• Jay Marion

“Traditionally, white organizations in Greek Life don’t show a strong brotherhood [or] sisterhood like NPHC organizations do,” he said. “They also seem more socially oriented as opposed to scholarship and community service. NPHC is also a lifetime commitment and not just a collegiate experience. It doesn’t end.”

As a member of the Interfraternal Council here at Southern Miss, I felt the need to address such a statement. The IFC and CPC councils use their values and goals to create commitment to service, social awareness and above all promote equal opportunity for everyone.

Currently, I serve as the vice president of philanthropy and service for all nine IFC chapters here at Southern Miss and have been voted onto the executive board among predominantly white voters.

It has opened my eyes to more than I could imagine.

Although we are a social fraternity, we cultivate ourselves to be the best that we can be at whatever we set our hands too.

With my own eyes I have seen IFC chapters raise over $30,000 for their charity in one weekend and break their necks raising awareness for their causes.

We don’t walk a mile in high heels for giggles nor do we risk our lives cheerleading, shaking it in on stage in front of everyone in short-shorts, staying up for 24 hours to ride a bike and sing Christmas songs to more than a thousand people all for sick children.

Not to mention our IFC council here at Southern Miss is one of the best in our region winning seven out of the 12 awards at the South Eastern Interfraternal Conference.

Alongside that, our CPC council raises thousands and thousands of dollars for their charities and host majority of the philanthropic events on our campus, and work tireless to make cupcakes, pancakes, lemonade and milkshakes with their bare hands.

Alongside that, our CPC council raises thousands and thousands of dollars for their charities and host majority of the philanthropic events on our campus, and work tireless to make cupcakes, pancakes, lemonade and milkshakes with their bare hands.

As an executive board member on the IFC council we strive very hard to keep close relations with all councils including the NPHC Council. I’m appalled at the fact that people on our campus associate us with just having parties when we by far have some of the highest GPAs on campus, Honor College students, National Merits Scholars, and I could go on for days.

CPC and IFC has shown me more love than I could ever imagine. Ye,s there are still racial issues today, but I think if we stop talking about it and make a change, we could change the way people think about race and Greek Life. Our council believes that if you show yourself willing to work hard and be fruitful to the strong ideals of our chapter and uphold our longstanding of excellence, you’ll more than likely join your sorority of choosing.

Why yes, each council is written for certain colors, I can strongly argue that our Greek system accepts all.

There is really a Greek letter for everyone, but it’s not about the letters, it’s about the long lasting brotherhood and commitment to service.

This is not just a “college experience.” It is a lifelong commitment. The memories that we create and share with each other can not be compared to the level of another council because we all share something different but what brings us together as members of the Greek system is our love for our letters. I think things are changing fast and there is something new brought to the table everyday – we learn from each other and I respect everyone, and I respect what they stand for.

If we want to see change, we have to stop complaining about it and work to fix it and I am a firm believer that we can.