Fraternity members celebrate success in 2010-2011 academic year. (Photo by Daniel M. Reck.)
It’s been a big year for Greek Life at Monmouth College. Thousands of dollars have been raised for charity, thousands of hours have been given in service, and hundreds of students have enjoyed academic success.
The pinnacle of each year is Greek Week, which recently concluded with the Annual Greek Life Awards. All seven Greek organizations came together, raised over $1,050 for Haiti earthquake relief, and organized a record-setting blood drive.
“Greek Week this year was a magnificent success!” says Haleigh Turner ’12, Greek Week Chair and President of Pi Beta Phi. “Every chapter came together on multiple occasions to hang out, have a great time, possibly get slimmed, and show campus that no matter our letters we are a unified Greek System.
Through Penny Wars and a Car Bash, Greeks raised $1,054.13, which will go to Lights for Haiti through Citizen Effect. The money raised will help provide solar-powered lanterns to Haitians who are still recovering from the earthquake that devastated the country two years ago.
There were many events during Greek Week, from a Bop-It tournament, Slime-Time, karaoke, trivia, a scavenger hunt, and philanthropies; perhaps one of the most memorable was the All-Greek Candle Pass.
“It really meant a lot to see brothers and sisters from different organizations linked together representing not only our unity during Greek Week but our forever support of one another as we passed a significant item from each chapter as well as sang our songs,” says Turner.
The Greek Week show allowed fraternity members to show off their values, pride, and humor as they put on four 1990s-themed acts. In addition to the shows put on by Greek organizations, the so-called Greek God and Goddess, along with their Demigod and Demigoddess counterparts, competed in talent, questions, and overall participation to win the titles.
The men of Sigma Phi Epsilon and the women of Pi Beta Phi won the Greek Show on Thursday night with their medley of references to 90s television shows and dance numbers. The men of Zeta Beta Tau, teamed up with a mix of women from each women’s fraternity dubbed The Panhellenic Alliance, won the banner contents, which was also announced at the Greek Week show.
Greek Week ended on Friday with the Annual Greek Life Awards banquet. Greeks dressed to impress and to raise awareness for autism. Alpha Xi Delta women handed out blue ribbons for World Autism Awareness Day, which coincided with the awards program. Outside, Wallace Hall’s famous copula was lit in a brilliant blue as part of the national “Light It up Blue” campaign for Autism Awareness Month. The Empire State Building in New York City, along with many other landmarks, were also awash in blue for the night.
The banquet, held in the specially-decorated cafeteria, brought together fraternity members from every organization to celebrate their successes and the success of their fellow brothers and sisters. The guest list not only included fraternity members, but faculty, advisors, deans, and President Mauri Ditzler.
The women of Alpha Xi Delta won Overall Greek Week for their fourth year running as well as many other chapter and individual awards.
“We have worked hard to better ourselves and to follow our National Fraternity motto, ‘realize your potential,’” says Kim Dwyer ’12, President of Alpha Xi Delta. “It was exciting to see all of our hard work pay off. Our chapter is more than grateful and proud of one another.”
Although each of the awards are of high honor, the most prestigious award that can be earned at Monmouth College is the award for Outstanding Chapter Operations. This year, Pi Beta Phi earned this award.
Recipients of the 2011 Greek Life Awards were:
- Academic Excellence Award – Alpha Xi Delta
- Excellence in Campus Involvement and Leadership – Phi Delta Theta
- Outstanding Chapter Program – Xi Man, Alpha Xi Delta
- Award for Excellence in Community Service and Philanthropy – Phi Delta Theta
- Outstanding Advisor – Denise Turnbull, Pi Beta Phi
- Emerging Female Leader – Lydia Butler, Alpha Xi Delta
- Emerging Male Leader – Jeff Skalon, Alpha Tau Omega
- Outstanding Greek President – Leah Statler, Pi Beta Phi
- Greek Woman of the Year – Kristen Wyse, Alpha Xi Delta
- Greek Man of the Year (Cy Reagan Award) – John Cayton, Phi Delta Theta
- The Richard “Doc” Kieft Award – Rodney Clayton, Phi Delta Theta
- Outstanding Chapter Operations – Pi Beta Phi
- Greek Week Spirit Award – Alpha Xi Delta
- Greek God and Goddess – Andrew Farraher, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Ashley May, Alpha Xi Delta
- Greek Demi-God and Demi-Goddess – Alex Mackley, Zeta Beta Tau and Courtney Jonsson, Alpha Xi Delta
- Overall Greek Week Winners – Alpha Xi Delta
“Winning the Chapter Operations Award is a true honor”, said Turner. “Leah, as President, and our executive board, worked hard to excel our chapter to one that adheres not only to a loving sisterhood but one with high standards for our sisters.” μ
Michelle Bruce ‘12
Also of Interest
Student Commentary: Let’s help the uninitiated understand poor behavior isn’t our ritual
Thursday, November 11th, 2010The Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity chapter at Yale University caused an uproar during activities associated with one of their pledging rituals. According to a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education, upperclassmen led new members in chants that were offensive and demeaning towards women. In the aftermath, the chapter president sent out a formal apology to the university, women’s rights groups on campus, and anyone else that the stunt may have offended.
While this behavior is a travesty for everyone involved and a terrible incident that makes the entire Greek system look bad, the way some subscribers to The Chronicle’s website have responded to the report has also been unkind and often based in misinformation. Individuals who have commented on the report have called everyone that is involved in a fraternity a “group of thugs” and “a bunch of middle class white boys crying about needing a place to commune.”
To stereotype an entire system like this is unwarranted and unnecessary, and feels like hate mongering toward the Greek system. The problem with blog responses like the one in The Chronicle is that there is no filter to what people can say, and no one can see who is commenting, as often real names are obscured behind electronic aliases. Let’s not forget that this comes from readers of The Chronicle of HIGHER EDUCATION (emphasis mine), and so one would expect the comments to be informed by a certain amount of understanding about the reality of Greek Life—the good and the bad—by virtue of the readers’ daily involvement on college campuses around the country.
Behavior as displayed by the Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter at Yale qualifies as hazing, which is prohibited at every reputable college and university. There are strong laws against hazing in any way, shape, and form. Every national fraternity prohibits hazing. However, incidents like the one at Yale to show that hazing is still ongoing, and this is admittedly a bitter pill to swallow.
So now the question is, rather than posting generalized attacks against Greeks on the internet, how should we respond to a fraternity that is hazing?
First and foremost, the health and well-being of hazed victims should be taken care of. These young men were embarrassed in front of the entire Yale student body. Providing access to counselors and involving the campus administrators in the healing of the chapter is one of the first steps.
Next, the local organization guilty of instigating the hazing should be dealt with. There have been cases of hazing when a chapter has been forced to leave a campus, and officers and those taking part in hazing given jail sentences. Unfortunately, hazing often comes from a habit of poor behavior stemming back many years. So, while it is a sad thing to see a fraternity evaporate, one might say that the members took the first steps in dissolving their brotherhood when they began hazing in the first place.
To his credit, the President of Delta Kappa Epsilon at Yale, Jordan Forney, apologized to the news in an email saying that the actions were “inappropriate, disrespectful, and very hurtful to others.” While this is a step in the right direction, it still cannot fix the damage done. The chapter should hold seminars and presentations to teach members about the issues of hazing, and help make sure that other chapters do not commit the same errors in behavior.
Hopefully the university and Delta Kappa Epsilon will take the appropriate actions to solving the hazing problems, and make sure that this type of unacceptable act will never happen again on the Yale.
We should also not ignore the public comments about this incident on The Chronicle’s website; the accusations made about Greek Life are incorrect and misinformed. However, we, as Greek members must make it our job to prove these type of comments wrong by ending hazing all together, and keep pushing to make sure that the positive steps of members are brought to light. μ
Alex Woods ‘12
Also of interest:
Tags:Brotherhood and Sisterhood, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Leadership, New Members, Risk Management
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