Despite its prominent presence on campus, Interfraternity Council president Ryan Zukerman said IU greek life has yet to form the community it is seeking.
IFC and the three other greek councils on campus are working toward creating this community.
“There are 73 different greek organizations on our campus,” Zukerman said. “We make up 10 percent of all student organizations and about 25 percent of all students. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t all be connected, under the fact that we are all values-based organizations.”
Until there are no gaps separating the four councils, Zukerman said there will never be a solid community in IU greek life.
When she began her term this semester as the president of the Panhellenic Association, Maggie Reisdorf said it was her goal to make greek life at IU less like a system and more like a community. She said the other council presidents shared the same goal.
As of right now, Reisdorf said the four councils are more like pairs. The National Pan-Hellenic Council often collaborates with the Multi-Cultural Greek Council, and IFC often collaborates with PHA.
Throughout his term as IFC president thus far, Zukerman said he has noticed there is a strong connection between the council presidents, not just through work, but through relationships.
This friendship has helped the greek councils follow the right path in order to someday come together as a community, Zukerman said.
“We cannot expect a community to be formed without relationships, and relationships start with friendship,” Zukerman said.
One aspect shared by all four councils is that they are all values-based organizations, Zukerman said, gives more reason to be unified.
The greek councils began trying to become more like a community by attending the Association of Fraternal Leadership and Values Central Conference in February, Reisdorf said.
This was a four-day conference where the councils discussed their organizational values, as well as ultimately grow together as a community, Reisdorf said.
In order to help unite the greek councils, Reisdorf said she invited sorority representatives from MCGC and NPHC to their gavel meeting. The councils had an informal discussion about how they can work together in the future.
NPHC president Frank Bonner said the four greek councils were also invited to PHA’s super gavel meeting, where they talked about similar topics.
The four councils have recently been discussing with Student Life and Learning about the possibility of all four councils sharing a single office next year, Zukerman said.
“I think that’s a way we can sustain and maintain connections between the four councils,” Zukerman said.
Currently, Zukerman said the four councils have two separate offices. IFC and PHA share one, and NPHC and MCGC share the other.
Another thing the four councils have been considering is being the hosts of an IU Late Night at the Indiana Memorial Union sometime in September of next semester, Bonner said.
The purpose of greek life is forming friendships and growing strong as a community, Reisdorf said. She said she believes the councils growing stronger as a whole will emphasize that purpose.
“It means support, love, kindness and acceptance,” Reisdorf said. “It means building unexpected bonds and learning about one another in a way that I never thought possible.”
