The Greek Life Summit brought student representatives from different fraternities and sororities, including Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, Phi Mu, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Alpha Delta Phi (Wawa) among others, together on Oct. 23. Dean of Student Life Terry Martinez organized the summit to discuss each chapter’s goals, policies and philosophies.
Members from different organizations outlined the elements of Greek life that they value and plan to promote throughout the school year.
Senior Lindsay Kiernan, a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, attended the summit to learn more about how the University’s Greek organizations can accomplish their goals and further implement their ideals on and off campus.
“The Greek summit was a great way for us to come together and focus on what our goals are as an organization and then put them together to find out what our goals as Greeks at Hopkins should be,” Kiernan said. “I was proud to see how many people had put their Greek name by Leadership and Service. I’m also excited to move forward and have a stronger Greek presence on campus.”
Kyle Flynn, a senior on the Hopkins football team and a member of Wawa, thought the summit would have a positive impact on the Greek community as a whole.
“It was really nice for such a large group of people from the Greek community to come together for the summit,” Flynn said. “I think an important piece we touched on was that there are so many positive things that come from Greek life here on campus. The job now is to get that message out there, and that’s something we are all looking forward to doing.”
The Summit’s focus on implementing Greek ideals on campus, as well as Martinez’s commitment to showcasing the positive aspects of Greek life at Hopkins, impressed junior Daulton Newman, also a Wawa brother.
“Our new Dean of Student Life, Terry Martinez, really showed every person there her intention of advancing Greek life at Hopkins,” Newman said. “I look forward to seeing what we can do at Hopkins to change the image of fraternities and sororities.”
Although the summit was only open to sophomores, juniors and seniors who are already involved in Greek life, many freshmen heard about the event and responded positively to its aims.
Mia Berman, a freshman considering rushing praised the meeting’s goal of helping Greek organizations work together in order to improve campus life.
“I think it’s really encouraging that Greek life on campus is working to constantly improve how it is perceived among the student body, and make it more inclusive. It’s unfortunate that the summit wasn’t marketed toward freshmen, because it could have possibly swayed freshmen toward Greek life who are unsure about rushing,” Berman said.
Although freshman Amy Hong is not considering rushing, she had a positive view of the way in which the summit could help the student body at Hopkins.
“It could potentially wipe away any stereotypical views students have of these organizations,” she said. “It could be a way to get to know each Greek chapter.”
