Students were given the opportunity to attend the National Pan-Hellenic Council informational in order to become a part of something bigger than themselves.
The NPHC informational was held Aug. 28 in Fayard Hall. The NPHC is made up of the nine traditionally African American fraternities and sororities. Each organization was able to provide students with information and to promote the distinct values that they each hold dear as an organization.
Bryceston Walker, junior criminal justice major and attendee of the informational, had one question for each fraternity that he encountered: “Did joining your organization make you a better person?”
Delton Burris, president of Iota Phi Theta, and Donavon Jenkins, alumni and member of Iota Phi Theta, had answers. They were eager to dispel Greek stereotypes, explaining how joining Iota Phi Theta helped them grow as individuals.
“We’re promoting ourselves as a distinguished fraternity by promoting individuality, which means we’re not here to change anyone, we’re not here to make you become someone you’re not,” said Jenkins. “On this campus, there are many Greeks that take what an organization represents and make people take it in a misconstrued fashion. Like, ‘We have to wear certain clothes, be socially engaged in a certain type of way,’ and then they lose focus on themselves as individuals. We do not advertise that. We’re like ‘You are who you are. You will be who you are.'”
“What individuality means to us is that, hey, if you want to be your own man, that’s fine,” said Burris. “We’re going to make you a better one. We want you to be the standard when it comes to being out on campus. We want you to stand out compared to other frats. If you arrive on campus, they will know who you are. That’s the standard that we are abiding by. We’re trying to get more young black males to be an individual, not focusing on the outside fraternity, but focusing on the inside, the brotherhood, what they really want to be. We want them to just be a better man overall.”
After attending the informational, Walker was impressed, and hopes to one day become a part of one of the NPHC fraternities.
“Hopefully, if I become a better person, maybe I can rub off on people that I hang with to become better people, and maybe the world will be better, you know? Start small,” said Walker.