Greek houses contribute more to the Dartmouth and Upper Valley than some students may realize, with members recording thousands of hours of community service and educational and social programming for the entire campus.
"26,000 hours of community service were recorded for the 2000 calendar year," Acting Assistant Dean of Residential Life, Cassie Barnhardt said.
While, the Coed Fraternity and Sorority System has standards outlined for programming and community service in order to encourage houses to give back to the community, in many cases houses choose to go beyond these minimums.
Each house is required to organize or co-organize at least four programming events each term. One of the events may serve and be for only the members in the house. Furthermore, one event may be a charitable donation.
The time commitment to community service for each term is two hours per active member. The service must be performed by at least 20 percent of the active members.
Alpha Xi Delta sorority provides a wide range of activities for its members. Programming Chair Angela Savanella '03, makes sure to adhere to the guidelines outlined by the College.
"As a house we definitely follow the guidelines a lot. When I'm planning an event I look at the things that we have to have," Savanella said.
In the Upper Valley region, the house is very involved with the Family Place. Each week about five to 10 sisters take care of children at the center while parents attend classes there.
The house received the 15 Webster Avenue Award to build a playground at the center. The award is given to a Greek organization that has already exhibited commitment to a project and plans on continuing their work.
Earlier this term the house co-sponsored an Easter egg hunt with Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity for kids involved in the DREAM program.
Sigma Nu Fraternity aims to provide its brothers with a wide variety of events. Programming Chair Jorge Montalvo '02, said, "I try to make all of our events open, but I program for the brotherhood, not necessarily the whole campus ... that's what Asgard is for."
Sigma Nu does extensive community service work. -- according to Montalvo, brothers average four hours of community service per brother, which is twice the required amount.
In one ongoing project, brothers are repairing center used by the Parish Players in Thetford, Vermont. When the project is finished junior high and high school kids will also be able to use the facility to put on plays.
Additionally the fraternity works with the Hanover Terrace retirement home and will help run the LISTEN clothing drive over Green Key weekend.
Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority is also very involved in community service. Currently the focus of the house has been on breast cancer awareness and fund raising.
This year the sorority has been working to support breast cancer. Over Green Key weekend they will send one of their sisters to a three-day, 60 mile walk from Leomenster, Mass. to Boston to raise money for the cause. Kappa will also be selling T-shirts on campus with pink ribbons to promote awareness and raise money.
The house also cooks dinner every Friday night for David's House, which is a place for families to stay at a reduced rate while their children are at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
