February 15 , 2007 - There has been a recent effort among the Greek life leadership to go beyond just calling WVWC Greek Life a community and actually acting upon it.

During last spring there were a series of meeting analyzing the status of the Greek system, especially in regards to recruitment and public image. It was concluded that while we called our selves a community, we rarely behaved as such.

True we came together during Recruitment, Greek Week and Spring Sing, but all of these were competitive in nature and rarely improved relations between the chapters.

Changes needed to be made.

We adopted an all-Greek philanthropy, the American Heart Association, and planned several events to raise money for the cause including the All-Greek HeartWalk and the Homecoming bake sale.

We even began holding more all-Greek events. In the fall we held a cookout, and while the turn out wasn’t the best, the groups still worked together to cook all the food and prepare for the event.

When recruitment came, I became nervous because I was worried the competition would  ruin all the progress made, but surprisingly, the groups began to work together.

Greeks began using the term “Go Greek,” instead of “Go [insert fraternity or sorority here].”

Chapters now communicate beyond the small talk formalities of the past.

On February 9th, the Panhellenic Council and the Interfraternity Council hosted a pizza party. All chapters were in attendance, in addition to many potential new members currently going through both sorority and fraternity recruitment.

The turn out was impressive and while there was some segregation, I began to notice people talking to one another.

Sororities and fraternities mingled. The potential members saw that the girls help the guys out and the guys help the girls out. There was a cohesion.

True everyone is competing for their new member classes, but there was a willingness, if only for an hour, to talk and work as a group.

More things need to happen such as this, because when we come together as a community and not just nine chapters battling against each other, amazing things can happen.

It funny how everything happens for a reason. The severe drop in incoming students has forced groups to step back and re-examine not only their individual chapters but also the community as a whole.

In doing this, we all realized we can’t do this alone. We need to work together and embrace what we are, a community. Without one, the rest suffers; a lesson we learned with the disappearance of Kappa Alpha.

I know we’re not 100% but we’re not done trying to make a difference.

Ashley Hodak