Those in the Greek community are adjusting their calendars from allowing weeklong philanthropic events to now give only two days for each organization.
The first greek organizations to plan under this new rule are Kappa Sigma with their South Seas events on Sept. 21 and 22 and Sigma Alpha Epsilon on Sept. 27 and 28 for True Gentlemen.
“When we took a look at our calendar and there was no space, something was planned for everyday with your organization,” Katie Williams, coordinator of Greek Life and University Programs said. “And it is important to have time off.
Our greeks are so involved with other things like SOA, SAR, SGA, and others, that we needed to give them that time.
And I had received feedback from both sororities and fraternities that we needed this change.”
The decision to make philanthropies only two-day events was sparked by the women of Panhellenic, consisting of the four sororities Alpha Delta Pi, Delta Gamma, Kappa Delta, and Phi Mu.
“With only four sororities and 10 fraternities, the women of the Panhellenic chapters were being spread too thin across the philanthropic events,” Panhellenic President Kristen Flowers said. “While we really enjoy philanthropies, this change will let us participate in more and ultimately contribute to more charitable costs.”
A unanimous vote from Interfraternity Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council and Panhellenic Council put this change into effect.
When this idea was first proposed, there was a concern for the amount of money raised in years past compared to what might be raised this year.
Adrianne Colquitt, vice president of Philanthropies for the Panhellenic Council said she has no worries about the money.
“I think it’s going to be pretty close to the same amount as before because you’ll have more organizations participating,” Colquitt said.
IFC President, Noble Halliburton agreed with Colquitt.
“[The amount] shouldn’t in my mind, change. It’s the same prices for everything and those participating will still continuously drop money,” Halliburton said.
Along with that, Williams also had another idea in mind when placing this plan into effect.
“I’m encouraging them to reach out to those not in the greek community and the in the Cookeville community,” Williams said. “And if they can do that, they can make about the same.”
This change will also give more time for those in greek organizations to study and have time with each other without the competitive pressure.
“I was for the change, I thought philanthropies weren’t a burden, but they did take more time than was really available,” said Halliburton.
