Top College News Subscribe to the Newsletter

Lenno to resign as head of Greek life

Published: Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Updated: Wednesday, December 8, 2010 15:12

Matt Lenno will resign as the head of the university's Greek life next month to take a similar position at Towson University.

Lenno confirmed the move in an interview with The Review Tuesday night, prior to being honored by Hillel for his service to the university.

The job at Towson will allow him to do more with Greek life than he could do in his current job, he said.

"They made me a great offer," Lenno said. "It's everything I wanted to do here but didn't have the resources for. For example, build a Greek community—actual buildings for the fraternities and sororities."

Lenno called the move "bittersweet," noting that he had plans to retire as a Blue Hen. He began working at the university in 2003, after completing both his undergraduate and master's degrees here.

"Delaware's my heart," he said. "Sometimes you need to make changes that are better for your family. The students here have what they need."

Students at Tuesday's event said they were sad to see Lenno go.

Senior Jeff Eller, a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, said Lenno was able to distinguish when it was appropriate to be an administrator and when it was better to act as a colleague to the students he was mentoring.

"Besides being an advisor, he's someone to turn to for advice on any issues, not just ones involving Greek life," Eller said. "It's really sad. He's someone who was always here for us, it's hard, but we said we'll road trip down to Towson to visit him."

Senior Felicia Winder, a member of Alpha Xi Delta, said Lenno told Greek members about his departure at the President's Ball last month. She said Lenno was helpful to the Greek community, and his advice on non-Greek issues was just as sought out.

"Whenever there was a question we didn't know the answer to, the solution was always, ‘Just ask Matt Lenno,'" Winder said. "No one believed it when he said he was leaving. We were all shocked, but he has to go on to bigger and better things."

Lenno's last day at the university is Jan. 3.

"We're grateful for Matt's contributions to the University, and we wish him well in his new venture," Marilyn Prime, director of Student Centers, said in a statement.

 

Recommended: Articles that may interest you

10 comments

Anonymous
Fri Dec 17 2010 12:53
I worked with Matt on a variety of projects before he took on the position of Head of Greek Life. Matt was always great to work with and very professional. I wish him luck in his new position at Towson.
Anonymous
Thu Dec 16 2010 19:20
From what I know, Matt Lenno was a member of a fraternity on campus at the University of Delaware. To me, his role as an administrator relating to Greek Life was a huge HUGE conflict of interest. Anyone who has been in a fraternity or sorority knows that your chapter often has favorites or close ties within the Greek system with other chapters. I have a hard time believing that Lenno has been able to keep his feelings towards certain Greek chapters out of his work life. I hope that the next Greek advisor has no ties at all to the UD Greek system from their own personal Greek experience. It will serve the students much more fairly.
Anonymous
Wed Dec 15 2010 11:45
i don't care enough to argue about the other topics addressed in your rant, but let's just remember that, while holding a can may not demonstrate that the person drank the beer, it is certainly highly probative of "possession" of the alcohol (which is an issue in its own right for underage students).
Anonymous
Tue Dec 14 2010 22:41
Thank God that somebody posted that article about Lenno creeping around on facebook. If you think he did that for any reason other than spying on fraternities and sororities then you're out of your mind. The fact that he tried to hide behind the statement that he did it to help is student groups is a joke. His excuse was that he was already getting too many emails?! How many friend requests did Lenno he think he would get? Didn't want people poking him? Does anyone honestly believe that the undergrads in student groups overseen by Lenno would have poked him? Lenno probably hated Greek Life when he was an undergrad and found an easy way to take revenge by becoming head of Greek Life and running it into the sewer. Greek Life before him was exponentially better.

Let's not even get into Cummings and Goldman, who together form the perfect pair of people absolutely oblivious to what undergrads actually want or need. Charged with violating the alcohol policy if seen holding a beer in a picture? The sad thing is that the leap from seeing someone holding a beer can to assuming that they actually drank it would be dismissed in any other judicial system. In a real judicial system, where innocent until proven guilty is adhered to, you'd have to obtain evidence that the person actually drank the beer. I'm pretty sure these two spent much of their time at UD hunting down and punishing undergrads for some of the most trivial acts.

The university is better off without them.

Anonymous
Fri Dec 10 2010 16:24
http://www.udreview.com/2.1981/facebook-fallout-1.141739
UD Alumni
Fri Dec 10 2010 13:16
Thank God he's gone... Matt Lenno sucks and needs to go on a diet. He's fat.
Anonymous
Thu Dec 9 2010 10:27
As a former Greek president, it was my pleasure to work with Matt. He always give my chapter everything we needed to succeed. In addition, not only was he a great Greek adviser, but he was a great mentor. He taught UD Greeks how to be leaders both on campus and beyond. As a result of my time at UD and with the help of the Greek Community I was able to gain a job that I excel at. So thank-you Matt Lenno for teaching not only me, but all Greeks how to be leaders. You will be greatly missed.
Steven Gold
Wed Dec 8 2010 17:19
Mr. Lenno was an amazing person - like much of the staff in Activities and Programs. As a former RSO President and alumni, we always turned to Matt for questions, suggestions, and for advice. Like Ms. Widner said it the article "Just ask Matt."
Anonymous
Wed Dec 8 2010 16:44
Lenno's contributions to Greek Life at the University of Delaware are impossible to sum up in words. His services will be greatly missed. Best of Luck!
Rabbi Eliezer Sneiderman
Wed Dec 8 2010 16:34
Clarification: Matt Lenno was honored for his year's of service by "UD's celebration of Lights" a joint program sponsored by all the Jewish Organizations on campus. We are sad to see Matt go. Matt is that rare individual that regardless of the different forces always kept the students interests at heart.

Rabbi Sneiderman
Chabad of the University of Delaware







log out