It was Green Key weekend, known for outdoor concerts, day drinking and revelry. But several fraternities had another goal in mind: raising money for the Upper Valley Haven, an organization based in White River Junction that provides shelter, food and clothing to those in need. With an ankle-level round horizontal net and a number of balls, 32 teams competed in the first annual Green Key Spikeball Tournament — ultimately donating more than $1,000 to the local shelter.
Though grateful for the donation, Haven development and communications director Liz Verney said she was initially concerned that the fundraiser might not appropriately represent her organization.
“As long as it’s not some huge party that’s written up in the paper benefiting the Haven,” she said.
About five miles from Webster Avenue, the shelter operates a dry campus, as many residents have grappled with substance abuse problems. Verney said she wanted to guarantee that Greek houses, historically linked with drinking, aligned with the Haven’s organizational goals. In a post about the event, the Haven’s website later thanked contributors for fundraising in a “healthy way.”
As Dartmouth’s Greek system faces heightened scrutiny from outside media and the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” presidential steering committee, some community members cite local and national philanthropy as one of the Greek system’s most positive campus contributions, with some noting houses might serve for that very purpose — to generate favorable news.
Some Greek organizations raise money for groups designated by their national organizations, ranging from the Girl Scouts to Autism Speaks, while others focus on causes closer to home like the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Greek members also volunteer at organizations in the Upper Valley, much as service groups at the Tucker Foundation do.
In all service that is tracked, Greek houses give a little under 10,000 hours to the community, said Greek Letter Organizations and Societies director Wes Schaub, though he emphasized that tracking service accurately is difficult.
For some Greek organizations, service is mandated in national regulations. Of the Greek Leadership Council’s governing bodies, only the Coed Council currently mandates community service.
Coed Council president Evelyn Weinstein ’16 noted that Interfraternity Council initiatives like its “million minutes” campaign could prove unfair for coed houses, which often comprise fewer members, making total hours an unfair way to compare contributions.
Greek members said community service can build relationships within houses.
Summer IFC executive board member for service Peter Gips ’16 said many fail to acknowledge Greek service but argued that it helps students get outside the “Dartmouth bubble.”
Alpha Xi Delta sorority summer philanthropy chair Sarah Lund ’16 said community service encourages bonding.
Chi Heorot fraternity summer president Adam Charnin-Aker ’16, who started Dartmouth Feeding Neighbors, said that the organization began through the Greek system: of the original handful of members, nearly all were affiliated. His fraternity, he said, provided a natural way to organize service.
Schaub cited Greek organizations’ founding missions — including personal growth and improving oneself — as encouraging community service.
“Part of doing that is learning that you’re part of society and a role in that society is giving back and helping other people out,” Schaub said.
Dawn Stanhope, former executive director of David’s House, a Lebanon-based organization that supports families whose children are receiving care at DHMC, said that based on her experience working with volunteers, service seems to be part of the fabric of Greek life.
Charnin-Aker cited countering negative perceptions about the Greek system as one driver behind service.
“Personally, I definitely think Greek houses have an obligation to the community,” he said. “Especially considering the negative publicity we’ve gotten lately, it’s something that we can do to show that Greek houses are a good place to live, are making positive impacts on the community and not just a place for socializing.”
Verney, from the Haven, said she was not confident that Greek houses use this decision-making framework when thinking about service.
“I’m sure that at times they are pressured to do something for the community after acting poorly, but I’m not sure it’s a cover like that,” she said. “I don’t think it’s that intentional.”
Panhellenic Council philanthropy chair Natalie Shell ’15 recognized that some service might not appear genuine, but she said that in her experience, it has been.
The positive image community service creates is a “nice byproduct,” Kappa Delta sorority philanthropy chair Sarah Yalowitz ’15 said, “but that’s definitely not its own motivation for us.”
“We have a PR person, and that’s more of her job — to think about our image on campus,” she added.
National Pan-hellenic Council and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity president Jordan Are ’15 said community service marks a core feature of his fraternity’s values. But he noted that it also helps generate a positive image.
Greek service shares many features with service conducted through organizations like Tucker, Dartmouth and Upper Valley community members said, but Greek houses are associated with specific reputations, often bring large groups and sometimes rely on fundraising — each of which affects the texture of service.
Tucker Foundation local community service program officer Tracy Dustin-Eichler said a student’s Greek letters do not affect the nature of their community engagement.
“It’s hard to talk about the Greek community as a monolith,” Dustin-Eichler said. “So, do I think that there are Greek students that are maybe less engaged with the community? Sure. But there are Greek students who are extremely engaged.”
Stanhope said she has not observed a difference in the service conducted by affiliated and unaffiliated students at David’s House.
Mary Nyhan is family services coordinator at The Family Place, a Norwich organization that provides services to parents and children. She noted how rare it is for Greek organizations to volunteer at The Family Place — the organization has worked with one Greek house during Nyhan’s three-year tenure. She attributes this to its small size. If a Greek house wanted to volunteer on a weekend, The Family Place might not have the capacity to manage the effort.
“We don’t have 15 to 20 rakes,” she said. “If a group wanted to come on a weekend and do a fall project for us, we might have one rake.”
Greek service at the College is most visible when rallying around two fundraising efforts: the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hero event, held annually in the fall, and the Prouty, organized in the summer. Greek houses raised about $50,000 in 2013’s CHaD event, while campus, boosted by Greek organizations, raised $100,000 in the summer’s Prouty.
Of the 300 Dartmouth students who participated in this year’s Prouty, nearly all were affiliated with a Greek organization.
“It was definitely a tradition every year to have 100 percent participation,” Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority member Catherine Yao ’16 said as she waited in line for grillables.
But Greek service is not limited to fundraising, said Tucker student director Tanya Budler ’15. Fundraising requires outreach, so it structurally builds in publicity.
“You may not know that your best friend in your house does Sibs, and mentors a kid every week, and you may not know that someone cooks at the Haven every week,” Budler said.
Budler, like Gips, noted that Greek service remains underappreciated at the College, crediting Dartmouth’s culture of modesty — such as rejecting ‘self calls’ — with preventing students from understanding the depth of service that peers conduct.
Fundraising brings certain advantages, Lund, AZD’s summer philanthropy chair, said. She noted, for example, that service chairs could not send 150 members to a community organization, while fundraising allows houses to mobilize their entire memberships around a philanthropic goal. But she noted that she finds service more rewarding when she can see the results of her work.
Schaub echoed Lund’s sentiment.
“I tend to find that those are much more fulfilling experiences than the raising money, because you get to help out the folks who need the most and you learn a little bit more about the organization,” he said.
But the Haven coordinator of children’s services Kim Grantham noted that one-time service can bring challenges.
“There’s always that kind of warming up period when you have somebody who’s here for two hours, versus our ongoing students,” Grantham said.
Still, the Haven volunteer services coordinator Amber Johnston, who only recently joined the organization, said certain activities did not require regular service.
Verney said fundraising bracketed from community members could lift a burden off organizations. The Haven receives 4,800 gifts annually, and fundraisers help, she said.
But organizers must go deeper for their work to qualify as community engagement, she said.
“A lot of people can write a check, but not a lot of people can give blood, sweat and tears for an organization that they care about,” Verney said, emphasizing that not all people have equal levels of comfort or ability to help.
