In the Daily's Oct. 13 editorial, "Pledge a commitment to philanthropy," sweeping assumptions and factual inaccuracies depicted the Greek community as lacking dedication to charitable causes. This is not the case. Fraternities and sororities have never been "simply social organizations," and it is unfounded and callous to generalize them as such. If indeed, "little is known about what fraternities and sororities do to help the community," as the editorial states, perhaps the Tufts community should focus more energy on supporting Greek philanthropic causes, which are well publicized and often reported in this newspaper.
The Daily calls for philanthropy-based activities during the recruitment and new member periods while blatantly ignoring that these already exist. Sorority recruitment currently commits a great deal of discussion to each chapter's philanthropic causes. One recruitment event is required to be devoted entirely to philanthropy, and potential new members and sisters often use the occasion to volunteer while simultaneously getting to know each other. All members of Greek organizations realize they are making a commitment both to a sisterhood or brotherhood and to the philanthropic ideals of that organization. New members (the correct name for a "pledge," the archaic term used by the Daily) of the organizations on campus are required to participate in their chapters' philanthropic activities in addition to community-wide events such as the Tufts University Dance Marathon, Tufts Relay for Life, Read by the River, Kids' Day and various other charitable events. These events, I will add, would suffer from an extreme lack of leaders, volunteers and fundraising if Greeks were not involved. For example, sorority and fraternity teams are nearly always the top fundraisers in Relay for Life. As the Daily mentions, the Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS) is a great presence on campus. Greeks have a long tradition of involvement in LCS activities and participation with its directional staff. For several years the Greek community has encouraged members to participate in its activities by co-sponsoring the annual LCS Semi-Formal and making generous donations to its Faculty Waits on You Dinner and Auction. Additionally, nearly all of the chapters on campus will be participating in LCS' Halloween on the Hill this Saturday, as they have since its inception.
You have only to look back through the Daily's own archives to see what an impact Tufts Greeks make on our community. So far this year, Chi Omega has held its annual charity basketball tournament and raised funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Delta Tau Delta has brought a Sudanese lost boy to campus to raise awareness of his plight and that of his homeland. Upcoming philanthropic events include Alpha Phi's annual Charity Denim event and Alpha Omicron Pi's Taste of Davis night, which benefit cardiac care and juvenile arthritis research, respectively, and will both take place in November. Zeta Beta Tau is currently organizing their annual Get on the Ball event to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network. Sigma Phi Epsilon will be pumpkin carving with a local elementary school in the next few weeks. Zeta Psi and Alpha Omicron Pi continue to serve local schools with the Cooperative Peace Games program. This is only a taste of what our organizations support and doesn't begin to cover the individual commitments of our members to various groups and causes on campus.
Individually, members of the Tufts Greek community lead service trips abroad, coordinate large-scale outreach activities like Read by the River, tutor local students, organize events like Peace Day and participate in Tisch College Citizenship and Public Service Scholars Program projects, to name only a few endeavors. Nearly every service-oriented organization on campus counts Greeks among its members, and many of these groups call them their leaders.
"Is an interest in volunteering and community service a determining factor for the average freshman deciding whether to pledge a fraternity or sorority?" asks the Daily. Maybe not at Tufts, but it is a testament to the quality of our campus' philanthropy and activism; not a statement against members of the Greek community. When chapters recruit new members, they value students' participation in other campus activities, especially service-oriented ones. While other schools might rely solely on the Greek community for philanthropic events and activities, Tufts is lucky enough to have an active student body that gives on its own, so it's easy to forget that Greek organizations make important contributions to Tufts' community-service arena.
It's also important to realize that Tufts funds the philanthropic activities of most non-Greek groups on campus. Greek chapters receive no budget from the Tufts Community Union Senate, so funding for every community service event comes from members' dues. This is certainly not hidden from members, so the claim simply cannot be leveled that individual members don't care about the philanthropy of a house — they're paying for it.
To ignore all of these accomplishments, most of which have in fact been covered before by the Daily, implies not only a disrespect for the portion of the student body involved in Greek Life, but a lack of effort to report the facts on campus. The outrageous claim that fraternity and sorority members don't care about philanthropy is insulting and simply incorrect, and I sincerely hope that the Daily, and everyone in the Tufts community, will think twice before making any similar assertion. Greek philanthropic events are open to all, so come and see for yourself what Tufts' chapters are doing to help out our community.
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Jillian Joseph is a senior majoring in international relations and French. She is the president of the Panhellenic Council and the president of Chi Omega.
*This article was edited from its originally published version on 10/22/09 for purposes of clarity.
