On Oct. 13 the Daily published an editorial titled "Pledge a commitment to philanthropy." The piece criticizes the Greek community, stating that "aside from the provision of music, dance floors and beer, little is known about what fraternities and sororities do to help the community."
This is a claim that opponents of the Greek system have been making for years. While this was never completely true, there was a time when Greeks' participation in philanthropy was undeniably lacking. At that point in time, I may have responded by pointing out that Greek organizations are primarily social organizations and that it is unfair to set a double standard when there are plenty of other social groups on campus who don't do any community service. At that point in time, I also may have pointed out that fraternities and sororities provide a much-needed part of the otherwise lacking social life on campus and that fraternities specifically have developed a positive relationship with the Tufts University Police Department by working with them to host safe and organized parties that centralize weekend activities and keep them away from Medford and Somerville residents. At that point in time, I may have also argued that Greek members become leaders in many other on-campus organizations and excel academically to the point that numerous chapters have grade point averages that are higher than that of the general Tufts student body.
However, at this point in time, the claim that Greek organizations do not and have not pursued philanthropic endeavors is just plain false, and so I will get straight to the facts. Below is a summary of the charitable programs that Greek organizations have run or participated in during the past year, organized alphabetically by chapter. I will preface this by saying that some of the programs on this list are repeated from an op-ed published on Sept. 28, 2008, titled "Give Greeks the credit they deserve," in which the philanthropic activities of the Greek community were explicitly stated. However, there is clearly a need for some revisiting:
Alpha Epsilon Pi: Luckiest Run On The Face Of the Earth ($1,500 raised for ALS research), Halloween Party to benefit Children's Hospital Boston ($1,750), Spring Cuisine ($600 raised for Shaare Zedek Medical Center).
Alpha Omicron Pi: Italian Night to benefit AOII Foundation, Mr. Fraternity ($1,300 raised to combat juvenile arthritis), Trick-or-Treat for Cans for the homeless, Boston Arthritis Walk, volunteering at local schools.
ATO of Massachusetts: Holiday toy drive for homeless children, food drive for local pantries.
Alpha Phi: Alpha Phi Charity Denim ($500), Alpha Phi-esta ($200), Women's Day Bake Sale ($400), Eat Your Heart Out ($100). All proceeds donated to cardiac care.
Chi Omega: Swishes For Wishes to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation (raised $2,200 within the past two years; totaled cumulative $5,000 since program's inception, the amount needed to grant a wish), Dishes for Wishes ($986), Midnight Pancake Brunch.
Delta Tau Delta: $3,500 raised for a war-torn village in Sudan, hosted lost boy of Sudan speech in Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room.
Delta Upsilon: Mystic River Clean Up, weekly tutoring at local elementary schools.
Sigma Phi Epsilon: Planet Earth screening ($300 for YouthAIDS), Fight Gone Bad ($150 raised for Tufts Timmy Foundation).
Sigma Nu: Sausage Fest ($400 raised for testicular cancer research).
Theta Chi: Toys for Tots Drive, $2,350 raised for American Heart Association.
Theta Delta Chi: Mustachio Bashio ($1,500 for BUILD Guatemala), $10,000 raised for Relay for Life (top team at Tufts and top 10 of U.S. colleges), over $1,000 already raised for the upcoming Walk for Autism.
Zeta Beta Tau: Get On the Ball ($2,400 for Children's Miracle Network and Children's Hospital Boston), Trick-or-Treat for Cans, Softball Marathon ($1,000 for Children's Miracle Network), service project with soup kitchen in Boston and CHASE program with Tufts Hillel
Zeta Psi: $200 raised for Arthritis Foundation, Punk Rock for Puppies ($500 raised to benefit local animal shelters), Cooperative Peace Games to promote peace in local elementary schools.
In addition to these events, the Greek chapters were the primary organizers and participants for Tufts' annual Read by the River event. Each of the three sororities participated in the benefit walk for the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center. Every Greek chapter also participated in Kids' Day and Halloween on the Hill. A majority created Dance Marathon teams, and Greek organizations collectively raised over $20,000 for the American Cancer Association through their Relay For Life Teams. It is also important to note that while the above list encompasses the work of the Greek chapters, it does not begin to touch on the work done by individual members of the Greek community outside of their fraternities or sororities. There are few Greeks who are not also involved in other community service-oriented organizations such as the Leonard Carmichael Society or Hillel.
While Patrick Romero-Aldaz worked to unify the Greek system, he in no way mandated or drove the accomplishments of the past few semesters. As a fraternity president, last year I witnessed firsthand how tirelessly fellow Greeks in each of the chapters worked to pursue philanthropic endeavors. This was not done as a result of pledging requirements, university requirements or national requirements. This was done by choice and was fueled by a desire to have a positive impact on the Tufts campus and in the global community. The departure of Romero-Aldaz and his temporary replacement by Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman has had and will have absolutely no negative impact on the continued commitment of Greek organizations to philanthropy. Many of the events listed above are annual events that will once again occur this year if they haven't already. Furthermore, nearly all of the chapters have new programs in the works that will raise money or provide services for charitable organizations all over the world.
In the past, the Daily and everyone else on campus could criticize the Greek system just for the fun of it. However, that was at another point in time. Over the past few semesters, the Greek community has done more for charitable causes than a majority of the organizations on the Tufts campus. The next time somebody is inclined to criticize Greeks for inaction, I urge them to do their research first. Instead of wasting time writing a misinformed editorial, it may be best to join us in doing something productive.
