11/30/07
Baker University’s greeks are in the process of concluding elections for new leaders among the fraternities and sororities and preparing for the transition into next semester with new goals and high hopes.
With each fraternity holding its own elections over the past few weeks, the fraternities concluded the election process Tuesday, electing the new Interfraternity Council executive board members. IFC executive members won’t take office until Jan. 1; however, many new officers have already taken office and transitioned into their positions for individual fraternities.
Sophomore Casey Smith was elected president of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, and said he will keep doing what’s been done in the past while staying on the right track and maintaining a healthy relationship with the university.
“I really want to affect the community of Baldwin (City) and the Baker community in a more positive light,” he said.
Smith also said he’d like to change people’s stereotypical perceptions of greek life, not only for the fraternities but for the greek system as a whole.
“I know the greek system gets a negative eye toward it,” he said. “I just kind of want to change that-there’s no reason that just because we’re fraternity guys we should be looked down upon or judged or anything of that matter.”
Smith said he’d like to see greek membership improve and more of an interest from incoming students.
“We really can’t do much if Baker’s not bringing in guys, but we can get every guy who comes to Baker to go through rush and become greek because it is a great opportunity for young men,” he said.
Junior Dan Kalkman was elected president of Kappa Sigma fraternity, and said he plans to push for a more united greek community.
“There aren’t really any activities that allow the male fraternities to interact, so I would like to see something similar to mixers with sororities, but adjusted to allow the male fraternities to break the barrier of house separation and give everyone a chance to create a less divided atmosphere,” he said.
Kalkman said Kappa Sigma is planning on increasing its community involvement through service projects, but hopes other fraternities will also want to be involved to help the community and promote greek life. He also said he’s looking forward to working with IFC.
“Hopefully IFC will be able to iron out some of the complications that were faced at the beginning of the semester, and I would like to see the greek community have more of a presence on the campus,” he said. “Long before I was attending Baker, almost 80 percent of the population at Baker was Greek. I believe IFC will do everything in its power to get those numbers back.”
Junior Amanda Acree was elected president of Phi Mu sorority and said she plans on working hard to bring about more awareness about the opportunities greek life provides.
“I’m pretty excited about it-just to make the bonds we have now even stronger and get our name out there,” she said.
Delta Delta Delta sorority will conclude the election process for individual sororities today.