Dr. Steve Veldkamp is the Director of the Timothy J. Piazza Center for Fraternity and Sorority Research and Reform. In his role, Steve organizes fundraising priorities and supports unit fundraising initiatives. Additionally, as the Executive Director of the Piazza Center, he sets a national research agenda and works with research faculty in designing, conducting, sourcing, and resourcing exploratory research to benefit more than 770 campuses that host fraternities and sororities nationwide.

Dr. Pietro Sasso serves as the faculty research fellow for the center in which he supports the dissemination of interdisciplinary research projects as scholarly peer-reviewed journals and presentations at national conferences.

In episode #148​ of the Fraternity Foodie Podcast, we find out the reasoning for bringing the Center to Penn State and building on the legacy that started at IU Bloomington, what makes the Piazza Center different about their approach to shifting student behavior, how research on diversity, equity and inclusion within NPC-affiliated sorority chapters will help drive change, how staffing size and structure impact the chapter experience, the tasks that Dr. Sasso (the inaugural research fellow) will be responsible for, thoughts on alcohol abuse and hazing behaviors in the fall of 2021 as we move to in-person events, why Gen Z joins a fraternity/sorority (which is different than prior generations), and future projects or collaborations that the Piazza Center is considering. Enjoy!

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoGYq93PZfY