As a proud and active member of the Greek community at Northeastern University, I was disappointed by this week’s edition of The Northeastern News.
I want to make clear I believe that journalistic integrity was in fact upheld by the front page article regarding the members of Phi Gamma Pi fraternity and their party over Homecoming weekend.
However, beyond the front page, I was appalled to find a cartoon in reference to the party and another in mockery of the Greek community’s size, as well as a largely unbalanced and uninformed News Q’s section on Greek life.
It is unfortunate you as members of such a respected and well-rounded newspaper would feel it within your duty as journalists to shed such an inaccurate and negative light on a fellow student organization.
It also struck me, as I flipped through the pages, that not one mention was made of the four other on-campus philanthropic events going on that same week, courtesy of other members of the Greek community, raising thousands of dollars for their respective charitable organizations. Last Thursday, Alpha Epsilon Phi hosted an Egg Beg to raise money for breast cancer research.
From Thursday until Saturday, Sigma Sigma Sigma hosted their annual Teeter-Totter-a-Thon to raise money for the Children’s Play Therapy and Delta Zeta hosted their annual Turtle Tug to raise money for speech and hearing research.
Advance coverage could have been given to Delta Phi Epsilon’s Big Man on Campus to benefit Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, which occurred Oct. 26, and Pi Kappa Alpha and Delta Phi Epsilon’s 30-hour fast to benefit the Greater Boston Food Bank, which took place Oct. 27.
I encourage your organization to send a reporter to these and countless other events in the near future, as they will be evidence of the tremendous good Greeks on our campus perform daily. Our fraternities cannot go unmentioned in my comments, as they continue to impress me with their efforts in the community. All are active and respected members of the fraternal community here at Northeastern and among their national organizations.
The Greek Council Relationship statement, the document which governs all fraternities and sororities on campus, states each member must perform five hours of community service per semester. While raising money for charitable organizations is not a requirement, we do so passionately and successfully without prompting from the university.
I look forward to seeing a more balanced approach to coverage of Greek life by you and your staff in the future. To ensure balance is possible, I am providing each chapter with a standard press release form to send to your organization in order to keep you abreast of our latest community and philanthropic endeavors.
– Rachel Truman is a junior political science major, and a chair on the Greek Executive Council.
