University of Mississippi College Panhellenic Council sorority members dance in the CASA Encore dance competition benefiting CASA of North Mississippi. The 11 chapters participating raised more than $450,000 to help the organization train volunteers to advocate for children. Submitted photo
Students contribute thousands of volunteer hours and raise millions to support local and national causes
Sorority and fraternity life at the University of Mississippi has garnered national attention in recent years. Social posts and documentaries show the recruitment process, strolling, cheers and tears, but often do not highlight the organizations’ greatest accomplishments: service and philanthropic activities.
More than 10,000 Ole Miss undergraduate students participate in fraternity and sorority life. Together, they clock more than 90,000 hours of community service and raise almost $3 million for charitable organizations per academic year.
“Our organizations were founded upon philanthropy and community service,” said Traylan Williams, a junior law studies major from Cleveland and vice president of campus and community service for the Ole Miss National Pan-Hellenic Council.
Three organizational councils oversee the Greek chapters on campus:
- College Panhellenic Council, consisting of 11 sororities
- Interfraternity Council, composed of 16 fraternities
- National Pan-Hellenic Council, also called the “Divine Nine,” with nine fraternities and sororities.
All three groups are housed in the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, and their leaders work together to ensure the best experience for members, with one aspect being councilwide service and philanthropy.
“Philanthropy and service is at the heart of what makes our fraternity and sorority community so meaningful and impactful,” said Jess Turuc, director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. “It’s not just about what each chapter does individually, but it’s about the powerful moment when all of our councils come together, unified in purpose, to give back in meaningful ways.”
While each fraternity and sorority has its own national causes that individual chapters work to support with man-hours and/or monetary donations; the councils work together to contribute locally.
“With the university and Oxford being such an attractive place, holding so many memories and being so special to so many people, a lot of people get a really good sense of fulfillment and purpose from pouring back into it,” said Charlie Whittington, a sophomore accounting major from Jackson and IFC vice president of civic engagement.
“Because Oxford has given people so much, being able to work in the community and give back to it really gives everyone a sense of purpose and brings them together,” he said.
Chances are the volunteers that help make things happen around the community are members of a sorority or fraternity.
“If you go to the Oxford Community Market on Tuesdays or the food pantry on Wednesdays or the OPC soccer games, the student coaches and workers are most likely Greek,” said Grace Hosemann, a junior public policy leadership and Southern studies major from Mobile, Alabama, and College Panhellenic Council vice president of philanthropy.
The councils recently worked together during the spring Greek Day of Service in April. Some 115 members of all three councils met at the Gertrude C. Ford Ole Miss Student Union to organize donated books and then deliver them to Little Free Libraries throughout the Oxford and Lafayette County communities.
Each council also has its own activities throughout the school year.
“NPHC performs more hands-on activities around campus and the community, and we served more than 4,200 hours in the fall,” Williams said. “Following the ice storm, we worked with the Samaritan’s Purse to help community members.”
The group held a food drive in the fall that collected more than 200 food items, which were donated to areas in the Mississippi Delta with food insecurity.
“Before Thanksgiving, we collected seasonal items, such as mittens, hand warmers, fuzzy socks and snacks, put them together in bags, and gave them to people we were thankful for and appreciated, such as the ‘crosswalk lady’ Jennifer Williams,” he said.
NPHC members also participated in Read Across America Week and helped with student drop-offs at local elementary schools this spring.
The College Panhellenic Council combines activities with fundraising.
The council held its annual CASA Encore dance competition amongst the sororities in the fall, raising more than $450,000. The money benefits CASA of North Mississippi, which trains volunteers to advocate for children.
The C.A.R.E. Walk in March benefited the Baptist Cancer Center.
“We had a really high number of participants this year and we were able to raise more than $40,000 to help provide mammograms to women who would otherwise not be able to afford them,” Hosemann said.
The Interfraternity Council’s efforts often combine sports and fundraising.
“In the spring, IFC holds its Match for Mental Health golf tournament, where every chapter has a team, benefiting the University Counseling Center with $10,000 raised this year,” Whittington said.
IFC’s biggest event of the year is in the fall, a basketball tournament raising around $130,000.
“Our ‘HOOPS’ basketball tournament benefits B +, the William Magee Center and The (Helping Others Overcome Problems) HOOPs Initiative, which was started by an Ole Miss student,” he said.
The skills and principles that fraternity and sorority members learn from serving the community are useful beyond Ole Miss, Hoseman said.
“Being Greek in college does a really good job instilling service into your day-to-day life, and subconsciously ties service with friendships,” she said. “When you get out of college, you automatically recognize helping your community and trying to be a part of something that’s bigger than yourself as a good way to connect with people.
“And it prepares you to be able to go into any community that you’re a part of and help it as much as possible.”
Service and philanthropy also build skills.
“You’re building yourself an internal resume, so to speak, by building confidence, learning how to talk to people, how to plan things – you can’t learn in a class; you can only learn those like by doing it,” Hosemann said.
Additionally, you never know who you are helping, Williams said.
“You might be helping somebody who’s going to give you your next job,” he said.
The acts of service and support performed by sorority and fraternity members should not go unnoticed, Turuc said.
“Seeing students rally around causes bigger than themselves, support one another and create real change in our community is incredibly inspiring,” she said. “This is where leadership, values and action all come together and it’s one of the things that makes me the most proud of our fraternity and sorority life community.”
By Marisa C. Atkinson
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