facilitator training, part of the Fraternity’s brand-new risk prevention education programming. These men and women will travel to Pi Phi chapters to lead workshops about alcohol, bullying, mental health and sexual assault. Their role is to ask difficult questions and encourage Pi Phi collegians to talk about difficult topics.

In her day job, Melissa is Associate Director of Student Life & Learning for Indiana University (IU). She’s part of the student affairs world, which Melissa describes as “everything outside of the classroom that makes you successful and prepared for life after college.” That ranges from student housing to the university health center to fraternity and sorority life. At IU, there are 75 fraternities and sororities with more than 7,700 members. That’s the size of some small colleges! Melissa advises the recruitment side of the house, working with the presidents of the men’s and women’s groups. She also handles big picture projects on the chapter level, like strategic planning. “I’m the one making sure all the pieces are working the way they need to work so that everybody can be successful,” she said.

In addition to facilitating workshops for her IU students, Melissa has been a facilitator at the Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute (UIFI) and the Association of Fraternal Values and Leadership’s Leadershape, two well-known programs in the student affairs world. So when the call came for Critical Conversations facilitators, she “was doing backflips and celebrating” to learn about the program and immediately submitted her application to participate. “I’m not necessarily the one that’s going to get up and give a super inspiring keynote, but I can absolutely facilitate the heck out of something,” Melissa said. “I know that’s where my skill set lies.”