Here at Baylor, we have have 40 inter/national and local organizations involved in Greek life. A large portion of each class is involved with Greek life, and Baylor is very supportive of the organizations represented on campus.
I am a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, which is one of the nine national sororities represented by the Panhellenic Council. Each sorority has a philanthropy which they support with service and fundraising each year. For Kappa Alpha Theta, our philanthropy is CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocate.
CASA works to serve children in the foster system by providing a voice for them. A CASA is an advocate who is assigned by a judge to a child moving through the court systems. These advocates are a part of every step in the system and share with the judge what they believe would be in the child’s best interest.
All sororities host events each semester to raise money in support of their philanthropies. However, it is hard to get involvement from other chapters if there is not some type of incentive involved. On some occasions, two sororities can be found hosting philanthropy events on the same day.
Because of the issue with having events fall on the same day, a rule was passed with Baylor Panhellenic Council to limit no more than two profit shares on the same day. Another rule was passed that banned other sororities from having any philanthropy events during another’s philanthropy week.
These rules were passed in hopes of creating the best opportunity for each group to fundraise in appropriate and successful manners. Allowing for multiple events on the same day could be competitive and put each group at a disadvantage.
These dates for events are scheduled at the end of each semester for the following semester, so sororities are fully aware of each other’s schedule of events. Nevertheless, Baylor Panhellenic has also failed to both regulate and provide punishment to the groups that have ignored the rules. With a lack of justice, what is to stop groups from repeat offenses?
This shows complete disrespect and arrogance from groups that choose to ignore these rules. It does not foster Greek unity and does not show support for other’s groups.
Within our Panhellenic Greek community, we need to do a better job of being supportive of each other. The season of undermining one another’s events needs to come to an end. The season of support and being active in attending one another’s events needs to begin.
We need to actively fight the negative stereotypes that can be associated with Greek life. It is different at every school, and it is certainly a wonderful experience at Baylor. By supporting each other, we will continue to help Waco grow and foster by supporting one another’s philanthropies, the most important thing overall.
Susannah Jones
Senior management major
Ruston, La.
