Published 2009-09-09T00:00:00Z”/>
Cassandra Jones
From fundraising activities to actively seeking new members on campus, the Greek community is not being held back by the current budget crisis &- at least not yet.
“I think we won’t notice the impact of the budget crisis until next semester when most of the groups are recruiting,” said Connie Huyck, program coordinator for Greek life.
While only one Panhellenic sorority is recruiting this semester, almost all multicultural sororities are. Although freshmen are not able to rush in the fall, interest among sophomores, juniors and seniors has been steadily increasing from the past semester, said Josh Juanitas, the Interfraternity Council vice president of recruitment.
“We’ve done a lot more marketing,” Juanitas said. “Not so much with specific sororities and fraternities, but showing potential recruitments the houses and talking to parents.”
Rush week for most fraternities is Sept. 9-18 and most sorority recruitments are scattered throughout the earlier weeks of the fall semester.
Multicultural sororities and fraternities are also doing their own form of recruitment.
Representatives from Greek organizations have been distributing flyers and spreading the word about their sorority or fraternity on campus this week.
Larry Bassow, program coordinator for Greek life, emphasizes that potential members must be willing to put forth the required effort. Those interested in joining a fraternity or sorority should consider cost and time obligations and ask questions, he said, adding that, while it is a commitment, Greek life is not something to be missed.
“You get out what you put in,” Bassow said.
A student must have at least a 2.25 GPA to join a fraternity and at least a 2.5 GPA to join a sorority, allowing for a stronger group of men and women to choose from, Bassow said.
The Greeks are committed to having fun, being safe and giving back to the Chico community, said Brian Burke, Interfraternity Council president.”The same guys you hang out with on the weekends are the same guys you do a Bidwell Park cleanup with,” Burke said. “You’re working with your friends.”
It’s a sense of friendship and family that attracts many students to join, said Roxanne Kollmann-Schroder, vice president of membership for Upsilon Kappa Delta.
“You have people to lean on and depend on,” Kollmann-Schroder said. “They support you, I can call any of them and they’ll drop what they’re doing to come help.”
Many events are planned for the semester, such as paintball rallies and restaurant fundraisers downtown, open houses and meet and greets.
“We’re ready to have an exciting year as a Greek community,” Burke said. “We’ve changed our game and we’re doing good things right now.”
Cassandra Jones can be reached at<a href= “javascript:void(location.href=’mailto:’+String.fromCharCode(99,106,111,110,101,115,64,116,104,101,111,114,105,111,110,46,99,111,109)+’?subject=re%3A%20Chico%20Greeks%20start%20recruiting’)”>[email protected]</a>
