The interests of Summer Panhellenic Council president Chiara Grabill '01 extend far beyond sorority life.
She walked on to the varsity softball team as a freshman, to receive All-Ivy recognition last season. When not in the field, she excels in academics as a government major with a concentration in American politics and an economics minor.
Grabill said she decided to attend Dartmouth "to get a different experience after driving on the campus, I knew I belonged at the College -- it's the quintessential athletic and academic school.
As a student at Los Gatos High School, outside of San Jose, California, Grabill starred as a two-sport athlete excelling as an all-league volleyball and softball player and leading her volleyball team to a California State championship victory.
For her achievements on the court and diamond, her coaches twice named her Junior-Senior Athlete of the Year.
After matriculating at Dartmouth, Grabill said she decided to continue her athletic career as a varsity softball walk-on. During her first year on the team, she emerged as the starting designated hitter and pitched occasionally.
This past spring, her contributions to the team, whose 18 wins set a Dartmouth softball record for the most wins in a season, earned her honorable mention All-Ivy League standing as an utility player.
In addition to her athletic commitments, Grabill joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority last fall and immediately became involved in house leadership, serving as the rush chair in the winter and scholarship chair this summer.
"I love the girls," Grabill said, "they're all so active and well-rounded." She cited the amazing friendships as the greatest benefit of being a sister at KKG.
Over the Winter term, Grabill served as the programming chair for the Panhellenic Council, the governing body for the six residential sororities.
After attending a winter leadership retreat sponsored by the Student Assembly, Grabill became active promoting inter-organizational programming.
Earlier this term, Grabill was unanimously elected president of the Panhellenic Council and said she hopes to both increase the strength of the organization and create unprecedented programming.
Her main priorities for the term, she said, include preparing for fall rush, increasing women's social space and meeting the Five Principles of the Trustee Social and Residential Life Initiative.
Grabill said more than 250 female members of the Class of 2002 have expressed interest in the sorority system and more are expected to do so, potentially creating the largest rush class since co-education.
To accommodate the high interest, Grabill said she will continue to promote the creation of a seventh residential sorority.
Grabill said her agenda also includes holding a sorority car wash at KKG on August 13th to raise money for WISE, an Upper Valley women's shelter, co-sponsoring the Assembly's conversation series on sexual assault and planning progressive dinners in which houses will be paired to share appetizers and dinner.
In addition, she said she plans on improving the Panhell webpage, with her recently acquired knowledge from Computer Science 4, supporting both Greek and non-Greek activities, and producing an informational pamphlet with facts, quotations and pictures.
Next year, Grabill said she plans to continue her work with Panhell and would like to become more involved with the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council.
Although she said she is unsure about running for president next year, she "will definitely run for something."
After graduation Grabill said she plans to "go back to California ... there's never been any doubt in my mind."
She said she hopes to attend law school in the Bay Area at either Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley or Santa Clara University. Growing up, Grabill said she dreamed of practicing law, and she plans to do so while remaining active in the community.
Grabill's high school teachers recognized her as citizen of the year, reinforcing her interest in government which she currently studies at Dartmouth.
Fall term, she will travel with the government foreign study program to study at the London school of economics and political science.
Within the department, she said her two favorite professors are Department Chair Lynn Mather and Director of the Rockefeller Center Linda Fowler.
