A convocation of executive leaders for Greek life at the University discussed the goals of a “Greekend” and future colonization of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity on Wednesday, September 9.
Awards of excellence were also distributed.
Chris Mannon, Greek Senate President and brother of Phi Kappa Psi, opened the ceremony.
“I have had the opportunity to realize that we have the potential to be much greater than we are currently. We can only achieve that potential by working together towards common goals. Goals that we determine for ourselves that will provide us the opportunity to leave our campus better than it was when we first arrived. This year I will be looking for all of your help to create these goals and help our community realize them throughout the year,” said Mannon.
Mannon shared his goal of creating the first ever “Greekend”, which is a series of events, activities, and programs that will celebrate the shared values of the entire Greek life community.
“Greekend” will include a dinner for outstanding scholars, a bowling event, The Big Event, and a motivational speaker for the entire community.
Expansion of Greek life at the University was also stressed by Mannon. He welcomed the decision of the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the member council for all of the male Greek organizations at the University, to colonize Delta Tau Delta Fraternity at the University for the 2013-2014 school year. The IFC wanted to improve the community by providing more options for students to choose from when deciding which fraternity seemed the best fit.
Jon Buchalski, Assistant Director of Student Activities for Fraternity and Sorority Life, added, “The [Delta Tau Delta] fraternity plans on spreading awareness throughout the course of the fall semester and begin colonizing in the spring semester. The entire colonization process is estimated to last around two school years.”
Mannon discussed how members of the Greek Senate Executive Board will combine their efforts in developing ways to motivate more members of the community to pitch in and make fraternities and sororities better at the University. According to Mannon, large impacts will be made by combining talents from every fraternity and sorority.
Sofia Mandia, Greek Senate Vice President and sister of Zeta Tau Alpha, outlined the academic excellence of Greek life as a whole at the University. Mandia stated that approximately two-thirds of all students involved with Greek life had over a 3.0 GPA.
According to Mandia, “In the area of service, the fraternities and sororities reported over 5,000 hours of community service and over $10,000 raised for philanthropic endeavors. These efforts contributed to over 40 local and national charitable organizations.”
A statistic that was particularly stressed by Mandia was that 16 percent of the undergraduate population was involved in a fraternity or sorority towards the end of the spring 2013 semester. This was done by inviting over 280 new members into the community throughout the school year, which included the addition of the newest organization, Alpha Omicron Pi. The entire Greek life community hopes to reach out to more undergraduates during their “Meet the Greeks” event in the Multipurpose Activity Center on Wednesday, September 10.
The progress that was achieved by the Greek Life community was awarded to Gina Gilanyi, Greek Senate Chief Justice and sister of Alpha Sigma Tau. The awards came from the chapters’ scores on the Greek Excellence Packet.
“The [Greek Excellence] Packet is our accreditation program for the fraternities and sororities to determine their level of performance for the school year,” said Buchalski. The packet is broken into four community values: fellowship, service, scholarship, leadership.
Awards in the four community values were achieved in the levels of bronze, silver, and gold. Recipients of the gold awards were Sigma Tau Gamma in Community Service and Theta Xi in Leadership.
For the overall scoring of the Greek Excellence Packet, Alpha Xi Delta, Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Incorporated, Sigma Tau Gamma, and Theta Xi achieved Bronze Level for their work throughout the entire year.
“We will work together, as Chris [Mannon] has asked, to improve ourselves and improve our community. It is clear that we do not need to, as Sofia [Mandia] explained in our achievements from last year, but because we want to improve upon the status quo. I guarantee that it will be worth it,” concluded Buchalski. “I hope you are all ready for an amazing year.”
Photo TAKEN by Brianna McCabe
