Old Dominion University - Troubador Yearbook (Norfolk, VA)

Page 9 text:

GREEK LIFE IS . . . Attending Classes . . . . . . and Webb Center

Page 8 text:

Why Greek? By Karyne A. Coven How successful are the social Greek letter organizations in convincing non Greek students to share their lifestyle? How many constant misconceptions are promoted by the media, fellow students and administrators on the negative aspects of Greek letter organizations? Rarely does a year go by without a national news story about a pledge killed or seriously injured by hazing. How many national stories have been told about the thousands of dollars raised by social Greek letter organizations each year to aid a variety of charities? The main purpose of this article is to promote the concept of positive honest public relations for Greeks. With the recent movie Animal House” and the three new television series depicting Greek Life.” the time has come to start actively publicizing the positive aspects of Greek life. The close communion spirit of the Greek organizations is a need that is felt by many college students. The sense of belonging, the heartfelt concern of brothers or sisters who want to share their college experiences, is extremely important in our constantly changing society. Out of that communal spirit emerges campus leaders, academic excellence, spiritual well being and social service to the campus, local and national community. When will the Greek community wake up to the realization they have established an extremely vital lifestyle and can successfully relate it to incoming students without getting drunk or acting out scenes from the movie Animal House to achieve an increase in membership? Many Greek organizations turn fellow students away during the rush process. Once a student has determined to participate in rush functions, all Greek groups must work together to keep that student involved. Two of the most cited excuses for dropping out of rush are the competition between chapters and the super images projected by the brothers and sisters. We must encourage the Greek organizations to work together during the rush process, and to present themselves as real people. Concentrate on the benefits of being Greek rather than the negative aspects of other chapters on campus. Public relations officers should be selected from each chapter. These officers would work together and develop a collec- tion of positive facts and statistics for each chapter to use during the rush process. The main concentration should be centered around academic averages, career placement. leadership achievements, and social service. Don’t forget the social side of the Greek lifestyle, but emphasize it as not only “a good time. but the working together in a group of separate individuals for a common goal. As students approach the colleges and universities with a shortage of funds and a head full of career goals, the Greek organizations will have to sell” the student on the true benefits of Greek membership. If it doesn’t include academic excellence, group cohesiveness. leadership training, and social service the Greek organizations may suffer more than they did in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Get the Greek organizations together and promote the positive! (Karyne A. Coven is a past Panheilenic and Chapter Advisor to Alpha Epsilon Phi. Old Dominion University; Rush Advisor to Panheilenic Council. Old Dominion University. Presently she is Head Resident and master’s student working in Leadership in Student Activities, and Women’s Programming, Southern Illinois University.)

Page 10 text:

We’ve raised $70,000 in the past 4 years for muscular dystrophy and Dance-A-Thon...