Chris Atwood '98 was elected the new Coed Fraternity Sorority Council President last night and Mariam Malik '98 became the new Panhellenic Council president.
The CFSC is a council consisting of the presidents of all the Greek houses, and Panhell is the governing body of the seven Panhellenic sororities.
Atwood, who was summer president for SAE and who is the president of the Class of 1998, said he ran for the position of president because he has some experience in leadership and thinks "the Greek system is at a bit of a turning point and needs some direction."
He said he hopes to focus this year on unity and trust within the group of house presidents that forms the CFSC, and "the best way to serve each other's needs and the needs of the system is through cooperation and trust."
Atwood said he thinks many problems the Greek system has faced in the past could have been avoided if everyone was truthful with each other.
In the brief speech he gave before he was elected, Atwood said he sees a need to address the student alcohol monitoring system because the College Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs recently released a report deeming the monitoring system a failure.
SAE president David Belden '97 said Atwood has a "genuine desire to help the Greek system" and would represent the interest of the system well.
Outgoing CFSC President Jim Freeman '97 said although he thinks the CFSC addressed certain shortcomings of the Greek system this year, there are still lots of changes to be addressed by the new council.
Freeman said the CFSC this year was successful at addressing gender inequity in the Greek system by supporting the formation of Delta Pi Omega sorority.
But, he said, the "Beta incident and problems with sorority rush show there are still vast shortcomings in the system."
Freeman, who said he has had no past connections with the new president, said Atwood seems "organized, fastidious and eloquent."
The new CFSC vice president is Henry Rosevear '98, who held the position over the summer and is the former CFSC secretary.
The vice president oversees the CFS Judicial Council.
Joan Ai '98 will be the new programming liaison for the CFSC, taking over the role of Jake O'Shea '97.
O'Shea said the programming liaison is the overall managing director of Greek programming that makes sure all houses understand the programming standards and pass them.
Ai, who joined Delta Gamma sorority last term, said she thinks the Greek system right now has a bad reputation that seems to get worse each term.
"As programming liaison, it would be my job to facilitate interaction between Greeks and non-affiliated students," Ai said. "This can help give a better image to the Greek system."
Dinah Knight '99 of Delta Delta Delta sorority is the new CFSC treasurer, and Melissa Nagare '99, also a Tri-Delt member, is the new secretary.
Malik, a member of Tri-Delt, said she ran for the position of Panhell president because it is important to her "to be in a position to positively affect women in the Greek system and on this campus."
"I very strongly believe that with the growing number of women joining houses, the Greek system has a great influence over women on campus," Malik said.
She said Panhell is a body of "dynamic women" that can obtain "tangible results."
When she was elected last winter, outgoing Panhell President Jess Russo '97 told The Dartmouth she hoped to strengthen inter-sorority bonding and bolster the image of the Greek system.
Russo said Panhell and the sororities last year sponsored all-sorority parties as well as other programming events.
As part of her plan to bolster the image of the Greek system, Russo said a new Panhell publicity office was created.
She said the new officer will be responsible for promoting events and communicating with The Dartmouth.
Ann Marie Nee '98, a sister at Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority, is the new Panhell vice president.
Nee will be responsible for coordinating fall rush, as well as winter rush, if Panhell members decide in the near future to hold it.
The new Panhell secretary is Jill Carey '99 of Delta Pi. The treasurer is Heather Brandling-Bennett '99 of Kappa.
Scotty McConnaughey '99 of Sigma Delta sorority is the new programming chair for Panhell.
