Greek students comprise about 13 percent of the student body and are well-known for community service and campus involvement. Wearing brightly colored T-shirts to class, Greek students are easy to spot. But, being a leader is more than wearing letters; it is action within the community.
Being a Greek Leader
Leaders set standards for others to follow through their personal endeavors and behaviors. In the Greek system, sorority and fraternity presidents are responsible for sometimes hundreds of members, making a strong leader crucial for chapters’ success.
Greek organizations participate both in Greek and non-Greek leadership classes, including their national chapters’ leadership instruction programs.
“I represented the fraternity to outside organizations,” said Delta Tau Delta President Michael Whitman. “I was a figure head for the fraternity who could speak on behalf of them.”
Kappa Alpha Order President Josh Clayton said, like many Greek presidents, he sets an example by his participation in campus events outside his fraternity, in addition to focusing on schoolwork and philanthropic endeavors.
Sororities and fraternities maintain retention, Clayton said.
“If you look at statistics, members in sororities and fraternities are more likely to remain in school and have higher GPAs,” he said.
A leader doesn’t necessarily have to be the one in charge, Whitman said.
Catrina Minnifield, Delta Sigma Theta president, said she used her position to influence others.
“Sometimes your voice is better heard if you have a status,” she said. “You have to be comfortable in your own skin to be able to carry out an important job.”
Josh Johnson, Pi Kappa Phi president, said he wanted to bring his chapter’s standards up.
“It seems like we have a lot more on our plate than other campus organizations,” Johnson said. “We are liable to mess up. Holding a position is honorable but very hard to balance with classes.”
Although several fraternities are on academic and disciplinary probation, some chapter presidents said they are glad the University has set high standards to improve the Greek system in the long run.
Greek Assessment
The University assesses Greek organizations each year. The organizations receive a rating from one to five based on factors including member education, chapter GPA and philanthropy work.
Assessment helps leaders realize their potential, said Director of Greek Affairs Victor Felts.
“In the three years I’ve been in a fraternity, we’ve all gotten better because of [assessment],” Whitman said. “I really believe that it reminds us why we are here.”
Although other leaders agree assessment is a valuable tool, they think the assessment needs revision.
Minnifield said assessment is stressful and time-consuming to prepare and offers little or no incentive other than a rating.
“Though I understand that the purpose is to present to the LSU community that Greeks do more than party and cut up, it really does make my job that much harder,” she said.
The Outside Perspective
Some students said Greek organizations’ social activities offset their philanthropic work.
“I don’t think [Greeks are leaders] because of the party image they portray,” said Mehdi Houdaigui, an ISDS sophomore. “They use some of the power they have to get special treatment.”
Although Houdaigui has read and heard Greek organizations do a lot of community service, he said he believes most of the time the majority has a bad image of the fraternities and sororities.
“It’s like you buy your friends,” he said.
Andre Jay Babu said Greeks had several positive aspects such as community service, but he does not view them as leaders because they drink, then misbehave.
Representing the Campus and Community
Though they are known for their social events, Greek organizations also focus on community service. Each chapter has a national and local philanthropy it works with.
This past year, Greek organizations donated more than $120,000 and performed more than 40,000 hours of community service, Felts said. Many members also volunteer their time to other student organizations.
For example, Clayton said Kappa Alpha Order members participate in Student Government and other campus organizations, such as Men Against Violence and GAMMA that are not Greek-related. The fraternity also sponsors a golf tournament to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Clayton said.
Pi Kappa Phi does a variety of service work, such as visiting nursing homes, participating in the Little Buddy program and raising money for the Children’s Miracle Network.
“I think that the Greek system represents a very diverse set of students with exceptional leadership skills, and because it is pretty big in numbers, we have reach,” Minnifield said. “We can collectively command a lot of respect. We get a lot of things done, especially in the area of service.”
Whitman thinks his fraternity has helped the individual members to set goals and make sure they follow through with them.
Whitman explained that a lot of places solicit help from sororities and fraternities because they are visible campus groups to the community. For example, if Habitat for Humanity calls a Greek organization, it can get in touch with more than 100 potential helpers.
“There’s a movement to bring sororities and fraternities back to what they were founded on — values,” Whitman said. “All fraternities and sororities were similar, in the fact that they wanted to make role models for society and give something back to the community. In my opinion, they’re supposed to make you someone who other people look up to. There’s a movement to bring that back because it has gone off track.”