Councils host first retreat for new members

All new members of Greek organizations attended workshops about how to represent their community appropriately during their first annual retreat Sunday.

The mandatory event was one of several recommendations by the Greek Task Force, created last semester when the university put The Row on a social probation. When Vice President of Student Affairs Michael L. Jackson lifted the ban Sept. 7, he said it was because of the planned implementation of this event among other measures, such as building a stronger relationship with the Dept. of Public Safety and strengthening risk management teams.

New members of the Panhellenic, Interfraternity, Professional Fraternity, Multicultural Greek, Asian Greek and National Pan-hellenic councils attended five workshops in classrooms from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a keynote speech from Lost Angeles blogger Zack Jerome from 3 to 4 p.m.

Sarah Choi, PHC vice president of new member education, said the event was the largest of its type that the Greek community had ever sponsored.

“This is something that IFC and Panhellenic usually do separately, but they’ve never done it to this extent and this scale,” Choi said. “We’re trying to get away from the whole connotation. It’s not supposed to [be about] breaking down the rules. The idea is [focusing on] what it means to be Greek and a Trojan.”

The event was spearheaded by IFC president Pat Lauer and Panhellenic Council President Ayushi Gummadi, IFC Vice President of New Member Education Michael Madden and Choi.

They also worked with Beth Saul, assistant dean of Fraternity and Sorority Leadership Development, who said the event would inform and unify new members.

“This is one way for all new members from the chapters to hear one message,” Saul said. “This is all important information for new students and the Greek community to be educated about.”

Saul said the budget for the event came from the vice president’s office, the Greek endowment and IFC and Panhellenic budgets. Choi said they began planning the event in April, determining which aspects of student life would be explored in workshops.

Several representatives hosted workshops on a variety of topics. The DPS discussed risk management, USC MenCare discussed consent and healthy relationships, faculty speakers discussed academics, Wellness and Health Promotion Director Paula Swinford discussed sexual health and alcohol awareness and Teach for America discussed philanthropy and community service.

Jerome concluded the event by discussing how Greek students should be proud to represent USC, not just their own houses.

“It’s important to me to talk to the new crop of kids and tell them what they do while they’re here is important,” Jerome said. “They have to make the best of their time here.”

Attendees had mixed reactions. Hannah Kim, a freshman majoring in public relations, said the retreat was too long.

“It was a very good idea and I appreciate the thought, but I didn’t feel I learned that much,” Kim said. “I don’t think it was worth the entire day. They should get student feedback and continue to improve.”

Burke Gibson, a freshman majoring in economics, said he thought the event was useful.

“It’s a great idea to make sure everyone knows how they should be acting on The Row,” Gibson said.

Choi said the event would help refocus the Greek community.

“We definitely had tension with the administration and they had to pull the reins back on us,” Choi said. “For all the new members, especially freshman coming in who don’t know what’s going on, we want to help them get a positive start.”

Correction: A previous version of this article mistakenly referred to the Office of Wellness and Health Promotion as the Office of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.