Greek Life

Leaving a Legacy

March 20, 2013 by Admission Ambassador

With graduation looming (62 days as I write this…), I’ve been thinking about how to leave my legacy on campus.  William & Mary has shaped my life so immensely that I want to give something back.  My first way to give back was to participate in the Senior Class Gift.  Each year seniors are encouraged to give back to the school that has given them so much.  The students on the Senior Class Gift Committee set a goal for participation, this year the goal is 75% class participation.  Seniors have the opportunity to choose which department will receive their gift.  I chose to give my gift to the Office of Student Leadership Development because my involvement in Fraternity/Sorority Life and AMP has really shaped my college career and future prospects.  Participating in the Senior Class Gift allows seniors to come together and celebrate their last semester at W&M.  The Senior Class Gift Committee puts on events such as beer and wine tastings, restaurant nights, and t-shirt distributions.  I can’t wait to see the Class of 2013 stone on the college walk with 75% participation!

More figuratively, I hope to give back by being a mentor to underclassmen.  As an underclassman, I truly benefited from my interactions with older students in Fraternity/Sorority Life, leadership programs, and AMP.  I knew that I wanted to be the same positive influence for future underclassmen.  As the Panhellenic President, I worked closely with my Vice-President who took on the presidency this year.  Throughout my year-long term, I made sure to be an example to her and ensure that she would excel in the job.  I have continued to be there for her this semester and hope to stay connected after I graduate.  Mentoring younger students through friendships and leadership positions is a great way to give back to the campus and other students.  William & Mary is unique in that upperclassmen are always looking to make new connections, even as a second-semester senior I love to meet new people and be there for them in any way that I can.  I hope to continue to give back to W&M long after I have left campus.

-Jordan

An update from your resident list-maker

May 1, 2012 by Laura Manzano

Ah, finals week. I suppose it’s counter-intuitive to be posting now of all times, but it makes sense to me for a couple of reasons:

1. Why study when you can write about fun stuff?
2. I’m about to begin work on a 5-page paper. Whereas “7” in a Biblical context is considered to be the best number ever (thanks, Christian Origins) “5” has become the number I love to hate, as an English major. Professors throw around five page paper assignments like a scantily clad, feathered woman with heavy eye makeup throws beads on Mardi Gras. Well, where I’m getting at with #2, is that writing this post will get my creative juices flowing, right? Either that or have me on Google images looking at Mardi Gras floats in the form of an androgynous Poseidon.

But either way, for a new blogger, I shamefully haven’t written since my first post over a month ago, and I figure this is as good a time as ever to get my impassioned readership (hey there, Carl) up to speed with my William and Mary life. I’m often hesitant to commit myself to a long narrative in writing for the sake of my absentee attention span, and my tendency to ramble about nothing that is relevant (see, majority of above paragraph). So here is where I transition to a list of transition-less random snippets that highlight the highs and lows of my past month.

• I walked into my Contemporary Literature class last Wednesday about 23 seconds late, and on the projector was a black and white, silent clip playing of a woman taking a shower in super slow motion. I was thoroughly confused for a full minute until I remembered this movie, 24-hour Psycho, was referenced in the novel we were presently studying – Point Omega by Don DeLillo. But anyways, lesson learned: never be late to class, unless you want to be thoroughly confused. Or … just retain the reading you did the night before.
• This past Friday was the last day of classes, equivalent to Christmas in April here at the College. AMP always hosts a really great celebration for most of the afternoon on the Sunken Garden, this year consisting of multiple bouncy structures, a live band, a rock wall, free food, a smoothie bar, and soft grass. A good time was had by all, and I discovered I look good in straw fedoras! Win-win.
• So now that I’m officially inducted into Phi Sigma Pi, the co-ed honors fraternity here on campus, my life has been mostly sunshine and rainbows. Seriously, one of the best decisions I’ve made in my time at this school was rushing PSP. I told my Dad on the phone during the fact, and he reacts: “fraternity?!” I think he was thinking I was some Greek life trailblazer, forging new paths of women being admitted into frats, and perhaps imagining me on the roof of a house in a neon tank top drinking a Natty and flicking roof chips at innocent bystander squirrels. But no, no, Father. This connotation is not one to be upheld by either PSP, or most people and organizations at W&M, really. My freshman year I met a blonde cheerleader who earned a 5 in BC Calc in high school, and at the time loved reading her Comp Sci textbook as much as People magazine. One of my best friends plays the guitar and obsesses over baseball as much as the next bro, but can narrate the entire rise and fall of the Roman empire with his eyes closed. (I guess you don’t really need your eyes to do that, but you know what I’m trying to say.) So, PSP is a fraternity, yes. But I assure you, we don’t call ourselves a “nerd frat” for nothing. And just a general word about stereotypes in the context of William and Mary – I’ve found that they only exist to be broken.
• Finally, I found a Twitter account attributed to President Reveley a bit ago, and I grew excited to have the opportunity to solidify my commitment to Reveley’s army (via Twitter following), but then I was disappointed to find out it was a fake account, but then I was happy again because it’s actually pretty funny. It was an emotional five minutes.
• And speaking of five…

The Best Decisions I Have Ever Made (Part 2 of 2)

August 21, 2011 by Danny Anderson

If you read my previous post, you already know that recently my friend and I were pondering the best decisions of our life. While my “best” decision came to me immediately, my “second best” took a while. First, I attempted to narrow it down. Because I wanted to choose a decision that was completely mine, I eliminated the majority of my childhood because the people around me influenced those decisions too heavily. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I just wanted a decision that I could call completely my own.

I struggled to think of this decision; all that came to mind were relatively small decisions. Like joining a new club or deciding to study with a group rather than struggle through material by myself. While many of these decisions were good ones, they weren’t monumental enough for me to rank them as one of my best. And then it hit me. All of these decisions stemmed from the same place, Beta Theta Pi. It took me a while but eventually I realized joining a fraternity was one of the best decisions of my life.

When I first got to William & Mary, I barley knew what Greek life was. I had simply heard stories from my sister about what her sorority sisters were like. So when I went to my first rush event with my freshmen hall mates I was skeptical to say the least. Even after speaking with representatives from the majority of the fraternities I was still uncertain. They all said similar things, “brotherhood is important to us”, “we take ritual seriously”, “we have brothers that do this”, “we have brothers that do that”. Only after going through the pledge process did I understand what being in a fraternity was really about and what they were trying to say during those open houses. It’s something that’s nearly impossible to explain during a short encounter at “Meet the Greeks.”

Beta Theta Pi Fall Initiation 2010

The aspect that affected me most during my freshmen year was the presence of a support system that had already been through what I was going through. Most of the fraternities are big enough that if you wanted to try something new, chances are, there’s a brother that has either already done it themselves, or knows someone that has. I specifically remember several conversations I have had with older brothers that provided me invaluable advice. I always sort of realized this truth in the back of my mind but it wasn’t until last week that I really began to appreciate it. Last week, I was admitted into a club on campus, one I didn’t know that much about. Because I involved myself in my fraternity, I knew not one, not two, but three people I could call to discuss the pros and cons of joining this club. Having a support system like that during the transition time that is freshmen year is invaluable. My friendships with upperclassmen are some of the most valuable I have, and my fraternity was the catalyst that got them started. So here’s my message to incoming students: don’t be afraid of upperclassmen, they can help you in ways you could never imagine. And don’t worry, we don’t bite.

Another aspect was the friends I made during both the rush and pledge process. I was fortunate enough to have a pledge class composed of some of the greatest guys I have ever met. These are guys that I can talk to about anything and everything, from the zombie apocalypse to the macro-econ final. Although classes are extremely important, these friendships taught me that college is about so much more than just academics. I learned just as much, if not more, from my friends as I did in any classroom. While a class may teach you about calculus or Shakespeare, your friends have the uncanny ability to teach you about yourself. Again, these are friendships I never would have formed if I hadn’t rushed.

Now, don’t get me wrong, William and Mary is definitely NOT a school dominated by Greek life. I have plenty of friends that didn’t rush and chose to remain independent. At W&M, more-so than most schools with Greek life, I feel, that choice is respected by the Greek community, rather than looked down upon. I view Greek life at William and Mary as an incredible resource that can really help you through your four years here, the choice of whether or not to use it is up to you.

My fraternity helped me in nearly every aspect of my freshmen year. It helped me in my academics, athletics (Intramural sports anyone?), extracurriculars and social life. I can honestly say that the vast majority of the good things about my freshmen year stemmed from my membership in a fraternity. My summarizing advice to you: if you’re even slightly considering rushing, come out and listen to us attempt the impossible and explain what it’s all about.