4C - Tuesday, September 6, 2011

NEW STUDENT EDITION

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

LAUREN HARTSTEIN I
Viewpoint: Greek life
is not a stereotype

HANNAH CHIN/Daily
Campus fraternities, sororities raise about
$75,000 for charities during Greek Week

By CLAIRE HALL Pi Kappa Phi and Pi Lambda Phi
Daily StaffReporter - took first place in the Greek
Week points competition. Team
March 30, 2011 - The Uni- Planet Hollywood that includ-
versity's Greek community is set ed Zeta Tau Alpha, Alpha Tau
to donate about $75,000 to six Omega and Phi Gamma Delta
charities after Greek Life mem- and Team New York New York
bers participated in a variety of that consisted of Delta Delta
fundraising efforts during this Delta, Chi Psi, Pi Kappa Alpha
year's Greek Week. and Tau Kappa Epsilon came in
Greek Week - a 10-day event second and third places, respec-
in which teams of fraternities tively.
and sororities compete to earn Team Excalibur won the
points and raise money - culmi- "Sing" portion of the event,
nated last night at the Sing and while Team New York New York
Variety 2011 competition at Hill won the "Variety" category.
Auditorium, where the winning The judges included Mary Beth
teams were announced. Seiler, the University's director
Sing and Variety 2011 - an of Greek Life, and Darius Mor-
event in which teams performed ris, a point guard on the Michi-
various musical and dance gan men's basketball team.
arrangements in their efforts to The proceeds from Greek
capture..the competition's final Week will go to six charities
points -"was the deciding factor that were chosen by the steering
for the winning teams this year, committee, according to Engi-
according to LSA senior Monica neering senior Patrick Metzger,
Stoney, a co-director of Greek the other Greek Week co-direc-
Week. tor. This year's charities, which
Team Treasure Island - will each receive one-sixth of
made up of Alpha Gamma Delta, the money raised, include the

Peace Neighborhood Center,
Detroit Action Commonwealth,
The St. Baldrick's Foundation,
The Jalen Rose Charitable Fund,
Ele's Place and the Bo Schem-
bechler Heart of a Champion
Research Fund.
T-shirt and ticket sales as well
as corporate sponsorships with
companies like Domino's Pizza
and Kaplan account for most of
the revenue generated during
Greek Week, Metzger said.
"I would say (this year's Greek
Week) was more successful
than other years," Metzger said.
"We definitely aren't the high-
est grossing in terms of money
raised, but we've definitely done
more in the area of community
service."
Greek Week teams amassed
more than 825 hours of commu-
nity service during the course
of the semester, according to
Metzger. In a blood drive dur-
ing the week, he said 264 units of
blood were collected, with Greek
community members donating
about 80 percent of those units.

In addition to raising money
for charity, the teams also vol-
unteered their time by cooking
dinner for families at the Ronald
McDonald House, goingice skat-
ing with underprivileged youth
and organizing a canned food
drive.
"Every year we have success
raising money, but when we can
measure success in other ways,
it feels like Greek Week is more
meaningful," Metzger said.
He added that Greek Week
isn't just about winning points
or raising money, but also about
bringing the University's Greek
community together.
Kinesiology sophomore Amy
Marks, a member of Chi Omega
sorority, echoed Metzger's sen-
timents, saying she finds Greek
Week to be a great way to unite
University community members
for a good cause.
"It's just a nice way to bring
every member of the Greek
community together to give to
charities that are really in need,"
Marks said.

Feb. 3, 2010 - With sorori-
ties come stereotypes; it is the
unfortunate reality of the com-
munity. This being my third
year in the Greek Community, I
have encountered my fair share
of Greek stereotypes and have
adopted the "take the good with
thebad" mentality. Not all soror-
ity women are the gum-popping,
hair-twirling, bra-stuffing, slop-
py partiers as seen on the big
screen. But I am willing to live
with the stereotype as a vapid,
shallow and hard-partying col-
lege girl if it means participating
in what I believe to be a wonder-
ful organization.
Many people are unaware
that the first sororities were not
founded as 19th-century organi-
zations, in envy of fraternities,
but as part of a social movement
to engage women intellectually
as well as socially. At the time,
sororities allowed women to
talk openly about topics such as
philosophy and politics, which
were taboo for women to discuss
and merited a secret society.
That being noted, I would never
"Go Greek" if it was merely a
willing submission to objectifi-
cation, as some outsiders tend to
Admittedly, recruitment
tends to involve matching out-
fits and loud chants, but it is
the farthest thing from glori-
fied pageantry. Each sorority
is founded on its long-standing
values and recruitment is a time
to find friends to share these
values and traditions with. Not
having any Greek-affiliated
family members, I was clue-
less as to what to expect during
formal recruitment, but knew it
would be an easy way to meet a
lot of people. To any friendless,
out-of-state freshman, it sound-
ed appealing (for the record, my
leggings and Northface were
owned prior to joining a soror-
ity.) It wasn't until I lived in a
chapter house that I fully real-
ized the true benefits of joining
the Greek Community.
Eager to escape the watch-
ful eyes of their parents, most
high school seniors are anxious
to live on their own in college.
But then why do so many fresh-
man women commit to living
in sorority houses witha house
mom under a roof of rules and
regulations? What is so appeal-
ing about living in a house full of
young women? Well, the impec-
cable cleanliness, homemade
meals and bus boys are benefits
to name a few - but these are
not the main selling points. Hav-
ing lived in a sorority chapter
house for a year and a half here

at Michigan, I can testify that
"living in" is an unparalleled
experience that has undoubted-
ly taught me more than just how
to share a bathroom with dozens
of other girls.
As an executive board mem-
ber, I lived with 60-plus women
who were not only my friends
but also women with whom I
worked to make decisions for
the betterment of the entire
chapter. I had to learn to seam-
lessly transition from my leader-
ship role at formal chapter to my
peer role during playful nights
in the kitchen. This unique envi-
ronment allowed me to flour-
ish interpersonally as a leader
and also as a member of a larger
community. The atmosphere
of a chapter house is rich with
opportunities, often influenc-
ing members to join more clubs
or attend campus events to sup-
port their sisters. However, the
best part about "living in" is
not the leadership or extracur-
ricular opportunities but having
hallways filled with your best
friends.
Of course, living among such
a large, diverse group of women 0
requires considerable amounts
of cooperation, patience and
understanding, but this diver-
sity gives the house a culture of
its own. Arguably, the residence
halls provide the same diversity.
But unlike other forms of hous-
ing, the women who occupy a
chapter house share the values
instilled in the tradition of their
sorority. Despite the stereotype
of being a locale for partying
sorority girls and midnight pil-
low fights, chapter houses are
ideal environments to strength-
en character, with a support sys-
tem for the women who occupy
them. While I'm happy to finally
have a kitchen and my much-
desired own bedroom in an
off-campus apartment, a part of
me will always miss living in a
sorority.
Sororities aren't perfect insti-
tutions. Like any other organi-
zation, they have their flaws.
Among other things, our inher-
ent competition and self-perpet-
uated stereotypes are areas in
need of improvement. But then
again, like other organizations,
sororities allow their members
to develop leadership skills, fos-
ter campus involvement and,
most importantly, make friends
who make college the best four
years of our lives.
Lauren Hartstein was formerly
the Panhellenic Vice President
of Recruitment Internal.
OMMENCEMENT
. 6

Know your Greek life, in alphabetized form
Note: This list does not include the various other multicultural, service and business fraternities and
sororities available to you on campus.
Interfraternity Council / Fraternities -
AA4b Alpha Delta Phi AY Delta Upsilon LAM Sigma Alpha Mu
AEII Alpha Epsilon Pi KL Kappa Sigma' X Sigma Chi
A14 Alpha Sigma Phi AXA Lambda Chi Alpha E4E Sigma Phi Epsilon
AT5 Alpha Tau Omega 4)A0 Phi Delta Theta LH Sigma Pi
BOIL Beta Theta Pi FIJI Phi Gamma Delta TKE Tau Kappa Epsilon
X(4 Chi Phi 1KXI Phi Kappa Psi OX Theta Chi
XW Chi Psi HKA Pi Kappa Alpha OAX Theta Delta Chi
A Triangle llK4 Pi Kappa Phi O Theta Xi
AX Delta Chi HtAK Pi Lambda Phi ZW Zeta Psi
AKE Delta Kappa Epsilon 'PY Psi Upsilon
ATA Delta Tau Delta LAE Sigma Alpha Epsilon I
Pan-hellenic Council / Sororities
AX12 Alpha Chi Omega X1 Chi Omega KKT Kappa Kappa Gamma
AAII Alpha Delta Pi AAA Delta Delta Delta HB+ Pi Beta Phi
AE4 Alpha Epsilon Phi Colony AF Delta Gamma EAT Sigma Delta Tau
AFA Alpha Gamma Delta A4PE Delta Phi Epsilon 1K Sigma Kappa
A4 Alpha Phi KAO Kappa Alpha Theta ZTA Zeta Tau Alpha

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JED MoCH/Daily
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during the 2011 Spring Commencement on April 30.
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