Dartmouth College has many myths. "The Sphinx has the highest water bill inHanover," and "hey freshman, touch the homecoming bonfire and you won't get burned, I promise," are just a couple of examples. But there is one myth that is so ingrained in the student body, faculty and administration by now that it is barely ever spoken of. Casual discussions about it seem almost pointless because most accept it as an established fact as opposed to debatable lore. This myth, however, is grossly inaccurate, and unfortunately, the damage it has done has become quite palpable over the past few years. What illusion is so pervasive and widespread? It is the myth that the Greeks and the Greek system do nothing for the community.
When the Greek system is mentioned, many negative images come to mind, one being a group of students who only cause problems and leech off of the surrounding community. This perception is wholly inaccurate. In order to help dispel this myth, I have compiled a list that comprises only a small fraction of the ways that the Greek houses and their members have given back to the community so far this term. Every week, Gino Beniamino, an SAE, helps support a Special Olympics bowling program. As a house, the brothers of SAE along with the sisters of Kappa cook dinner for David's House on a bi-weekly basis. Jason Edgar, Sean Robinson and the other brothers of Psi U are organizing a charity concert and barbecue to benefit WISE, a shelter for battered and abused women. Additionally, Rawson Daniel and David Rhinesmith helped organize and hosted a dinner for the SEAD program at Psi U. Margaret Thering and the sisters of AZD have already cooked a dinner for David's House, in addition to cooking a dinner for Students Fighthing Hunger. They are in the process of planning a 5K walk/run to earn money for David's House and are helping with the Circus Smirkus event, a fundraiser for CHAD.
On June 21 and 22, nine brothers from Sig Ep went to Littleton, N.H. to participate in the Relay for Life event. On July 7, Will Olivos and the brothers of Chi Gam hosted a barbecue for the kids in the DREAM program. Even though Phi Delt has not yet received recognition, its brothers have still taken it upon themselves to give back to the community and are currently working with the Tucker Foundation and local authorities to help institute Justice Works, a program which helps area kids recovering from drug and alcohol abuse through education and community service. AD and its brothers are currently working on sponsoring a charity car wash to help raise funds for Wishing Well, a program which recently suffered funding cuts. Tri-Kap was very involved with planning the Random Acts of Kindness charity event, and is cooking a dinner for SEAD this week.
Sigma Delt has already hosted dinners for SEAD and they, along with Kappa, are currently working on a Habitat for Humanity day. This week, Tri-Delt and Kappa hosted a bake sale. They made over $400 which will be donated to Share our Strength, an organization that fights hunger in America. Ryan Delaney and the brothers of Gamma Delt will be going to Norwich to help with Habitat for Humanity. Also, another Gamma Delt, John Turner, mentors and teaches piano to Upper Valley children, and is looking into expanding the program so that others can take free music lessons and receive mentoring at the same time. Cricket Toomey and Brandy Hevalow of Phi Tau will be working on the Students Fighting Hunger campaign in the upcoming weeks. The sisters of Theta are planning a dinner for the SEAD program in addition to supporting the Wishing Well program. The list goes on and on.
These are only a few of the projects that the Greek houses are working on this term that benefit and give back to the community. This sampling of service represents the efforts of only one class; in normal terms, when the other classes are on, the amount of service done by each house increases accordingly. I hope that such information will help dispel the myth that the Greek system does not give back to the community. Each house has in its charter and founding principles a dedication to serving the community of which it is a part. Greek houses provide the framework and organization needed to bring together the large groups of students that such important service projects necessitate. In fact, without the guidance and infrastructure of the various houses, most of the above mentioned service projects would have never been accomplished. While I don't know if the Sphinx really does have the highest water bill in Hanover, I do know that Greek houses constantly give back to the community by making use of their manpower, organizational skills and physical and financial resources.
