Philanthropy extends beyond greek system

Adam Hargis' argument that the administration should appreciate the activities (especially philanthropy) of fraternities and sororities is unfounded and ill-conceived ("Administration should appreciate greeks' activities," Oct. 2). IU does not make millions off the greek system. There is no evidence to suggest the administration does.\nAlso, fraternities and sororities do not "run" Dance Marathon, IU Sing and Little 500. There are numerous other organizations that play an important part in these events, let alone the people behind the organizations that coordinate them and allow for fraternities, sororities and other organizations to participate in them. Yet Hargis neglected to mention any of these.\nSpeaking of other organizations, there are hundreds of them on the campus and many of them are based on service, philanthropy or volunteering, such as Volunteer Students Bureau, SOAP, IU Circle K, Alpha Phi Omega and many, many more. These organizations and their members do service voluntarily and are not fined or chastised if they do not go to a certain philanthropy event, as many fraternities and sororities do to their members. \nI am a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed service fraternity, and last semester we logged more than 2,000 hours of service -- all voluntary by our more than 90 members. I would like to see a fraternity or sorority do the same.\nThe point is that fraternities and sororities do not make the campus and are not the sum of IU's major functions such as Dance Marathon, IU Sing and Little 500. While fraternities and sororities might do some really great things for non-profit organizations and IU, they do not do it all and they should not get the credit for it all. IU can survive without fraternities and sororities and has done so in the past.