Perspective on Service..

Today's post is from Kelsey Caffey, Director of Service Programming for the Panhellenic Council
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My name is Kelsey Caffy and I am serving as Samford’s Panhellenic Director of Service. Philanthropy and community service are integral parts of the Greek experience at Samford, and Panhellenic hopes to continue to provide sorority women opportunities to support the Birmingham area, as well as to discover specific areas of service that they are passionate about. As a Samford student and member of a sorority, the opportunity to volunteer has benefited me and created a deep appreciation for philanthropy that has overflowed into other areas of my life. One of the most important aspects I have learned about service is that even volunteering once at a given organization for a few hours can have a lasting impact. It can give you insight, change your perspective, and help foster a lifelong commitment to service.

          At the start of the semester, Panhellenic sponsored a University-wide blood drive. Each sorority volunteered at a given time slot during the day, and Samford students were able to serve by donating blood. The goal of this project was to get the entire University involved, rather than labeling the drive as a “Greek” event. Additionally, the blood drive gave students the opportunity to give the very most with the least cost, by donating their own blood, as well as their time.

          Presently, we are working toward organizing a service project with the Foundry in Bessemer, Alabama. The Foundry is a Christ-centered drug and rehab clinic that seeks to provide constructive assistance to those in need through its recue, recovery, and re-entry programs. We are looking into bringing Samford’s sorority women together by serving a meal or sponsoring a women’s event on a Friday night. By offering conversation and a listening ear, we hope to have a positive impact on those undergoing the recovery process.

          As the emphasis on community service continues to grow within the Samford student body, Panhellenic hopes to expand on a relational level by creating lasting ties with Birmingham service organizations. Even by simply going out into the community a few times during the semester and offering our time, we aim to keep with the Samford tradition of service and to know that our effort is being combined with the efforts of other campus groups and organizations to create a lasting effect on the community. As we expand, we hope to promote service projects like the blood drive that are open to the University as a whole. We want to maintain a strong commitment to campus-wide unity and participation for a greater cause.

So can we really open recruit?

The title of this post is a question that seems to run in a lot of people's heads when we get to talking about recruiting of new members and how it can be done..Well, the short answer to that question in the title is most emphatically yes.

The next question, how do I do it? Easy, open recruitment is all about building relationships and building "up" to asking them to join the chapter. For our NPHC interfraternal brothers and sisters though, the process is a bit different, so let me speak to our IFC and Panhellenic brothers and sisters with this post.

Numerically speaking, roughly, each of us will run into about 20-25 people throughout the course of the week that we have regular contact with that is not already greek affiliated who could potentially be a brother or sister within our (or another) organization. People join people, organizations are often the secondary thought in a person's mind if we really tell the truth about it. How did you build that relationship with people you have called your friends for years? What did that first start as? Same principle here..

Once you have gotten to know someone, introduce them to your chapter friends, start small, build up. Think of it as a trickle down effect. Your relationships that you build with them and that they see between you and your other members of the chapter will ultimately be one of the telling factors in whether they will keep interest. People sell people, and the positive true relationships that you have with each other based on your common bond through ritual, will be the ultimate head turner as you pursuade others to join.

Introduce the idea of being "Greek" and get them thinking in those terms. For some, fraternity and sorority do not necesarily equate to "greek" unless you are talking about the ABC Family Channel show, which is another topic for another time :) This is where, if you haven't indirectly already, you may be stereotype busting, things like "Do I have to buy my friends"..may be things that surface here.

Educate them! Take the time to help them understand completely what they would be getting into, appropriately.

Sell them on the chapter and close the deal.

For some it may be a quick process, you have those you know that will be gung ho joining your chapter and being a part of your organization, others may be a bit more work, and take a bit more investment, but the key is that they are thinking about it and taking it seriously. They are worth the investment just as much as the person who will join you quickly.

Be smart about it all, treat them as you would be treated, respect the frameworks that are in place right now recruitment rule wise and good luck. If you need any help, give the office a shout and we'll be glad to coach you through this in person.