The Coed Fraternity Sorority Council's fortunes could be changing for the better following Sunday night's elections, despite a major setback last month when Delta Delta Delta sorority seceded from the organization.
The council has elected a female summer president, Melanie Schechter '02, who said she plans to make Greek women's issues her priority while serving on the CFSC.
Along with Schechter, the council Sunday night also elected two other women to the executive board -- with Melissa Heaton '02 and Erica Preiss '02 serving as summer secretary and programming chair respectively.
Schechter expressed excitement at the prospects of having three women on the council's executive board this summer.
"Having women on half of the exec. board of CFSC is a huge step in the right direction for having parity between women and men on campus," Schechter, a sister of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, said.
She said she feels many Greek women are "intimidated" by the council and "don't try to get positions" -- something she hopes to work on during her time serving in the top spot. At Sunday's election, however, there were female candidates running for all of the five possible positions.
Schechter's election as president makes her the second woman to attain the council's lead position -- after Jaimie Paul '00 held the presidency two years ago.
As president, Schechter said she sees a need for Greek houses to become more united and to help one another.
"I feel like there isn't much unity among the houses," she said, adding that the relationship is often characterized more by competition.
Referring to Tri-Delt's withdrawal last term, Schechter said she would like to see the sorority rejoin the council.
"I would love to see Tri-Delt come back," she said, adding that she believes both the CFSC and the sorority can benefit from one another.
At the meeting, Rajib Chowdhury '02 was elected as the Summer term vice-president. Chowdhury, who is a brother of Alpha Delta fraternity, has previously served as programming chair of the council.
Shuja Khan '02, a member of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity, was elected summer treasurer. Along with Erica Preiss, Chris Winterbottom '02 will also serve as the programming chair this term.
Schechter has previously served as the Kappa representative to the Panhellenic Council and has been the chairperson for the Oxbow mentoring program -- a Tucker Foundation project where female students at Dartmouth guide junior high school women.
She said she decided to get involved in the council for the first time and run for summer president in order to take a more active role in the Greek community on campus.
She also said she wants the CFSC to be a place of "open discussion" where everyone feels comfortable.
"I'm very interested in making sure that everyone is heard," she added.
Although she has only just begun serving her role as summer president, Schechter said she sees it as "distinct possibility" that she will run for the council's presidency the next year -- elections of which are held early winter term each year.
