Mount Olympus takes Union for Meet the Greeks

Sophomore David Minich floated between the Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Kappa Sigma tables…. Sophomore David Minich floated between the Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Kappa Sigma tables.

Around him, men circled the Ballroom, some traveling alone and some in groups as they eyed the many tables decked with trophies and rush flyers and manned by members of each Interfraternity Council organization.

“I came to talk, make a decision and meet other brothers,” Minich said. Although Minich was alone, many independents chose to show up in groups. Held in the William Pitt Union on Thursday night, the semi-annual Meet the Greeks event offered a glimpse of each Greek organization to students not affiliated with Greek life.

Friends from Litchfield Tower C, Tony Marcelli, Brian Fraile and Jason Fitzwater attended the event together. Fraile felt he “got a lot of information” from the event, and Marcelli added that the event helped him get a better understanding of “going Greek.”

“It gave me an idea of what they’re all about,” Marcelli said. “You can tell which [fraternities] are more into sports, service or partying.” He added that he was looking for a healthy mixture of the three.

Fitzwater was just “checking it out” with his friends, but the event made him want to take a closer look at the fraternities during rush.

Outside the ballroom, Interfraternity Council President Steve Mihlfried redirected lost independent, or non-Greek, women to the Lower Lounge, where the Panhellenic Association was having their Meet the Greeks function.

Maria Baker, vice president of recruitment for the Panhellenic Association, greeted the interested women.

“I’m really excited about this year’s recruitment,” Baker said. She explained that the leaders of the Panhellenic Association decided to keep the event structure the same as it had been in the past, but that they changed the training for recruitment counselors to “promote more Greek unity, for the sake of successful fall recruitment.”

Greek women welcomed independents and explained the recruitment process at each of their individual organization’s tables. The Panhellenic Association’s formal recruitment requires each of the interested women to attend 10-minute soirees hosted at each of the sororities’ residencies.

Deidra Dunhoff, a freshman and interested independent, felt that “at first [the event] was a little intimidating, but everyone was really nice.”

“It’s making me want to rush more,” she added.

Down the hall in the Kurtzman Room, the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the governing body for Pitt’s historically black fraternities and sororities, held an informational meeting for interested students.

K. Chase Patterson, vice president of NPHC, spoke to the audience about what it means to be in an NPHC organization.

“Each organization is special, but what’s most important is that we are looking for great people to make our organizations better,” Patterson said.

At the meeting, the audience wrote anonymous questions that a panel of representatives from each of the NPHC organizations then answered.

Freshman Jaimee Sheppard’s mom is a member of Delta Sigma Theta, but this was the first time she meet any Greeks her age and could seriously consider becoming a part of them.

“I always looked at the social part of it, but they do a lot for helping the community,” Sheppard said.

Fawn Robinson, a graduate adviser for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., felt that Meet the Greeks was a great event. She attended Clarion University.

“Getting the black students together and showing them all the different organizations they offer is a great thing,” Robinson said.

“Many schools don’t do this,” she added.

According to Patterson, the event was a success for the NPHC community, with an attendance of about 75 people.

“[We] really got them out in drove, literally,” Patterson said.