Commentary in The Mu of Monmouth College
February 2009 Issue - Volume 1, Issue 3

As we saw last month, all of our women’s and men’s fraternities have elected new officers for 2009. The Panhellenic Council, governing the women’s fraternities, has new officers, too. The men’s governing body, the Interfraternity Council, will have elections on March 3.

So many fresh faces. So many great ideas.

Earlier this month, the Office of Greek Life, Involvement, and Service hosted a retreat for all these new officers and lead roundtable discussions about fraternal values, social event planning, new member education and recruitment, risk management, and philanthropy. I was pleasantly surprised with what students had to say.

The discussion was lively, well-informed, and thoughtful. More importantly, it was collaborative, with concerns voiced in a spirit of communal welfare rather than in accusation, self-defense, or competition.

Student leaders Kimberleigh Morris, Matthew Bentley, and DeMarkco Butler each read quotes from President Obama’s inauguration address (see last issue), applying the President’s call for change and service to others to the current situation found here on campus. Hope and devotion abound, it seems. Already, the presidents of all of our men’s and women’s chapters have established a regular time to meet face-to-face to discuss the issues affecting their community and plan for the coming weeks, months, and years. This sort of synergistic energy is a new phenomenon at Monmouth College.

Now, as the complexities, complications,and challenges mount in our society, I still find a sense of calm and confidence. Our future is secure. We will be okay.

I quoted one of those sappy motivational posters during the retreat: “One hundred years from now, no one will care what car you drove or how much money you had, but the world will be a better place for the difference you make in a young person’s life.” These young men and women, our student leaders, are our future. They are practicing their skills of problem solving, diplomacy, advocacy, and management right here, right now.

100 years from now—or even 100 days from now—the world will be a better place for the work of these student leaders.

 

Daniel M. Reck, M.S.Ed., is Assistant Director of Greek Life, Leadership, and Involvement at Monmouth College.  He is affiliated with Sigma Nu Fraternity.