Greeks plan to unite, fight stereotypes
Liz Essley
Issue date: 9/10/09 Section: News
Greek leaders are planning to reach out to independents and display more unity be-tween houses this semester, in an effort to fight what they consider misconceptions of Greek life.
Representatives from each fraternity and sorority, many of them presidents, came up with the plan during a group project at this year's Leadership retreat, held August 22-27 at the college's Gordon Biological Station.
The group was asked to identify a campus problem, use a six-step process called "creative root cause analysis" to find solutions, and give a presentation of their conclusions. The group selected the problem of misconceptions of the Greek system: independents - and sometimes faculty - can dismiss Greek life based on stereotypes, rather than considering its positive role on campus, Greek leaders told The Collegian.
The group's solutions included increased Greek visibility on campus, better public relations and participating in more non-Greek activities, said senior Megan Huening, president of Pi Beta Phi sorority.
"I think we'd like to see a proactive approach, not a reactive," Huening said.
Senior Brooke Olesen, president of Chi Omega sorority, said her house fights the "party stereotype."
"Chi Omega six or seven years ago maybe did have a problem being a huge party house," she said, emphasizing that the reality is much different now and that the soror-ity's members defy that stereotype.
"We're doing our best to show that's not what we're about," she said.
Chi Omega drained much of its social budget for the semester to attend a retreat to-gether last weekend, to renew vision and build unity in the sorority. (See "Chi Omega opts for retreat, no date parties," A3.)
Huening said she thought students in general respected the Greek system, but also wished they knew more about her sorority's philanthropic efforts. Pi Beta Phi members logged 500 hours of volunteer service last year.
Huening also emphasized a point made in the presentation at the retreat: many of the Greek mission statements mirror themes in the college's mission statement.
Representatives from each fraternity and sorority, many of them presidents, came up with the plan during a group project at this year's Leadership retreat, held August 22-27 at the college's Gordon Biological Station.
The group was asked to identify a campus problem, use a six-step process called "creative root cause analysis" to find solutions, and give a presentation of their conclusions. The group selected the problem of misconceptions of the Greek system: independents - and sometimes faculty - can dismiss Greek life based on stereotypes, rather than considering its positive role on campus, Greek leaders told The Collegian.
The group's solutions included increased Greek visibility on campus, better public relations and participating in more non-Greek activities, said senior Megan Huening, president of Pi Beta Phi sorority.
"I think we'd like to see a proactive approach, not a reactive," Huening said.
Senior Brooke Olesen, president of Chi Omega sorority, said her house fights the "party stereotype."
"Chi Omega six or seven years ago maybe did have a problem being a huge party house," she said, emphasizing that the reality is much different now and that the soror-ity's members defy that stereotype.
"We're doing our best to show that's not what we're about," she said.
Chi Omega drained much of its social budget for the semester to attend a retreat to-gether last weekend, to renew vision and build unity in the sorority. (See "Chi Omega opts for retreat, no date parties," A3.)
Huening said she thought students in general respected the Greek system, but also wished they knew more about her sorority's philanthropic efforts. Pi Beta Phi members logged 500 hours of volunteer service last year.
Huening also emphasized a point made in the presentation at the retreat: many of the Greek mission statements mirror themes in the college's mission statement.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
2007 grad
posted 9/17/09 @ 4:20 AM EST
Every year there is a story like this, but nothing ever really changes
Same old tune
posted 11/13/09 @ 3:09 PM EST
Looks like this didn't end so well for the frats this year.
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