Spring Break
JSU Greeks beautify campus and talk of future
Organizations look to publicity and accessibility for change in Greek life
Rosalind Moore
Issue date: 3/18/04 Section: News
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Some women and African American or minority organizations were founded out of a general necessity to possess a common bond of intellect and love despite societal barriers.
Whatever the case may be, the essence of the Greek organization has always centered around a desire to have a social outlet, a voice for societal issues and problems, and a way to form a brotherly or sisterly connection of family.
Jacksonville State University currently has 3 unique Greek councils, which have been an integral part of the JSU community and strive to improve their programs and develop deep bonds between their members. Recently, JSU's Greek community was involved in a community forum workshop entitled, "Fraternal Futures: What's in Our Future."
The workshop was hosted by Miami University in Oxford, OH and consisted of small group sessions of members of each of JSU's three councils.
"I worked with members of Fraternal Futures at Miami University before I came to JSU," said Megan Radison, assistant director of Student Life. "When I came here to work, they approached me about coming to JSU. I think that it was a really great opportunity. It was a pretty exciting experience that we got to have." JSU was one of only two schools that were selected to take part in this workshop.
The workshop focused primarily on understanding the issues concerning Greek welfare, considering different approaches to problems facing their Greek community, and recognizing areas of common ground that may need further developing.
"Fraternal Futures allowed us to focus on issues that we need to be realistic about," said Radison. Some of the major focus of the event included looking at some of the downward trends in the Greek system and developing ways to improve, being and seeming more accessible to those interested in Greek life and developing plans of action.
"The program highlights holding one another accountable on are we actually living our values by which our founders created our organizations and are we being accessible to other students," Radison said.
One of the better things about the Fraternal Futures program is the fact that after accessing many of these issues, the councils are able to focus and create a plan to deal with their most pressing concern and issue. The program is very flexible in being able to mold to each campus situation and issue differently.
Aside from learning how to better their organizations, over the semester the Greek community has focused on philanthropy and community service.
Last Friday the Panhellenic Council hosted a Trash Day. About 60 members from several of the Greek councils were involved in a trash pick-up that began at Paul Carpenter Village and continued across JSU's campus and on into the Jacksonville community.
"We collected 1,519 pounds of trash. Trash Day was really to help with preview Day. JSU works so hard to bring in students and we need to help out with that process however we can," said Radison.
The Greek community will also host Greek Week later in the semester, which will feature an informational fair for children in the community. JSU's Greek community is working to develop more activities and better ways to get everyone involved in positive projects.
Several of JSU's Greek chapters have won awards in their national arena and also at conferences in the state and region. The InterFraternity Council was awarded with five awards at the Southeastern Interfraternity Conference. All of the Greek councils are striving to live up to their unique tenants.
"Obviously, there are a lot of students out there on campus that can be Greek, but choose not to be or don't know everything that Greek life can offer them," Radison stated.
The Greek community is committed to letting people know what they are about and reaching the campus through accessibility and service.