Rather than cry and moan, "Woe is me", "What is happening to the Greek system is totally unfair", "Screw you," etc., what is currently needed by all Greeks college-wide, and alums nationwide, is a genuine commitment to proving that the Greek system, while perhaps flawed in its level of alcohol use and abuse, is still the best game going in town and will be an irreplaceable asset to the College. Down the road, there are many possible permutations for what could conceivably happen, despite President Wright's and the Trustee's apparent exuberance and infallibility on this issue, but we haven't arrived there yet and we need to work on other things before then.
For right now, the immediate future, The Coed Fraternity and Sorority Council's main agenda is to prove to the trustees, the campus, the alumni, and the nation, that 1) we are a positive contributor to the community which will be lost and replaced by housing facilities that will not be held accountable to the community, 2) we can manage and prevent the excess use and abuse of alcohol on this campus better than any other mediating organization and are willing to further tighten our restrictions on underage alcohol consumption in order to prevent the coming changes from affecting the existing houses, 3) WE IN NO WAY PROMOTE SEXUAL MISTREATMENT, ABUSE, OR TENSION BETWEEN THE SEXES, AND WILL TAKE SERIOUS STEPS TO PROVE THIS AND IMPROVE CURRENT COEDUCATIONAL RELATIONS AT DARTMOUTH, 4) we are an integral part of the consistently high student satisfaction rate of this college and are willing to work to ensure that even those not enfranchised by the Greek system will be or will continue to be extremely satisfied with the current social and residential situation and 5) replacing the Greek organizations with student coed housing, will A) lead to a drop in students using the available facilities, B) lead to a drop in student satisfaction that will continue indefinitely, hurting admissions and thus the future of the College, and C) will cause the College irrevocable headaches with alumni and students alike, problems which will not go away until Greek opinions are heard and acted on.
Should our efforts fail, then total madness will undoubtedly ensue, which could possibly lead to splintering and the destruction of Greekdom altogether. Ben Franklin said it best, "we must all hang together or we shall all hang separately."
Now, the purpose of this column is to prove the first of our statements, that the Greek system is a positive member of the community which will be irreplaceable by coed housing. All press that Dartmouth's Greek system gets is almost totally bad. Here's what we do that's good.
This week alone, every house on campus is involved in some philanthropic endeavor or another. Psi Upsilon Fraternity is holding their annual keg jump, raising money for Outreach House, an assisted living center for the elderly.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity, Chi Heorot Fraternity and Bones Gate Fraternity will be supporting the Special Olympics in Vermont with a group of about 30 members who will help to cheer on athletes, set up and take down equipment, and help with the events themselves. In addition, they will be helping to provide food for the athletes and sponsors during the weekend of the games. Bones Gate is also heavily involved with Habitat for Humanity. Many of Chi Heorot's members actively participate volunteering with the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth.
Alpha Chi Alpha Fraternity will be hosting a discussion with a sexual abuse awareness speaker and has extended an invitation to the whole campus to attend.
Alpha Xi Delta Sorority's national philosophy is "choose children" and they are currently involved with the Special Friends Program through the Tucker Foundation. They're also sending volunteers to participate in a play-group for children who have developmental disabilities and their siblings.
Gamma Delta Chi is currently having "Dry Bands" on Friday night, a nonalcoholic event where students are asked to donate a dollar to charity to hear improvisational music and lip-synching by brothers.
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity is currently doing Kappa Tuck-ins, donating proceeds to the Arthur Ashe Foundation.
Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority sends volunteers to David's House. They are sponsoring Special Olympics through money and volunteers. They're also donating money to operation smile and are very involved with the blood drive.
Almost half the brothers in Kappa Kappa Kappa Fraternity have little siblings through one organization or another, and they are currently sponsoring two children in third world countries.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity is in the middle of Alpha Week, with several events scheduled to promote awareness and campus involvement.
Sigma Nu Fraternity has organized and conducted three extremely successful food drives to benefit LISTEN of Lebanon in the past three terms. They have an ongoing relationship with the Carter Community Building Association in Lebanon in which three or four members go over there once a week for two hours to play with the kids and help out around the building.
Delta Delta Delta Sorority and Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity went together to a nursing home and threw a dance with the residents. Delta Delta Delta also sends volunteers to David's House every weekend.
Phi Delta Alpha Fraternity hosts fireside chats every term with professors from different academic departments and invites the entire campus to attend. They are also involved extensively with Big Brother/Big Sister and last term participated in the Prison Project.
Sigma Delta Sorority and Epsilon Kappa Theta Sorority have undertaken efforts to aid sexual abuse survivors through donations to purchase clothing and needed supplies for sexual abuse survivors as they go through the medical evidence collection process. Their fund-raising has been matched by CFS due to unanimous approval by the council. Epsilon Kappa Theta Sisters baked cakes as their contribution to a community dinner organized with the Afro-American Society and AfriCaSo in celebration of National Black History Month. Several sisters also baby-sit weekly at Hannah's House in order to provide the mothers and other volunteers with time for other activities. Sigma Delta Sorority helps with the blood drive, hosts awareness sessions about the dangers of alcohol abuse, sexual assault, and breast cancer awareness clinics. They have also just started a mentoring program which involves approximately 20 members of their sorority doing a weekly mentoring project with young women at a nei
ghboring junior high school. It has just started and has been met with tremendous success.
Delta Sigma Theta sorority holds approximately 10 campus wide programs per term. These program focus on: Education Development, Physical and Mental, Economic Development, Political Awareness and Involvement, and International Awareness. On the 20th they will be holding Crimson Caf, a non-alcoholic event, where students can interact socially and receive a simple dinner. Student will be entertained by the Quintet and special guest poets.
Alpha Delta Fraternity hosted a dinner for President Wright to discuss campus issues, including Greek Life. Kappa Delta Epsilon Sorority, Sigma Nu Fraternity, and Delta Delta Delta Sorority have also held events for either the President or Mrs. Wright hoping to express their willingness to participate actively in the Dartmouth experience. The trustee report never came up.
Chi Gamma Epsilon sponsored a Tucker Foundation Book Buddy Program in which many of their brothers are active members. Every brother also volunteers at David's house at least once a term.
Kappa Delta Epsilon Sorority hosts campus-wide discussions on topics such as off campus opportunities, women's issues, drinking, and eating disorders. In addition, they are in the process of setting up a book club to be held weekly in their common room as a way to open their house to the community.
The brothers of Zeta Psi Fraternity have contributed more than 200 hours of community service each of the last 4 terms. Some of their projects have included building a porch and wheelchair-accessible ramp for the home of a disabled man in Canaan and sponsoring (and coaching) an elementary school basketball team in Hanover. Several Zetes have been involved in Tucker's Big Brother/Big Sister Program, and others are involved in a campus singing group which performs concerts to benefit schools, hospitals, and retirement communities.
Every term, Phi Tau holds Milque and Cookies. It is one of the best attended non-alcoholic events on campus.
Similarly, The Tabard holds Disco Inferno once a term. It is also extremely well attended.
Alpha Theta is holding a Vegas Night event on Saturday to raise money and awareness for Operation Smile, which provides reconstructive surgery for children.
Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity is cosponsoring an open "spoken word" forum for students, deans, and faculty that includes poetry reading, thesis presentation, and discussion of other academic topics. this is open to all students on campus. Sig Ep has done over 170 hours of community service so far this term, including work for grafton county cover, book buddies, big brother / big sister, the wishing well, volunteer coaching in youth coaching leagues, and habitat for humanity.
In addition, every Greek organization on campus hosts, sponsors, or co-sponsors countless non-alcoholic events each term which are open to the campus, and we are constantly seeking to involve ourselves in campus activities in order to publicize our presence on campus.
The CFSC holds that it is grossly irresponsible to threaten the elimination of and/or tampering with such a positive resource for the community to replace it with coeducational housing that will not be held culpable to the community any more than a dorm would. Yet if Dartmouth were to hold them culpable to the community, the college would be unable to fill our houses. CFSC participation in the community is a voluntary effort unanimously supported by all Greek organizations, reviewed by all Greek organizations, and held accountable only to CFSC. We do this voluntarily as good members of the community and we challenge the College to create a system that would preserve involvement in the community at the level we have without forcing it upon students. More to come.
