The Inter-Fraternity Council, Coed Council and Panhellenic Council will incentivize members’ involvement with philanthropy, summer IFC executive board member for service Peter Gips ’16 said. Several of the new programs will be introduced this fall and spring, he said.
The IFC aims to make service an integral part of the Greek system and a component of Greek life potential members consider during the rush process, Gips said. Planned changes include standardizing the roles of service chairs across different houses, creating an annual Greek service competition and running a “million minutes” campaign, which would challenge the College’s Greek system to complete one million minutes of community service over the course of a year.
Summer Greek Leadership Council chair Elizabeth Wilkins ’16 wrote in an email that any proposed changes to Greek philanthropy would be enacted by individual councils, not the entire GLC.
The IFC is drafting a list of criteria that the service chair or equivalent position at each of the IFC’s member houses will have to meet, Gips said, adding that establishing one set of regulations that bind each house would increase accountability across the system.
The annual service competition would require each house to host at least one philanthropy event, Gips said. He said that there would be multiple awards that houses could win for completing service hours, including a supplemental donation for the house that raised the most money. Though the competition so far only includes fraternities, sororities and coed houses would be welcome to participate, he said.
Summer coed council president Evelyn Weinstein ’16 said she feels philanthropy can unite the Greek houses.
“The coeds are very, very much on board towards shifting the Greek system to a more service-oriented set of people,” she said.
Weinstein also said she supported the “million minutes” campaign, noting that endorsing friendly competition would help lift achievements.
The competition’s goal is to increase the visibility and benefits of Greek system philanthropy, Gips said.
“It benefits the organizations. It benefits the brothers who get more involved in philanthropy,” Gips said. “It benefits the Dartmouth campus because it creates Greek-sponsored events that are dry and open to everyone.”
Panhell summer philanthropy chair Jessica Zischke ’16 said that service has historically been a major aspect of the Greek system and that the College’s system should reflect that. Zischke said that the Panhell has not discussed specific new programs because it has focused on the “Proud to be” series of events, all of which will incorporate philanthropy to benefit The Junction, a teen life-skills center.
Panhell sororities require members to complete philanthropy, but these requirements vary from house to house.
“On a system-wide level, I think having more service and doing more philanthropy-oriented work would make the members of the houses all feel more fulfilled,” she said.
All coed fraternities have community service requirements, ranging from one to four hours per term, Weinstein said.
Greek Letter Organizations and Societies director Wes Schaub wrote in an email that the GLC does not have philanthropy requirements for its members.
The executive members tasked with overseeing philanthropy and service efforts at seven Greek houses could not be reached for comment.
Zischke is a member of The Dartmouth senior staff.
