4
The Oracle December 3,2001
advertisement
3 days of non-bias fun for both greeks and non-greeks
by Jason Plagman
What do you get when you send over 100 greek and non-greek students to camp for a weekend?
An opportunity for students to build leadership skills and break down stereotypes.
For the first time in Greek Endeavor's five-year history, members of the non-greek community participated alongside new fraternity and sorority members during the retreat held Nov. 9 to 11. Andy Knopp, newly elected Interfraternity Council vice president said that this change was a way to defeat the stereotypes between greek community members and students from residence and scholarship halls, as well as prejudices between greek chapters.
"As far as inviting members of the non-greek community, it was a huge success," said Tom Wait, IFC Greek Endeavor chair.
Several participants from the residence halls enjoyed the experience so much that they expressed interest in the spring recruitment process, and others offered to return next year as facilitators.
"That was big for me, to get someone to change a schema of thought about greek life for the better," said Amy Rhoades, Panhellenic Association Greek Endeavor chair.
Throughout the weekend, campers took part in trust games and team building exercises in order to develop leadership skills and create lasting friendships. Participants were also asked to take risks designed to build togetherness. During these activities, chapter and hall affiliations were kept secret so participants could get to know each other without preconceived ideas.
Campus leaders such as Richard Johnson, University of Kansas dean of students, Barbara Ballard, KU vicechancellor, Ruben Perez, coordinator of the Student Organizations and Leadership Center, and Justin Mills, student body president, spoke to the campers about the importance of campus involvement.
"The various speakers reinforced the idea that judging people before you get to know them can make you miss out on some great opportunities," said camper Steve Miller.
"I thought it was an outstanding weekend and everyone learned a lot from each other," said Angie Carr, director of Greek Programs.
At the conclusion of the retreat, the campers finally revealed his or her chapter or hall affiliation.
"It was gratifying to see the looks of surprise on individuals' faces when the chapters were announced," said Rhoades. "That was proof they had gotten to know each other on a level other than labeling."
KU students work on team building skills at the Adam's Campus during Greek Endeavor. Throughout the retreat, all chapter and hall affiliations were kept secret. photo by Ashley Marriott
A stronger KU community
I recently attended the Greek Endeavor leadership retreat and had the opportunity to
the Greek Endeavor leadership retreat and had the opportunity to address some members of the greek community. At the end of my talk, a young lady asked me what the greek community can do to better represent itself to the overall university community and how greeks and non-greeks could work together.
by Justin Mills
I told her that increased interaction with the KU community and each other would go a long way to break down the barriers that divide us. I hope that I answered her question, and I want to take this opportunity to further address this topic and share some of my insights as to how we can form a stronger university community.
What are some ways that greeks and non-greeks can work together for the good of KU? In answering this question, we must look at the interactions between the two groups. Before we can truly work together, I believe that we must strive to better understand each other. The way that I see this happening is through more interaction between the two groups.
A trend that I have seen in the Greek community is that its members are very much involved within that community. Unfortunately, this internal involvement limits some members' external involvement in other areas. I would strongly advocate greeks who
So why should this be a goal of the greek and non-greek communities? As KU students, it is in our best interest to work together. Being divisive is not only a waste of energy, but it impedes the overall effectiveness of the student body. There are numerous projects that could be accomplished if every student, regardless of affiliation, would come together and work for a common cause One example is when students collectively raised $31,300 to benefit the victims of the September 11th tragedy. If all students can come together to benefit others thousands of miles away, then surely we can do the same to benefit our community right here at KU.
are not already involved in events outside the greek community to do so. Volunteering is a great way to do this. Not only do you help the greater community, but hopefully you would, at the least, gain perspective beyond that of your own experiences. I think it is easy to stay within our comfort zones and stick with what is familiar. I challenge everyone, Greeks and non-greeks alike, to step outside their own comfort zone and experience new things.
With increased personal contact comes increased understanding. Any community will have people that will misrepresent them. When the university community has many positive experiences and contacts with those involved in fraternity and sorority life then those who misrepresent the greek community's actions will be severely marginalized.
At Greek Endeavor, I was glad to see that some of the things I am talking about were being put into practice. At this year's retreat there were a number of non-greek residence hall students in attendance. Hopefully both sides went away with an increased understanding of each other and a willingness to educate other students. Although it may have only involved a limited number of students, Greek Endeavor was a great start to what could be a more vibrant, more productive, and more exciting KU community.