When members of LSU Greek Life helped assist in community recovery efforts following Louisiana’s August flood, Christopher Dedo, president of the University’s Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter, said fraternities’ frequently negative press was the last thing on the minds of devastated homeowners.
“The media so often paints us in a bad light or sees the sensational stories that get out there of what’s going on,” Dedo said. “But when people get to see that we’re out there taking apart their house, and we don’t even know who they are, they’re usually blown away because they have this preconception of what Greek Life is and how it’s just about the parties and the ‘paying for friends.’”
Dedo said his chapter participated in roughly half a dozen demolitions following the flooding and the University’s Greek Community helped a total of 50 houses.
Director of Greek Life Angela Guillory said such philanthropy is a major, often overlooked component of all Greek organizations on campus.
She said sororities’ and fraternities’ national organizations identify their philanthropy, and each chapter contributes. While an organization’s particular philanthropy is the priority, its members are not limited to that specific service, Guillory said.
Over the past few years, the University’s Greek community has contributed thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to philanthropy efforts, according to Greek Life’s annual reports. Dedo said his chapter has raised $7,000 over the past few years for the Children’s Hospital at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center through the annual Dance Marathon.
While most of the children at the Dance Marathon did not dance, Dedo said they were amused by the college students who did. He said the children are able to have fun and make friends with members of the Greek community.
“[When] we come together and we stand for all the high ideals our organizations stand for, we want to put that out there and represent ourselves well by giving back to the community that we all live in and work in,” Dedo said.
He said his chapter also works with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. Last year, Sigma Phi Epsilon raised $8,000 to help a terminally ill boy in New Orleans make his wishes to meet WWE wrestler John Cena and attend a field day on the University’s campus come true.
“Yes, we can do a lot of fundraising, but we do our best work when we get out in the community and put our hands to work and get stuff done,” Dedo said.
Emily Watkins, a member of the University’s Delta Gamma chapter, said her sorority works directly with the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired as part of its philanthropy efforts, in honor of a founding member who was visually impaired.
“One of the most important things we do is actually go … and hang out with those kids,” Watkins said. “We get to be there for them. They get to know that they have people that are looking out for them.”
She said Delta Gamma members visit the school once a week and feel like they are the children’s connection to the outside world. Members play games with the children and host an Easter Egg Hunt with “beeping eggs.”
Watkins said the chapter also contributes to help veterans with visual impairment and visits St. James Place retirement community because there was a woman living there who helped form the University’s Delta Gamma chapter.
“Our philanthropy is what gives us purpose,” Watkins said. “It’s why we’re here. It is the reason that 350 women can come together and make a difference.”
Every chapter strives to do better philanthropically than it did the year before, Dedo said. While the increase in money raised each year is important to help families, he said it is more important to be present and actively involved in the community.
During Greek Week, Dedo said Greek organizations come together to work with Habitat for Humanity to build two houses from foundation to near-completion. Greek Life has assembled 22 houses since the philanthropy began, according to the Greek Week website.
Watkins said being in college is a wonderful time for young adults to figure things out, and being a part of something bigger than themselves can make students better people.
“When you get a group of 100, 200, 300 men and women together, and their main focus is this one idea, you can make so much happen,” she said. “It changes us, as people. It humbles us, it makes [us] more willing to do this in the future and it gives us an outlet to serve the community.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story said Greek Life had assembled between eight and 12 houses. The Greek Week website shows the philanthropy has built 22 houses.