NIU sorority and fraternity leaders will be brushing up their leadership skills and brainstorming with their counterparts at other schools this weekend.

Saturday’s leadership conference at Iowa State University in Ames will be the combined effort of the Mid-American Interfraternity Council Association and the Mid-American Panhellenic Council Association. Fifty NIU students will attend MIFCA/MAPCA.

“It’s a chance to network with students from other schools,” said Dawn Sturma, activities advisor for Greek Affairs. Students can exchange ideas and compare their individual chapters, Sturma said.

An educational organization of greek advisors and leaders, MIFCA/MAPCA is a branch of the national fraternity and sorority councils, she said.

Each NIU sorority and fraternity chapter is sending two representatives to the conference, said Christina Hulting, new president of the Panhellenic council. Current greek leaders and those running for offices will make up the NIU delegation, she said.

Hulting, who will be attending, said, “I want to get new ideas and reinforce old ones.”

At the conference, students will apply for awards to be presented at the awards banquet of the national conference in St. Louis in March, she said.