September 15, 2012 marks the end of Fall Recruitment for the University of New Haven. Rush week has come to a close and UNH Greek life is continuing to grow.
The organizations and potential new members met in the Bixler/Botwinik Quad at 8:45 p.m. each night from Sept. 10 to Sept. 15 to hear what events the sororities and fraternities were offering. Activities included Vegas and decade-themed nights, bowling, arts and crafts, lawn games and more, all of which gave potential new members a deeper look into their chosen organization’s core values.
Sororities that participated include Phi Sigma Sigma, Omega Phi Beta, Lambda Psi Delta, Hermandad Sigma Iota Alpha, Inc., Chi Kappa Rho, Sigma Lambda Gamma, and Delta Phi Epsilon. Fraternities include Sigma Lambda Beta, Delta Chi, Sigma Chi, Kappa Gamma Rho, Lambda Alpha Upsilon, Sigma Alpha Upsilon, and Phi Beta Sigma.
Go Greek Week had a theme of unity which carried through to this past week, but in a different light. Unity was shown by each organization’s individual members who chanted and cheered for their brothers and sisters. Potential new members got a glimpse of what sisterhood and brotherhood mean to each Greek chapter.
Tori Persico of Delta Phi Epsilon, had the opportunity to participate in her first Rush week as a sister.
“Being a sisterhood that does so much, it’s really nice that we could all come together to make time for one another as well as potential new members,” said Tori. “Having the opportunity to get to know the girls that rushed for us and getting to know my sisters even better solidified the reason why I joined my sisterhood.” Tori is one of the many members who got to be part of this experience.
Greek life strives to uphold its own core values while promoting the values of UNH. The university has introduced the Charger Compact that promotes six standards to its students: excellence, responsibility, respect, understanding, integrity and service. These standards are shown in all aspects of the Greek community.
Excellence: All organizations require their members to maintain a GPA of 2.5 or higher. Academics come first for sisters and brothers in Greek life who strive to become better students.
Responsibility: Members of Greek life are reminded to be conscious of how their words, actions, and inactions affect those in the UNH community.
Respect: The university has a No Hazing policy that is mandatory for all Greek organizations to follow. New members are required to attend No Hazing workshops. Each organization is also expected to respect one another in order to maintain Greek unity.
Understanding: All Greek organizations on campus include members from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
Integrity: Members of Greek life are given letters upon becoming brothers and sisters of their organization. With these letters come the responsibilities of representing their organization both academically and personally.
Service: All 14 Greek chapters have designated philanthropies for which they raise funds. Chapters also organize service projects that are promoted to all students encouraging them to get involved.
Greek life on campus is growing and improving each semester. The university will hold its second Rush week February 2013 for students who are interested.
