Despite their associations with 80’s parties, Tailgate and beer pong, members of the greek scene emphasized their commitment to academics and unity Tuesday night.
Roughly 500 greek students shuffled into the Duke Chapel with their chapters for an hour-long convocation. The event served to welcome students, unify chapters into the school-wide greek community and highlight the students’ academic excellence. The greek leaders said they intend for this inaugural event to occur annually in the future.
Zoila Airall, assistant vice president for student affairs for campus life, opened the night with a prelude. Krystal Clark, program coordinator for fraternity and sorority life, said the event was Airall’s idea. Clark added that the focus on academic achievement was intended to showcase the success greek students have in the classroom and their contributions to Duke.
Panhellenic Association President Bogna Brzezinska, a senior, next spoke on behalf of Panhel and its “outstanding academics and scholarship” among its 1,100 members at Duke. Each of the nine chapters has an average grade point average of 3.5, and seven chapters won awards in national conferences, including Kappa Kappa Gamma as Best Chapter, Brzezinska said.
The Interfraternity Council GPA closely follows Panhel’s at a 3.4, said IFC President Erskine Love, a senior.
“Although the guys are more visible with the play hard aspect of work hard, play hard, we get the job done,” he said.
Inter-Greek Council President Amanda Robison, a senior, shared this sentiment, adding that “academics are above all else.”
Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, Omega Phi Beta, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority had the highest GPAs in IFC, IGC, National Pan-Hellenic Council and Panhel, respectively, Robison said.
Although Love sent an e-mail Monday stating that attendance for the event was mandatory, Jason Lynch, a graduate assistant working for the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said attendance was only strongly encouraged. Perks at the event included free sunglasses as well as the year’s first official Pitchfork performance. The group sang “With or Without You” by U2, “I’ll Follow You Into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie and “Dear Old Duke,” the University’s alma mater.
Michael Gustafson, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, gave the keynote address, after being “humbled and confused” by the invitation since he wasn’t in a fraternity while an undergraduate at Duke.
Gustafson compared greek life to the Olympics by arguing the importance of symbols to represent mutual belonging to a certain community. Just as Olympic uniforms and flags unite players to their teams and respective countries, greek letters bind students to their local chapters and global legacies.
“A part of knowing who you are is where you came from,” Gustafson said. “You have it within you to make a difference.... Thank you, and let the games begin.”
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