More than 50 Greek organization hopefuls came out on Monday to room 242 in the Student Union to get a glimpse of what the Greek life is about.
The National Pan-Hellenic Council hosted the evening event hoping to spark an interest in some people. President of the NPHC, Charlie Ray Jenkins Jr. was the main speaker.
Jenkins, who is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., started by giving every organization a chance to introduce its organization and give a little history and what it is about.
KANESHA DOUGLAS/Contributing photographer
Greek interested students listen as members of Iota Phi Theta explain their fraternity.
The Divine Nine, a term that refers to the original black fraternities and sororities, were the Greek organizations presenting on Monday night: Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, Iota Phi Theta, Sigma Gamma Rho, Phi Beta Sigma and Omega Psi Phi in addition to two organizations that are not currently on campus, Alpha Phi Alpha and Kappa Alpha Psi. Alpha Phi Alpha did, however, announce that they will be back on the yard next fall.
One of the purposes of this seminar, according to Jenkins is to let everyone know that the Greeks have to come together at some point.
“We’re all in the same organization at the end of the day,” said Jenkins. The other purpose was to inform students what these organizations look for if they intend on joining one one day, he said.
Most of the organizations had similar values, such as academics, community service and character.
The seminar kind of took a turn after the floor was opened for questions and someone asked about the non-Greek organizations and how the Greeks felt toward their actions. Iota Phi Theta member Dwain Hebert had a strong opinion about this one.
“If you’re going to stroll or if you’re going to incorporate strolls or steps, even chants, you need to respect the boundaries of what the Divine Nine has went through, “ said Hebert. Hebert did add that he loves the Divine Nine. “I love that we put forth the time and effort to be great organizations.”
Marcus Wright, an Omega Psi Phi member and also a member of the non-Greek organization Phi Beta Lambda, a business fraternity, had a slightly different approach when answering that question. Wright said that his non-Greek fraternity has helped him in ways that his Greek fraternity has not. Because of Phi Beta Lambda, Wright has been chosen as a management intern for Sam’s Club.
“I just came from a conference for my organization and I just got an internship out of 500 people…they only chose 12 people to offer them a job,” said Wright. “I applied some of my skills I learned from Phi Beta Lambda and I bombed my interviews and I knew exactly what to put on my resume.”
Other organization members were encouraging people to go non-Greek first. While it is not a stepping stone to Greek life as one AKA member explained, it can help you prepare for what to expect if you plan to go Greek.
Greek members also expressed the hopefuls not to be intimidated or afraid to talk to them and although they are limited on what they can say because “discretion is key,” Jenkins said during the seminar and had a crowd response with applause.